Into the West

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Friday the 31st to Sunday the 2nd

The weekend in cairns began with halloween on friday night. Myself and Eric dressed up as Pirates which is pretty easy to do as we found pirate hats and swords in a kids shop. Tony an american guy that was with us dressed up as a penguin and it was priceless. He got some inflatable penguin out of a shop cut it up and slipped into it. In the bars and clubs there were not that many people dressed up but there were still enough for us not to look stupid. Every one was giving us the pirate arrrgh the whole night.

Saturday night we were out again. The club we were in was called the Woolshed and its the place to be in cairns. There was a big group of us out from the hostel.

During the days we sat in the sun beside the lagoon or got into the lagoon for a swim to cool down. In cairns, instead of having a town square they have a lagoon. Its like a big swimming pool with trees and grassy areas all around it. Everyone goes there to sit out in the sun and cool down. It is right beside the seafront so you might ask, why dont they just go to the beach. Well the beach is mud not sand and the water is murky and the home to saltwater crocodiles. I also visited the botanic gardens which had loads of tropical plants. It felt like a set out of Jurassic park.

On sunday I said goodbye to Eric, he was off back to switzerland. Ill have to go skiing with him in switzerland next year. Late that evening I took my flight to Perth.

Monday the 3rd

My plane arrived in perth at 3am in the morning. I got to Peter Mulligans place (my mate Irish mate from houston and paris days who also was skiing with me in NZ) at 4am. Peter was completely jetlagged after coming back from Europe the day before so when I got there we talked for an hour before he headed off to go rowing at 5 in the morning. Early startetrs here. I slept in after he left and later took the train into the city centre. I met peter for lunch and then took a stroll around the city. I found some nice views of the waterways and the city from a nearby park and had a look at the bell tower. It seemed a decent enough spot but it was cloudy and not exactly what I had been expecting. Monday evening myself and peter met up with Conor Galvin, another friend from my houston days and over dinner we talked about our days and the good times we had in Houston.

Tuesday the 4th

I took Peters car, a 240 horse power Holden, for a spin around the city...at high speed. I drove out to some of the beaches and watched some people kite surfing and wind sailing on the indian ocean. But it was bloody freezing. So much for perths good weather.

At about 4 oclock, i went and met Tommy Walsh another mate from my houston days. I suppose I will always know people in oil industry towns. Tommy was out with some guys from work in a bar a 4pm on a tuesday. Whats more everyone there was dressed up to the nines with suits dresses etc. This was melbourne cup day, a horse race held in melbourne, but apparently celebrated throughout the country. 14 million dollars were bet in perth alone on the race. What economic crisis? And because of this race held 3000km from perth everyone in Perth had a party. We stayed out for a few hours having a few sophisticated gin and tonics and afterwards went and met Peter and Mat (peters scottish mate who was skiing in the kilt in queenstown) in an Irish bar. For dinner we went to an Indian. Mat said the curries were usually not that hot so I ordered a Vindaloo and asked the guy to make sure it is Hot. By god was it hot. I think I turned green half way through, and half way through is all I could do. The curry beat me and I still had day after the consequences to face.

Wednesday the 5th

I took a ferry in the morning out to Rottnest island, an island 20km out in the indian ocean. It really is a beautiful place but again the weather ruined my buzz. It was cloudy and rainy the whole day long, and whats more i was sneezing all day with a crazy dose of hayfever. Now if you could remove the weather and the hayfever, i think this place coukld be paradise. The little cliff edged beaches and bays are amazing and the water is a light blue. I rented a bike and cycled around for a few hours (when it wasnt raining). Peter text me as I was biking around telling me that Obama had won. I dont really know why Obama winning would affect me but here i was an irish man cycling around on an indian ocean island in the rain with hayfever and a sore arse from the curry smiling away to myself because of a black man winning election in america. Strange eh?

There are loads of these little animals on Rottnest called Quakas best described as miniture kangaroos. They only survive here now as european introduced animals killed them all on the mainland. After a few hours I dropped my bike back at the rental place, where twenty people were gathered around a miniture TV watching Obamas victory speech, and headed back to the mainland on the ferry.

That evening in peters we ate pizza and watched a DVD. Bloody brilliant. These things that are seen as normal at home have been missing in my life. I took a bath...my first in months and went to bed in my own room with a double bed. My god what a paradise not having to share with strangers in a dorm.

Thursday the 6th

At 7.15 i was at a bus stop for a day trip out of the city. The day trip was a bus journey up north into the bush and the desert. First stop was at an animal sanctuary where i got my photo taken witha kangaroo and a wallabee. The kangaroos are cute and i got to pet and feed one. The wallabee was a fat little yoke that didnt move and slept as 30 strangers patted it on the tummy. There were also some Koalas with their babys but im over koalas. They sleep for 18 hours a day for christ sake. Boooooring

Then we headed north for a few hours into the desert. Now usually as far as I can tell, it doesnt rain when you are in the desert. Well it does when im there. In the desert there are these things called the pinnacles which are like limestone pillars sticking up out of the desert sand. Pretty creepy, it actually looks like a natural graveyard. After the pinnacles we went to sand dunes where we did some 4 wheel driving over the dunes. The bus was some special 4 wheel drive bus and as it went over the dunes it took a short drop on a slope of over 45 degrees. Got the hearty going a little bit. Then we did some sand boarding on the dunes, but it was a babys form. I thought i would be standing up like on a snowboard but it wasnt to be. We sat down like babys. I still managed a little "weeeeeee" as i slid down.

Got back to perth at 8, had a quality burger in a joint close to peters and met Mat for a beer or two. Mat was off the next day so we arranged a bit of an active day surfing and sailing.

Friday the 7th

Mat picked me up at 8.30am and we headed off towards the beach with the surfboards in the car. We stopped for breakfast in a cafe on the seafront and then went looking for the perfect break. We didnt find it. But we did find some waves that would be surfable if one was able to surf. I struggled to stand up on the board, every time I caught a wave i pretty much stood up and then fell off imediatly. The surfboard was much shorter than the ones I used on the east coast hence the ballance proble. It is still great fun and something i would like to try more. After surfing, or falling, we headed for the Yacht club. Mat sails a 15ft boat with a friend most weekends. The boat is his friends and the yacht club is pretty fancy. His mate said we could take the boat so myself and Mat took the boat out for a sail on the Swan river for a few hours. Sailing is heaven and on a small boat like that you get a much better feel for the boat.

At 5pm we met peter in a bar close to where he worked. After a while there was myself, Tommy, Peter, Conor, his giirlfriend Merideth and Max and Celine a french couple from MCS who worked with me in paris. The bar was packed with an after work crowd. After a few hours we went to another area called leeder ville where we tried out a few more bars and eventually a night club. There was a free bus from the bar were were in to the night club and it turned out to be one of the funniest parts of the night with people swinging from the rafters. The jagerbombs were affecting my vision and better judgement by the end of the night. Still managed a messy Kebab before home.

Saturday the 8th

The sun was out in force at last. After a tasty brekkie myself and peter headed to the beach for the day. On a sunny day the perth beaches are spectacular and the colour of the water is amazing. We lay around for a while and later on met up with Max and Celine who were also out sunning themselves.

That evening we met up with Enda and Elaine who were another couple from my houston days. Jesus everyone from houston lives here now. I used to baby sit for Enda and Elaine when we were all in houston. The babys name is Shay except now hes not so much a baby and he has two brothers and 1 sister that didnt exist when i was in houston. It was fun catching up with everyone and after dinner we went to a bar for a couple of drinks. In the queue outside the bar this girl, maybe twenty years old, walks up to me holding her clipboard and says "you might dress up your shoes a little bit more the next time you come here". What a bitch. Then she said "We are and Everywhere in Subiaco is getting to that level now". What a bitch. What level? I couldnt even say anything back I was that shocked. I wouldnt mind but my shoes were 150euro fcuk shoes. Anyways the 20 yearold princess still let me in but we didnt stay long. I didnt feel like i was "getting to that level" so I left.

Sunday the 9th

On sunday myself and peter went out to Enda and Elaines to see the four kids. They have a swimming pool out the back and we all got in and splashed around for a while. The kids love it. It must be an incredible place to grow up having a pool and the beach nearby. Shay is 4 and he is getting a surfboard for christmas... Imagine. After the pool Enda and elaine did up a BBQ for lunch. It was amazing and reminded of how well they used to feed us and look after us when we were in houston.

After Enda and Elaines we headed into to town to meet Mat and Tommy. A sunday session is a big thing in perth where people go to the bars from maybe 4 or 5 until 10pm. We got to a bar called left bank at 5 which is right on the river. The girls were very dressed up, while the lads were all in shorts and flip flops. The craic was good and after a few beers in the sunshine we moved in to where people were dancing and we started dancing. Of course at 10pm we thought we should keep going so we got a bus to another bar that went until 1am. I was sire the next day but I didnt have to work. God help the boys who had to work.

Monday the 10th

I heade out to the airport early only to find that I couldnt find my flight anywhere. I asked customer services and they said that the flight had been re scheduled for 5 hours later. Mighty a day sitting hungover in an airport. What more could one ask for. I eventually boarded my flight and landed in singapore that night at 10pm.

So the australian adventure is over. It really is an amazing country with an amazing lifestyle. i think it is someplace great to holiday, but i think it would also be great to live in. We will see.....

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Photos

Halloween in Cairns
Myself and eric attacking Tony the penguin

Conor and Peter
Conor looking a bit sleepy

Max and Celine
Les francais

The Aussie Way
Enda at the BBQ...and yes that is a swimming pool behind him