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Published: December 4th 2008
Perth, actually Fremantle, is where the aussie adventure really picks up! After stopping so many times pondering wether or not to stay and work I am so glad we didn't. Fremantle was definetely the best place for us to call our home for 4 months. We arrived in Perth off the bus, with our heavy backpacks and no idea where to go. In the lonely planet I read that cottesloe was one of perth's nicest beaches so we called up the hostel and luckily they had a room for us for the one night only. We took a quick stroll along the beach and watched a georgeous sunset, then settled in for the night. The next morning we woke up early and grabbed the paper hopeing to find an apartment starting today since the hostel was fully booked. I called three apts all no good, then the fourth apt told us to come by around noon to take a look. It was a fully furnished studio apartment in fremantle, which is the big hippy like suburb of perth, with shops and beaches close by and rent was cheap. We tried not to get our hopes to high, but we packed our
our new home
in east fremantle, right by the river, and a short walk to the beachbags and took off not worrying about finding an alternative for the night. We showed up with our bags on our backs and took a tour of the place. It was amazing, way better then i could have ever excepected. There was two other people waiting in line to see the place. I don't think i have ever felt so sad and scared in my life, it was too go to be true, and it was available starting today. There was no way a couple of backpackers would get it over longer term people with jobs. The caretaker told us to take a stroll so she could talk to the other people wanting the apt, then she would deceide who gets it. That walk around the block almost made me sick, i couldn't handle it, if we didn't get this what were we going to do? Well we must have had the sadest faces when we left because to our surprise we got the apartment. She felt really bad for us and her daughter travels a lot so she figured by helping us out, maybe down the road someone will help her daughter out if she needs it. What comes
around goes around right, lucky for us! So by mid day on the 2nd day of arriving in perth, and with only a couple of days left before christmas to top it off, we landed an absolute amazing apartment and were no longer measley backpackers. I can't express to you how good it felt to unpack those bags and put our clothes in a dresser again. Without knowing anything about Fremantle it worked out fabulously. To anyone thinking of coming to WA and trying to figure out where the best place to set up is, FREO all the way. It was so easy to get around, tons of shops, restaurants, bars and a couple of awesome beaches to choose from.
Christmas day was the next best day. The tradition in Australia on Christmas is to hang out at the beach all day with family. So we deceided not to argue with tradition and headed to cottesloe beach again. It was a truly magical day. Actually it got to a record high of 43C. The beach was packed, but the water was glistening and the sun was defienetly shinning so it just didn't matter. And even though there was no snow
our new beach
Leighton Beach or christmas trees around, you could feel the spirit of christmas still. Everyone was happy, and enjoying time with family. It really is a great way to spend christmas, you just pack a nice lunch, throw some beer in a cooler and enjoy. No slaving over a hot stove, or rushing from one house to the other. On the beach there is always an extra seat ready for everybody. It truly was a wonderful christmas, i only wish our famalies were there too.
After Christmas it was time to start looking for jobs. The first week didn't go so great for me. I had a couple of opportunities but deceided not to take them. Then i went for a trial day and got sick at work. I came down with a nasty flu that was going around and was out for a week, it was horrible. Mark got a job right away at Outback Jacks a steak house. Luckily when i felt better the trial job gave me a second chance and it ended up being the best job. It was a gelato, coffee, pizza place and we got to sample the goods all day. The shop was full of
Italians who are such awesome people it was so much fun, and Ammano seriously has the best Gelato in the world. Oh and we also ended up getting a second job painting so we were working like crazy! We met so many great people from working in Fremantle. We had a lot of fun, and still lots of time to enjoy ourselves. Where we were situated the apt was a short 5 min walk from the river so we went fishing almost every night. In the river there are resident dolphins who would frolic in the water for us, lots of birds, and the occasional fish to catch. One night Mark caught a blue swimmer crab by fluke, it made a tasty appetizer! And we had so many animal friends around the apt. The one night we saw a fox, there were always gecko's in the doorway, and we had two pet mice running around the house. They got pretty courageous with us. I was watching t.v eating chips waiting for mark to come home and the little mouse came right out to the rug beside me. He sat there eating my crumb's and watching t.v with me for almost
a half hour. It was so cute, they are the tiniest little mice you have ever seen. Finally while we were cooking it made the wrong move and scurried onto the counter, and into the sink. We caught it in a bottle and put it outside. Just a short walk from the apt was Leighton Beach which turned out for us to be way better than cottesloe beach. It was less crowded, and the water was way more clear. So we would soak up the sun and play in the waves there almost everyday. The one day we didn't bring the camera we had the most perfect day on the beach. It was so calm that the water looked like glass, you could see everything in the water for miles around you. It was so relaxing, unfortunetely we had to work that night so we only got to enjoy it for a short time. We also took a quick trip to Rockingham where we tried to catch some squid, and for my Birthday took a trip to Rottnest Island. Best Birthday yet! We couldn't have asked for better weather. On the island there are no vehicles so everybody just walks
and cycles. We rented bikes and snorkel gear and biked around the whole island for 2 days stopping to snorkel and swim everywhere we could. Rotto, as they called it, was absolutely beautiful! The other thing that made our time in perth so great was by freak coincidince we got to go to the Iron Maiden Concert!!!!! We just happened to find out that Iron Maiden was coming to Perth, and that tickets had been on sale. We thought for sure by that time they would be sold out, but we got tickets, good ones too. The concert was phenomenal, Iron Maiden Rocks!!!!
While we were there our caretaker got to know us and found out we painted. So she made a deal with us to move in to her house and paint for room and board. We didn't think too much about it and went for it. It ended up being the total highlight of our trip. She had her daughter and her daughters friend down from Ireland, her son and us. We all worked on the house during the day, and at night she would have friends over for a good old aussie barbeque which we all totally
Wonderful Amano
the best gelato in the world! enjoyed. We had such a blast together, it didn't feel like work at all. At the end of it all we were invited to the Huntsman Ball, a fancy dinner party, with lots of free wine and really great music. We let loose on the dance floor, got completely smashed, and had an absolute fabulous time. They will always be our aussie family. Thank you guys so much. Perth is also where we found our frank, our car. It took many days of searching and researching but we finally found the perfect one. It took a couple of times to the mechanic for minor tweaks, one trip to the audio store for a new cd player, and we were good to go. This was all done last minute of course, is there any other way! But all the mechanics were so helpful, and always squeezed us in somehow. So Thankyou to all Perth and Freo mechanics you guys are great. Then of course we spent a couple of days shopping like mad to gear up for our camping adventure. Perth/Freo was honestly the greatest place to stop and work. The people were great, everything is so easy to get to,
Italian style
Awesome group of people the transportation system is awesome, the beaches were so beautiful, we found a great car there, we made lots of money, and we just had so much fun there. Our last day was so sad, we didn't want to go. But as a great present while we were talking in the kitchen a Kookaburra landed right on the fence. It was our first time seeing one up close, so that was special. After a lot of packing, many goodbyes, and a couple of tears we were on way again. This time in our own wheels!!!
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