Settling in WA

---

We didn't have long to relax in Perth, soon as we arrived we started looking for jobs & somewhere to live. We quickly discovered whilst chefs were in demand finding somewhere to live was going to prove difficult.

We met up with Val (James' Great Aunt) who gave us lots of advice which was very useful. The first weekend that we were in Perth was a long holiday weekend as it was Australia day. Val invited us to celebrate the weekend with the whole family.

We had a great weekend, out on the boat snorkelling in the Indian Ocean, we had a good old aussie bbq complete with shrimps & Mike & Meg's famous lamb, sampling Meg's delicious cooking & most days there was an Australian v England tennis match. We also spent a day messing about on the river, well the Swan river can hardly be compared with a river back home complete with dolphins & jellyfish the size of dinner plates (harmless). We had a fab time learning how to knee board & biscuiting, James who had only started to swim six week previously picked it up no problem at all, even to the point of showing off "look no hands" although he wasn't so quick in picking up the hand signals, we all thought he was signalling to go faster, when infact it was i'm okay. Thank you again it was such a great weekend, we will definetly never forget our first weekend in Perth.

It was quickly back to reality, with job interviews the next week. James quickly got a job & I continued the flat search. It is very hard as at most viewings at least 5 people will turn up, then you have to apply & with no rental history in Australia we weren't at the top of the list. I then got a job at a coffee shop, so that was one thing ticked off we both were employed which would help the flat applications.

I didn't start work straight away so I could continue to look for a flat whilst James worked. It all started to go downhill from this point, we had to move hostels & because it was still summer everywhere was busy so most days I would move hostels & our stuff then James would finish work late & phone to find out where I was & where we were staying that night.

Finally we got a break, an agent who would give us a chance, also thanks to the references from back home, thank you again. It is a super flat right in the centre of the city, we only had one more night in a hostel then we had our own flat. However on our first night we discovered we had company, in the form of cockroaches! Ewww totally normal out here but still horrible when you have them crawling all over the kitchen.

I met up with Theresa (my second cousin) one afternoon after she got back from the England, we went to Cottlesloe beach which I have now decided is my favourite beach, beats Sydney beaches hands down. She also gave lots of advice on the cockroaches which helped reassure me about them & thanks again for the baits!

At the moment Grandpa Roger is in town visiting Val & Ros so its been really nice to meet up with him & see a familiar face from back home.

We have had some real up's & down's in Perth but at the moment everything seems to be settling down we are loving living in Perth, we have got out flat back to ourselves, it is a fab city, so laid back & very outdoor lifestyle. So far we have been managing to match our days off, which has been good, James is back to doing 75+ hours a week, so long gone is the relaxed, bearded looking James. We love spending our days off at Cottlesloe, swimming & snorkelling in the most amazing ocean. Although we sometimes we do have to be realistic & do day to day bits.

So what happens now? We are going to be in Perth for the next few months, then its time to dust off our backpacks & start exploring again. We still have NZ, Fiji & USA to go, we are both are itching to get our backpacks on again. But before then there is plenty of exploring still to be done in Western Australia.

---

Photos

James
Six weeks after James first learnt to swim!

Australia Day BBQ
Mike n Meg's famous Lamb - yummy!