Blogs from Western Australia, Australia, Oceania - page 564

Wir hatten ein nettes verlängertes Wochenende, Australia Day am Freitag, Feuerwerk von Sebastians Terasse, das Wocheende zuvor waren wir tauchen .... und sonst ... gehts uns auch fein, freuen uns schon sehr, wenn wir uns bald wieder sehen... ... read more

Merry Christmas!! Unsurprisingly, Christmas Day felt like no other I’ve experienced. The plan was to have all food ready by 12pm, which was a bit of a mission considering that we had only one oven and one stove. But we pulled it off and there was quite a spread. Garry had done a bit chunk of lamb with roast potatoes and carrots; Mamako did a variety of sushi rolls; there was some mashed potato; Tom did his prawn cocktail; Anders provided us with a plentiful supply of Swedish meatballs and gravy as well as some beetroot salad; we had Indonesian kebabs; Elizabeth did a big vegetable pie; Slim carved up his ham and made a big tray of cauliflower cheese; there was a selection of salads and lots of bread and wine and beer and everything! ... read more

Landed in Perth and was met at the airport by my aunt and uncle (Di & Pete). Was so cool to see them as I have not seen either for years, esp Di who I think I last saw about 10 years ago. Whilst driving home I was able to describe their house from memory when I was 9, quite impressed as pretty much got it spot on. Once back, my cousins (Graham & Dick) came round and we all went out for food. Half way through the meal I asked if I was talking loudly as my ears were all messed up from the flight. They all looked at me slight bemused and said they just assumed I always shouted when I talked, quite funny!! Whilst out, Graham's girlfriend, Lenny arrived and it was nice ... read more

Our Asian adventure nearly over, we spent 2 nights in a very busy Bangkok before heading to the new and slightly clinical Bangkok airport where we had a flight to Singapore and a connection to Perth. After some 18 hours we finally arrived at the YHA in Fremantle. Our first stop in Perth (Fremantle or Freo to the locals who shorten everything and/or stick an o on the end) is about 30 minutes on the train from Perth city, it's a really quaint town with trendy bars, restaurants (surprisingly a huge amount here are BYO so no alcohol costs), shops and a great deal of colonial architecture making it feel as though it has far more history than it does (about 150 years). It felt good to arrive in a place so starkly different from Asia ... read more

On January 26, I arrived in Perth - on Australia Day !!! Part of the city was closed to traffic and lots of people were walking around carrying (or wearing) the Aussie flag on their shoulders or cheeks. Concerts in the park.... very nice... sounds like Geneva during the "Fetes de Geneve" but warmer, bigger ... and different:-)) Altough I had spent over 1 month in South East Asia, I was hit by jet lag and the heat! Dry heat... it felt like a hairdryer blowing around town!! Being back in Australia was great! I met up with my friend Tracey, whom I had not seen in a very long time. Some things don't change: it was like we saw each other yesterday! We hung out, girl talked and she cooked some wonderful home-made meals... Bunbury ... read more