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Published: April 27th 2008
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Dougs New Baby!!
Doug's Yamaha R1 .. the latest edition to the Martin family!! We have now been out here for nearly 6 months and time has flown.
At last Dougie has bought himself a motorbike after months of buying auto traders and going through reviews of bikes etc (I am sick of hearing about bikes!!!) Even though it is a lovely one!! He has always had bikes since he was young and has always wanted to ride one in Australia so in a way is fulfilling his dreams!
The roads out here are really bad and the traffic is a nightmare especially on the way to work as most mornings for a large portion of my travel to work down the highway never really get out the car out of second gear .. oh yes I insisted on a manual car .. can't be doing with automatic ones :0)
The journey to and from work is really hard and now that Doug goes on his bike I miss my travel partner! We used to take a big mug of coffee with us and drink it on the way to work chatting about this and that and the time used to dwindle away - but now I am on my own it
Fooeys In Action!!!
Foo Fighters at Burswood Dome!! has made me realise what a long, long, boring way it is every day.
Doug has cut his journey time down from 1 hour in a car to 20 minutes on a bike so is really feeling the benefit especially as he finishes earlier than me. I, on the other hand, am still stuck in the traffic and have tried about 3 different routes but can't cut down the travelling time as it is the distance involved.
Doug put the journey into perspective for me by saying it was the equivialant of living in Warrington and working in Birmingham every day!
Life over here has become very normal and things that at first seemed very new and weird now seem part of every day living. I have also found myself not remembering what is Australian and what is English like adverts on the tv .. I see them and then turn to Doug to say "Did we have that in England?" and he'll think for a minute and say "I don't know!" .. bizarre!!!
I also look at signs on the roads and number plates etc and can' remember what they looked like in England ..
ANZAC Day Service
93rd Anniversary of Australian and New Zealand troops landing in Gallipoli I can't believe how quickly I have forgotten everything.
I had a lovely surprise phone call at work from my friend Sarah who I have known since Primary School in Salford now living in Tasmania - thanks for cheering up my day Sarah! I was sat at work on a boring Friday morning ... my phone rings I pick it up and hear an English accent .. not really sinking in who it is .. I think to myself .. she's English! I then listen a bit more and I think .. She's from Manchester .. until it dawned on me that it was Sarah!!!
I think I have totally tuned in to the Aussie accent now and can even understand the traffic reports on the radio!! It was really hard at first to listen to the different Aussie accents and try to understand them as they talk so quickly and at first I was only grasping about 50% of what was said to me.
As I am on the phone a lot at work talking to customers I get to hear a variety of accents from all over Australia and you can really hear the difference
in them ... including all the slang words!
I have also not been well and have an ear and chest infection which hasn't really helped as I don't make the best patient in the world and can't stand being ill. I was forced to go to the Doctors by Doug and was given antibiotics but the whole trip cost me $100!! So really felt sorry for myself afterwards both because of the infection and also because of the money!!
Well I now feel a lot better and we have had a really busy week. We started off by going to see the Foo Fighters in concert in Burswood on Monday and they were good but not as good as the last time we saw them at Lancashire Cricket Club a few years ago as they really blew us away that time .. mind you this is the first time I have been to a concert sober (antibiotics .. great!!) so can't really do comparisons I guess :0))
We also have had a short week as Friday was a public holiday to remember ANZAC Day. Over here in Oz the numbers of people that get up to attend
the dawn service is fantastic and shows how patriotic they are ... even the young generation do it and I think it is great that people remember in such a way.
Doug and I didn't get up for the Dawn Service but made our way into the City later in the morning to the Esplanade to attend the service for the 93rd Anniversary of Australian and New Zealand troops landing in Gallipoli. It was so emotional to be there and hear about what the solidiers went through and such a moving service really felt a lump in my throat at times especially during the 1 minute silence and the playing of the Last Post.
After the service we went to Kings Park where there is a big war memorial and the site for the Dawn Service earlier in the day. It was a very sad place to visit but so beautiful as the views of the city are breathtaking. You can see all the CBD and along the Swan River right out to the Hills.
After lunch by the Swan River we headed up back home, picked up the dogs and then .. just for a change
Perth From Kings Park
View of Perth CBD from the top of Kings Park ... went down to the beach with them!!!
It was great to be out in the sun again as normally by the time I get home from work and we go to the beach with the dogs it is dark it shows how winter is drawing near. I have been shocked though to see that even in Perth the leaves go brown on the trees and even though most days it has cooled down to about 23 degrees it is really cold in the morning so feels like an Autumn day back home!
So here is the next 6 months and I wonder if they will fly as quickly as the first 6?
On a final note .. Doug, Biscuit, Aussie and I just want to wish Winnie (Doug's Gran) a very, very, very happy 100th birthday for 7th May. We hope all the family have a great day at her party and we just wish that we could be there. Make sure there are lots of piccies for us and we will try and phone to say a very special "Happy 100th Birthday!" to a very special, kind and unique lady .. Winnie Martin!!!!
H A P P Y 100th B I R T H D A Y G R A N D M A !!
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Ann/Sybil
non-member comment
where are our grandogs
Hi pomm's love the pic's of Anzac day,Ithink Bas and Sybil will enjoy living in the granny flat, if you are going to take us to all these exiting places. I am not sure about Foo Fighting, we have never done it.( we know its a pop group) HE HE.well lots of love and millions of xxxxxxxxx to our grandogs and you and our little boy. PS Will send the picks of our new springer Ruby as soon as we get her. xx