Dunsborough and ramblings

We've just come back from a weekend in Dunsborough to celebrate my 40th Birthday. Dunsborough is about 2 1/2 hours drive south from here, and has some of the most beautiful beaches around. Bunker Bay is a cross between a greek mediteranean beach and the turquise seas and white sands of the carribean. We hired a house which catered for dogs too, so we could take Stella. The house was a 5 minute walk to the beach, which we made the most of, and there were lots of other beaches within a short drive - I think one day we did 5 beaches, and Stella thought she was in heaven. She's learnt how to pose now, and so most pictures seem to have her in view.

Dunsborough is within a short drive of the many wineries of the Margaret River region, and we made the most of visiting those. We had to go to the Amberley winery and buy some of my favourite Merlot, and then we had to sample some of the smaller places too.


For my birthday, I was treated all day - they had done up my office at work with pink tinselly streamers everywhere, cakes in the shape of a 40 and flowers and sparkly wine - They really treated me. John took me out to dinner at Sunsets on the foreshore in Rockingham, he bought me jewellrey and perfume too - what more can a girl want!

We're having drinks here at the weekend for some friends who want to help me celebrate which will be fun. We're getting a small group of friends now, with a few invites here and there to expand our social life, it's weird having to make the effort to make freinds again, when in the UK you just had your friends there. Of course our old friends are still there for us, we just don't get to see them often enough.

We're getting better at fishing now and mostly come back with a catch when we go out - we caught a banded sweep recently which was a good dinner for us both, and often catch sand whiting, skippy and herring, so are getting good at preparing and cooking fish. The other thing I'm having to get good at is cooking Indian food, as we are yet to find a decent Indian restaurant or takeaway, so we generally just do our own.

That will be it for now - I promise I will try and do this a bit more regularly - maybe just short ones now and then.

See you soon

We've been Busy

John behind our bar at Xmas, Yes I think he was singing along to Rolf Harris' 10 White Boomers -a traditional Aussie xmas song, you should listen to it!

Well Happy New Year, we've been really busy, and still enjoying life. Christmas was very odd with it being sunny, but it was great to get time off work and enjoy the sunshine, we just chilled out and went down the beach with the dog to cool down a lot. on Christmas day we had a BBQ breakfast, then took the dog out down the beach, came back home and chilled out for a while, then went back down to the beach about 6pm, we left it so late because it was 40deg. We took turkey butties and a couple of beers and celebrated Aus style, it was great.





On New Years Eve, we went to the foreshore where they put on a free concert and fireworks. We went with Sue, Pete and the kids, and sat by the beach drinking champagne and enjoying the night, again very different from the UK but we had a really good time.



We've been fishing a lot from our boat, here is our latest catch - not very big but tasty and enough for a couple of meals each.

John also got me to my first Cricket match - well 2 actually, the first one was beach Cricket at Scarborough beach, it was all the old has beens from the Aussie, Pommie and Kiwi teams and was really just an excuse to go to the beach, there were some names even I'd heard of - Lilley, Small, Gooch, DeFreitas etc.

The second match was the final of the 20 20 cricket at the WACA, I went along but hate to admit that I really enjoyed it, we got the train to Perth, had a drink in the Lucky Shag, walked along the Swan River to the WACA, then sat in the sun drinking wine and watching the cricket, WA lost to Victoria, but the atmosphere was really good, with a lot of good humoured banter. After the match we walked back along the Swan and saw some guys playing their own game against the city backdrop, really good evening out! See the pictures on the album.

Today we've been off work (I'm loving this 4 day a week thing!) We went up to the Serpentine Falls, about 1/2 hour drive from here, and swam in the pool there, see the video on the front page. It's a natural pool formed from rock with a waterfall feeding it, the shire (council) have put in some steps and a sun deck, and now you can easily just go and swim there really safely. There is a picnic BBQ area aswell and the Kangaroos have realised this is a good place to chill, as they get fed lots by the kids that go there. We managed to go mid week and only saw a group of Mexicans and a young couple, so we really had the place to ourselves.

I've uploaded a few more pictures of just general stuff, but take a look and keep emailing us it's great to here from everyone.

Long time no blog!

We got a boat! Yes we're really embracing the Aussie lifestyle and have now bought a second hand boat. It's a quintrex 4.65metre 55 hP (that's the technical stuff). So it's a little boat that we can go fishing etc in.

The first couple of times we took it out we saw dolphins, they swan around and under the boat and popped up at the side to say hello - well probably to see if we had any fish.

We've taken it around the islands at Shoalwater and seen seals and sealions, and heve been out fishing - the first time we came back with 20 whiting, which we BBQ'd aon the foreshore (and froze some). The second time it was a bit rougher than we thought it would be and I got seasick before we caught any and so we came back in. Going out on it again on Saturday when the forecast is better and we may catch out tea again!

We're gearing up for Xmas now, but are finding it strange having to do xmas shopping in the sun. The forecast for Xmas day is 38 deg - so We'll be having turkey butties on the beach - no big roast for us in that temperature. I've been charged with organising our works xmas do - so we're having a BBQ and a pool party - the invite said dress code: boardies(shorts) or jeans with thongs (flip flops) and bring your bathers (swimming cossies). How weird is that!

My place shuts down from 21 Dec to 2 Jan, so I get xmas off this year - what will I do with myself!!??? All that sun and 5 mins from the beach :-) Yes we are still really loving it - wish we did this 20 years ago.

The down sides - no real football (soccer), they play Aussie Rules (AFL) but soccer takes a back seat and the footie I've seen has been really poor - more like County reserves V Macc Town reserves than premiership. No mulled wine for xmas - well it would be too hot! The pubs aren't the same - but then again you eat late and outside and have wine with your tea and stay up talking, and you have your own bar. No best mates here -we're starting to get to know some people, and have had a couple of nights out - but not the same as your mates in UK.
Having said all that, I struggled to find the down sides! Most of it is up!

Stella the dog is doing well, she's 10 months old now - has 'graduated' from beginners class at dog training, and loves to swim in the sea. She has a good mate with Jess, Sue and Pete's dog - she's a puppy about 6 months now and loves Stella. We go round to their hose and take Stella and we don't see them all night because they're playing. She had her own dog club xmas party - and won a prize in 'musical spots'! - her own eskie (cool bag) that we can take her water in to ther beach or when we take her out for a walk!

Will try to update this more often. Will probably remember a whole lot more and post some in the next week or so - but if we don't it means we're enjoying life too much.

An example of enjoying life would be telling you about our night tonight - Came home from work about 5.00, took the dog to the beach, stopped off at a bar on the foreshore and had a wine, with John and the dog, came home and had a swim in the pool, got in the Spa, showered and cooked turkey steaks on the BBQ with baked spuds and our own home grown beans - oh and more wine. Yes we are loving it.

Perth City to Surf

2007 Perth City to Surf 12k run

Well I did it!!! And all without stopping, not a good time, but I did finish, come on 12km is about 7 1/2 miles, not bad for an old bird!

When I entered I had this vision of running through the city and parks in the sunshine thinking wow this is great, I'm in Australia, in a beautiful city in the sun and I can do this!

The reality.............

We got up before 6.00, in the dark, having been kept awake half the night by a storm, drove about 30 miles to Perth, the Swan River had waves on it that were coming over the Freeway! Got dropped off in the city, we had to be there 30 mins before the start, we got soaked before the race even started - see the picture, taken on my phone just before we set off. The fashion item for this year seemed to be the cut off bin bag! The race finally got underway - the count down to start was on - 10....9.....8....7....6...5....4.....3...2.....1.....and a major downpour just came out of nowhere, the rain was coming into our faces and we couldn't see for more than a few metres in front of us. So we set off, through the tall buildings of the city offering us some shelter, then we went up St Georges Terrace, and out of the buildings and up an enourmaous hill. The wind was that strong I felt like I was running backwards. Well I thought this course was flat - oh no there were so many hills and so much rain and wind! But it was fun!

Along the route people had gathered to watch, some in the front yard of their houses with friends having bbq breakfast and drinking champagne, under the shelter of their verandahs, oh how jealous I was. I was even jealous of the tramp with the dog drinking beer and shouting encouragement/abuse at the runners.

Well ok the rain did clear a bit, and I managed to get to the end having run through some great parkland and enjoyed the city, and what a sense of achievement it was. As I reached city beach oval, the smell of BBQ (yes again) hit me and then seeing the sea I know why it's called city to 'surf', the surf was definitely up!

Everyone made the most of it and some dressed up for the occasion, I spent most of the course just behind or just in front of Darth Vader and a Storm Trooper!

We came home and had a hot shower and a spa, then got the burgers on the barbie! and had some beers!

Yes I will be doing it again next year.

Settling In

It's ages since I last 'blogged' so here goes.

We're settling in to real life now - I've been working full time for 5 weeks, and getting into the routine, the job is good, but this is definitley the busy period, we do peoples tax returns and accounts and with the year end being 30th June, July, August and September are the 'tax season'. In Aus everyone has to do a tax return so that means a really heavy workload for all the tax accountants, but again this is where the money is made. I have to travel 30kms (about 20 miles) each way to Mandurah, but the roads are really easy and it's only taking 30mins door to door, that includes parking and walking in Mandurah, much better than when I working 13 miles away in Manchester, and it was taking me up to an hour each way. I manage to get out most lunch times and have a walk along the estuary, there's always boats cruising up and down and pelicans, but the other week I saw a couple of dolphins cruising up river, that's when it really hits me how lucky we are.

John's job is going well, he's sold a few houses, but only gets paid when they 'settle' which can be a couple of months after the contract is signed, so he should be earning soon. He's enjoying the flexibility of the work and managing to get afternoons off if it's quiet, but on the other side it does mean he has to work some weekends, which is when I'm off work. We're hoping that when I go part time we'll manage to get more time off together.

Stella is still great, she's learning things really well, and generally comes every time she is called, knows sit, down and stay, so is able to enjoy a bit of freedom off the lead. She loves the beach, and has just braved the sea deep enough to swim, she plays with all the other dogs on the beach really well, but knows when she's beat and comes back to us pretty quick. She's also started chasing the seagulls up the beach, they just go out to sea and she's stuffed and gives up. We bought her a floating toy to play in the sea with, she managed to destroy it the first time we took her out with it, so now we use cuttlefish and sticks to throw, which she seems to prefer anyway.

She does have a bit of a destructive streak which comes out when she's left at home alone. She's shredded her bed, dug loads of holes, pulled up a few plants and jumped in the fish pond. We seem to have cured the digging (bury her poo in the holes and she won't dig there again), and we had to buy her a new bed, we're hoping this one will be better, it's a steel frame with a hessian sack on it, which makes a bit of a hammock, and replacement sacks are only about $5 (£2) so if she chews that it's not so bad. The fish pond is trickier, we've put fencing around it, but she seems to be gettin through/under/over it, so we need to rethink that.


Sue and Pete and the kids made it over here, they landed on Friday, and we spent a day with them yesterday, going to the beach with the dog, barbequeing and chatting, I'm sure there will be many more days like that.

Sue and I have entered the Perth City to Surf 12km run, which is next Sunday, so we have both been in training in our different countries, and today are going out to do a run together. There's loads of great running routes over here, as everywhere there is parkland, beaches, lakes and walking/cycling/running tracks, so I've really enjoyed getting out and about.

Well I'll go now but will try and update it a bit more regularly!

Introducing Stella

This is Stella, she's 6 months old, and a mix of some Red Heeler (Aussie dog), and it looks like some Jack Russell, and many other things. We chose her (no she chose us) on Friday at the K9 Rescue Centre in Mandurah.

We don't know any history on her, just that she had been in the rescue centre for a few days, and in that time she had been spayed, so she's still got her stitches in, she has them out on Thursday, she also has a stitch in her foot so must have had an injury there. She is very young and puppy like, but really keen to learn, she is already coming back to us, responding to her name off the lead, and knows what 'sit' means, we're working on stay now, and will carry on doing fun training with her. She responds really well and is learning what 'no' means, when it comes to jumping on setees and eating slippers!

She sleeps outside under the patio (roofed area), on her new pet bed, the first night she was a bit unsettled and cried a bit, but last night once she settled she was fine until about 6.45 when she decided it was time to get up, and let us know about it.

She's named after the stars, not the beer (honest)! She's been to the beach twice already and has played well with other dogs, she likes chasing seagulls, and is still a bit unsure of the sea.

There's some more pictures of her in our online photo album, and I'm sure we'll get some more pictures as she grows up over the next few months.

quick post

Just a quick blog today - I had a full day in work yesterday, and guess what - I managed to start just in time for year end! Over here year end is 30th June, so I will be taking over from the busy period, I guess doing full time for 4 months won't be so bad, it will get me chance to get into the job.

The housewarming went really well, we had lots of drinks (I had to go out and buy a beer fridge for behind the bar!), and spoke to England and Spain on Skype; the lap top was sat on the bar and Pete (UK), Mike (UK), and Ann and Pete (ex Railway now Spain) all joined in the party for a quick chat which was great. Our neighbours brought us a wooden vase that he had made himself, very nice, this is now sat on the bar. Then later on we fired the BBQ up and had burgers and sausages, just what you need after a skinfull of beer, yum yum!

I've been for a run this morning to the beach and back, I've entered the Perth 'City to Surf' 12k run at the end of August, so thought I'd better do a bit of training, the run today was about 7.5k, and I could still breath at the end of it so I should be ok.

Got to go now - shopping to do, only food today, unless I find a nice office chair!

Oh Good Luck to Jeckyl on their 3 gigs over the next couple of weeks.