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Published: June 18th 2006
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Perth is the gateway to Western Australia and having crossed the Nullarbour Plain with literally days of nothingness.....bo-ring.....you could be in a different country. I guess it is closer to Jakarta than Canberra! Not even the Australian mobile I bought in Melbourne works over here. I guess everything will be in Western Australian time from here on in. If it can be put off until tomorrow why do it today eh?
We spent our time in Perth after a quick schmooze around the city - all very clean and pretty and city like, in Fremantle or 'Freo' as the locals call it (more on this later!).
Freo manages to marry funky contemporary cafe culture with heritage buildings and historical sites to create a lovely old charm. We visited the old gaol which was one of the first building tasks of the convicts in the 1850's and operated as a maximum security prison until 1991. It was really interesting mainly due to our excellent guide. He was great, but we are beginning to realise that our standards had dropped so low in Asia that a guide who took you to the right place would have received a 5 star rating.
In the western world we get accurate information and even jokes! After a stroll thought Freo weekend market which reminds me of Spittlefields it was time to join the hordes of locals and backpackers congregating in beachside pubs for the institution which is the sunday session. When the hands strike beer o' clock every sunday arvo locals head to their favourite watering hole for the traditional Sunday session - translated to mean a long afternoon of socialising and downing the amber liquid. We started and ended in Cottlesloe - a real pretty place but with a budget like ours we nursed the one beer and took to our dorm beds for an early night! After kicking out the New Zealnder who was asleep in his Y fronts in front of Andrews bed that is. And we thought the Irish liked a drink. Oops they do - there are 2 of them passed out in Lara's bed. Maybe Billabong is not the place we thought. mmmmmm
So, what have we learned about Australia so far. Well, as Britain is supposed to be a nation of shopkeepers it is my duty to report back on the price of things. It is
not as cheap as we had hoped. Bread averages at $3 (about 1.50) and vegetables are very expensive as is fruit. Plus clothes are not much cheaper than home and accommodation averages about 12GBP a dorm bed. We are not so outraged that we feel a need to resort to noodles and rice again though....give us another week or so. What else...the lifestyle is laid back and the lingo is shortened with an 'o' at the end of every word...Freo, Arvo, servo....Get it? Here are a few of our new favourite words. In fact, without such understanding it could seem like we are abroad again. Plus, its cool to abbreviate - we all know that. The Harpo Crew have defo always been into that...so here are a few new ones as well as some revamped classics to add to our list.
Agro.....................stress
Arvo.....................afternoon
amped.................excited
barbie..................BBQ
barra...................Barramundi
bewdie................great
blowie...........................................................................
booze bus............police breathalysing mobile
chook...................chicken
cocky.....................cockroach
cnvo......................conversation
chokas..................full up
dag.......................socialy inept person
dunny....................lavatrine
Esky........................cool box
fair dinkum.............ok/thats right
grommet..................pre pubescent surfer
gday........................neighbours, everybody needs good neighbours..
maccas....................our golden arhes
middy......................small drink
no wukkas..............no worries
no worries...............see above
on ya.......................good on you
Pie Floater................type of pie
dead horse...............sauce
rego..........................car registration number
roady........................drink
before leaving
ron............................later on
scrub..........................outback / bush.......countryside!
schooner...................bigger drink
servo........................ service station
stoked.......................pleased
smoko........................cigarette break
snags...........................sausages
spin.............................short road trip
stubby........................short beer
swag............................rolled up bed for outdoors sleeping
thongs........................flip flops
togs.............................swimmers
veg out
warmies.......................warm clothes
yakka.............................physical work
What have we picked up and regularly use...no worries ALL THE TIME, snags, barbie, heaps, bewtiful. It is really weird how quickly you pick this stuff up and with Andrew's special hat we are almost local!
Perth was a short trip, and after a quick roady we ventured into the land of Sandgropers (people from Western Australia). With a little bit of luck we may get some sun there. We have actually seen an advert in Australia saying ..."Going Abroad? You'll need a coat". Well, so far I wish I had a bloody coat with me!
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