Blogs from Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia, Oceania - page 9

Getting sent to Perth for work for a month was great. I was put up in a nice little apartment in South Perth, just opposite the Perth Zoo. The apartment was right near the ferry terminal which ran every half an hour accross the Swan River and drops you off pretty much in the CBD. Alternatively, it was just a 30 minute walk accross the bridge to work each day. I also worked in Subiaco, which was a pretty cool suburb of Perth with lots of trendy bars and restaurants and plenty of mining money floating aound. One of my favourite nights was going to see local bands Gyroscope and End of Fashion at the Rosemount Hotel, a top venue. So much good rock music comes out of Perth! We also discovered Knightsbridge, which is the ... read more

Excerpted from my book OUR SUMMER IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND, AMAZON.COM From Point Leeuwin we picked up the pace to the Margaret River region, visiting a newly opened winery looking very similar the new large “industrial” wineries built recently in California. It was there I confirmed my long held notion that the ubiquitous Australian wine Shiraz was actually Syrah, “flowing,” under different colors. I had to convince the winery guide, who was not accepting my assertion. In Australia, as in the United States and most other countries (except France,) wines are sold and labeled according their grape, not their region of growth. Thus, Chardonnay,Merlot, etc., rather than Bordeaux or Burgundy. The situation in Australia, I pointed out to the winery officials, is that there was no grape named “Shiraz.” The grape Australians called Shiraz derives ... read more

I know before you all complain, this time round I am going to be adding video ( via a very cool “flip” video camera .. Thanks Gazza .. thats my Bro !!) as well as photo’s, to try and give you a bit more of a feel for how it is out in Terra Australis. If too many have problems downloading the blog let me know and will reduce the video content and maybe post that on uTube ... it’s your call. As I mention in the clip it was a very emotional goodbye to my son and best mate Grant. Over the past few months we have grown closer and closer together, but I have resolved to fly him all over this great paddock to hang out even if only for weekends once a month. ... read more

A bit of catching up: Its been just about 4 months since i left Vancouver. It is hard to believe, this trip is proving to me that time passes when your having a good time.... I have been working at the Bar downtown for the past 8 weeks. Every weekend my life consists of working until 4-5am in the morning, sleeping until noon and then going back to work. Its exhausting but still a lot of fun, and i'm still just so thankful i found a decent job. I am just finishing up my last weekend there as (can you believe it?) its already time to move on from Australia!! Just before my birthday in the beginning of March, Mum and Kevin got to Australia. They arrived in Sydney and did a completely insane, whirlwind tour ... read more

26/3 Day 59 Augusta is a small town on the Blackwood river and this is where we head to this morning. Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse is just out of the town and sits where the Southern Ocean and Indian Ocean meet at the most south westerly point of Australia. The lighthouse was built out of local limestone and opened in 1896, although part of it was made and shipped from Birmingham. We had our picnic sat on the shores of the Blackwood river while dolphins swam past. A scenic drive through the forest took us north to Hamlin Bay. Unfortunately this beautiful beach was closed due to shark sightings. The other day over 70 whales beached themselves here, 11 were rescued and returned to the sea south of Augusta only for a few of them to return ... read more