Heyho guys,
It is my first day off since I started working as an Au Pair in Perth two months ago that I am not out and about exploring the country. WHY? Because I had a babysitting job yesterday night and unexpectedly had to stay until 1am. So, if you know me at all, I need me some sleep! This morning when I woke up by the sounds of the children at 7:30am I decided that I am too tired, too ill (it is autum here and everybody has a cold) and it is too rainy to go out. So I stayed in bed until 11am.
Instead of giving you a very well-informed detail blog post about New Norica, the only monastic town in Australia that you all have been waiting for... I uploaded a video that I took in Little Sahara on Kangaroo Island near Adelaide. I am sitting on the sandboard that we hired and I am racing down the sand dune.
I totally forgot about this video but this is probably the reason why my camera brokedown a few days later and why I had to buy a new one.
Well, I hope you enjoyed that little video.
Alrighty mates,
This weekend I actually had three consecutive days off and tried to find a bunch of sympathic people to do a trip into the Stirling Ranges for some hikes. As I couldn't find anyone suitable I looked into going to the Goldfields. By train to Kalgoorlie to visit the SuperPit but tours wouldn't take place this weekend. So I stayed in Perth and on Friday morning I got on two trains and a bus and after one hour arrived in Hillarys Boat Harbour to the AQWA: the Aquarium of Western Australia!
I arrived at shortly past 10am when they just opened to make the most of the quite expensive entry. Right at the beginning little children screamed: "LOOK! There is NEMO!"
Greetings to the world,
As described in a lengthy blog post before I pass my time in between looking after the children of my host family and doing really cool things in Australia with beer...
... combined with sweets...
Good night everyone,
After my very successful but lonely day in the Swan Valley I drove to King's Park, actually the biggest city park in the world (even bigger than Central Park, New York City). From the viewing area at the top of Fraser Avenue you have this fantastic view onto the Perth city skyline. At shortly past 5pm I positioned myself and waited for the night to come. About every 10 minutes I took a picture. So here the result of how the sky turns black and the city lighter. Enjoy!
Dear beloved food, wine and beer lovers,
On Sunday I grabbed the Saab in the morning to finally set off to the Swan Valley (actually I already wanted to go on Friday but then I had to draw up a Plan B with the Crown Casino and the City of Perth instead).
After a short stop to the Visitor Information Center in Guildford I set off to the award-winning Swan Valley Food and Wine Trail up West Swan Road.
Heyho folks,
In my last blog entry I promised you an indulgence tour through the Swan Valley. As this is only about 30km to the East of Perth and on such a tour you drive a few km and then stop at the next winery/brewery/chocolaterie/cheeserie/whatever else there is, I didn't wanted to use the massively fuel-consuming Holden Jackaroo of my host family but the Saab instead.
BUT the Holden with the basket on its roof is to high for the multi-storey carpark of the company where my host father Sébastien works. So he had to use the Saab to get to work this Friday :-(
I am not willing to pay some 20 litres of fuel per 100km to do a daytrip. So instead I got on the bus into the city center of Perth again.
Now you guys, I would like to introduce you to a bus stop in Perth and the phenomenom of 'hailing a bus' which you also have to do in the UK. When you see your bus approaching you hold out your hand, so that the bus driver knows that you want to get on the bus. Otherwise he might just drive past you (unless someone on the bus wants to get off at your bus stop, lucky you!).
Cheerio folks!
You will not believe it but just as I walked back to the house with the three kids from the playground I saw a flock of black birds at the driveway entrance of the second house to the left of our house. And they were BLACK COCKATOOS! I got the kids in quickly, told my host mother that I have to take some pictures of them, grabbed my camera and ran out again. I took as many pictures as I could before they all flew off after just 5 minutes. These are the best ones. Not spectacular but I am happy.
GO EAGLES GO!!!
On Sunday at 1pm it was time to board (together with lots of other passionate fans) one of the special express buses from the Curtin University Bus Station to the Padersons Stadium: Home of Football to the West Coast Eagles! I had booked tickets for this game against the Sydney Giants for Erin, Maria and me.
Moin Moin everybody,
After six weeks of arriving in Perth it is really starting to get into autumn. Which means lots of rain and colder temperatures. Therefore, despite having a car at my disposal to do some trips, I decided to do something in the city. And after some research I thought: "Why not go to the cricket stadion? Should be fun!" Even if I don't know the rules. Or maybe BECAUSE I don't know the rules :-)
Luckily the WACA (Western Australia Cricket Association) offers two ground tours daily during weekdays. At 10am and at 1pm. I of course went there at 10am...NOT! I slept in and didn't get out of bed until 10:30am! I got to the WACA at 12am in the dry. JIPPIE!
Hi guys,
I know, I know. After a while it is not really interesting to read about more birds. But yesterday evening there was a big storm and it was raining out of buckets. It was so windy and so loud, I thought the world is going to an end. This morning it didn't rain but the clouds were still there and dangerously grey. I still decided to go for a walk along the river. Although I brought my camera with me I didn't expect to take any great pictures. But there were quite a few birds around that I haven't seen before and I took some awesome pictures (well, for my photography abilities anyway).
Dear Fans of Australia,
One thing that some people do first before visiting anything else in Australia is to check out the beaches and go for some surfing. Mostly some long-haired, skinny, slightly tanned guys. I never thought of me as a water person and surfing wasn't high in my bucket list. But nevertheless I booked a two-hour-surf lesson with the Surf School at Scarborough Beach in Perth for Maria, Erin, Kyuwon and me. HURRAY! Let the adventure begin. Of course, quite early in the morning... REALLY?
Welcome everybody,
My host family lives in Manning which is in the Southern suburbs of Perth. The Canning River is within 10 walking minutes of the house and when I have a few spare hours and don't want to sit in front of my little laptop anymore I go for a walk along the river, most of the time accompanied by my dear camera. I discovered that lots of birds are around this area and so I started looking more closely for them.
