Swan Valley - Au Pairs taste the best of what is on offer

Dear Swan Valley lovers,
On Saturday the 4th of October 2014 my hostfamily packed their Holden Jackaroo with all necessary things for a holiday in Exmouth. Well, they would have loved to take me with them but they ran out of space due to all the luggage they need for six people. Instead I will stay in the house alone while they are away. And I took the chance to organise a day out in the Swan Valley with three other Au Pairs, our Italian driver Veronica and two German Au pairs who live close to me, Angelina and Alicia.
I have been to the Swan Valley twice before, once on my own and then again with my friend Christine. So the other three totally relied on my knowledge and hardly informed themselves about what there is to see and do. So I took them to the places I have been before.
We started at the Sandalford Winery where we had a little walk around the vineyards before we went inside to see what is in the shop.

Perth - Zoo visit with children

Dear Zoo lovers,
The Perth Zoo is only a few kilometers away from my hostfamily, just a 10 minute car drive. But I never bothered to go there in the five months that I have spent here in Perth. Why? Because it didn't offer me anything special or new that I wanted to see and at 27 AUD entry fee for an adult I wasn't willing to pay that. During the spring school holidays and just 11 days after the birth of Éléonore my hostmother asked me to join and help her with the four kids at the Perth Zoo where she would meet two other French families with their kids to spend the day.

I took the chance to take some close-up pictures of my hostchildren.

Perth - Royal Show is on! Food, craft, rides and lots of animals

Dear Royal Show lovers,
I had to shift some of my other regular jobs around to have this day off to go to the Perth Royal Show! I was seriously excited about it, even more as I would not spent it alone :-)
The Royal Shows around Australia started as agricultural get-togethers of the regional farmers and to compare their best cattle and other animals and farm produce with each other and nominate the best of the numerous categories they have. At some point they got the permission to call it royal and up to this date it is one of the main events of Perth. At 9:30am I made my way through really jam-packed trains to the Claremont showgrounds where I met Twiggy and we got inside. We got a map and a list of the day's activities and events and made our way towards the cookery pavillion.

We had a look at the different stalls and showbags and got the chance to pet a really soft-haired huge horse along the way.

Fremantle - With James at Little Creatures

Dear meeting up with friends lovers,
This is my fifth month in Perth and finally James (who I got to know on my Tasmania tour back in February) and I managed to meetup. I totally forgot that he lives here and thanks to Facebook he replied to one of my pictures of the Pinnacles that we should meet up. Due to his holidays in Europe and my West Coast tour and then the birth of the fourth baby of my hostfamily it took us quite a while.
But we managed to find a convenient time for lunch and we decided to go to the Little Creatures brewery in Fremantle.

Manning - The baby is here!!!

Dear baby lovers,
In the afternoon of Saturday, the 20th of September the fourth baby of my hostfamily finally arrived (9 days after the due date...). My hostparents didn't want to know the gender of their kids before the birth, so here SHE is:

Éléonore, fit and healthy, a French born in Perth.

Perth - Wildflowers at King's Park Festival

Dear Wildflower lovers,
It is Wildflower season in WA! HURRAY! My hostfamily luckily wanted to swap some of my working hours, so I was able to attend the month-long King's Park Festival on Saturday the 13th of September. I got up early (before 8am!) to catch two buses to King's Park where I arrived at 9:30am on a fantastic sunny day. At the top of Fraser Avenue you will be greeted by a flower bed full of wildflowers in bloom.

I love my camera! It can take the most clear close-up pictures, so I went as close as possible to all these lovely and beautiful flowers.

Cannington - Greyhound races with other aupairs

Dear dog racing lovers,
I admit it: I have never been to a dog race before! But Australia is full of firsts for me, it's just I didn't expect this to be one of them. I surely should have seen some dog races in England but somehow it never came to my mind. Together with two other German Au pairs who live nearby I decided fairly spontaneously to have a look at the races on a Wednesday as the entry is free then. On Saturdays you have to pay to get in. I picked the two 18-year-old girls up and we made our way to Cannington, only a 15 minute drive away to the Greyhound racing grounds where we arrived at about 7:30pm.

Manning - Aussie movies and Aussie literature

Dear Aussie culture lovers (I know you exist!),
In preparation of my Australia trip I have of course read a lot of information about this big big country. Especially in travel guide books like the Lonely Planet but also in magazines and on the internet. Since I arrived in Australia and especially since working as an Au Pair in Perth I took the chance to join the local Manning library to borrow some books and DVDs about Australia.

This first book however I got from Eva whom I met in Adelaide.

Perth - With Twiggy in King's Park

Dear park lovers,
One of the best things that happen to me in Australia is meeting great people! And it is even better to meet these great people again! So on the morning of Friday the 8th of August I met Twiggy in the CBD of Perth. I got to know Twiggy on the Southwest Tour that I did back in April this year, shortly before Easter.
Anyway, due to the bus breakdown and the following loss in time which we tried to compensate by getting up early (AHHHH!!!) and doing lots of things in a single day the whole group grow more and more together. Despite the bus breakdown this was probably one of the best tours I have done in Australia because of the awesome people and Twiggy was one of them. After catching up on what happened in the last few months in our lives we decided to go to Kings Park with the fantastic view onto the Perth skyline.

Perth - Why I am back

Dear Perth lovers,
Why did I decide to go back to my host family in Perth to work there for a few more months instead of just finishing my travels? Do you have any idea of how expensive Australia is???
My West Coast Tour has cost more than I expected but I would like to do some more traveling and therefore need to earn more money. My host family is supadupa nice, I got used to the children and why look (again) for another job if I already have a good one?

Perth - The day before the amazing West Coast Tour

WHOOP WHOOP!!! 
Today I met my three travelmates to pick up the van from WickedCamper and then we drove to a big Coles to go grocery shopping for our tour. We spent nearly 200 AUD for food!
And guess what happened then in the car park? The battery failed!!! These are Charlotte (in the middle), Laura and me with our sad faces in front of the open bonnet.

And YES!!! This is my home for the next 30 days: the TANKGIRL van with a rooftent on top. Seriously, this is going to be some enormous trip...

Swan Valley - Delicious food-tasting for Christine before heading back

Alrighty everyone,
On Monday morning on the 9th of June I took this picture. Why? Because I am allowed to drive these three cars at the moment :-) To the left the shiny new rental car, in the middle the old Saab and in the very back the really cool but fuel consuming Holden (4WD 7-seater).

Anyway, Christine and I navigated the rental car through the morning Perth rush hour back to the rental company and then took the train and bus back to Manning where we arrived at 9am.

Perth - Speed-sightseeing, wild food and cocktails

Cheerio ladies and gentlemen,
On Saturday morning Christine and I took the bus into the CBD of Perth where we first visited the Bell Tower at the Barrack Street Jetty.

As I have already been on it twice and the last time has only been on Monday (WA Day), so just five days ago where I had to wait 90 minutes to get in for FREE, I decided to wait in the foyer for Christine.

Fremantle - Exploring tunnels with Christine

Hurray everybody!
I got a visitor last Friday! My friend Christine who I met in Melbourne and whom I have been in contact with eversince has taken a flight very early in the morning (poor girl!) to get to Perth, WA for the first time in her life. I picked her up at the airport at 9:30am and we headed straight for Fremantle. We had so much to talk about!!! And actually it was a little bit hard for me to speak completely in German again.
As she will be here for only four days we already planned the visits for each day and I can tell ya: they are jam-packed! I parked the Saab of my host family near the Fremantle Arts Centre and we had a brief look inside.

Perth - Celebrating WA Day

Happy WA Day everyone!
On Monday morning I made it by bus to the Bell Tower at 10:05am. So just 5 minutes after it opened. But due to WA Day (Western Australia Day) the entrance is FREE and well, this queue has already formed.

Western Australia Day - 9 interesting facts about this enormous state

Happy Western Australia Day!
Or in short WA Day (before 2012 it was named Foundation Day). It commemorates the founding of the Swan River Colony in 1829.
In preparation to this public holiday here I would like to tell you 9 interesting facts about this really huge state. I found different figures in different sources (print version and internet), so this is only to give you a rough idea.

Perth - Aquarium of WA: SHARK ATTACK

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!"

Manning - Beer, sweets and birds: How I pass my time

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...

Perth - City skyline at night

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!

Swan Valley - Indulgence pur... well, almost

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.