Days 177 - 187
Trip Start
Sep 14, 2006
1
149
169
Trip End
??? ??, 2007
Perth,
Australia
Thursday, March 22, 2007
I went back to Freo and had a beer in one of the bars
01 The wagtail
. It was pleasant enough drinking alone with the other unemployed folk but mid-way through my pint the phone rang! Tuesday I would be at the Department of Water - hoorah!The Department of Water is a bit more interesting that you would imagine because in Western Australia there is a drought. All week I've been processing applications from farmers who want Government assistance to improve their water collecting and storage facilities and hopefully drought-proof them. The farms have no running water supply other than what they can catch from rain water or fetch from underground through boreholes. The work is pretty basic admin stuff but it's OK. The other day I realised that Western Australia, though bigger than Western Europe, only has one telephone area code - 08! I've been there every work day since and will be until March 30th.
I finally watched the latest Bond movie in the week - very impressed with the new Bond. Go watch it if you haven't already.
St. Patrick's Day was a blast, the whole hostel in Freo had been hyping up the festivities all week so it was no surprise to come out of my dorm at 8.30am to see a table with lads around it drinking beer
02 Cottesloe beach on a Monday morning
. The thought crossed my mind that they were still up from the night before but, no, they were just keen. I joined them at around 10.30am and so began a mammoth Saturday session.On Sunday morning I got up early and switched hostels to Perth. I don't like getting up early just to take a 30 minute ride into Perth on the train so I've come a bit closer. I do like the hostel in Freo and Freo itself but I've come to Perth for a week or so (and away from the drinking culture! my head did hurt this morning). I found a public park this afternoon and on it a cricket match was taking place. It was a reasonable standard with umpires (yes two) and I sat for an hour or so and ate my petrol-station-bought pies. They were supposed to be two for one but only if you got the same two flavours so they were expensive but very enjoyable.
So, the interesting bit of this blog comes now - not what I have done but what I plan to do.... Since my arrival in Oz three weeks ago I've been scratching around for a plan and the best I managed was to get the job and tread water. That's all changed with my decision to buy my first air-ticket of my trip! Yes, it's happened, I've finally succumbed to the birds of the sky. It's not for six months and will be from Sydney. I want to go home for a few weeks and see my friends and family and to attend the wedding of two of my closest friends
03 The sculptures
. I will land on British soil on the anniversary of my departure and on the way I'll take stop-overs in Hong Kong (1 night) and Helsinki (3 nights). Then I've got three and a half weeks in Blighty before going home via....drum roll.... India! I'll be there for two and a half months and I should really get a good chance to see the place. I had resigned myself to not seeing it on this trip having taken the Northern route to the East. I get a flight from Bombay to Sydney on Boxing Day and will be there in time for New Year's Eve. So, what to do until September? Well, I'm going to zig-zag this massive continent (by land of course) up to the North, then down through the arid centre and South to Adelaide and Melbourne. There I'll stay for three or four months and get some work (more boring blog entries) before heading to Sydney for the flight. On my return I'll see a bit more of the East Coast and go from there. That's nearly one year from now and if it all goes like I've told it I'll be more amazed than anyone!
