Its a Shimano Bottechhia - 5 gear
This is Brads bike - Schwinn Coffee - 3 gear - all black
Wednesday, 6 June 2012
Hot Wheels
Its a Shimano Bottechhia - 5 gear
This is Brads bike - Schwinn Coffee - 3 gear - all black
Tuesday, 29 May 2012
April-May "Fall in OZ"
So technically the season of fall is upon us here. The 'fall weather' is March until the end of May.
Currently, its on average 20 degrees during the day (afternoon) & a low of 10 degrees by evening-early morning. Its actually very similar to fall (a season I love) minus the trees turning colors like back home..
Trees still have all their folliage, some are loosing leaves, but in general since it rains more in the 'winter' season here, everything is so lush & green - compared to barely any rain in summer when its dry. Winter will be from June-Aug- apparently it will be an average high of 18 degrees during the day, and an average low of 8 degrees. . which is deffinately not bad at all... but that doesnt mean that we wont be jealous of everyone back home hittin up cottages, pools, beaches, camping, fishing & bonfires.. etc
Actually, bonfires are another thing I really miss also...
So, what have we been up to these past few months?
Lets see how good I can remember..
March was a month filled with birthdays! First starting with Brads, then two of our roomates to follow.
April, I ended up landing a job at a Hydrology Consulting Business- right in our hometown, which is extremely convenient - I can bike to work in 10 mins...
The company is called JDA consultant Hydrologists - there are about 20 people working here, and the company has been running for about 20 years. The director, and my manager is originally from the UK, and many employees are from Australia & all around the world. (Italian, Kiwi, Thai, British, Iranian..)
The company gives advice / research in hydrology, surface water, ground water & water resource planning & management.
To be honest, I still don't know yet what i'll be working on. When they hired me, (Apr 26th) I was kinda thrown into the end of an almost year long project that was coming to its deadline. ..one of the largest projects the company has had, regarding 3 Lakes located in the Wheat Belt (south of Perth, more inland)
My first week, I was sent in the field to perform water testing down south in a small industrial city called Bunbury. Thats was fun, it was me and one other guy, we stayed over for one night right on the coast, and our water testing site was a few kilometers south in a small suburb called Dalyellup. We tested for metals, nutrients, PH & sulfates in bores. (Bore = auger is used to drill hole in soil, input a metal or plastic cyclinder, shallow and deep up to 6m in soil) We also measures water levels with a dipper. (Dipper = water level meter with a probe on the end attached to measuring tape which detects when you have reached groundwater)
As of today, we submitted this project on the 18th May, which we have been working on as a draft, and I was helping put together all the figures for the report. So this is a variety between GIS maps & excel graphs...we are suppose to have the complete final report in this Friday 25th of May..so I am hoping to sit down with my boss then, and get a better direction on what I will be working on, what team etc. As for now, I work 9-530 (flexible hours, 7-3;30 ; 8-4;30)
Brad also bought me a spiffy new bike - ill have to add a picture once I take one in the near future. Its a beaut of a bike, alot like our dutchy ones, with a lock attached to the back wheel (with key), front & back racks, and the best part, the lights on my bike work by friction from my back wheel to an attachment...kinda like bike hot wired lol
We went to the Belgium Beer Cafe in the CBD Perth- which was GREAT! Belgium beers are by FAR THE BEST IN THE WORLD! We told ourselves we would treat ourselves when I ended up getting a job, cos beers are anywhere between $20-40 a pint.. crazy, I know, but worth every cent!
Our fav's, WESTMALLE TRIPLES (10%) Brads go to & mine was the Triple Karmaliet's (8.4%) & Leffe Vielle Cuvee (8.4% redish) These are truely amazing, and if you ever get the chance to try these bad boys- do it - you wont be dissapointed! So needless to say after quite a few dollars were spent here, and two delicious meals had - it was totally worth the wait, and a really fun night out together celebrating!
We also hit up this secret little jazz place located just out of the city in Mt. Hawthorne, called "The Jazz Cellar". Its located behind a Saslow's store, literally in the back parking lot. (If someone didnt describe to you where to go, you would never find it pretty much) The entrance is an old english style red phone booth, and when you open the door, theres stairs to the downstairs cellar.. its quite the hidden gem! Capacity of probably 100 ppl maybe, small, squishy, and full of chipper people. The best thing about this place, (other than the live jazz, of course) is that is it BYO drink & food! So, you have some well prepared people who have brought the whole cooler with them..from cheeses, to pigs in a blanket! Others are ordering pizza in from the local pizza shop down the road.. and of course, lots of vino, beer or whatever spirits you may want to bring... so you usually end up sharing a table with complete strangers, but everyone is there for a good time. The jazz started around 7:30, four elderly men up on stage playing all sorts of brass including the banjo! The 'dance floor' (which was more a walking path to get through the crowd to go outside to the washroom) started off timid, and then began to grow quickly. There is this one older gentleman who just takes turns dancing with the ladies who are sitting around the stage. This was a really fun night for $20 of awesome jazz! Needless to say, the bike ride home was very interesting 2 bottles of wine after :)
Our next visit to the cellar we want to get a group of us to go together, we think it would be a grand time, and its only open on Friday nights..so if you dont get to the cellar by..5:30.. your chances of getting a seat get slimmer and slimmer by the minute...
Brad, our old Brazilian roomate, Natalia from Northbridge, and myself also hit up another AFL game. So much fun being at one of these games, and we got cheap tickets and sat right at the front row! This was good and bad...great view of game & plays, and lucky for us a man got naked and streaked right over the barrier onto the field.. it came out of nowhere as we were about to leave to hit up the VIP lounge with Brads two ozzie buddies from work...VIP was great cos in VIP, they sell 'full strength beer' although the people who work the door are completely oblivious to whats going on.. so Brads buddies gave one VIP pass to us, and got all 3 of us in, one by one, in a matter of two minutes hahah I guess they just couldnt piece it together...which was great for us!
Tonight, we are heading an hour up North to Scarborough, WA to check out a band called ASH GRUNWALD. I dont really know much about the band, other then he sounds a lot like Ben Harper and plays a lot of slide guitar type tunes. A guy I work with, bought these tickets and then couldnt make it anymore, and asked if anyone wanted them, so we have yet to see Scarborough, which is by another great beach area (city), so I said I would buy them off him. So, I am leaving work early, and we are going to head there by train & bus, check the area out, and then have dinner on the coast infront of the beach before the show at this Indi Bistro. I am hoping since its nice today, we will get a nice sunset to enjoy!
This Monday (June 4) is a holiday for us..well, not so much for Brad, becos if his scheduale lands on a holiday, he still has to go into work) but for the rest of us, its a day off! So im looking forward to the long weekend around the corner... its WA Foundation Day - the NZ Queen's bday...but everyone else in Oz celebrates it the following week, except for WA- go figure.
We wont have a holiday after this until Labour Day on Oct 1st. Brad has to work until Sunday evening, so we are plannin on takin our bikes up to Guildford Stn and then bike around Swan Valley and check out the wineries and breweries there..fingers crossed for a nice sunny day!
Thats all for now folks,
missing a lot of family & friends this week! x
Currently, its on average 20 degrees during the day (afternoon) & a low of 10 degrees by evening-early morning. Its actually very similar to fall (a season I love) minus the trees turning colors like back home..
Trees still have all their folliage, some are loosing leaves, but in general since it rains more in the 'winter' season here, everything is so lush & green - compared to barely any rain in summer when its dry. Winter will be from June-Aug- apparently it will be an average high of 18 degrees during the day, and an average low of 8 degrees. . which is deffinately not bad at all... but that doesnt mean that we wont be jealous of everyone back home hittin up cottages, pools, beaches, camping, fishing & bonfires.. etc
Actually, bonfires are another thing I really miss also...
So, what have we been up to these past few months?
Lets see how good I can remember..
March was a month filled with birthdays! First starting with Brads, then two of our roomates to follow.
April, I ended up landing a job at a Hydrology Consulting Business- right in our hometown, which is extremely convenient - I can bike to work in 10 mins...
The company is called JDA consultant Hydrologists - there are about 20 people working here, and the company has been running for about 20 years. The director, and my manager is originally from the UK, and many employees are from Australia & all around the world. (Italian, Kiwi, Thai, British, Iranian..)
The company gives advice / research in hydrology, surface water, ground water & water resource planning & management.
To be honest, I still don't know yet what i'll be working on. When they hired me, (Apr 26th) I was kinda thrown into the end of an almost year long project that was coming to its deadline. ..one of the largest projects the company has had, regarding 3 Lakes located in the Wheat Belt (south of Perth, more inland)
My first week, I was sent in the field to perform water testing down south in a small industrial city called Bunbury. Thats was fun, it was me and one other guy, we stayed over for one night right on the coast, and our water testing site was a few kilometers south in a small suburb called Dalyellup. We tested for metals, nutrients, PH & sulfates in bores. (Bore = auger is used to drill hole in soil, input a metal or plastic cyclinder, shallow and deep up to 6m in soil) We also measures water levels with a dipper. (Dipper = water level meter with a probe on the end attached to measuring tape which detects when you have reached groundwater)
As of today, we submitted this project on the 18th May, which we have been working on as a draft, and I was helping put together all the figures for the report. So this is a variety between GIS maps & excel graphs...we are suppose to have the complete final report in this Friday 25th of May..so I am hoping to sit down with my boss then, and get a better direction on what I will be working on, what team etc. As for now, I work 9-530 (flexible hours, 7-3;30 ; 8-4;30)
Brad also bought me a spiffy new bike - ill have to add a picture once I take one in the near future. Its a beaut of a bike, alot like our dutchy ones, with a lock attached to the back wheel (with key), front & back racks, and the best part, the lights on my bike work by friction from my back wheel to an attachment...kinda like bike hot wired lol
We went to the Belgium Beer Cafe in the CBD Perth- which was GREAT! Belgium beers are by FAR THE BEST IN THE WORLD! We told ourselves we would treat ourselves when I ended up getting a job, cos beers are anywhere between $20-40 a pint.. crazy, I know, but worth every cent!
Our fav's, WESTMALLE TRIPLES (10%) Brads go to & mine was the Triple Karmaliet's (8.4%) & Leffe Vielle Cuvee (8.4% redish) These are truely amazing, and if you ever get the chance to try these bad boys- do it - you wont be dissapointed! So needless to say after quite a few dollars were spent here, and two delicious meals had - it was totally worth the wait, and a really fun night out together celebrating!
We also hit up this secret little jazz place located just out of the city in Mt. Hawthorne, called "The Jazz Cellar". Its located behind a Saslow's store, literally in the back parking lot. (If someone didnt describe to you where to go, you would never find it pretty much) The entrance is an old english style red phone booth, and when you open the door, theres stairs to the downstairs cellar.. its quite the hidden gem! Capacity of probably 100 ppl maybe, small, squishy, and full of chipper people. The best thing about this place, (other than the live jazz, of course) is that is it BYO drink & food! So, you have some well prepared people who have brought the whole cooler with them..from cheeses, to pigs in a blanket! Others are ordering pizza in from the local pizza shop down the road.. and of course, lots of vino, beer or whatever spirits you may want to bring... so you usually end up sharing a table with complete strangers, but everyone is there for a good time. The jazz started around 7:30, four elderly men up on stage playing all sorts of brass including the banjo! The 'dance floor' (which was more a walking path to get through the crowd to go outside to the washroom) started off timid, and then began to grow quickly. There is this one older gentleman who just takes turns dancing with the ladies who are sitting around the stage. This was a really fun night for $20 of awesome jazz! Needless to say, the bike ride home was very interesting 2 bottles of wine after :)
Our next visit to the cellar we want to get a group of us to go together, we think it would be a grand time, and its only open on Friday nights..so if you dont get to the cellar by..5:30.. your chances of getting a seat get slimmer and slimmer by the minute...
Brad, our old Brazilian roomate, Natalia from Northbridge, and myself also hit up another AFL game. So much fun being at one of these games, and we got cheap tickets and sat right at the front row! This was good and bad...great view of game & plays, and lucky for us a man got naked and streaked right over the barrier onto the field.. it came out of nowhere as we were about to leave to hit up the VIP lounge with Brads two ozzie buddies from work...VIP was great cos in VIP, they sell 'full strength beer' although the people who work the door are completely oblivious to whats going on.. so Brads buddies gave one VIP pass to us, and got all 3 of us in, one by one, in a matter of two minutes hahah I guess they just couldnt piece it together...which was great for us!
Tonight, we are heading an hour up North to Scarborough, WA to check out a band called ASH GRUNWALD. I dont really know much about the band, other then he sounds a lot like Ben Harper and plays a lot of slide guitar type tunes. A guy I work with, bought these tickets and then couldnt make it anymore, and asked if anyone wanted them, so we have yet to see Scarborough, which is by another great beach area (city), so I said I would buy them off him. So, I am leaving work early, and we are going to head there by train & bus, check the area out, and then have dinner on the coast infront of the beach before the show at this Indi Bistro. I am hoping since its nice today, we will get a nice sunset to enjoy!
This Monday (June 4) is a holiday for us..well, not so much for Brad, becos if his scheduale lands on a holiday, he still has to go into work) but for the rest of us, its a day off! So im looking forward to the long weekend around the corner... its WA Foundation Day - the NZ Queen's bday...but everyone else in Oz celebrates it the following week, except for WA- go figure.
We wont have a holiday after this until Labour Day on Oct 1st. Brad has to work until Sunday evening, so we are plannin on takin our bikes up to Guildford Stn and then bike around Swan Valley and check out the wineries and breweries there..fingers crossed for a nice sunny day!
Thats all for now folks,
missing a lot of family & friends this week! x
Wednesday, 9 May 2012
Didyah Know
I know its been a while since an update.. so heres a lil blurb until I can find an hr or two to come on and give a proper well rounded update on what we have been doing the past month..
Some of these thoughts are rants.. observations.. and things in general I am starting to miss!
1. Sushi.
As most of u know, Brad and I are very big fans! Back when we were in Ottawa, we would hit up Banc Sushi AUCE until they would kick us out at closing hour. However, I am shocked here when I go into the grocery store and see that their image of 'sushi' is rolled not with fresh raw seafood (crab, shrimp, tuna etc) but with chicken & beef.. if someone would explain this to me, that would be greatly appreciated...and point me in the right direction as to where I can actually find sushi.. I mean, you can buy fresh scallops, prawns (not shrimp.. prawns) crab legs etc.. how does chicken & beef end up in there? Its a mystery to me...so instead of searching, I guess we will have to put our Sushi making skills to work from Holland, where we learnt how to.
If you guessed that was a rant, you are correct!
2. If you call Prawns 'shrimp' - you will get corrected and feel like a dink, even though it means the same thing to us..(or me at least).. and apparently, unless you are catching them yourself, you can't tell which is which.
Fact of the Day: the difference between prawns & shrimp are:
1. Prawns are 'larger' & have longer legs
2. They have different gill & pincer structures
right! sooo I guess, unless your observing your prawns/shrimp under a scope- tomatoe-tomato!
Which brings me to my next observation of PRONUNCIATION
3. Ozzies are a lot like Palms (which apparently in oz terms, means the English (UK)
*both drive on otherside of road..ok..kiwi's (NZ) also
*the both say ALUMINUM as--> ALUMINIUM (AL-LOU-MIN-NEE-UM)
even though there is no difference in the two, they spell with an extra 'i'- even in the periodic table.. ?
*ozzies say ASSUME --> A-SHRUM - its quite hilarious
* they also pronounce DEBUT --> DUH-BOO which makes us laugh ..everytime!
* ozzies & English also pronounce Oregano --> AURA-GAHN-NO
4. Bikers here are hard-core..not motor bikers..road bikes, or as they call it here- push bikes
* They bike in swarms (literally)
* On Saturday mornings you wont be able to sit outside at a local cafe & drink coffee etc - because they are PACKED with bikers - I have even seen them biking on the paths at 530am!
* Bikers here ALL wear tight, logo, typical 'biking gear' - like they are Lance Armstrong or something
* Helmets are manditory
* Bikers are annoying on the bike path..short tempered.. constantly dinging their bells..like comon, we know one 'ding' means your coming up from behind, keep left... you don't need to ding your damn bell continuously 200 m from behind until you pass...sheesh..and you think its bad in Holland!?
5. Its not called 'debit' or 'pin' here.. its called EFTPOS -which stands for Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale..a mouthful!
6. Things that are Missed:
- cheap beer!
- cheese curds
-TIMMYS!
- HOT & butter popcorn at the theatre
7. Tried my first 'Chico Babies' - type of candy, brown, with flavours of vanilla & aniseed.
Some of these thoughts are rants.. observations.. and things in general I am starting to miss!
1. Sushi.
As most of u know, Brad and I are very big fans! Back when we were in Ottawa, we would hit up Banc Sushi AUCE until they would kick us out at closing hour. However, I am shocked here when I go into the grocery store and see that their image of 'sushi' is rolled not with fresh raw seafood (crab, shrimp, tuna etc) but with chicken & beef.. if someone would explain this to me, that would be greatly appreciated...and point me in the right direction as to where I can actually find sushi.. I mean, you can buy fresh scallops, prawns (not shrimp.. prawns) crab legs etc.. how does chicken & beef end up in there? Its a mystery to me...so instead of searching, I guess we will have to put our Sushi making skills to work from Holland, where we learnt how to.
If you guessed that was a rant, you are correct!
2. If you call Prawns 'shrimp' - you will get corrected and feel like a dink, even though it means the same thing to us..(or me at least).. and apparently, unless you are catching them yourself, you can't tell which is which.
Fact of the Day: the difference between prawns & shrimp are:
1. Prawns are 'larger' & have longer legs
2. They have different gill & pincer structures
right! sooo I guess, unless your observing your prawns/shrimp under a scope- tomatoe-tomato!
Which brings me to my next observation of PRONUNCIATION
3. Ozzies are a lot like Palms (which apparently in oz terms, means the English (UK)
*both drive on otherside of road..ok..kiwi's (NZ) also
*the both say ALUMINUM as--> ALUMINIUM (AL-LOU-MIN-NEE-UM)
even though there is no difference in the two, they spell with an extra 'i'- even in the periodic table.. ?
*ozzies say ASSUME --> A-SHRUM - its quite hilarious
* they also pronounce DEBUT --> DUH-BOO which makes us laugh ..everytime!
* ozzies & English also pronounce Oregano --> AURA-GAHN-NO
4. Bikers here are hard-core..not motor bikers..road bikes, or as they call it here- push bikes
* They bike in swarms (literally)
* On Saturday mornings you wont be able to sit outside at a local cafe & drink coffee etc - because they are PACKED with bikers - I have even seen them biking on the paths at 530am!
* Bikers here ALL wear tight, logo, typical 'biking gear' - like they are Lance Armstrong or something
* Helmets are manditory
* Bikers are annoying on the bike path..short tempered.. constantly dinging their bells..like comon, we know one 'ding' means your coming up from behind, keep left... you don't need to ding your damn bell continuously 200 m from behind until you pass...sheesh..and you think its bad in Holland!?
5. Its not called 'debit' or 'pin' here.. its called EFTPOS -which stands for Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale..a mouthful!
6. Things that are Missed:
- cheap beer!
- cheese curds
-TIMMYS!
- HOT & butter popcorn at the theatre
7. Tried my first 'Chico Babies' - type of candy, brown, with flavours of vanilla & aniseed.
Thursday, 29 March 2012
Random Thoughts March 30th
Interesting Observations:
1. Board games here are RIDICULOUSLY expensive! Scrabble $60, Cranium $85...I think the cheapest board game I saw was 'SORRY' $20.. so now I miss board games!
2. When you order a Milkshake here...if you want an actual milkshake, it has to be a 'thick shake' or else your pretty much getting nestle quick /syrup mixed in milk..
3. Ice coffees and cold mocha drink are very popular here..you buy them at any convenient store, gas station or grocery store, in 250ml or 500 ml cartons.. the are delicious & addicting! They come in many flavours.. Strawberry, Chocolate, vanilla, Espresso, & my two fav's - Mocha & chocolate with honeycomb!
4. im not sure if I have mentioned this before.. but in 'coffee world' over here.. theres no such thing as a double double, 1 sugar 2 milk, and all the other ways we may order it back home.. your options here are:
-machhiato, long flat, short flat, long black, these are all espresso based coffee's also.. in bars, restys & coffee shops, its always made this way, not with ground coffee like we are used to back home..and I must say, its quite delicious.. our new fav way of making coffees at home is with a french press.
5. We are so lucky to live right across from a farmers market that occurs in the play area of the public school across the street every Saturday 8am-12! They sell all kinds of goods from seafood, fish, smoked sausages & ham, bread, organic milk, spreads, dips, fresh farmers fruit & vegg...also they have vendors selling delicious snacks like brat worst & onions on a bun for $6, healthy greek pies (spinach & feta, etc) for $6 - and just across the street! Subiaco is awesome!
1. Board games here are RIDICULOUSLY expensive! Scrabble $60, Cranium $85...I think the cheapest board game I saw was 'SORRY' $20.. so now I miss board games!
2. When you order a Milkshake here...if you want an actual milkshake, it has to be a 'thick shake' or else your pretty much getting nestle quick /syrup mixed in milk..
3. Ice coffees and cold mocha drink are very popular here..you buy them at any convenient store, gas station or grocery store, in 250ml or 500 ml cartons.. the are delicious & addicting! They come in many flavours.. Strawberry, Chocolate, vanilla, Espresso, & my two fav's - Mocha & chocolate with honeycomb!
4. im not sure if I have mentioned this before.. but in 'coffee world' over here.. theres no such thing as a double double, 1 sugar 2 milk, and all the other ways we may order it back home.. your options here are:
-machhiato, long flat, short flat, long black, these are all espresso based coffee's also.. in bars, restys & coffee shops, its always made this way, not with ground coffee like we are used to back home..and I must say, its quite delicious.. our new fav way of making coffees at home is with a french press.
5. We are so lucky to live right across from a farmers market that occurs in the play area of the public school across the street every Saturday 8am-12! They sell all kinds of goods from seafood, fish, smoked sausages & ham, bread, organic milk, spreads, dips, fresh farmers fruit & vegg...also they have vendors selling delicious snacks like brat worst & onions on a bun for $6, healthy greek pies (spinach & feta, etc) for $6 - and just across the street! Subiaco is awesome!
Tuesday, 20 March 2012
We ♥ PERTH
So Gorski and I have been settled into Perth now for a few months...and we are both very happy with our decision to move to the West Coast.
Brad got an interview in a lab called SGS - which is known worldwide (there is even labs in Mississauga, London, Sarnia, Calgary & a bunch of others)
So we were pretty ambitious when we first moved, Brad pretty much had the job in the bag.. however finding accommodation was not so simple...in fact, it was a completely stressful time & a struggle at most.
So, as our journey begins in Perth, we started off living in a hostel..not even a private room at that..since the hostel 'gave it away' - even though we booked a private room since we would have all our belongings and whatnot.. anyways, that didn't make the situation any easier.. and of course, we get stuck in a room, shared with 2 other bunk beds..and of course the AC is not working... at this point.. Perth was going through a heat wave of +40 everyday... it was brutal!
We spent just under a week in the hostel, spending our days, trying to remain sane and cool.. mainly applying for places to live or rent online... the way they do things here...is quite the mess!
I understand 'housing' is hard to find... but I didn't think it was going to be THIS difficult. We had set up a few appointments to go see some places for rent.. most of them would text us or call us like 30 mins before we are about to leave..just to notify not to bother coming out.. because its already been rented. Now, the only thing that really pisses me off about the whole process, is that here they set up like an 'open house' kinda concept.. so you have a few people coming at once to see the place.. (most the time.. throwing themselves, money..or whatever else will work because they are desparate for a place to live THAT BAD)
So its pretty much a competition, but thats not what really grinded my gears.. it was the fact that we would call and set up an appt, 'because they will only show it as an open house blah blah blah' yet half the people would contact us back and be like..sorry its rented.. well then what the hell is the point of having an open house- geese.. such a time waster.. needless to say, another pet peeve about the whole thing is that people advertise the place as a 1 bedroom... but really its a 1 bedrm in a shared accommodation...sneaky sneaky! My favourite piss off was when a housing/rental agency called me like literally 2 minutes away from the apartment, to tell me not to bother..after I had taken the train and spent like 30 mins commuting to get there.. SUCH A PISS OFF! So, you can see from my housing rants, this was not a fun process for us..
Needless to say, we contacted this guys who rents his house out.. kinda like a hostel, shared accommodation.. but its a house instead of a hostel...It was a better place to call home for the meanwhile.. but it was in the real suburbs, just residential housing around.. about a 20 min walk to restaurants..and a 15 min drive to the grocery store... we didn't have locks on our bedrooms, but the others who were staying there were very nice, and we just needed to get outta the other hostel. Plus this place had a sweet backyard chill zone, there was no contracts, no bonds just pay weekly for rent.. so it was cheaper to do this move rather than stay in the hostel.
These were some of our roommates.. along with a sweet Uk couple, a great Zambian/Irish guy & another Belguim/China couple (who were the strangest people I think I have ever met)
Right before we moved into this new place near East Victoria Park in St James, we went to check out an apartment about a block from the hostel we were staying at...and from the outside it looked so nice and located right beside a park! Again, we went into the place thinking it was just a 1 bedrm but really we would be sharing with 4 other Brazilians... we were the first ones to see the place, and afterwards, we told her, 'we want the place, what do we do, can we fill out an application'... back home.. it would be.. first come..first serve right... well not here.. she had 20 other people coming to look at it after us.. so we thought.. ohh shit.. they are never going to pick us.. wrote down our names & numbers, thanked her for the viewing and left having little to no hope in actually getting the place...she told us that she would be making her decision in a few days and move in date would be one week from then. So much to our surprise, being Canadian came through for us once again! She had called us and told us that they had picked us Canadians to move in if we still wanted it! We were pumped, gave Nil our notice that we were leaving.. and trekked all our belongings back to where we originally started in the first place...the clouds couldn't have come out for 1 hour that day... thankfully the bus had AC.. and the free BLUE CAT service is right outside the apartment in Northbridge...Shenton St became our new home...
In the meantime, Brad had been working at the lab.. 4 days on 4 days off.. and I was still applying for work..and trying to occupy myself while he was gone..
NORTHBRIDGE
A very cool area, a 10 min walk from Perth Stn (train) a hop and a skip away from tonnes of restaurants... the Western State Library is down the block along side the Perth Museum.. the Northbridge Piazza was a big screen set up right in the middle of it all.. with umbrellas and bean bag chairs everywhere, playing local news, documents, movies, and all for free!
The great things also, the BLUE CAT picked us up right outside our apartment..and will get you downtown to the main City Business District in about 10-15 mins.. where you have access to Murray St & Hay St Malls (which are all outside..kinda like the market downtown Ottawa)
We also spent some time exploring around near neighbourhoods...and one of our fav's was Claisebrook!
Kinda reminded me of Amsterdam style.. houses located on the edge of a cove.. a pretty lil part of Perth..hidden from the rest located at East Perth.
Brad got an interview in a lab called SGS - which is known worldwide (there is even labs in Mississauga, London, Sarnia, Calgary & a bunch of others)
So we were pretty ambitious when we first moved, Brad pretty much had the job in the bag.. however finding accommodation was not so simple...in fact, it was a completely stressful time & a struggle at most.
So, as our journey begins in Perth, we started off living in a hostel..not even a private room at that..since the hostel 'gave it away' - even though we booked a private room since we would have all our belongings and whatnot.. anyways, that didn't make the situation any easier.. and of course, we get stuck in a room, shared with 2 other bunk beds..and of course the AC is not working... at this point.. Perth was going through a heat wave of +40 everyday... it was brutal!
We spent just under a week in the hostel, spending our days, trying to remain sane and cool.. mainly applying for places to live or rent online... the way they do things here...is quite the mess!
I understand 'housing' is hard to find... but I didn't think it was going to be THIS difficult. We had set up a few appointments to go see some places for rent.. most of them would text us or call us like 30 mins before we are about to leave..just to notify not to bother coming out.. because its already been rented. Now, the only thing that really pisses me off about the whole process, is that here they set up like an 'open house' kinda concept.. so you have a few people coming at once to see the place.. (most the time.. throwing themselves, money..or whatever else will work because they are desparate for a place to live THAT BAD)
So its pretty much a competition, but thats not what really grinded my gears.. it was the fact that we would call and set up an appt, 'because they will only show it as an open house blah blah blah' yet half the people would contact us back and be like..sorry its rented.. well then what the hell is the point of having an open house- geese.. such a time waster.. needless to say, another pet peeve about the whole thing is that people advertise the place as a 1 bedroom... but really its a 1 bedrm in a shared accommodation...sneaky sneaky! My favourite piss off was when a housing/rental agency called me like literally 2 minutes away from the apartment, to tell me not to bother..after I had taken the train and spent like 30 mins commuting to get there.. SUCH A PISS OFF! So, you can see from my housing rants, this was not a fun process for us..
Needless to say, we contacted this guys who rents his house out.. kinda like a hostel, shared accommodation.. but its a house instead of a hostel...It was a better place to call home for the meanwhile.. but it was in the real suburbs, just residential housing around.. about a 20 min walk to restaurants..and a 15 min drive to the grocery store... we didn't have locks on our bedrooms, but the others who were staying there were very nice, and we just needed to get outta the other hostel. Plus this place had a sweet backyard chill zone, there was no contracts, no bonds just pay weekly for rent.. so it was cheaper to do this move rather than stay in the hostel.
These were some of our roommates.. along with a sweet Uk couple, a great Zambian/Irish guy & another Belguim/China couple (who were the strangest people I think I have ever met)
sweet chill zone in backyard with built in 'mist'er'
Dodge- the Papillion & Brigette the Aust Sheppard
In the meantime, Brad had been working at the lab.. 4 days on 4 days off.. and I was still applying for work..and trying to occupy myself while he was gone..
NORTHBRIDGE
A very cool area, a 10 min walk from Perth Stn (train) a hop and a skip away from tonnes of restaurants... the Western State Library is down the block along side the Perth Museum.. the Northbridge Piazza was a big screen set up right in the middle of it all.. with umbrellas and bean bag chairs everywhere, playing local news, documents, movies, and all for free!
The great things also, the BLUE CAT picked us up right outside our apartment..and will get you downtown to the main City Business District in about 10-15 mins.. where you have access to Murray St & Hay St Malls (which are all outside..kinda like the market downtown Ottawa)
the view of the CBD from our balcony
Northbridge Piazza
Western Australia Museum
So, we enjoyed our time here.. we spent an afternoon going to Kings Park, right on the other side of the CBD..where you can gock at the amazing water views.
war memorial on hill
CBD Perth
South Perth
Kinda reminded me of Amsterdam style.. houses located on the edge of a cove.. a pretty lil part of Perth..hidden from the rest located at East Perth.
looking back at the CBD- Perth
amazing homes along Claisebrook Cove
Our Brazilian roommates were great! Nathalia is the youngest at 21, studying and working 2 jobs. Taichi is the same age as us also studying English and working, Tiais we didn't get to know as her visa had expired and she had to leave the country...and Zeca is 32, a little more quieter..barely see him much as he's also studying english and working at a car wash. ..his english was probably the most difficult to understand.. but overall we could communicate great with them, and I went to some parties with them when Brad would be working.. very easy to get along with.
SUBIACO!
Currently, we just made our (hopefully) last move! The U.K couple we had met from our first place, they were looking for a house to rent.. because they are planning on staying here long term for a few years.. asked us how we would feel about moving in with them should they find a place... and wow.. did they ever find a beaut of a place or what!
Located right in the heart of the city - Subiaco.. so 2 train stops from Perth, Northbridge, where we were.. but in a beautiful located area, clean city.. kinda reminds me of MTL..cobble stone main street full of cute little shops and stores.. belgium chocolaterie's ...grocery store 2 blocks away..everything is convenient where we are.. we are also closer to the beaches now!!! However, last week there was a 'shark feeding frenzy' that happened on the beach.. where one great white shark and several tiger sharks went to town on a school of tuna... crazy! You can youtube it.. glad I wasn't at the beach that day!
So, make a long story short! We said yes and told the Brazilians we were moving out.. I had already set up a few appts for people to come see the place so they could choose who they wanted to be their new flatmates.. and we moved in March 10th, with the UK couple and the Zambian/Irish fella... so we are all now reunited again but in an amazing 3 bedroom, 3 bathrn HOUSE- 2 levels, AC, full furnished, appliances, laundry, parking, storage..back private patio, front street view patio..and the one of the best parts... BBQ-- not just the shitty oz style 'hot plate' but half hot plate, half charcoal... now were cooking with gas!
Anyways, now that I'm done bragging.. the place is amazing and we are really happy here.. it feels like more of a home for us.. we can take our shoes off and relax.. literally.. the last place we always wore our shoes in the house... it was shitty...and always dirty and whatnot.. plus, our roomies are a lot like Brad and I..and we are all very similar and get along great!
Ill try to upload some pictures once I take a few.. as for the job front for me, I'm still looking..and applying.. I went for an interview last week for a balling cartographer position & a GIS analyst position.. but I was 'runner up' and didn't get the job.. due to lack of experience..great..(sigh) so I'm back on the job hunt again...
Other than that.. not much else is new.. my new obsessions are: olives, avocado's & TimTam's
St Pattys Day here was pretty much non existent in terms of how we celebrate back home.... we celebrated hard for Brads bday at our place which was great.. Jameson Rye.. pints, green jello shooters .. but not a lot of green.. NO where sold decorations...hats..nothing :( ... we went to an Irish bar at midnight and were gutted when they told us they were closed...?!?!? R-E-D-O-N-K-U-L-O-U-S!! crazy Perth and their shutting down at early times and what not.. GAHHH
That is all!
Sunday, 4 March 2012
Fraser Island - Cool Dingo Cruise
Ok, its been some time since we have updated this.. and Brad hasn't had the time to come and and write anymore about our trip that happened at end of Jan.. so I'm going to try and re-cap before time really passed us by here.
After returning from our amazing trip from being on the ocean and snorkelling and diving in the great barrier reef.. we arrive back at Airlie Beach just in time to celebrate Straya Day!!!
Jan 26th 2012 Straya Day
We arrive back at our hostel at Nomads where they were holding all our belongings while we were out on our cruise. We are feeling pretty rough this afternoon, so while all the Ozzies are already a good start on drinking and partying, we decide to relax and float in the lagoon until we go for our cheap dinner at Down Under Bar (compliments of the Power Play cruise) $10 for any main (pub) meal & a pint / gl of wine.. so like :
-barramundi & chips
-200g rump steak
-calamari salad
-chicken w/ mushroom sauce & potato
-kangaroo burger
etc..
We stayed here a little while with the rest of the Power Play group.. but we moved in quickly as the bar was almost completely DRY - and only 2 beer taps out of like 12 were available.. cider & a shitty low percentage draught.. we took advantage of $4 vodka & cranberries..until they also ran out of cranberry.. so that ended quickly and we moved onto another large bar down the road called Magnums. This place was crazy and very large! Must have been like 5 bars in 1... outside bar with picnic tables.. volleyball area...inside bar..and bar at stage.. and apparently there is an upstairs also..which we didn't even venture too... so many ppl inside this bar..just crammed!!!
After having been drinking for couple hours .. Brad and I know that we have a long journey waiting for us soon... and we are not looking forward to it. 11pm rolls around and we head back to Nomads hostel to grab all our belongings..and walk across town down to the bus station...where we will be getting on a grey hound bus for a 13hr bus ride...
Jan 27th
The bus ride wasn't that bad as we thought.. ya, not the most comfortable mind you sleeping on a bus.. but we saved money on spending it in a hostel for the night and travelled at the same time... the bus had AC which made it nice and we stopped a few times along the way for breaks etc.. I didn't wake up for the first break.. so making having a few brews really worked out perfectly and didn't make the journey feel so long.
We arrive at Hervey Bay and the bus drops us off at the bus station and we wait for our hostel to come and get us. About 30 minutes go by and of course its been pouring rain for the past 13 hours... we are tired.. hungover.. and we just want to get back to our hostel. An hour goes by.. and the van that was suppose to come get us.. every time it pulled up, everyone else jumped in so quickly, as theres only like 8 spaces or so.. that we never make the cut. So, at this point I'm getting a little annoyed.. we have been sitting on a bus for 13 hrs and now we are waiting 2 hours to get picked up- for a 10 min ride.. so I call the hostel and ask them if someone can come pick us up because the other van (its the hostel located right across the road from us) is always packed and they don't have room for us.
Anyways, finally they came and got us and we arrived back at our cute quaint hostel called "woodshed"
Really nice venue... log cabin kinda style... lots of palm trees.. kinda seemed outta place..but really nice, family run, ridiculously clean... very nice! They have like a barn log house where the kitchen is, and inside theres tons of nic-nacs all over the place..beer mugs, beer signs, couches, t.v. old pictures and farming tools.. it was really nice and comfy.
So, its been raining the whole time we have been here..which makes it hard to do anything..especially when you don't have an umbrella and town is about a 10 min walk away... so after waiting all day for the rain to stop ..come around 8pm we knew it just was not going to let up.. so we did what we had to as we needed some grub!
I put on some shorts and my rain jacket, Brad puts on his bathing suit, and we run barefoot all the way to town to find something to eat and one of the street lined with restys.
Drenched at this point.. we decide on this place called 'yummy noodles'. Reasonable price, so we get 3 dishes and share them. They were delicious! Pad Thai, Beef Chilli & noodle, & Hot Pot which was a variety of meats in like a honey teriyaki sauce.
Jan 28 Fraser Island - Cool Dingo Tours
We wake up to a shuttle bus outside our hostel to pick us up to head towards the ferry at the marina.
For those of you who are not familiar, Fraser Island is an island which is made up completely of sand created over 800,000 yrs! Population on the island is about 360 people. On the island is 120 km of lush rainforest, beautiful beaches, rich freshwater pools & 200m high sand dunes.
A variety of Fraser Island plant and animal life is fierce, including sharks & dingo's (wild dogs)
On our bus ride to the marina, we come across our Canadian friend that we met at Airlie beach, Alanna, from Winnipeg, so its nice to see a familiar face and we share the tour with her.
The ferry to get to the island took about 45 minutes.. this ferry did not move at any astronomical speed.. slow and steady.. we arrive at the island and are greeted by Bryan, our tour guide. A local Melbourne elderly man, doing what he truly loves. He introduced himself, and leads us over to our ride..the giant bus!!! The wheels on this thing were probably almost as tall as me, and the bus looks like this huge boat of a thing..
Our group was suppose to be about 30 ppl, but since it was raining like crazy the past day and weather wasn't so good, I guess a lot of people cancelled and we were only like 13. So, we all hop on the bus and this 'thing' was wild. Driving on loose sand, up and down 45 degree steep hills and narrow pathways..it was hilarious. Bryan, trying to control this beast is sitting in his seat at the front and literally bouncing up and down in his seat.. i have no idea how he manages to drive stick with this thing.. so its a bumpy ride to our first destination.
First Stop- Pine Valley
We walk through a bushed rainforest area where we come to a small lake called Basin Lake. The lake is actually located on top of a dune and was a small pretty basin of water. The water here wasn't clear, so it reminded me of the lakes you see back home. Due to the area being a touristy, at the moment no one is allowed to go swimming in it anymore, due to sunscreen and oils on tourist swimming in the lake, that rubbed off into the water and and ended up killing fish.
Afterwards, we walked to 'central station' which is like a rainforest boardwalk. Really awesome! Keeping our eyes peered for snakes or dingo's along the way.. as you walked through the rainforest, the foliage got more and more deep and the cooler it also got in temperature. Huge trees here along the way... a nice bush walk through a fresh wet rainforest. Heat bugs were pretty loud here..and the mozzies also.. but I wasn't too worried considering the island is home to about 200 wild dingo's, 5 of the top venomous snakes, and tonnes of 'oh how I am terrified' of you spiders.
Along our rainforest walk, we come across a natural spring water river running through called Wanggoolba Creek. We spot a catfish from the bridge and an eel also. The water was so clear here that you could see right down to the golden sand that lays below it.
As we head to the end of our rainforest walk, we walk by the famous Satinay trees which are thousands of years old. Their trunks are massive - pretty amazing to see (yessss i love trees) We get to the end of our walk and have lunch in a small little opening which picnic tables and open space. Bryan laid out a ridiculous amount of food..remember it was suppose to be for 30 people... so it was a feast of kaiser buns, meats, pickles, cheese, & salads.. needless to say we all stuffed ourselves not only because we were hungry from trekking through the forest, but because they cannot keep any of the food, any leftovers all get chucked :(
Second stop- Lake Mckenzie
This location is one of Fraser Island's most photographed places, and I can see why.
When we first arrived, it was still a bit overcast and cloudy..so I was worried that my pictures wouldn't turn out as good, because this place was absolute paradise. Blue and green water, white soft powder sand.. wow.
The sand is actually also rich in minerals and can be used as an exfoliant on your skin, Lore has it that the sand lends the lakes anti-ageing properties... it also really cleans your jewellery .. as I cleaned all my silver rings, buried them into the sand and they came out beaming with sparkles!
After our first dip into the water, most of the other crew headed back up the the designated picnic area..with picnic tables, surrounded by a wooden fence to keep out dingos! We swam for a bit longer..Brad, Alanna (the other Winnipeg Canadian) and me..until we joined the others and a bunch of kookaburras for some tea and cookies. Then Bryan told us we had another 30 minutes left before we were leaving this area, so the three of us decided to go and chill down by the water and enjoy the view, Brad went swimming again..and apparently while we were down at the beach, a dingo came by the picnic area.. so we missed seeing it.. gah!
After leaving McKenzie Lake, we headed to our accommodation back at Kingfisher Resort. All of us stayed in 1 large wooden lodge which consisted of 5 bedrooms (2 double bunks in each room), one large shared kitchen and lounge area, outside patio attached to the lodge & men & woman's bathroom/shower.
We head to the famous ' Dingo Bar' and only option for food (other than the convenient store located about a 10 min drive) They have a buffet style, and each day is different. It was pizza, pasta, veg and salads today..and happy hour from 9-10pm -$10 jugs... we get back on the 'jug' train, along with a few shots of tequila, and 'playing in the snow' - we deff needed to have those..which kinda reminded me of polar bear shots. Bryan even bought us 2 jugs for the table..lucky for us Canadians and 2 German's, no one else drank beer but us! wooo! The night only got more random from there on... having a good time with friends and locals playing pool. Brad got himself playing pool with a bunch of older local men who live on the island, and we met another Canadian who works on the island, who then invited the 3 of us Canadians back to his cottage, where he then put on a rope fire show.. its was really cool and crazy lol
DAY 2
7am came around a lot quicker than we all anticipated.. still feeling the effects of the night before..we head back to the 'Dingo Bar' for some continental brekky, and head back out for the day on our cruise.
Today we will spend the day driving up and down the 75 mile highway, which is right along the coast, while making pit stops along the way.
First Stop - Indian Head
We head north east to the island where we then make a quick hike up a dune which arrives at a lookout looking back over the 75 mile highway.. looking out into the ocean and large sand dunes at our backs.
The view is quite spectacular from up here and you can see the sand 75 mile highway as far as possible.. and looking below the cliff we spotted some manta rays below..apparently, Indian Head is the best vantage point on the island to spot sharks, manta's, dolphins and during migration season, whales.
Second Stop - Champagne Jacuzzi Pools
I wasn't really sure what to expect from this place.. it all sounded so awesome. Bryan set up another nice lunch for us with fajita's and then off we went to the pools! This is the only safe spot on the island for saltwater swimming. The whole concept is this; shallow pools of water which are surrounded by cliff faces (& sharp rocks). The waves come slamming over the large rock formations in the water and by doing so, this creates the water to trickle down the rock and create a jacuzzi type flow of small bubbles and foam. The sun finally decided to show its face at this point which was great and we could have stayed there chillin in the jacuzzi all day.
Third Stop - The Pinnacles
This is a section of coloured sand cliffs/dunes that stick out from the landscape along the 75 mile highway.
We only stopped here for about 5 minutes to check out the land formation and snap a few pictures.
Fourth Stop - Maheno Shipwreck
Built in Scotland in 1904 and was the world's first ever triple screw steamer. Apparently, this ship was also used as a hospital in WWI, and then purchased by a Sydney shipping company, planning on using it between Sydney & New Zealand shipments.
Afterwards due to a shortage in funds, it was then sold to a Japanese shipping company for scrap metal. In the midst of trying to bring the Maheno back to Osaka Japan, it was hit by an unseasonal cyclone in 1935 off the coast of Fraser. Then it was abandoned and now lies on the 75 mile highway.
More than half the ship today is buried under the landscape..and eroding quickly due to the salt water.
Fifth Stop - Eli Creek
This is a fresh water creek that is the largest freshwater stream on the east coast of Fraser Island. Apparently, over 4 million litres of water flow from the streams mouth out onto the beach into the ocean every hour!
There is a small knee deep water path that you can walk through and brings you downstream back to the 75 mile highway beach.
Before entering the water here, I didn't notice a creeeeeeepy spider lingering right beside my head.. I was having difficulties trying to cross back again... geeeeww!! At this location we also came across a whole bunch of baby blue frogs, which were about the size of a dime.. and also apparently very poisonous - so I'm glad we didn't pick them up! I guess the oil in there skin is poisonous.. and once it touches your mucus membranes, it can paralyze you or something scary along those lines. We asked Bryan about them, and he said if dingo's were to eat them, they would die a painful and long death.. so enough said.
Afterwards we headed back to the Dingo Bar again for dinner which was roast beef (have not had good beef like that in a while), BBQ foods, curry & rice, salads.. it was really good tonight. After dinner, we were heading back on the shuttle bus to take us back to the ferry... we were quite burnt out at this point from spending the whole day outside and in the sun.. the trip was amazing, and I have no complaints..other than I didn't see a dingo.
Here's a few other pictures to gander on :)
After returning from our amazing trip from being on the ocean and snorkelling and diving in the great barrier reef.. we arrive back at Airlie Beach just in time to celebrate Straya Day!!!
Jan 26th 2012 Straya Day
We arrive back at our hostel at Nomads where they were holding all our belongings while we were out on our cruise. We are feeling pretty rough this afternoon, so while all the Ozzies are already a good start on drinking and partying, we decide to relax and float in the lagoon until we go for our cheap dinner at Down Under Bar (compliments of the Power Play cruise) $10 for any main (pub) meal & a pint / gl of wine.. so like :
-barramundi & chips
-200g rump steak
-calamari salad
-chicken w/ mushroom sauce & potato
-kangaroo burger
etc..
We stayed here a little while with the rest of the Power Play group.. but we moved in quickly as the bar was almost completely DRY - and only 2 beer taps out of like 12 were available.. cider & a shitty low percentage draught.. we took advantage of $4 vodka & cranberries..until they also ran out of cranberry.. so that ended quickly and we moved onto another large bar down the road called Magnums. This place was crazy and very large! Must have been like 5 bars in 1... outside bar with picnic tables.. volleyball area...inside bar..and bar at stage.. and apparently there is an upstairs also..which we didn't even venture too... so many ppl inside this bar..just crammed!!!
After having been drinking for couple hours .. Brad and I know that we have a long journey waiting for us soon... and we are not looking forward to it. 11pm rolls around and we head back to Nomads hostel to grab all our belongings..and walk across town down to the bus station...where we will be getting on a grey hound bus for a 13hr bus ride...
Jan 27th
The bus ride wasn't that bad as we thought.. ya, not the most comfortable mind you sleeping on a bus.. but we saved money on spending it in a hostel for the night and travelled at the same time... the bus had AC which made it nice and we stopped a few times along the way for breaks etc.. I didn't wake up for the first break.. so making having a few brews really worked out perfectly and didn't make the journey feel so long.
We arrive at Hervey Bay and the bus drops us off at the bus station and we wait for our hostel to come and get us. About 30 minutes go by and of course its been pouring rain for the past 13 hours... we are tired.. hungover.. and we just want to get back to our hostel. An hour goes by.. and the van that was suppose to come get us.. every time it pulled up, everyone else jumped in so quickly, as theres only like 8 spaces or so.. that we never make the cut. So, at this point I'm getting a little annoyed.. we have been sitting on a bus for 13 hrs and now we are waiting 2 hours to get picked up- for a 10 min ride.. so I call the hostel and ask them if someone can come pick us up because the other van (its the hostel located right across the road from us) is always packed and they don't have room for us.
Anyways, finally they came and got us and we arrived back at our cute quaint hostel called "woodshed"
Really nice venue... log cabin kinda style... lots of palm trees.. kinda seemed outta place..but really nice, family run, ridiculously clean... very nice! They have like a barn log house where the kitchen is, and inside theres tons of nic-nacs all over the place..beer mugs, beer signs, couches, t.v. old pictures and farming tools.. it was really nice and comfy.
me chillin in the hammock
inside at kitchen/lounge
hostel/cabin rooms
So, its been raining the whole time we have been here..which makes it hard to do anything..especially when you don't have an umbrella and town is about a 10 min walk away... so after waiting all day for the rain to stop ..come around 8pm we knew it just was not going to let up.. so we did what we had to as we needed some grub!
I put on some shorts and my rain jacket, Brad puts on his bathing suit, and we run barefoot all the way to town to find something to eat and one of the street lined with restys.
Drenched at this point.. we decide on this place called 'yummy noodles'. Reasonable price, so we get 3 dishes and share them. They were delicious! Pad Thai, Beef Chilli & noodle, & Hot Pot which was a variety of meats in like a honey teriyaki sauce.
Jan 28 Fraser Island - Cool Dingo Tours
We wake up to a shuttle bus outside our hostel to pick us up to head towards the ferry at the marina.
For those of you who are not familiar, Fraser Island is an island which is made up completely of sand created over 800,000 yrs! Population on the island is about 360 people. On the island is 120 km of lush rainforest, beautiful beaches, rich freshwater pools & 200m high sand dunes.
A variety of Fraser Island plant and animal life is fierce, including sharks & dingo's (wild dogs)
On our bus ride to the marina, we come across our Canadian friend that we met at Airlie beach, Alanna, from Winnipeg, so its nice to see a familiar face and we share the tour with her.
The ferry to get to the island took about 45 minutes.. this ferry did not move at any astronomical speed.. slow and steady.. we arrive at the island and are greeted by Bryan, our tour guide. A local Melbourne elderly man, doing what he truly loves. He introduced himself, and leads us over to our ride..the giant bus!!! The wheels on this thing were probably almost as tall as me, and the bus looks like this huge boat of a thing..
Our group was suppose to be about 30 ppl, but since it was raining like crazy the past day and weather wasn't so good, I guess a lot of people cancelled and we were only like 13. So, we all hop on the bus and this 'thing' was wild. Driving on loose sand, up and down 45 degree steep hills and narrow pathways..it was hilarious. Bryan, trying to control this beast is sitting in his seat at the front and literally bouncing up and down in his seat.. i have no idea how he manages to drive stick with this thing.. so its a bumpy ride to our first destination.
First Stop- Pine Valley
We walk through a bushed rainforest area where we come to a small lake called Basin Lake. The lake is actually located on top of a dune and was a small pretty basin of water. The water here wasn't clear, so it reminded me of the lakes you see back home. Due to the area being a touristy, at the moment no one is allowed to go swimming in it anymore, due to sunscreen and oils on tourist swimming in the lake, that rubbed off into the water and and ended up killing fish.
Afterwards, we walked to 'central station' which is like a rainforest boardwalk. Really awesome! Keeping our eyes peered for snakes or dingo's along the way.. as you walked through the rainforest, the foliage got more and more deep and the cooler it also got in temperature. Huge trees here along the way... a nice bush walk through a fresh wet rainforest. Heat bugs were pretty loud here..and the mozzies also.. but I wasn't too worried considering the island is home to about 200 wild dingo's, 5 of the top venomous snakes, and tonnes of 'oh how I am terrified' of you spiders.
Eucalyptus Trees
Massive Trunks
Along our rainforest walk, we come across a natural spring water river running through called Wanggoolba Creek. We spot a catfish from the bridge and an eel also. The water was so clear here that you could see right down to the golden sand that lays below it.
Wanggoolba Creek
The creek meandering through the rainforest
As we head to the end of our rainforest walk, we walk by the famous Satinay trees which are thousands of years old. Their trunks are massive - pretty amazing to see (yessss i love trees) We get to the end of our walk and have lunch in a small little opening which picnic tables and open space. Bryan laid out a ridiculous amount of food..remember it was suppose to be for 30 people... so it was a feast of kaiser buns, meats, pickles, cheese, & salads.. needless to say we all stuffed ourselves not only because we were hungry from trekking through the forest, but because they cannot keep any of the food, any leftovers all get chucked :(
Brad & Satinay Tree
Second stop- Lake Mckenzie
This location is one of Fraser Island's most photographed places, and I can see why.
When we first arrived, it was still a bit overcast and cloudy..so I was worried that my pictures wouldn't turn out as good, because this place was absolute paradise. Blue and green water, white soft powder sand.. wow.
The sand is actually also rich in minerals and can be used as an exfoliant on your skin, Lore has it that the sand lends the lakes anti-ageing properties... it also really cleans your jewellery .. as I cleaned all my silver rings, buried them into the sand and they came out beaming with sparkles!
Brad enjoying the water
After our first dip into the water, most of the other crew headed back up the the designated picnic area..with picnic tables, surrounded by a wooden fence to keep out dingos! We swam for a bit longer..Brad, Alanna (the other Winnipeg Canadian) and me..until we joined the others and a bunch of kookaburras for some tea and cookies. Then Bryan told us we had another 30 minutes left before we were leaving this area, so the three of us decided to go and chill down by the water and enjoy the view, Brad went swimming again..and apparently while we were down at the beach, a dingo came by the picnic area.. so we missed seeing it.. gah!
One of my fav's of Mckenzie Lake
Checking us out at picnic area
We head to the famous ' Dingo Bar' and only option for food (other than the convenient store located about a 10 min drive) They have a buffet style, and each day is different. It was pizza, pasta, veg and salads today..and happy hour from 9-10pm -$10 jugs... we get back on the 'jug' train, along with a few shots of tequila, and 'playing in the snow' - we deff needed to have those..which kinda reminded me of polar bear shots. Bryan even bought us 2 jugs for the table..lucky for us Canadians and 2 German's, no one else drank beer but us! wooo! The night only got more random from there on... having a good time with friends and locals playing pool. Brad got himself playing pool with a bunch of older local men who live on the island, and we met another Canadian who works on the island, who then invited the 3 of us Canadians back to his cottage, where he then put on a rope fire show.. its was really cool and crazy lol
DAY 2
7am came around a lot quicker than we all anticipated.. still feeling the effects of the night before..we head back to the 'Dingo Bar' for some continental brekky, and head back out for the day on our cruise.
Today we will spend the day driving up and down the 75 mile highway, which is right along the coast, while making pit stops along the way.
First Stop - Indian Head
We head north east to the island where we then make a quick hike up a dune which arrives at a lookout looking back over the 75 mile highway.. looking out into the ocean and large sand dunes at our backs.
The view is quite spectacular from up here and you can see the sand 75 mile highway as far as possible.. and looking below the cliff we spotted some manta rays below..apparently, Indian Head is the best vantage point on the island to spot sharks, manta's, dolphins and during migration season, whales.
sand dunes behind us
75 mile highway along the beachfront
watching the rays below
Second Stop - Champagne Jacuzzi Pools
I wasn't really sure what to expect from this place.. it all sounded so awesome. Bryan set up another nice lunch for us with fajita's and then off we went to the pools! This is the only safe spot on the island for saltwater swimming. The whole concept is this; shallow pools of water which are surrounded by cliff faces (& sharp rocks). The waves come slamming over the large rock formations in the water and by doing so, this creates the water to trickle down the rock and create a jacuzzi type flow of small bubbles and foam. The sun finally decided to show its face at this point which was great and we could have stayed there chillin in the jacuzzi all day.
view from beach
View from top
Third Stop - The Pinnacles
This is a section of coloured sand cliffs/dunes that stick out from the landscape along the 75 mile highway.
We only stopped here for about 5 minutes to check out the land formation and snap a few pictures.
Fourth Stop - Maheno Shipwreck
Built in Scotland in 1904 and was the world's first ever triple screw steamer. Apparently, this ship was also used as a hospital in WWI, and then purchased by a Sydney shipping company, planning on using it between Sydney & New Zealand shipments.
Afterwards due to a shortage in funds, it was then sold to a Japanese shipping company for scrap metal. In the midst of trying to bring the Maheno back to Osaka Japan, it was hit by an unseasonal cyclone in 1935 off the coast of Fraser. Then it was abandoned and now lies on the 75 mile highway.
More than half the ship today is buried under the landscape..and eroding quickly due to the salt water.
Canadians- peekaboo
Fifth Stop - Eli Creek
This is a fresh water creek that is the largest freshwater stream on the east coast of Fraser Island. Apparently, over 4 million litres of water flow from the streams mouth out onto the beach into the ocean every hour!
There is a small knee deep water path that you can walk through and brings you downstream back to the 75 mile highway beach.
Before entering the water here, I didn't notice a creeeeeeepy spider lingering right beside my head.. I was having difficulties trying to cross back again... geeeeww!! At this location we also came across a whole bunch of baby blue frogs, which were about the size of a dime.. and also apparently very poisonous - so I'm glad we didn't pick them up! I guess the oil in there skin is poisonous.. and once it touches your mucus membranes, it can paralyze you or something scary along those lines. We asked Bryan about them, and he said if dingo's were to eat them, they would die a painful and long death.. so enough said.
almost died..(eerie jeebie happening....NOW)
Walking through Eli Creek.. felt like a jungle
Here's a few other pictures to gander on :)
Cave located at Champagne Pools
cool bug I saw on the beach at Champagne Pools
Us above champagne pools with 75 mile HWY in back & Indian Head
a monkey in the jungle at Eli Creek
locals at Hervey Bay fishing..and this is what they caught instead
Monday, 6 February 2012
Random Thoughts Feb 7th
1. Mozzie's = Mosquitoes.
They are smaller here in size... but leave a bigger bite
2. Mailboxes here look like small bird houses. A small little box with a bird house like roof... with just a slit in the top so no junk mail can be shoved into it... kinda brilliant... some other mailboxes will have an additional circular hole below for fliers... but generally, they are very small and appear as bird houses
3. Outside of the train or on buses... instead of saying 'watch your step' or 'mind the gap' they have signs posted that say "beware of the step" - like its some sort of evil thing that we should be aware of creeping up on us.. kinda makes me laugh every time I see it.. just funny Oz wording..
4. There are Blue, Red & Yellow & Fremantle (The beachfront) CAT buses that run around the city, that are FREE!!! They come frequently too... every couple of minutes and travel around the surrounding CBD (city business district) = very cool! We will be taking this free service to the grocery store more than likely..
5. Whole wheat/wholegrain breads and pasta's exist... but are not popular like back home... you don't get offered the choice in restaurants... and things like hot dog buns, hamburg buns etc .. I have yet to see wholewheat ones.. just white bread..
6. A train ticket for 1 zone = 2.60$ - you have almost 2 hours to ride the train with that ticket..and it can also be used on the buses as a transfer ... pretty sweet!
7. You can take the Ferry from East Perth to the CBD for $1.70 - ferry takes 7 minutes
They are smaller here in size... but leave a bigger bite
2. Mailboxes here look like small bird houses. A small little box with a bird house like roof... with just a slit in the top so no junk mail can be shoved into it... kinda brilliant... some other mailboxes will have an additional circular hole below for fliers... but generally, they are very small and appear as bird houses
3. Outside of the train or on buses... instead of saying 'watch your step' or 'mind the gap' they have signs posted that say "beware of the step" - like its some sort of evil thing that we should be aware of creeping up on us.. kinda makes me laugh every time I see it.. just funny Oz wording..
4. There are Blue, Red & Yellow & Fremantle (The beachfront) CAT buses that run around the city, that are FREE!!! They come frequently too... every couple of minutes and travel around the surrounding CBD (city business district) = very cool! We will be taking this free service to the grocery store more than likely..
5. Whole wheat/wholegrain breads and pasta's exist... but are not popular like back home... you don't get offered the choice in restaurants... and things like hot dog buns, hamburg buns etc .. I have yet to see wholewheat ones.. just white bread..
6. A train ticket for 1 zone = 2.60$ - you have almost 2 hours to ride the train with that ticket..and it can also be used on the buses as a transfer ... pretty sweet!
7. You can take the Ferry from East Perth to the CBD for $1.70 - ferry takes 7 minutes
Sunday, 5 February 2012
Airlie Beach & Witsunday's
Okay, I know its been a while since we have wrote ... so I'm going to try my best to remember 'everything'
We left our home and friends behind in Surfers early on Sunday morning to head out on our trip to Witsundays & Fraser Island.
We arrived at Airlie Beach around mid morning, and we booked a hostel @ Nomads, but we couldn't check in until 1pm..so we went on a mission to buy towels and have a bite for lunch.
Airlie kinda reminded me a little of Byron, in the sense that its only really like one main street strip... with a few side streets mainly catering to beach surf shops & resty's along the waterfront. Due to many stingers (jelly fish) in the water here, it is not advised to swim at the beach unless you wear a stinger suit.... so instead, they have created a man-made 'lagoon' here... pretty sweet...although sometimes when your really hot, due to the amount of people swimming and the shallow waters, the water can be quite warm and not that refreshing..but it beats getting stung by jellies - so it was a great place to lounge around all day
We booked our Witsunday Cruise with a company called "power play". Its was a 2 night 3 day catamaran cruise around the Witsunday Islands. There are 74 island in total, and we ended up stopping at 4 locations.
Day 1 - hop on boat @ 11:30am
There are 16 others that came along the cruise with us. We all took are shoes off and put them in a bag..no shoes on the boat! The skipper and crew go over a few 'rules' and then we are off to our first destination at Mantaray Bay. Along our way out into the ocean, we spot a few dolphins following the boat...pretty sweet...15 mins into our ride and we are already spotting dolphins...sick!
First Stop - Raven's Cove, Beach
We make it to our first snorkelling spot...
We are gear up in our stinger suits.. get our 'flippers' on, goggles and jump in the green blue waters.
Compared to Julian rocks snorkelling, that we did in Byron..this place was a million times better..(well of course, it should be) its the freaking GREAT BARRIER REEF!!
I will not make you jealous and go on and on about how awesome this was... but it was.
The colours of the reef here were the brightest coolest shit ever! SO many different colours, yellows, purples, green, blue... so much to see!!! Brad and I held hands and every time we saw something cool we would squeeze each others hand and point out the amazing fish we would see. The water here was shallow...and the fish were smaller... after we got out of the water and back on the boat we spotted turtles swimming along the shore and coming up for air..
Afterwards, Brad took out the surf board to try some surf paddling
Our first Snorkel area
Day 2 - Whithaven Beach - where Fools Gold was filmed
We get off the boat and trek through a rainforest to get to the beach 'lookout'
It was pretty humid going through the rainforest... and the bugs were pretty bad.
We left our home and friends behind in Surfers early on Sunday morning to head out on our trip to Witsundays & Fraser Island.
We arrived at Airlie Beach around mid morning, and we booked a hostel @ Nomads, but we couldn't check in until 1pm..so we went on a mission to buy towels and have a bite for lunch.
Airlie kinda reminded me a little of Byron, in the sense that its only really like one main street strip... with a few side streets mainly catering to beach surf shops & resty's along the waterfront. Due to many stingers (jelly fish) in the water here, it is not advised to swim at the beach unless you wear a stinger suit.... so instead, they have created a man-made 'lagoon' here... pretty sweet...although sometimes when your really hot, due to the amount of people swimming and the shallow waters, the water can be quite warm and not that refreshing..but it beats getting stung by jellies - so it was a great place to lounge around all day
We booked our Witsunday Cruise with a company called "power play". Its was a 2 night 3 day catamaran cruise around the Witsunday Islands. There are 74 island in total, and we ended up stopping at 4 locations.
Day 1 - hop on boat @ 11:30am
There are 16 others that came along the cruise with us. We all took are shoes off and put them in a bag..no shoes on the boat! The skipper and crew go over a few 'rules' and then we are off to our first destination at Mantaray Bay. Along our way out into the ocean, we spot a few dolphins following the boat...pretty sweet...15 mins into our ride and we are already spotting dolphins...sick!
First Stop - Raven's Cove, Beach
We make it to our first snorkelling spot...
We are gear up in our stinger suits.. get our 'flippers' on, goggles and jump in the green blue waters.
Compared to Julian rocks snorkelling, that we did in Byron..this place was a million times better..(well of course, it should be) its the freaking GREAT BARRIER REEF!!
I will not make you jealous and go on and on about how awesome this was... but it was.
The colours of the reef here were the brightest coolest shit ever! SO many different colours, yellows, purples, green, blue... so much to see!!! Brad and I held hands and every time we saw something cool we would squeeze each others hand and point out the amazing fish we would see. The water here was shallow...and the fish were smaller... after we got out of the water and back on the boat we spotted turtles swimming along the shore and coming up for air..
Afterwards, Brad took out the surf board to try some surf paddling
Day 2 - Whithaven Beach - where Fools Gold was filmed
We get off the boat and trek through a rainforest to get to the beach 'lookout'
It was pretty humid going through the rainforest... and the bugs were pretty bad.
whithaven beach
other side of beach view
spotted some sting rays
The Beach! Just as we started to walk to the beach the sun peered out from the clouds..and it was hot! There are also jellies here so we were suppose to wear our suits if we went out farther than our thighs... we saw sting rays, smaller fish and a couple baby lemon sharks!!!
We spent about 3 hrs here, lounging in the shallow water, playing frizbee, lying on the beach and spotting marine life. About 5 minutes before we were scheduled to leave the beach, the tide came in pretty quick and the beach was almost completely under water. This sand was soooo soft, it was like walking on powder... very fine ..another paradise beach for sure! Apparently Whithaven Beach is the rated the most beautiful beach in the world...either way, it was breath taking!
Hook Island
Our second stop for the day to get out in the water and do some more snorkelling and scuba diving!
There were only 3 of us Canadians out of all 16 ppl who actually wanted to dive... we gear up!
Weight belts.. flippers, goggles, scuba vest & tank... at this point.. its pretty heavy and hard to stand up.
The one crew member, Allen, a 20yr old American who has spent a total off 1 month underwater in 'dives' was our instructor. So, the 4 of us hop into the 'dingy' boat and head out to a shallow part of the ocean near the reef to practice and get ready to start scuba'in!
Kinda freaked out at this point, due to how heavy I was feeling, we all lean back and fall off the boat backwards and start to fall to the bottom of the ocean. At this point, once I got to the bottom..Allen was checking everyone to make sure we all were okay etc... i was not.
My mask started to fill up with water continuously and I started to freak out, and started swallowing salt water because I panicked.. I couldn't see... I felt heavy.. and I wanted to go back up to the surface at this point to catch my breath!
I tried on Allen's mask and went back down to try it again... but at this point, I'm more nervous now, as that was not a nice feeling... felt like I was pegged down by something, and I was drowning... attempt # 2.. same thing... I try looking up to the surface, pushing the section of my mask in-between my eyes, while exhaling through my nose to let the water out.. but as soon as I brought my head back down to eye level.. it began to fill back up again... so I didn't feel comfortable with this .. I guess the masks were just to large for my narrow face lol... anyways, I was pretty disappointed not being able to scuba... but I didn't want to waste anymore of the other guys time to scuba...cos you can only go down for so long with the amount the air in the tanks..so I said I would think about trying it again maybe at the next stop.
Instead I went on my own and just snorkelled around where we were.... and I'm glad in some way that it worked out that way...cos again, there was some pretty amazing marine life happening on this part of the reef also. The colours weren't as bright i found..but the marine life was larger... huge giant fish... large bright purple fish w/ blue lips... nemo's...angle fish... and tonnes of zebra fish just surrounded me and I floated around and stalked a few fish... pretty cool.. I felt like I was part of the school..and they just swim right up to you, I coulda touched them... such a cool feeling! At this point, I took our under water camera and went to town on lotssssss of things.. so i HOPE TO GAWD they worked.. I assume we will get them developed somewhere close down the line... fingers crossed!
Brad went scuba diving twice and on the second time..it was just him and Allen, which is pretty awesome, cos it was like having his own personal diving instructor. This last dive, he said was amazing! They went down 11m ..swimming through caves .. came across sweet fish ... but ill let him go into detail on all of that and his experience...
Brad getting ready to launch off boat
Big ass giant fish... at bottom of picture.. brad to the left in scuba gear.. for scale lol
During the evening on the boat, after dinner, it was nice, they had a blue light that they would shine into the water... this attracted all sorts of marine life.... first the small fish.... then the squid.... then DOLPHINS!!
It was wicked! The dolphins would just swim around the boat...sometimes peering up from the deep blue... they stayed for about an hour or so, and apparently after most of us had gone to bed, they had returned again...
Overall, we were suppose to have horrible weather the whole time...rain, storm, rain .. but when your on the water, weather changes very quick and most of the rain is land based..so it sprinkled a bit over night and stormed the first night while we were sleeping..but otherwise, it was beautiful the whole time and even though we wore 30+ sunscreen... we still got a little burnt... aka.. now a tan!
Here's a few other scenery pictures for you guys..
sunset one night with clouds
another view of 1st snorkel spot
after the storm rainbow back at Airlie Beach
coming around the bend of one the the island's
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