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| one year anniversary in Australia... and loving it | |
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| Topic Started: Nov 9 2007, 12:34:30 AM (683 Views) | |
| alixw | Nov 9 2007, 12:34:30 AM Post #1 |
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True Blue Mate
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November 1st was our one year in Australia!!! Holy moly. ...I can't believe it's been one year. My husband and I just came back from Exmouth and we had a blast. We were there for a 2 week vacation. I definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to experience the vastness of Western Australia. It's so beautiful because it's so untouched. We went camping in the Cape Range National Park. Lot's of snorkeling, sunbathing and relaxing. For those of you who want a bit of comfort, Novotel has just opened a beautiful resort. Check out my photos on my weblink. Other than that the biggest change to moving here is that we spend more time outdoors. We've been camping a couple of times. We go biking around the Swan river or along the beach down South Freo. Our next big expense is to buy some kayaks. We used to never do any of this stuff in Boston, probably because of the weather and because... well it's a city. We're also a lot more social. Of ourse living in the middle of Freo helps. We also made a point of making our lives less stressful by moving here. We both found jobs that are walking distance to home so we can go home for lunch, and wake up late and not deal with public transportation or traffic. Of course life is never perfect. My job is not my ideal job. I used to work in the Film and Television industry and I couldn't find work in that field so I had to find something else. I think I miss my friends the most, and just hanging out and being silly. That's definitely the hardest. I really really miss... "Everything Bagels" and NY pizza's..yum!! The things I definitely appreciate about living here: - "Annual Leave Loading" they pay you extra when you go on vacation. ha! how crazy is that?! - of course the 4 weeks vacation - free healthcare - superannuation I worked for some pretty crappy companies in the US and I barely got 5 days vacation. Urgh! Anyway, I'm babbling.... just wanted to share. ps. I know I don't post very often but I'm around ;o) |
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| sesameellis | Nov 9 2007, 05:53:39 AM Post #2 |
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Anklebiter
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Sounds very nice! I love hearing the good things that we have to look forward to. |
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Rachel Devine Sesame Ellis on flickr 
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| JenbeTas | Nov 9 2007, 08:51:25 AM Post #3 |
Hippie Wannabe sailing the deep blue sea
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Ditto, ditto, ditto!!!! I'm creeping up to one year this coming February and feel settled enough now to really look at everything objectively. Nothing is perfect--every place is going to have pro's and con's but so far, it's been great here:). |
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| Dev | Nov 9 2007, 09:32:14 AM Post #4 |
"No day but today."
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Sbarro's? :mrgreen: |
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Devon ----------------------- "What a shame that bitter irony has no nutritional value." 
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| TerritorianTori | Nov 9 2007, 01:49:26 PM Post #5 |
It couldn't happen here
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Congratulations on your 1-yr anniversary, Alix! Glad you are loving your time in Oz so far! :lurve: |
 South Texas to the Northern Territory - since 2004 I'm a huge fan of... Angry Video Game Nerd | The Big Bang Theory | Doctor Who | Pet Shop Boys | Yanks Down Under ~ Americans living in Australia Avatar by Sketch Shop Boys I don't do Facebook, sorry. | |
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| shylady | Nov 9 2007, 02:48:29 PM Post #6 |
oldYank
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Congrats, alix! :goodonya: I think living in Freo would be great, too, Greg works at Customs House and I love wandering around town! :lurve: Your Exmouth pics are just GORGEOUS!!! That's so neat you've started kayakking, I did a lot of that in the US, and this is such a great place for it! :cheers: Lisa within commuting distance up West Coast Highway from you |
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"I could’ve turned a different corner, I could’ve gone another place... " ku,'09 | |
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| Jaffas | Nov 9 2007, 03:50:23 PM Post #7 |
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True Blue Mate
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That is a fantastic idea!! Have a little holiday on the 1 year annaversary!! I should have thought of that instead of sitting at home wondering if we've made the right decision.
 It would definately change the perspective of everything.I agree with making life less stressful (no matter where you live) - we also walk to work, work casual so there is less hours we're actually at work - plus, we get paid *more* per hour to be casual. Great! Downsides are that there is no 4 weeks holidays or sick pay or other leave. We havn't taken any time off yet - so I imagine you just work out when - and go without pay. Nice post! Your lives sound fun! 
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Manda from Victoria, Australia Marty from Michigan, United States Together we're in Stawell, Victoria  See what we're up to: Our Old Miners Cottage - A blog for our house | |
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| Squashy | Nov 9 2007, 09:29:47 PM Post #8 |
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True Blue Mate
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Wow, I love your photos :lurve: Very exciting because I'm doing a big camping road trip early next year would LOVE YOU forever if you sent me some details about that campground!! :bow: Hubby and I would really love to get kayaks, we did a trip when we were living in NZ and loved it, but just haven't gotten around to it yet ... I really enjoyed your post I also find that the I'm more social and spend more time outdoors since moving here. The only problem is it can be a bit chilly in Hobart, still waiting on summer to hurry up and get here!
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| Jennifer | |
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| NY'ker | Nov 10 2007, 04:44:14 AM Post #9 |
True Blue Mate
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Good for you! Happy 1 year aniversary in OZ, glad you are enjoying yourself. :mrgreen: |
 Natalie (Aussie) and Greg (American) and our two kiddos - Mackenzie (5) and Jack (2) | |
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| alixw | Nov 10 2007, 08:45:30 AM Post #10 |
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True Blue Mate
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Hey Squashy. That campground in Cape Range was unbelievable. The only facilities was a toilet so I recommend you take a couple of solar showers. It made such a difference to feel clean at the end of the day. We ended up buying a tall narrow tent and hooked up our solar showers on a tree and... voila we have a private shower. I recommend the North T Bone site, there's only 3 camp sites and 2 are shaded and you're a dune away from the beach! Really nice. We're hoping to do a long weekend camping trip near Lancelin and another one around Xmas in Esperence just for a few days. About the pizza Ranting Dev, I'm talking about ANY pizza place in NY. They're ALL good. |
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| Squashy | Nov 10 2007, 10:24:31 PM Post #11 |
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True Blue Mate
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Thanks! Very excited - you don't mind if show your photos to the mates I'm travelling with? |
| Jennifer | |
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| alixw | Nov 11 2007, 08:21:35 PM Post #12 |
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True Blue Mate
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Definitely not. Any other questions you might have let me know. Alix |
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| Squashy | Nov 13 2007, 10:43:53 AM Post #13 |
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True Blue Mate
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Well ... since you asked :mrgreen: I've camped before, but usually at holiday parks. I've never *properly* camped for more than a night or two at most, but we're on a real tight budget this trip so I imagine it will be mostly national parks for us!!! So, I was just wondering - on a 6 day camping trip to you find an esky keeps things cool enough (ie: meat)? Or did you leave the park and go to the shops? (which, I imagine, would be a bit of a distance?) Or do you just deal with nonperishables the last few days? :headscratch: I have this incredibly weird paranoia about food going off :mrgreen: Any other good tips you have for long term campers would be appreciated!! :goodonya: |
| Jennifer | |
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| imafranktoo | Nov 13 2007, 12:43:16 PM Post #14 |
Little Miss Key Breaker
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Alix congrats on one year. A year goes by pretty quick doesn't it? Squashy, my experience with eskies and camping is this....the ice lasts for just a few days depending on how hot and humid it is outside. When we camped we usually left the camp ground for a trip to the local store to get a bag or two of ice. Now my eskies in the old days kept ice frozen for days and the food/sodas very cold. Now a days I don't know how well they do since our eskies came from the '80's. My granddad had an eskie that would still have chunks of ice in it a few days after it had been filled with ice. Just a f.y.i, my husband use to camp in the swamps of Lousiana and they did more tinned food like Del Monte tinned stew, beef jerky, things that didn't go bad or need refrigerating. |
| FRANKIES[color][font][/color][/font] | |
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| shylady | Nov 13 2007, 12:58:39 PM Post #15 |
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oldYank
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yeah, Squashy, you're going to be in W.A. in, like, February??? Let me warn you, it was 39-ish here already yesterday, (Rhianna will attest, it was 40+C when they were in Lancelin on Sun) :eek: And the further North you go from Perth (like Exmouth) the warmer it gets. Any esky I've seen here can only last about 2 days max, so either you camp near a supply of ice, or fresh food, or eat non-perishables. We should start a separate "Camping" topic, sorry alixw :# :hugs: |
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"I could’ve turned a different corner, I could’ve gone another place... " ku,'09 | |
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| alixw | Nov 14 2007, 10:05:56 PM Post #16 |
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True Blue Mate
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Well this is what we ate for dinner if I can remember. We only went into town once during the 6 days. we got a huge block of ice which lasted in our cooler for 3 days. I wouldn't get bags of ice, they don't last as long. - soup where you just add water - chicken kebabs & couscous (make sure you bring a measuring cup) - hot dogs & corn in a can - spaghetti bolognese (the bolognese was in a can, not the best but ok) - pasta with a pasta sauce in a jar during the day: - peanut butter & jelly sandwiches - gourmet salads in a can (St Dalfour have a nice selection. I ate loads of these) - ham & cheese sandwiches (for the 3 days the cooler was cold) munchies: - potato chips (salsa & chips) - crackers (my favorite Rosemary & Olive bread sticks, nice with a glass of wine) - lots of candy (don't get chocolate I made that mistake... all melted) We bought a few casks of wine and that worked great. Make sure you bring water cannisters. We had 2 x 20 litres. One was drinking and cooking water, the other was our shower water. We also bought bottles of water all the time. The national park has bore water that we used for showers and doing dishes. Hope this helps. |
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| will57 | Nov 15 2007, 03:01:23 AM Post #17 |
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Yacker
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Congrats! |
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| rhimb | Nov 19 2007, 05:27:52 PM Post #18 |
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True Blue Mate
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I'm glad you and Rob are enjoying life in WA! Steve and I reached the one year mark in September, and I can't believe how fast our first year here flew by! We just sent my sister home after a two week visit. Now I'm going to have to start planning a trip back to Houston to see everyone else. It's been too long! Squashy, my hubby and I have done some camping in the southwest of WA... haven't made it further north than Cervantes yet, but we will at some point. There are lots of beautiful places to see along the coast between Esperance and Perth! I just added a link to my PicasaWeb photo albums if you want to have a look. We'll be adding lots more pics over the next week from my sister's visit too! Are you going to be driving a 4x4? If you are, you can get to some really awesome, secluded beaches off the beaten track! |
| Rhianna | |
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| alixw | Nov 19 2007, 09:01:44 PM Post #19 |
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True Blue Mate
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Hey Rhianna. You'll have to tell me all about your trip down south. Rob & I are planning a 4 or 5 day camping trip to Esperance during the holidays. If anyone has been down there and has any good spot tips, please let me know. It sounds so beautiful and secluded. Our car is 4x4 but not like a jeep or anything, so we won't be going crazy. Isn't it crazy how one year has flown by? We just can't believe it. We really can't believe how our lives have changed for the better. I'm sure living in the middle of Freo helps. The Fremantle Festival started this weekend. We were out yesterday and had a blast... parade, live music, families having a great time. It was really nice. You must have had a really nice time with your sister. How did she like Perth? |
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| rhimb | Nov 20 2007, 11:46:44 AM Post #20 |
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True Blue Mate
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Hey! Steve and I were just talking about taking another Christmas camping trip down south to Esperance next month. We haven't been to Esperance yet, so I'll have to start doing some research on it soon. Last Christmas we went to Denmark, Albany and Walpole... all great places to check out! We might have to look into getting one of those solar showers. The last place we went camping in Dwellingup only had a toilet, but luckily, it was only for a weekend... and it was quite cold there in June, so we weren't sweating all day or anything. Where did you get yours? Was it very pricey? We were thinking about heading down to Freo this weekend for the festival. One of Steve's old college chums just moved to Perth last weekend, so I thought Freo would be a cool place to hang out. We really like it there. We had an awesome time with my sister... I just wish she could've stayed a bit longer! It was hard saying goodbye, but I know we'll see her and the rest of the family when we make a trip back to Houston next year. I managed not to cry when I dropped her off at the airport, but I lost it a bit when we got home. We took her up to Cervantes, Lancelin, Rottnest Island, Whiteman Park, Kings Park, Freo, Swan Valley, CBD, Cottesloe, etc. I don't think there is much we didn't see around Perth! I wish we would've had time to take her down to the Margaret River area too... next time! Here are her pics if you want to have a look: http://picasaweb.google.com/rachaelboles/P...esternAustralia |
| Rhianna | |
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