Christmas in July (and happy birthday laura!)

i realize that it's only january, but when it feels like summer (technically it is) and you're canadian, you can't help but think that it's july. the reason that it's christmas? well, john and i had our boxes from canada arrive yesterday. their contents included our 2 road bikes, some clothes, sporting gear, pictures and frames, and some nice wedding presents (thanks!). so now the place is feeling a little more homier (i think i made that spelling up) and a little more us. so hoorah! it really did feel like christmas again.

today we're going to run some errands, pick up some other much needed things (like a desk and a dvd player) and continue to make our place feel like home. minus the snow. which i miss. no really...well, just a little anyhow. i miss the "idea of snow"

laura- are you impressed that i remembered your birthday? because i am! lol. i think i'm a day early for you, but technically the right day for me. so happy 3 to the power of 3! yes yes, i know. i'm a nerd. (or geek, whichever you prefer)

i'm off to pick up my rental car. yes, that's right. the rental car. on the left. good lord, on the left! wish me luck.

xo

Cleaning house

just because you're renting a full furnished, relatively expensive place, does not meant that it is clean. at all. really. john and i were amazed at the lack of cleanliness in our place. dirty walls, cobwebs, etc. so, we spent all day sunday cleaning house. quite the task. and we're still not done. one more bedroom and the living room and it'll be over. it feels much better to be in a clean place. now if only we could tear up the carpet and fix the back yard area. *sigh*

john just arrived at the internet cafe and told me that our delivery from canada has passed customs and quarantine and will be delivered to our house this afternoon. hoorah! now we'll hav all of our stuff, including roller blades and road bikes.

today, we're going to try to rent a car. look out world, i'm driving on the left for the firs time in my life. eek! should be good though. we want to get out to the big stores like ikea, bed sense and so on to fix up our place a little bit. and we also want to explore some of the other little regions to give us an idea for the future. and well, as if we won't hit up a beach or two.

just a short post today. not too much exciting stuff has happened. and, well, i've been sitting in this internet cafe for an hour. i can't wait to get internet at home. i'm dying without it!

katie, i walked by a golf course yesterday and still no kangaroos...

xo

Feeling hot hot hot

while i know most of you won't feel bad at all, the weather here the past few days has been ridiculously hot. i mean, 39-42 degrees celcius hot. and the wind, which is typically referred to as the "fremantle doctor" because it's so cool, has been anything but. it's an extra adjustment for us canucks i suppose, seeing how our bodies are used to cold at this time of year. we watched the news the other day, and perth had the highest temperature for the day, over any other major city. crazy!

thankfully, our villa has aircon (which is a wierd way to say it to us, but whatever). unfortunately for us, the vents in all of the bedrooms aren't working right now. we're going to get on that asap. the small fan that we have is a nice help though.

yesterday was australia day. we didn't venture into perth because it would appear that it's like being in ottawa on canada day. too many people, not enough room and bloody hot! so we stayed in freo and strolled around. very slowly (the heat was just unbearable). we bought some more sunblock, enjoyed a popsicle in the shade, and then some cold drinks in a cool cafe. by cool i mean with a/c. we headed home before most of the celebrations because we were sweating our weights worth. our plan was to walk down to the bank to watch the fireworks. well, we missed them...by a few minutes. they seem to start earlier then they do at home, but then, it's been a while since i've seen crackers at home too. we managed to see a few from freo on our walk, but didn't catch any of the ones from perth. on the plus side, we did see quite the light show put on by some serious heat lighting.

another thing we've discovered about australia, is that the internet is much more complicated and expensive. they won't do cable internet into villas or apartments for some reason. so now we need a phone line (which will cost us more) and then adsl. and you pay by usage quantity, not time. ie, we're getting a plan which allows for up to 7Gb per month of uploads and downloads. when i told the guy where we were from, he said "oh, you're going to be dissapointed then. canada has the best internet set up in the world". who knew? i sure didn't.

we're running a few errands today to help make our house feel like a home. and then tonight, a neighbour invited us to his party. fun times. hope we don't melt today.

xo

Moving in!

today was a big day. we signed the 6 month lease on our fully furnished 3 bedroom villa. provided them with 2 months rent up front (since we're not from here and have no australian rental history). then got our keys. to our place. our very own place. they also gave us a lovely delicious chocolate and the owner of the villa provided us with a bottle of wine (by us, i mean john)

we're leaving the hostel right now. waiting for our station wagon taxi to get us. may take a while we're told, since we're not going that far. apparently cabs aren't keen if it's close. but whatever. we'll go, and get settled in. pick up some groceries (the store is 2 mins from our place) and relax. next on the list will be internet, and maybe another cell phone for me.

we walked into fremantle after signing the lease and dropping off our bikes. a lazy stroll with some detours only took 20 minutes. so ry, you could make it in 5...

we went to the beach for the first time today. enjoyable. very hot. but the water felt cool. it was our first dip in a new ocean. fun. we lazed around there for about 2.5 hours or so. and we tested out our waterproof digital. much to our amazement, it worked! so you'll get a few underwater pics as soon as i can get them up. freakin' hostel.

tomorrow is australia day. should be an interesting time. i feel like i'll have to break out my red, white and blue (but not the american version)

thanks for the crazy eight info. it seems, like i mentioned previously, it is a regional thing. no one has exactly the same rules. ah well. oh, and ryanne, don't worry. they have other rum. it's just a bit more expensive...

hope you're all enjoying winter in the north! we're loving summer down here...
xo

Bikes (and houses)

on monday, we decided that we needed to make our first major purchase: bikes. those of you who know us well enough know that for the past 2.5 years, our bikes were our lives. not much has changed. we made the all important purchase after we took a cab out to see a potential apartment (well, it was a potential when we went to look, but immediately not a potential when we saw it). it was a solid 30 min walk back into town. we realized that if we wanted to look at a lot of apartments and villas, then bikes would make it easier. so, we bought them. they are matching his/hers bikes. and the only way you know who's is who's, is that mine has a rack and my seat is lower. that's about it. the pics will tell...when i can post them. *sigh*

we've been very busy on the housing front. perth, as we have discovered, is currently on a housing boom. it was recently rated one of the 10 most expensive places in the world to buy a home. buying a home is not even an option as this point as it would run us into the ground financially, with the average price for a single bungalow being approx 400 000$. the rental market is hot hot hot. many places are posted and gone within the same day. thankfully, we managed to find a place. we're dropping our application off this morning (it's a rigorous process) but the property manager hasn't shown it to anyone else. i'll keep you posted on the official news, but so far, it's looking good. it's a small 3 bedroom villa in a little villa complex. it's about 10 minutes by bike out of fremantle. it's fully furnished and a short term lease (6 months) which gives us time to procur items, get to know the area and decide where we want to look for a more permanent abode. so, you can start planning your trip...we have room!

we also did a nice cycle to murdoch, which is where john will be going to school. it's quite far from this area, but we can deal with that for short term. it's a large campus and his building seems nice. it will be a bit of a hike out there, but he's willing to give it a go.

a few more interesting tidbits:

-perth is amazingly hilly (my quads can atest to that)
-going barefoot is quite common (around the hostel AND the city. it's kind of gross)
-australian rum smells and tastes like cigarettes
-hostels remind me of residence...and john and i are the RAs (or dons for some of you)
-google maps makes places look deceptively close
-everything seems to grow UP here. it's odd, and cool at the same time

thanks to those of you who chimed in on crazy 8's. wouldn't mind hearing a few more answers though, because it appears that crazy eights is like a regional dialect. same basics, but certain differences.

hope you're all doing well!
fyi- we like comments...
xo

Cell phones and flip flops

2 things we decided that we needed to buy today. first, the cell phone to help us arrange for apartment viewings and to help me arrange for interviews. success! we purchased one for cheap (very cheap, actually) and have a pretty good plan with virgin mobile. hopefully it goes well. we've already made numerous phone calls for apartment hunting. and we've got quite a few viewings set up for tomorrow.

second, flip flops. a necessity, as mentioned before, secondary to hostel showers. but also because well, we're in a sunny location and wanted something light to wear. we scored a pair each today, at reasonable prices.

we continued to explore today. tried to narrow down some living locations. it's tough because we don't know the area. we think this region (fremantle) is where we'd like to live, but then again, there are many areas that seem nice. we figured we'll look for short term in this area...that way we can move if we find somewhere we prefer.

john and i have a "dispute" for you to voice in on: while getting ready to play crazy eights (countdown, for those who care) we were trying to determine the rules. apparently cornwall and pei have different rules. so, we were wondering if you would tell us your thoughts on the following... can you use 3's for pick up as well? if i put a 2 down, and you place another 2, do you have to pick up 2 first, or does the next person pick up 4. can you use a 4 to reverse the play (only in large groups), when you pick up a card from the deck (because you didn't have the right suit) are you able to then use your cards at the same time (ie, you pick up a 6 of hearts and you have a 6 of clubs. can you lay that down as well?) we appreciate your thoughts.

a few more things we have discovered about australia:

-tax is included in the price
-tipping is optional (lovely)
-i still don't believe in kangaroos
-scooters are rampant (yay for me!)
-aussie's are awful with directions (giving them, that is)
-getting used to the left is difficult (even when you walk, you give way to the left. it's wierd)

we're about to head to bed. amazingly enough, the time change hasn't been bad at all. minus the fact that we lost a day. that still seems odd. but otherwise, the adjustment was easy (so far)

hope you are all doing well!
xo

Arrival and exploration

we made it!

here we are in perth. geographically as far from cornwall as we could have moved (according to eric, my geography guru). to be precise: exactly 1/2 way around the world from cornwall is approximately 300miles off the coast of perth (again, eric). so, it may be shorter for you to start digging...we'll hire a boat for the day to meet you :)

our flights weren't as bad as we had expected. long, yes. don't get me wrong. very very long. so long that my coccyx was sore from the uncomfortable seats. but we had good entertainment, good food and overall 2 good flights. we arrived in perth this morning (last night to all of you back home) at 9am. we were surprisingly ok. well, we felt ok. but when i post a before/after picture of the flights, we look worse for wear, that's for sure. no problems at customs at all either, which was surprising given the amount of stuff we have.

we took a shuttle into fremantle and got settled in at our hostel. the largest i have EVER seen. it's huge. it's got a pool, free internet, a very cheap bar, and a luxury kitchen (though a rather disgusting looking keyboard. thank goodness for purell!). our room leaves much to be desired, but it's cheap, it's central and well, it's cheap. after dropping our ridiculous amount of stuff off (we are at a backpacker's hostel after all... most of them are not moving here for 5 years!) we took off to explore. in the 30 degree weather. with a nice ocean breeze to keep it feeling nice. ah! so this is why we came...

spent the rest of the day strolling around freo (as the locals say) and along the coastal trail. found the market, hit up a grocery store and stopped at a cafe. as i write this, john is preparing some food for us, which we will eat on the back patio of the hostel. this will likely be followed by a drink at the cheap bar. fun!

things we've learned about australia so far:

-we don't think kangaroo's are as populous as we have been lead to believe... we have yet to see one
-the "el camino" is a suprisingly popular car here (no, really. i mean it)
-spf 30, applied twice in 5 hours is still not enough for our delicate "whitey" canadian skin. a touch of pink on the shoulders. mental note: spf 45
-flip flops are a necessity for many reasons, including hostel showers
-the people are really friendly and have such cute accents!
-booze is cheap

that's it for today folks. i'll keep posting quite a bit in the next few weeks to keep you really up to date. i'll post pictures as soon as i can find a usb port (the hard drive on this comptuer is mysteriously not anywhere to be seen).

miss you all already!
xo

Getting ready

here i am in vancouver waiting to begin "our new life". john gets here on monday night. we've been saying goodbye and seeing everyone that we possibly can. if we missed you, don't worry, we'll be visiting periodically. or better yet, you can visit us.

keep checking this blog because i'll do my best to post stories and pictures about our life in australia.