1 car + 2 people + lots of time = fun! (and happy birthday erin and andrea)

it's been a while since my last post, i know. but when you have a car at your disposition, and you're paying to use it for that one week, you use it as much as you can. or so it seems, anyhow. well, that's what we did anyhow. from the day we picked it up, we drove. drove drove drove. it was very handy to get to know the area, as australian's seem to love naming every 20 square meter area a "suburb" and determining which suburb is where is quite tricky for me applying to jobs. the car mad that easier. i dropped off goodness knows how many resumes, but hopefully it pays off. i have an interview on friday, so we'll see.

we had a lovely time with dave on friday. we went up to meet him in joondalup (yes, that's the name of the 'burb he lives in) it's about 30km north of us. and it's really suburbia at it's best. perhaps a little like orleans. ever expanding, but nothing really there. a good night at the thai restaurant nonetheless.

we discovered many suburbia areas whilst-with-car. we even made it to ikea. though let me tell you, it's a slightly different experience here. it's smaller, not as much fun stuff to just buy (which is probably a good thing) but also, no large warehouse at the end. turns out (as we learned) that you have to place your order while shopping, then pay, then go pick it up in a warehouse a few meters away. odd, no? apparently a new ikea is being built. a bigger, more usual ikea.

it's amazing though, how purusing shopping districts can make it feel like home. what with ikea, body shop, esprit, home dept (aussie version but same thing), etc, you would hardly notice you were in a different country...if it weren't for the accent, odd sayings and bloody heat!

we also took advantage of the car to hit up a few different beaches. mostly heading to them around this time of day (sometimes later). the sun here is hot, so i'm not concerned if i'm only "tanning" between 4-6pm. i'm still tanning. with a 30spf on. amazing.

driving on the left wasn't all that bad. minus the occasional lapse and near turning the wrong way, i did pretty well. turns out australians must forget to drive left as well, because there are signs everywhere that say "be safe. stay left". there is a large chance that we will invest in a car (2nd hand, most likely) to give us the freedom to explore the entire state of WA, and to pick up our friends when they come visit... *hint hint*

katie, we bought tim tams. i hope they're as good as you say. john bought chocolate ones, but i don't think they are the "original". we'll be sure to try them all.

erin and andrea, happy birthdays! erin i'm a few hours late for yours and andrea, i'm early (though i guess technically on time now) but i hope you both have (had) wonderful exciting days!

i'm posting pictures right now, i swear.
xo