Catching Up

It has been quite some time since I last posted. When I looked at the date of the last post, I almost could not believe how long it had been. Since moving to Perth, I used writing for its almost cathartic ability to allow me to analyse how I was feeling at any given point. Those feelings were somewhere between excitement, terror, awe and uncertainty (and I still feel that way at times). It is interesting that I've let that go by the wayside given the fact that I am involved in daily routine things, like work, tending my home, my lemon tree and my husband. I suppose I am becoming settled into life.

It is about time that I get you caught up in how things are progressing in "life on Perth," because at times, it does seem like another planet (www.lifeonperth.com). For example, I discovered Nordstrom ships internationally. I got so excited as I scanned the pages of the website looking for a pair of wellington boots I had seen in a magazine. I thought they would be perfect for our winter, which is quite rainy, and my walking commute to work. I found them, selected my size and was just about the check out when I calculated that the shipping would be $62.00(USD)!! That was half of the cost of the boots! Needless to say, I have put off any shopping excursions until we get back to the US, what with the Australian dollar being just about on par with the US dollar, our money here is doing well.

Another thing that happened this spring was my knee surgery, another brush with the Australian health care system. I was quite pleased with the care received at Bethesda Hospital. The cafe there has a beautiful panoramic vista of the Swan River. For my day surgery I had a private room where Larry and I hung out until they brought me to theatre which was scary only in that it reminded me of the movie "Dead Man Walking" because the theatre bed had a support for my arm that was surprisingly similar to that which Sean Penn's character had just prior to his injection. Another slight misadventure was the timing of my procedure - November 25. I would have rather been cooking a turkey than having hard cartilage bits extracted from my knee, but hey...when in Rome. My recovery has been slow but steady. I'm gradually getting stronger and looking forward to getting back to cycling and running. I'm already back in the pool, but swimming just as slow as ever.

In my next series of blogs, I will bring you up to date on our adventures from the spring and summer. We've been keeping busy. I will share with you now pictures from our day trip to Yanchep National Park. We went on this day trip just prior to my knee surgery. It is only about 40 minutes north of Perth, an easy drive up the Mitchell Freeway. We got there around noon, just in time to have a picnic. We were about half way through our picnic when we realised that there was a duck sleeping underneath our picnic table. He woke up when about 3 other ducks came begging. There was also another bird that looked like a thin, tall, black chicken - like nothing I had ever seen - and despite having chicken feet, it could swim.

Yanchep has nice picnic grounds, a small hotel, hiking trails and a koala habitat. There is also a cafe and botanic gardens. Here are some pictures from our trip:



There were heaps of nice, easy trails that were great for my tender knee. The rock formation behind us, which I believe is limestone, is typical for the area which is rife with caves. It was almost creepy to be walking along and seeing the signs telling you not to go off trail, that the world off the path is unstable and you might fall through the ground and into a cave where you undoubtedly were never meant to be. We actually snuck down into a cave that they use as a wedding venue. It was beautifully decorated for a reception that evening and very romantic with low lighting and candles and fairy lights galore.

More pictures from our bushwalking:



"You are lagging behind. You are supposed to be walking in front of me to watch for snakes!"



"Wishful thinking"
(It is actually a native species called spear grass and is a really unique plant.)

One of the funnest things about Yanchep is the wildlife. There were kangaroos in the park. When the first one bounced along about 3 metres in front of me I had to do a double take. Then a second one bounced by and I was able to grasp the fact that I was seeing kangaroo and I was not at a zoo. These particular kangaroos must have been used to people, though, as we were able to get quite close.



While I would like to trick you into thinking I was able to see a wild koala, alas, they are not indigenous to Western Australia. At Yanchep there is a koala habitat and we got quite close to some of them. The Koalas are very sleepy all the time. Their diet of eucalytpus leaves is of such high fibre and low calorie that it leaves them somewhat lethargic. Needless to say when we saw them move we got excited.



"Sleepy little bugger"





Overall, Yanchep is a park I would recommend for anyone wanting to get a taste of bushwalking in WA. The trails were well maintained and the only limiting factor for us were the flies. We learned that we will be doing most of our hiking in the fall and winter months, especially inland. We really enjoyed the topography and scenery of the park.



Lake that we hiked around.



Lush forrest.



Bushland scrub.

And this was just the start of our spring/summer times...

Looking for Work? Come to Perth!

Oh Crap! I didn't really mean to get hired! I was just starting to get into my daily routine - get Larry off to work, put on a load of laundry, get back into bed, hang out laundry, grocery store to pick up anything I might need for dinner, plus my regular weekly trip to Ikea...How did this happen? I'll tell you how!

We were here for only a week before Larry had to start work. So when he went off to Sydney for orientation, I got busy. One of my tasks while he was away was to start looking for work. I knew about careers.com.au. I sent my resume to a recruiter for a position as a workers' compensation case manager for an insurance company and wouldn't you know that 20 minutes later she called me and I was in for an interview two days later. Well, that's not the job that I got, but it set some expectations regarding response times and was really quite indicative of the lack of qualified candidates for all of the work that is going on in this capital city.

A few days later I was shopping for sheets, comforter and duvet cover near our house. On the advice of the gal waiting on me at the bedding store, I found seek.com.au. After looking for about 10 minutes, I found a job for a Legal Case Manager. I remember this was a Thursday. I had a haircut appointment at 2:30 and I sent my resume for this position before I went to the salon. While I was waiting for the shampoo boy, my cell phone rang. It was a person calling to set up an interview for me for the Legal Case Manager position. Score! Two in a row!

The day before my interview I prepared and researched and read cases to get ready so the people I would be speaking with would actually think that I had a clue about being legal and managing cases. Never mind that I had successfully managed roughly 450 cases at a time at my last job. There was just something fascinating about the work that they did and my research. It was refreshing for me to stretch my brain like this. At this point I had not really gotten used to being Ms. Leisure so I think my brain was overreacting to the intellectual stimuli.

In any event, the interview went great. I got called back for a second interview about two weeks later. My second interview lasted less time than the 6 block walk from our cottage to the office. I was one of several candidates and would get an answer in another week. Well, that Friday happened to be the start of the Perth Fashion Festival. I got to be in attendance at the Every Body Counts cocktail party and fashion show. During the champagne and nibbles event my cell phone rang (mind you it was around 4:30 on a Friday afternoon - who works then?). It was not so good news - I didn't get the Legal Case Manager position because I am not licensed to practise law, but I must have left a positive impression on them as they wanted to know whether I would accept a position as a regular case manager. The salary was a bit lower, but they had to know so that they could get the funding approved to create the position. I was ecstatic and said yes. I found out that I would hear about the position in about a week. This is all under the din of the Carilon CIty Food Court where the cocktail party was going on. In fact, after I hung up with them I returned to the party to end up brushing up quite literally with Jerry Hall who happens to be on an extended stay in Perth while performing in The Graduate.

So for the past two weeks I have not known whether I was going to work or not. After not hearing from them for a week, I decided to start looking again. I had hope that this quasi governmental agency would come up with the funding, but some people say WA means Wait Awhile which is not really what I wanted to do. Plus, it seemed that any job to which I applied I got a call on 15 minutes after I sent in my resume so it should be a snap right? WRONG! One Monday I sent out my resume at least 8 times and some of them for legal assistant/paralegal positions and in fact got rejected within 24 hours! What?!?!?!?!? After two days of huntng and not getting the instantaneous response to which I was accustomed I was starting to get downtrodden. Everyone should have some sympathy for Larry having to deal with the "why haven't they called me yet?" and the "what is taking so long?" and the "why doesn't anyone want to hire me?" Thank God (and Buddah, Allah and the rest) that he has a degree in psychology!

So last Friday I ran errands literally all over Perth. It felt like I went from one end of town to the next. I was walking down Roberts Road (a pretty heavy traffic area, especially on a Friday afternoon before a long weekend) when I got the call from the CEO. I got the job and was to start on Tuesday at 10:00. I was so excited that I went right to this one boutique that I really like and bought myself a new dress for my first week (our container and thus the bulk of my professional clothing has not yet arrived yet). My second stop was to buy a bottle of champagne!

You might be asking yourself what I am going to be doing. Since I will working for the Medical Board of Western Australia which is actually soon to be no more and I have to sign a confidentiality agreement on Tuesday, I am not so sure exactly how much I can share publically. I don't want to make waves before I even start. I will tell you my job in general terms. When someone makes a complaint about a doctor's conduct I will be the one performing the investigation and making recommendations about what should be done to the committee who determines the fate of the doctor. The standard here is not a negligence standard as in a tort action, but maintain standards of professional conduct. The job is an absolutely perfect match for me and I am thrilled. I start on 28 September, right after we celebrate the Queen's Birthday. We are heading to Kings Park for a picnic with some friends.

While I am excited about starting my work, I am going to miss some aspects of not working. I will not miss having to get up and be somewhere at a certain time. I really enjoyed the freedom of no time constraints and deadlines except those that were self imposed and thus readily changeable. What I am looking forward to is the intellectual stimulation and the social interaction that naturally arise from being employed. After some time I will give you an update as to how things are going, but for now it is time to head out to the park and enjoy the last few hours of freedom.

Adios Poblano

Today I decided to test a theory - the theory of Red Sox Nation. Since moving to Perth over a month ago, we've run into only one other American. The story is rather random. Larry and I headed out for a night on the town. We had tickets to see a fashion show comprised of different Western Australian designers that was part of the Perth Fashion Festival. We had drinks in the sophisticatedly decorated Fashion Bar, saw the show and then walked to The George to have dinner. We settled in at our table and the waitress walked up and asked us if we would prefer still, sparkling or tap water. After she left the table, Larry came to the realisation that she had an American accent, or at least a non-Australian/British Caucasian accent. When she returned to the table I asked her if she was from North America. It turned out that she was from Alabama studying for her masters degree in marketing at the University of Western Australia! Since then, I've been on a hunt for more of us.

Evidently there are allegedly around 5,000 Americans living in the Perth metropolitan area. In fact, I am a member of a Meet Up group of American ex-pats in Perth, but apparently the group seems to have gone defunct. I was determined to find more and thought I had figured out how to do it. I had some errands to run in town this afternoon, so I did what any other red blooded American would do before heading out to do errands - I donned my Red Sox hat! I knew that if I was seen by another American at the very least, the resultant surprised glance of seeing a MLB garment in lieu of an AFL garment would be enough to tip me off that I might be in the presence of another State-sider. Off I went on my errands and to my chagrin, not so much as a knowing glance by a passer by. Slightly disappointed, I headed into the back garden since it was nice enough today to start the third of the Millenium series, The Girl who Kicked the Hornets' Nest, that I have been hungrily gobbling up for the past two weeks.

The absence of my fellow Americans is not the only thing missing here. No, I'm not going to talk any more about Tide, but produce, specifically the poblano pepper. Larry and I are making it a habit to attend the Subiaco Farmer's Market here in Subiaco on Saturday mornings. The Market is chock full of different produce vendors (my favourite is the organic market), bakers, spice vendors, eggs, olive oil producers, flowers and the like. In fact the last time we were there we got crapes for breakfast that were just fabulous. Here are some pictures of our last trip to the Farmer's Market.



Larry and the booth that sells crepes.



A view of the stalls.



Us with our loot, including the 2 litre jug of olive oil!

One vendor there has a farm where they raise free range pigs. These pigs are quite large and have course black fur (there were pictures). Apparently the theory is that the pigs are free to roam about and are happier so their meat tastes better - don't laugh because it does. The bacon from this place rivals any bacon you have ever bitten into in the States, hands down. On this particular day, we brought home spicy chorizo as well.

By now you may be asking how this relates to the poblano pepper. The other day I looked up a recipe to use for the chorizo. I found on Epicurious.com a recipe for chorizo, poblano and yam fajitas. It just so happened that I had sweet potatoes that I had also purchased at the Market so it was a perfect recipe for our Sunday dinner, or so I thought.

Larry has one of the most difficult tasks in the world - dealing with my obsessive compulsive disorder. We went to about 4 different produce stands and 3 grocery stores to try and find two poblano peppers for this recipe. Finally, at the last grocery store, the one closest to our house, I asked the fellow stacking apples whether they ever get poblano peppers. He looked at me as if I had just informed him that a UFO had landed in the dairy department. Apparently poblano peppers do not exist in Perth. They will be missed. I ended up using a green bell pepper (known here as capsicum) and a few jalapenos and the recipe turned out great.

Trust me, though, things are not bad here and not everything has to be compromised like my fajita recipe. We just happen to have trade offs. Instead of poblano peppers, we have Peri Peri chicken and pizzas topped with creative items such as garlic prawns, roasted red capsicum and peanut satay sauce; things never heard of in the States, at least in the Tampa metropolitan area. One of the biggest adjustments I have had to make (and am still making) is looking at everything WA does have instead of focusing on things that I perceive as missing. It is the metamorphosis from "how do these people make a salad without hearts of palm?" to "what selections from this antipasto bar will make my salad delicious?"

While I am hitting my stride in my "Lady of Leisure" status, doing things such as taking daily naps, reading lots of books (can't stand the thought of finishing the last Stieg Larsson novel) and getting to the store while everyone else is at work, I think I will do much better and not nit pick all of the small stuff once I get a job. Anyone know of a company in Perth looking to hire?

In Like Flynn

We've been in our new cottage for one week now. While it is new to us, it is not really new. In fact, it is probably over 100 years old. We have three rooms: bedroom, office and a kitchen/lounge combination. For a place this size we have lots of storage and a beautiful courtyard with a mature lemon tree. Our place is cozy, but the location is second to none. We are three blocks from 2 grocery stores, 2 bakeries, a wine shop and a mile long road full of shops and restaurants. Almost everything you would need is within walking distance. Larry's office is moving to downtown next week and he will be able to have a pleasant 30 minute walk to work, or a 15 minute bus ride. From the locals I've heard that Subiaco, the name of our suburb pronounced sue-bee-AH-co, is quiet in the evenings, but the one night that we walked to dinner there were plenty of people around for our liking. I think the person I was talking to was referring to the night club scene to which I reply, been there, done that. In my ripe old age of 36 I find that a nice dinner out followed by a simple stroll can really elevate the soul.

Some pictures of the empty house:



The front of our place. It is a duplex with one common wall.



This is the back courtyard area. We are really looking forward to spending more time out there when the weather warms up. It warmed up a little bit over the past weekend, just enough to tease us, but now the temperatures are back into the teens and single digits at night. A humorous aside related to weather; the Australian Broadcast Channel (ABC) does national news and weather. I was watching the weather forecast one night and the weatherman actually said, "and for those of you who care, the barometric pressure is ...." That made me laugh out loud, but perhaps you had to be there to see it.



This is the kitchen/lounge area. Lounge translated into American English is living room. If it looks quite empty to you, that's because it is. The furniture should start rolling in perhaps as early as tonight. It will be really great to have before and after pictures. I won't bore you with pictures of the front room and our bedroom. They are pretty non-descript especially since they are empty.

While the saying "in like Flynn" would connote that the transition was smooth, we have faced some challenges as well. I hate to label these things as challenges because in the grand scheme of life they are just slight nuisances. As one of my mom's friends used to say, a pebble in the sneaker of life."

Challenge 1: Buying furniture.

Furnishing a home from scratch is not easy, especially if you are as spatially challenged as I am. Thank goodness that with the help of my super designer friend, Brynne, we took the first steps of ordering bar stools and a couch. Originally, we thought we would get all the furniture for the lounge in one fell swoop. This fantasy lasted about 15 minutes as we wandered around the furniture store trying to figure out whether each piece would fit in our space and whether it would match. Furniture is not cheap here and since we didn't want to make a mistake we decided to start baby stepping.

After we get the stools and couch we can decide whether the next piece will fit and so on and so forth. While this will mean that getting settled might take a little bit longer, it will mean that we hopefully will not make any big, expensive mistakes.

Another lesson I learned is that buying major furniture is like buying a car. Apparently there is a large mark up on the price and store keepers are willing to negotiate a deal. I found a bed, for example at one store. The sales person told me that the bed was on sale for one price, but he could do a little better and wrote another price down on a card for me. I thought this interesting so a few hours after I got home, I called him back, told him I wanted the mattress, but my husband thought it was too expensive. I asked him if he could do any better and he took another $80 off the price!! While I didn't get that particular bed, I did end up getting a bed that retailed for $4,999.00 for $2,300. The bonus was the delivery. They told me between 2 and 4 PM and actually showed up at 3:30!! Given the reputation of Western Australians for having their own time table, I was impressed.

Challenge 2: Home Wares.

If you've been following the blog you know that much of what we packed up in the container to send over here was supplies for the kitchen, homewares, glasses, dishes, pots and pans. We learned about a week ago, that our container has not even left the US yet and is not due to arrive in Perth until October 20 after which it must have the customs inspection that can take up to 14 days. Basically, I should have all of my kitchen gear in time to make Thanksgiving dinner (forget the fact that if I am working by then I will have to use a slow cooker for the turkey since I will have to work that day - no Thanksgiving celebration here). As a result, I have had to do things like buy a couple of pans, replace the dishes, glasses and cutlery and purchase a few other cooking implements. Oh darn (sarcasm added).

Having my new kitchen implements has actually been a bright spot as I can now investigate the local cuisine and start to use some early fruit of the bumper crop off our lemon tree. I've made some great dishes with our lemons, including a pasta with broccoli in lemon sauce with pancetta croutons (almost burnt down the house because we had no idea how to operate the ventilation hood - smoke EVERYWHERE!) and moroccan chicken with lemons and green olives. For the recipes, just search on Epicurious.



The first lemon from the lemon tree out back!!

Challenge 3: Cleaners.

We got the keys to the cottage about 3 days before we actually made the transfer from our temporary place. During that time, I wanted to clean the apartment. I went to the grocery store to pick up my cleaners and guess what? None of them are the same as any cleaner that you might get in the US. My bad, I was able to get Windex. Think about a world without Tide, Lysol and Scrubbing Bubbles! Instead, I have Pine Cleen (sic), Shower Sparkle and Morning Fresh. Picking out the cleaners was a bit of a crap shoot, but what's the worst that can happen? (Shower Sparkle is a bit asphixiating, so that might not get back on the shopping list) Dealing with this perceived challenge has actually caused me to change my attitude a bit. Instead of lamenting over the loss of Tide Total Care Clean Cotton, I get the opportunity and adventure of trying an entire new range of detergents and products. Keeping focused on new experiences, both positive and negative - in the case of Shower Sparkle, is helping me to survive a bit of the culture shock. While you might think that given the fact that Australia is an English speaking country our cultural values would be similar, but in fact the differences would truly surprise you.

Flying Solo

After a weekend running around, it was time for Larry to head over to Sydney for his official orientation. This meant that I would be alone for 2 nights and almost 3 days: mixed blessing. I'm used to Larry's traveling regularly since his line of work normally requires him to fly out on Monday and fly home on Thursday night. So far in our relationship, this has worked out quite well, but I was not too excited to be left alone after only being here for one week! The only thing I was really looking forward to was sleeping in the middle of bed.

First thing was first. I’ve been eating very well since arriving here, so I found a bikram yoga studio. Ten days of unlimited hot yoga torture, only $20. This is not a bad deal since the drop in rate for one class is $18. This kept me active Monday and Tuesday. No friends yet, though since you are asked not to talk in the studio (bikram folks are hard core). At least I was able to get my sweat on.

Tuesday, I spent the morning on line looking for a job. I e-mailed a resume on one position and got a call within 20 minutes. Apparently the job market is a bit more robust here than back in Florida.

Being in a jolly mood, I spent the afternoon checking out the shops in Subiaco, our soon to be new neighborhood. I found lots of things to help feather our new nest: stools, blankets, sheets, coffee pot and wine glasses as the ones we brought didn’t make it through the trip (total tragedy!). I even found a store that stocks Dr. Bronner's liquid soap! When I found it, I almost cried. When so many every day items look different, sometimes it is really comforting to see something that looks familiar. I haven’t shopped for laundry soap yet, but I’m willing to bet they don’t have Tide Total Care. At least I have the Dr. Bronner’s option.

Leederville is a great little neighborhood that has a particularly lively Tuesday night life. After checking in with hubby, I headed out to Kitsch. Tuesday nights they have pad thai and Chang beer for $18.80! That is a pretty great deal considering the beers alone are $7.50. I’m not so much of a beer person, but the Thai beer blended well with the pad thai containing pork, tofu and squid! It was really good, but seriously portion controlled. I could have eaten two. So after dinner, I went over to Dome and got a chocolate chip cookie! This is exactly why I am in need of the hot yoga.

This morning I woke up feeling a bit more adventurous, so I ventured our for a jog. I made it all the way past the Subiaco Oval in 30 minutes which was great for my park walk/part jog. It was cold, but worth it to know I could make it that far that quickly. The Subiaco Oval is really neat looking, too. From the shops out front it appears to be home to both the Perth Eagles and the Fremantle Dockers, both AFL teams. Larry and I both have Footy fever! We love watching the games on tv. The physical stamina these guys have is amazing! They take hits without pads that would seriously injure players in other sports where they wear padding. Check it out on ESPN 2 if you have the chance. The premiership is coming up so I’m not sure we’ll have a chance to see a game this season, but definitely next year when we will be within blocks of the stadium. In fact, I believe that the parking signs on our new street indicate no parking on the days when there are Footy games!

After my interview I headed out to Oxford Street. I grabbed a chai and sat in the sun in the park for a bit. I discovered a lovely fish market with lots of new things to try. One item that I have never seen in the states are scallops actually still in the shell! I wonder if you can cook them like mussels or if you need to extract them from the shell first. Sounds like another Google search! I also discovered an Indian grocer that has both take out, dine in and byo, a concept that I love - bring your own wine and the restaurant charges a small corkage fee which is much less on the mark up they normally put on a bottle so it works out well.

I’m now back at home safe and getting ready to fix some dinner. Larry will be home shortly. Tomorrow brings Larry’s first day on his new project, and Friday we sign the lease on the new pad. I’m really excited, and I know Larry is too, that we will be able to enjoy life together like normal people. Larry will enjoy working and living in the same city for the first time in ages and I will enjoy being able to cuddle up with him in the evenings. We seem to be settling in nicely.

And on the 7th Day, We Rested

As of yesterday, we have been in Perth for 7 action packed days. We’ve checked mostly administrative items off our list as we wanted everything in place before Larry flies off to Sydney next week. Here are the highlights of the week with a few pictures...

Day 2: Time to Get Connected

The groceries here are a trip. At Woolies we bought some cereals and Soy Milky so here is the spread from our first morning...



Another thing that is different is the coffee. At the townhouse, we don’t have a traditional coffee maker. What we had to do was buy coffee bags, similar to a tea bag, but you add hot water and you get a cup of coffee. They are not bad, but we needed an extra caffeine boost so after brekkie we headed out to the Oxford Street Cafe Strip for one long black (two shots of espresso plus hot water) and one flat white (coffee with milk). We enjoyed reading the paper and people watching.

When we were pretty sure that the stores downtown would be open, we headed down to the Murray Street Mall. It is not a mall as we would envision it in the US. It is actually, just about three blocks where they close off the road and there are shops, restaurants and people EVERYWHERE (even on Sunday)! It is quite similar to how I remember the Downtown Crossing area in Boston, except cleaner.

We hit the Telstra store and got hooked up with two new phones. The idea of being able to check Facebook after being “off-line” for 4 days was mind boggling! Plus, Larry had to turn in his laptop before we left so he was very excited to check e-mails and be able to access his work e-mails.

We had lunch at David Jones, the Australian version of Neiman Marcus. The Food Hall there has lots of exotic ingredients. In fact, there is half of an aisle dedicated to American food. What do they have? Aunt Jemima, Crisco, Jif Peanut Butter, Zatarains and Bone Suckin’ Barbecue Sauce. Really? Is that how they see us? Oh, the jar of pumpkin puree (Libby brand) that is normally 0.99 at the grocery store and occasionally buy one get one free is $7.00!! Please send pumpkin puree!

Again, we managed not to starve and actually feast on garlic and scotch steaks. Delicious!



Day 3: Money Money Money

The goal of the day was to verify our bank accounts. This meant, driving into the city, navigating the one way and two way streets and finding a place to park. People that we have spoken with have told us that Perth is a very manageable city and thus far, it has been. Without much problem, we located a parking deck and the bank. The process to verify our account was quite simple but did take a lot of time. We were almost late for our first apartment viewing.

We got to the apartment viewing a bit early and had some time to explore. We thought that we wanted to be in Subiaco, but of course, you never know until you get there. The parts of this suburb that we saw prior to the viewing really piqued our interests. Unfortunately, the apartment was not that great, very old bathroom and quite smelly. Plus, on a lease break, the owner was still getting paid by the prior tenant and was not feeling so generous in reducing the rent ($525 per week!). After the viewing we had more time to explore the area and we knew Subiaco would be for us.

After the apartment viewing, we headed back downtown to JB Hi-Fi (a kind of cross between Best Buy and Radio Shack) and got my MAC Book!! We also got a printer, paper and some pens (so I can write my to-do lists!). We were supposed to be able to get on line with the MAC book and our phones but that did not happen. At least I was able to start writing.

Day 4: Home Sweet Home

Subiaco is a bit of a high rent district, so the apartments available in our price range leave us in a similar situation as the toothpaste aisle - very little selection. After what happened with the other smelly, apartment, I was apprehensive that the small character home that we saw on this date would also be smelly and old or have a water heater occupying an entire closet like another place we saw. But we headed to the viewing and we were surprised to find gorgeous floor boards, adequate closets and patio areas in the front and the back of the house. We made application for the apartment and I am happy to announce that we will be living at 107 Park Street in just a couple of weeks.



This is our tree-lined street:



The house is on the cutest cobble stone street. The car park is around back with ally access. Plus, we are only two blocks off the cafe strip and are within walking distance of Farmer Jack’s (a produce laden grocery store) and a Coles (another grocery store). I will post more pictures of the house and the area once we sign the lease next week.

After all that went down, we decided that we had done enough for the day and we headed out to Scarborough Beach. The sun was shining and the sand was soft and warm. The waves were beyond words and partially beyond pictures. Larry wanted to put his toes in the Indian Ocean.



and I decided to follow



and yes, the water was cold.



Day 5: West Australian Bureaucracy

We had a task for every day and this day was getting driver’s licenses. Since we came from the US, another English speaking country (we could debate about that), we did not have to take any written or practical driving exam - thank goodness! What we did have to do was go to the West Australian Licenses Bureau, their version of the Registry of Motor Vehicles or the Tax Collector’s Office.

We walked up and had to take a number. I thought I would be waiting for a very long time and in fact made a point to bring a book with me, but my number got called before Larry even got his number! We were in and out of there in about 20 minutes with our licenses! We were legal and now more importantly, we could buy a car.

So off we went to Osborne Park, the auto-mall of Perth. We have been going back and forth for about 3 weeks about what car to purchase. Cars are very expensive here. The 2008 X3 that I purchased for $35,000 is $138,000 here (that is not a typo). There is an incredible import tax on most European luxury vehicles so we were not going to be BMW owners any more. We did some research and decided to try a Jeep Wrangler.

We pulled into the Jeep dealer to have a look around. They had a 2008 Wrangler that looked good to us so we decided to have a ride. The car had upgraded sound system and Bluetooth which is important as driving while holding a cell phone is illegal. We gave them a copy of Larry’s license and we got the keys. The truck was large and rumbling, but more importantly, when we took the first left turn out of the dealership the Jeep sloshed as though there were several liters of water in the dashboard!! We had no idea where the sound came from, but that coupled with the rust on the emergency break and driver’s seat made us run, not walk, away from the Jeep.

Day 6: We need a Ride

We had our rental car until the end of the month, so the fact that we hadn’t arranged a vehicle yet was not that bad, but still we wanted to have something in the works before Larry started. We went back to Osborne Park and wandered into Volvo to have a look. We did really well by Premier Motors and we are now proud owners of a S40 sedan! The negotiation process was quite painless and we ended up with an umbrella.

Here is a picture of me with the car guys:



Day 7: Rest

The last week has been exhausting. So now that we had checked off all our to-do items, it was time for a relaxing morning at home. We got the printer set up and actually unpacked some of our bags. I was getting a bit tired of living out of a suitcase. In the afternoon we picked up the car. We only had to sign about 3 times AND, the dealership set us up with some really good insurance, which is not required in Australia.

When we picked up the car, we also got a bottle of wine and a wine cooler!

Here is the new ride!



What we didn’t get was the picture of the rainbow that came out when we picked up the car. The was really pretty, but when we got home, we realized that it had rained on the laundry that we had hung out to dry. Our washing machine is relatively normal sized. Our dryer has an opening the size of a dinner plate. Our new apartment doesn’t even have a dryer!





Being here, you realize how much we take for granted in the US: the discount you get on cars because of the size of the population (I’m not going to disclose what we actually paid for the S40), being able to get a venti sized coffee and having a really big washer and dryer. But our clothes dried, we have coffee bags and I think that I will be just fine without the excess as long as I can have kangaroo and red wine ravioli!

Perth: Day 1

Since we landed in Perth around 1:00PM I feel entitled to say that it was our first day.

I would write about the mile walk to pick up the rental car (well it seemed like a mile with 8 pieces of luggage which at this point were unbearable heavy), providing humor to the Australians when our Smarte Cart derailed sending large duffels flying in front of the cafe, getting lost whilst leaving the airport, Larry driving on the left side of the road in our Hyundai i3 loaded down with unbearably heavy luggage and our first meeting with our landlord, Matt Smith, but I had such a horrible, throbbing sinus headache that I might like to forget those two hour of my life (the plane air dried me out badly).

Our Leederville townhouse was smashing! Tidy, clean and bright. After the sudafed and aleve kicked in, we freshened up (showering never felt so good) and headed out to get some groceries and explore the suburb of Mt. Hawthorn. Just a few blocks from our pad, we probably could walk it if is wasn't freezing here - oh yes...I forgot to mention that it is still the dead of winter here. We have literally gone from 98 degree weather to 19 degree highs - you can do the fahrenheit to celsius conversion.



Driving was the biggest challenge of the day. It was my first time ever driving on the left side of the road. The biggest challenge is that you have a large amount of automobile on the left side that is not normally there from a spacial sense. Driving passed parked cars and actually keeping in your lane are quite hard at first as one tends to drift the left in order to avoid the anticipated head on collision that seems eminent when another car is coming at you. When I drove into Mt. Hawthorn I was most thankful for left turns and traffic lights so I didn’t have to think about the direction of oncoming traffic.

We arrived at The Mezz, a practical shopping center, about 40 minutes before everything closed. The trading hours as they call the shop hours here in Perth are not as accommodating as those in the US. When we arrived at the butcher counter, the clerks were taking the tickets off all the trays of meat. I managed to get my hands on two rosemary and mint lamb chops. Woolworth's (or Woolies as they affectionately call it), the grocery store, closed at 5. We were only half way through the store when the clerk came over the loud speaker announcing the closing. My question is what do people who work do? Not eat? At least the pharmacy was open until 5:30 so we had time to grab tissues (2 options) and toothpaste (Colgate or Aim) and a bath puff ($6AUD). You might think that having this few options would be quite limiting. I find it liberating. No longer will I stand in front of the toothpaste in the aisle at the store for 10 minutes debating whether I want fresh mint or cool mint, tartar control or extra whitening. I like Colgate and that’s what we got.

The bottle shop was a different story. That was open until 7. Light bulb! That must be what people who work do - liquid dinner! There were also lots of options here with very few (less than 5) brands of wine I have seen before. It was a crap shoot, but we picked a Margaret River shiraz (pronounced sheer-AHZ) that turned our to be great.

Matt and Claire Smith, our landlords, left us a gorgeous loaf of bread from New Norcia bakery which is in Mt. Hawthorn. We ran in there for some bread to have with dinner.

So on our first day we managed to land, rent a car, find our house, the grocery store, pharmacy, package store and bakery. We ended up with a fabulous meal followed by some very deep sleep.