Last year this time I was on a break from school and exhausted beyond my understanding now. D was living in Van and NYE was upon us. Secretly, I wanted nothing to do with partying and spending the first day of a new year feeling like garbage. I asked D what he felt like doing and he said we should just spend it together - go for a walk and enjoy ( Read more... )

It is amazing to finally be on the west coast enjoying some beaches where the sun sets into them. Being about 4000km from the east coast beaches, 2000 km from the southern beaches, and even further from the beaches in the north it's incredible to reflect on the amazing amount of turquoise water Australia is blessed with. It's no wonder everyone ( Read more... )

My first Christmas sans family wasn't as hard as I would have expected. The fact that it is hotter than any Vancouver summer helps out with that. It basically doesn't feel Christmas-y AT ALL. I see pictures of home with decorated trees and lights and it seems like a possibility that we are in different lands as well as different times ( Read more... )

Having Freo so close to us it's impossible to resist the urge to go there all the time. As I mentioned before, Fremantle and Perth used to be two separate cities but now they are basically just suburbs of eachother. We have tried to break down our visits into themes so that we could feel free to meander without being overwhelmed with all of it's ( Read more... )

The transition from Spring to Summer is not exactly what you would call a season change. Nevertheless, it does get (even) hotter and the crazy storms coming off of the Indian Ocean are more or less done with. Being a native of a rainy city, the storms did not bother me. Actually, they thrilled me! Our place on Rae street had a tin roof and D and I ( Read more... )

Well, we moved. I realize this seems silly but what you don't realize was the state of our last place. It wasn't the house itself. The house was lovely! It was the worst-person-I-have-ever-met roommate and the not-the-sharpest-tool-in-the-shed landlord. In the end our good friends that we stayed with upon arriving in Perth acquired a house in South ( Read more... )

As of two days ago, I am officially an aunty. My sister, R, was in labor for that classic cringing time frame that surrounds most labor experiences. Honestly, I am so proud of her. I don't think any human goes through as much emotion and physical pain as they do when they are giving birth. So many contradictions; pain and utter love. In the end, a ( Read more... )

Almost 6 weeks have passed by in Perth so far. We managed to get here, find a place, find jobs and settle in relatively quick. This is not to say that it was easy though ( Read more... )

Fremantle and Perth used to be separate cities connected by trains. Their main reason for existing so far into the "un-pastoral" land was to act as an access for goods coming from all over the world. The two port cities began to grow once convicts began to be shipped over and their labour was used. The precious metal/mineral boom obviously was what ( Read more... )

Our initial decision to stay in Perth to work was based on the fact that I can get a job related to mining. If the state of Western Australia was separated and was its own country it would be the 10th largest in the world. That being said, Perth is the only real "city" in it. It is apparently the most isolated city in the whole world! Anyways, TONS ( Read more... )