W.A. - Waiting Always

Fremantle, Western Australia.....terracotta roofs, palm trees, rocks and red clay, "New Frontier" land?, cappuccino strip, Aboriginal artwork, sunny days, freezing nights, busy afternoons turning to empty evenings, extended holidays, closed shops at 5, unreliable transport.....waiting always.

The past three weeks in Perth have been...well, unexpected. Emily, Chris, Josh and I rocked up to Perth expecting a small, surf-life type city and I can't begin to tell you how wrong we were. Driving 3700 km from the east coast to west coast basically makes one feel like you have entered a completely different country.....and considering the vastness of Australia and the fact that over half of Western Australians haven't traveled outside their own state or would even care to, pretty much confirms this feeling.

How do I describe my first impressions of WA compared to the bustling city life back in Melbourne?? SLOW. Everything (and by this I literally mean EVERYTHING but the occasional bottle shop and few pubs) closes at 5....so if you want food to feed the family or need money to pay the bills, better make sure you're out of work before then! Holidays last dayssss on end. The four of us arrived in Perth around the Easter holiday. This definitely put a damper on job searching when most of the town was shut down and the exact same parade and festival went on 3 DAYS in a row....I almost went crazy thinking the days were beginning to repeat themselves. Every other house on my street is under some sort of renovation - and I'm pretty sure will continue to be so for months on end. It seems like Aussies simply decide to work only when they feel like it. The Aboriginal community is huge, accents are much harder to understand...and I've learned that Western Australians do NOT like it when I boast about the East Coast!

Emily, Josh and I live in a suburb called Fremantle. Yes, the group of four became three - Chris left for England about two weeks ago when circumstances led him to feel the need to go home. I won't even get started on that one, it's been a tough situation to handle....but the three of us are coping with the sad goodbye. Fremantle is good for two types of people: A. the retired or B. the travelers needing to save money. There's not much to do here but enjoy a hot cappuccino in the afternoon or have a bbq at night, so for now - Emily and I are working and saving. I'm currently employed at one of Australia's best known breweries, called Little Creatures. I Love it! It's probably the best (and hopefully one of the last) hospitality jobs I will ever have. Located in the heart of Fremantle's harbor, it offers gorgeous views to sit and enjoy a refreshing pint and bucket of chili mussels on a sunny Sunday afternoon. (Nice advertising, huh?). They employ backpackers from all over the world, which gives a fun atmosphere and amazing people to get to know. I'm also currently bartending for the first time in my life...I'm not the best, but hey - I told you western Australians were patient people!

The next four weeks won't be the most exciting of times, but will be much needed for the coming adventures. I'm joining the bandwagon with this slow paced town, enjoying bbqs with both new and old friends, saving some cash, and waiting. This month has been full of ups and downs, hellos and goodbyes. Em and I have to say another sad goodbye in July, as Josh heads back to the freezing, maple-syrup covered land of Canada......we'll miss you!!! Then it's back to the original two, or shall I say - amazing duo, as Em and I set off for our final, two month chapter in Australia....GET READY!

~ Across the Nullarbor ~

When Emily and I first decided to move to Melbourne, I purchased Bill Bryson’s book In a Sunburned Country. Of course, I had great intentions to read it’s entirety before leaving….but as usual, life gets in the way – I skimmed a few pages about Melbourne and was off to this distant continent. Now, stretched out on my sofa bed (in only what I can describe as a house on wheels), and with 3700 km ahead of me, I once again opened up this book. In our 6 day adventure I found myself not only reading it, but starting to write notes, blot down facts, and bore the heck out of my friends with my new found trivia. I felt like I was in history class and LOVED it! How have I never learned the full history of this country? Let me entice you with some of Bill’s knowledge:

- The Nullarbor Plains (Latin term for “no trees”) is an area four times the size of Belgium without one scrap of shade. It is one of the most forbidding expanses on earth….dun dun dunnn

- The vast, desolate landscape in Australia is much due to an old English bloke in 1859, who decided to bring over 24 rabbits for entertainment. Before this idiot, much of the land was rather lush and flowers would spring back after drought….but thanks Sir Blah Blah Blah, the wild rabbits mated (well, like rabbits) and devastated the land. Now, up to 300 million are running all over the place.

- Year 1956: “Foreign cuisine” basically meant spaghetti from a can and Perth was still just at the end of a very long dirt road.

- Australia is the only place in the world where one-humped camels exist…huh, who knew??

- This guy explained Mossys (mosquitoes) to a KEY. “Flies are of course irksome, but the Australian variety distinguishes itself with its very particular persistence. If an Australian fly wants to be up your nose or in your ear, there is no discouraging him. Flick at him you will and each time he will jump out of range and come straight back.” I can brag and say I killed a few flies during our trip through the Nullarbor, but I’d be lying if I said it was due to my swiftness rather than the fly’s sheer laziness to not leave my arm.

- In 1949 there was no such thing as Australian citizenship…whaatttttt

- Australia holds just 14 species of serious lethal snakes, one of which is the taipan – the world’s most poisonous snake. Mildura, a town in the Nullarbor, (aka a clutter of houses and a gas station with a local pub attached) is somehow the only town on record to have a fatal attack by this 5 foot long, venomous snake. I read this the morning we stopped at this town for gas. Let’s just say I didn’t leave the campervan.

Leaving the bright, vibrant city of Melbourne, I was surprised at how quickly I felt everything disappearing around us. At first, the big buildings, then homes become more sparse, trees become thinner and finally the only thing in sight for miles was literally simply brown/green grass, bushes and a random eucalyptus tree here and there. After a day or two, as much as we progressed, the vanishing point ahead of us always stayed in the same place. There were signs every few hundred kilometers saying, “Stay alive, revive” and black posts every so often indicating a place where a car crashed and someone passed away. It was a weird sense of isolation.

The six day trek from Melbourne, Victoria to Perth, Western Australia is something I would never take back. The four of us found ourselves one night just lying in the middle of the road to stare at the stars….I think I was the only one who couldn’t fully enjoy the moment because of the utter creepiness of how quite it was! The hilarity of some of our situations is something only I think Chris, Emily and Josh can truly share with me – running into gas stations like it was Christmas morning to see if they had meat pies or chips, “plugging” into campervan sites, basically getting forced to party with the entire town of Wirrulla since the only gas pump closed at 7pm, spotting Emus….thrilled to once again entire society as we strolled into the remote city of Perth.

Chapter 3 of my adventures in Australia: Perth, Western Australia