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PHIL: Aussie Aussie Aussie!!! Oy oy oy!! Whatever, we're in Oz..in Perth. We arrived on Monday 4th August and have been here since...it's beautiful. Well we were originally in the city but moved out to the coast, to a place called Cottesloe which I recommend anyone who comes to Perth to go to...it's breathtaking.
The flight was only 5 hours so a bit boring really as a journey less than about 10 hours is very short for us now. Me and Nath got stuck straight into the Singapore Slings on the plane though, until the turbulence kicked in and they stopped the drinks service...typical because they got to the row in front and then stopped!!! However, we couldn't go a journey without a drama now could we - this one involved Paul being stopped by airport security and eventually having to be escorted on to the plane! - He had (stupidly) got a knife (just a normal knife from a knife and fork set mind) and a pair of scissors in his rucksack that he was taking on the plane...oh and massive bottles of contact leans solution (you can't take any liquids on still)..so they all came up on the screen and he was stopped and escorted somewhere and had to give his passport in and say why he was stupid to have these things with him - and where was the fork and spoon??!! - and then he had to g somewhere else and then somewhere else to get a 'slip' - practically an 'I AM STUPID' sticker - an then, while I'm worrying as normal and Nath, Mark & Hollie are pissing themselves, he gets escorted past all the queues for boarding and taken straight on the plane!! - We get on and he's already all cosy playing on 'brainteasers'!
So when we arrived in Oz we were totally questioned at passport control and paul was looked at like a complete idiot for having a knife and scissors, he felt so stupid he didn't bother reclaiming them! The woman also told us off for having no accommodation booked when we'd had our tickets booked since November - "You have had your tickets booked since NOVEMBER and you have NO accommodation for TONIGHT???????" "Why is this? WHY? WHY? WHY?" - and I had to tell her..."Ermmmmm...Well coz Mark told me not to.."
BUT, when we came into the arrivals, an aussie man spotted us straight away as 'newcomers' to the country and stopped us and was proper friendly and helpful, told us where to stop, how to get there, where's good to go out "for the youngsters" and gave us his email address and his phone number! - we'd been told that everyone's like that here, they're all dead friendly and never feel put out like people in England would be - that it's normal for a single old lady to offer 4 men a lift in her car and stuff (!!?)...So it wasn't weird or creepy. Then after that when trying to find out where the bus was into this backpackers area, a bus driver was dead friendly, gave us a cheaper deal, rang hostels for us and booked us in and a guy round our age on the bus just chatted away about what to do in Perth, where to look for work, how to get bank accounts, about transport and if we want to buy a car...loadsa' tips and a room in Melbourne when we get there!! - he also gave us his number and we saw him a week later in town and he came running up behind us asking how we are.
So what have we done since arrived...? We stayed at this hostel 'Underground', in a place called Northbridge which is great for pubs, restaurants, loads of backpackers, good atmosphere....but because we were so skint now (Oz is ridiculous, a massive shock to the system - we can't afford to eat here!! It's more than home too - a Boost is over a quid!!!), we couldn't really enjoy the nightlife so it was bit pointless being in the middle of things that we couldn't enjoy. And it was a bit depressing there, in the city...and Perth city is noting to shout about I'm telling you, it was cold and everyone speaks english and the streets are just like home...felt like we were back in Huddersfield, except they had no "two meals for a fiver' deals anywhere! So after a few nights (exploring the city, opening bank accounts, applying for tax numbers so we could start working etc), we moved to a suburb on the coast called Cottesloe...and we've stayed here, We all fell in love with it straight away - it feels like I'm in Summer Bay seriously..I keep waiting for Alf Stewart to walk round the corner with his fishing rod saying "fair dinkum". Our hostel is called Ocean Beach Backpackers and it's on the beachfront - the view from our room every morning is just....breathtaking. Honestly, this place makes me so happy....being able to walk on the beach every morning and go for a run on a night...watching the sunset over the sea...I'm getting ecited just writing this!! We're so lucky to be here doing this....
Since arriving in Cottesloe we've met tons of people as the hostel is full of backpackers from all over again and they are all really nice and it's a cool atmosphere like the South African ones were. We've enjoyed free 'sausage sizzles' and pool comps, got tons of free breads from the Germans (!), watched far too much of the Olympics from an aussie view and hollie's got herself locked in a toilet cubicle - she had to climb right up on to the toilet and over the wall and down into next doors to let herself out!!!...and paul hid in a locker from her last night while we all waited outside the room and he jumped out on her when she came out of the bathroom....that scream..was louder and more high pitched than nathan's!! We've all managed to find work - we all went for an interview last Wednesday for this cleaning company that clean houses...we all got the job straight away and me and hollie started thursday while the boys started Friday. Me and Hol had a nightmare of a day - we had 1 and a half hours for the 1st house (we got put together and given a car and some addresses and house keys and a map and had to get on our merry way straight away!) but it took us 3!! It was full of clutter and we just didn't know when to stop cleaning and were apparently paying way too much attention to detail...so we got well behind and then were behind all day they had to cancel one of our houses and we still got back late to the office...so Hollie sacked it off after 1 day!! The boys started Friday and Paul got put with me, Mark with 'Sandra' and Nath with 'Big Girl Michelle' (much to mark's amusement). Sandra just told Mark to hoover all day and she did a very quick job on everything else so they were finished for 3pm (we finish at 6) and Nath colour coded his cloths for different tasks...while me and Paul were in awe of the houses and working our asses off, to get back at 6.30.
Paul and Nath bagged labouring jobs for cash in hand on Monday and Tuesday this week so rang in sick to the cleaning job so me and Mark are working together this week...we've been given a car now to take home too so that's ace. We have been getting MASSIVE amazing mansion houses and we're just proper giddy, Mark keeps running round with his feather duster while I take photos. He also seems to love the Dyson (he was very annoyed today when one owner asked if he would use her vacuum instead of the Dyson!) The houses are seriously amazing though, it's mad...we can't believe we're being allowed in these places. AND, we don't have to take our shoes off or anything!!!
So that's it for now...I'm trying not to go on too much this time (!)...we're all working...Nath has some more labouring work for sat and sunday morning, Paul's back cleaning, me and mark are living the dream and Hollie has bagged herself a cushty job as a kitchen hand at a suave restaurant at the bottom of our road - it's on the beachfront and does beaut food and she gets staff discount, gets paid $18 an hour and gets made chips all day - AND GETS FREE CHEESE!! (i knew i should have got in there 1st!). So we spend the evenings socialising, eating (now we have a bit of dollar coming in) and watching the Olympics and the weekend we will be exploring lovely Freemantle and Rottnest Island aswell as Scarborough (it's a tad nicer beach than our Scarborough, but only a tad!)...so plenty of adventures coming up.can't wait!!
The sad news is though that Nathan is leaving us in a few weeks to start his next year at college with work....I'm not thinking about this right now as I'll be gutted and it really won't be the same for me, so it may be a while before I write a blog again (I can hear you cheering!!)...but, we'll leave it there and make sure his last few weeks are FABDABBYDOSEY!!!! Take care everyone xxx
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