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

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.