Living the dream

OZ a land of contrasts

2crossers — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 20:23:00 GMT

Australia a land of contrasts

It ‘s hard to imagine how the first immigrants to WA felt when they stepped off the boat after, what must have been an arduous and very long voyage.

The Ten Pound Poms, from the UK, as they are known would not have experienced the relative comfort of first class travel. So stepping from what was probably a stench filled boat, wearing most of their too hot clothing, WA in summer must have seemed like an alien landscape that was both a blessing and a curse.

The azure blue waters and coastline of white soft sands and majickal coral reefs always enliven the senses. As far as the eye can see along the coast the ocean sparkles and the beach is either gently caressed by the softest white foam that luxuriates the sand like an expensive bubble bath, or we watch in awe as the undertow draws back and gathers momentum to join the racing and ever increasing surf that curls and crashes along the shore to the delight of surfers and body boarders alike. The weather forecast [ that usually for WA in summer is sun sun sun , hot hot hot ], also tells of the wave height and surf quality, and of course the wind speed and direction mainly for the kite surfers, and you have to LOVE a nation that has water proof money – so you can dive into those crystal waters any time.

The coastline too is open to all unless for eco reasons it is being protected. The Multi million dollar homes usually sit back behind a road, and for the most part there is ample free parking so everyone may enjoy the open space. Can you imagine in the UK !!! Not only would most of the beaches ne inaccessible as the millionaires would have the beach sectioned off but the car parking would be limited and cost a fortune, with ample employees there to ensure fines and clamping remained prolific.

The whole coast is white sand . greenery and empty for the most part.

In addition to the amazing and beautiful coast, one of the most breath taking things we find is the contrast between the arid dry red and gold dust of the land and the most luscious green vegetation and intensely beautiful coloured flowers. We are here in summer and we are told in the spring it is even more magnificent.

For us Australia is a land of colour, from the deep rich greens of the tall trees, ranging from perfectly balanced fir trees to ever stretching pom pom like tress like look like any moment a giraffe will begin to nibble at the leaves, and everything in between. Palm trees of all shapes and sizes, vibrant orange huge Iris like flowers, dark green fronds with orange blossoms that can been seem across the bush for miles; Frangipan flowers whose sent positively drips in the evening air, and rosemary growing wild and in the most manicured hedges, Aloe Vera plants as big as a truck and plants that resemble Rhododendrons except bigger even brighter and with the most intoxicating perfume.

There are trees that look they like they have dusty silver bells hanging from them [ gum trees]. After the flowers grow the seed pods prepare to scatter their beauty farther around , and then there are the amazing trees that shed their outer bark to become a smooth gentle dusty cream and perfect trunk and branches from which luscious leaves grow in great swathes. Lemon trees with fruit the size of quince and magnolia that blossom and blossom and blossom everyday, to name but a few.

WA is careful to always have outside spaces for everyone and even in the new developments [ of which there are many outside Perth growing] they landscape and make the most green of common areas and plant trees along the roads, providing beauty and much appreciated shelter from sometimes searing heat of + 40C.

We are fortunate that our family lives 10 mins from Freo [ Freemantle ] and 12 from Perth and a short walk to the beach – The Freo doctor normally whips up around noon / 1pm so a welcome breeze is felt to cool the air and the inhabitants.

The area here is very affluent, and recently a small parcel of land with an oldish house on, opposite the Indian Ocean [ but not secluded at all ] is being advertised for $8.95 Million as a tear down ! The cars that fill the roads here are Ferrari, Lamborghinis, Bentleys and the kids have Porches – not our kids LOL but we are manifesting daily so watch this space J

The house the guys rent is really lovely with great outdoor space, I’m typing this in a breeze under a shade and it’s over 40’C but feels ok in the breeze, it’s a lovely entertaining space and has some of the lovely plants I described before. OH for an IKEA in NS !!!! Their outside space has fab wooden tables and chairs from Ikea, large comfy sturdy , modern and very reasonable – we saw steamer chairs all wood for $49 !!!! would we could get them home.

The interior of their home is an interesting space and is naturally divided for guests and sleeping and living space – with white walls adorned by Ks great [ and I don’t just say that coz I’m her mum[ art work. Their modern furniture makes for a great space and lovely home. Most of the food is cooked outside and having a son in law who is a sought after chef means that we have wonderful food all the time - we mainly wash up [ well Phil washes up actually but I tidy away LOL]

Australia, for many, is currently booming, the cost of living in WA is very high but the wages much better than UK and NS [ which hey I know wouldn’t be hard ! ].

Anyone wanting to come to OZ to work ? The mines are recruiting and a friend of K and S mum is over from the Gold Coast and she said they just can’t get enough people to work there – there are Truck jobs, Office work, mining – all sorts for the mine companies and some jobs pay really crazy money and if you can drive they train you to drive the huge trucks and pretty much your in– probably not recommended long term but if you want to build up some $ then worth a thought.

The companies build great places with pools and extensive facilities – they are though in the Deserts and currently a friend of ours is in the Pilbarra, he’s a geologist working outside, of course, and it was over 50’C so not for the feint hearted.

There is another side of the mining industry of course. For many of the mining towns the well paid workers are flown in and out – they have their needs met at the camps and do not re -distribute the wealth back into the local economy. It is so bad in one town that the locals have posters and car stickers that say “ there are 2 roads in and out of here, take one and F*&K off. Pretty clear message. At the mines too there is great inconsistency of pay – in truth discrimination. Being close to Asia there are migrant workers paid more than they would be at home but a pittance compared to the westerners – their working and living conditions are often poorer and they are often taken advantage of.

Like many parts of the world the story is the same, the land is raped, a few get excessively wealthy, for a short time if you are the right creed/ colour there is wealth to be had, the long term though the economy remains manipulated, the earth is imbalanced and after the gravy train stops, the towns are left to die.

For many it’s a great place to live and the kids have surf lessons and swimming lessons in school, there are great sports facilities, fabulous range of arts and culture and still quiet gentle communities to live away from the city where you really can have the best of both worlds.

So no wonder most of the Ten Pound Poms stayed J

Being in this part of WA it’s easy to think that WA is rich and everyone lives a great life – again like all areas there is a great divide between the haves and have nots – the people natural to WA again like indigenous people everywhere have been forced out of their areas and way of life and often alcoholism and drugs are rife in low paid / high crime and unemployment areas – the farther into the bush you go often the greater the problems. If you are one of the people with a good income then this is an amazing place to be.

We have been exploring new places and went with the guys up into the Perth Hills – walking through the bush [ on the natural paths to avoid the snakes ] we had a great time cooling down in a gentle river and catching the panoramic view of the lovely city that Perth is.

Perth sits on the Swan river and shines along side the sparkling water, again surrounded by and laced with lush green vegetation. Some interesting Stucco buildings can be found but mainly the city is shiny and new, busy modern and vibrant. It’s also expensive, there are some great cafe’s with eclectic stuff and ambience – one we went to actually had a Jotul stove outside the same as ours, with some wood for when it gets cold [ about 25’C LOL !!! ]

Beautiful sail boats and huge multi million $ yachts foam the water and tourists boats take hoards along to see the brewery and take in the sites from the breeze of the river.

There really are black swans that live on the river [ hence it’s name] and these can be seen along it’s gentler shores and in the parks nearby.

Kings park is worth a trip, this is stunning and sits on a hill providing a breeze and great views of the city and beyond, here too you can bring a blanket a picnic and catch a movie in one of the many outdoor cinemas – all the girls are having a dirty dancing night and after new year we’re all [ boyz too ] off to see Sherlock Holmes 2 – which promises to be great on all counts. Or catch an open air play.

We spent the day at Moore River the other day – we went to the mouth of the river where the brackish warm water of the river [ as the hills had had a huge a lively thunderstorm and heavy rain ] flows into the crystal clear waters of the Indian Ocean – a bright white sand bar divides the 2.

The day we went the river was still too low [ despite the rain ] to flow over. It staggers us that WA is still so luscious when they are 25% of their water down.

The miles of beach was virtually empty and the crashing waves made for fun – as long as you stayed quite close to shore. Some beaches the undertow is very strong and unless you are a great swimmer you can be carried off in the rip tides.

Most of the beaches are empty and all are stunning and clean.

One of our favourite places is Yanchep – it’s quiet and has a beautiful lagoon hat the sharks can’t normally get in as the reef stops them – so a great place to swim without a care. Yanchep has a huge national park with interesting caves and roos roaming freely and snoozy Koala bears and nearby GIN GIN has a wonderful Aeolian Harp and science centre exploring sound waves [ LOVE IT !!! ] we’ll be going back there on this trip

WA has sharks but not so many jelly fish compared to the East coast, which is great – we did though at Yanchep see a huge eel or possibly a huge sea snake – the locals said it could have been either &%@!!!!

5 beaches were closed over the holiday due to shark sightings – the thought is the sharks were following a shoal of fish up and down the coast small comfort when they were between 4 and 5 metres long. They don’t hunt people [ usually ] it’s just that they take a bite first to see if they like it L

We stay close to shore in the clear water and stay out f its really lively as A the rip and tow is strong and B you can’t see through the water – mostly though it’s like swimming in blue and turquoise crystals. Interesting enough the light quality is different and the sky here is a much paler blue than the intense blue of home – non the less beautifu though.

The sunsets are beautiful as it is warm and vast, as yet we have not seen any as rich here as at home from our beach, although farther south they promise deeper sunsets.

No less majestic are the iridescent green parrots, white Parakeets, Black Parakeets and pink and grey Galas.

As the sun begins to sink the and dusk creeps through the tress, the loud and happy sound of laughing monkeys can be heard far and wide – these are the kookaburras and their sound is worth a trip in it’s self.

Another favourite place is Freo – eclectic , hippy , laid back and great food. We caught a beautiful art exhibition the other day By Surita King - check out her work, we were moved by a lot of her work and fell in love with a piece that was $12,000 so we went out and bought a lotto ticket for this month.

On the way for supper on the ocean we came across a shady courtyard on the town square that had quirky table tennis tables with all the stuff – so we played in the shade – all free too – how cool is that.

Generally speaking the Aussies here are like Canadians – they have a great respect for the outdoors and a great respect for their own spaces, so there are free BBQs in the parks, great facilities and quirky stuff all over that is left untouched and safe. The place is clean and the locals friendly. We have to say though that some of the standard of driving leaves a lot to be desired, and roundabouts are pretty new in some areas and seem to be a bit of a challenge for some.

Travelling though is easy – the roads are great and often along the ocean – the trains are modern air conditioned cheap and frequent, as are the buses and many areas are set out in grids – and even the ones that aren’t [ the older areas ] are really well sign posted – so it’s easy to drive too. Just watch out for the turtles crossing in some places and the Roos all over the place once outside the city.

They drive like the UK – and funnily enough I have found that hard as I am so wedded to our NS way – how soon we forget which side of the road we are on eh – so Phil or S drives mainly.

We had a great Christmas and a fab Xmas day – hugs and kisses, pressies, swim at the beach, then lunch outside under the shade with some friends and a lovely Geordie couple new to WA- We ate drank and got very merry and played Jenga and Balderdash and chatted and laughed.

Boxing day at K and S friends with their family from the east coast a good and yesterday a birthday BBQ by the beach.

Talking of beach we are off there in a minute to cool down – the guys are just in from work [ in since 5am ] and we all need a dip !!!

We’re away down south for new year to some places we haven’t seem before and some to visit again – we have a few days with K and S and the pooch and are really looking forward to that.

Well it’s topped 41.5C and we‘re officially the hottest place in Perth – so it is off for a swim.

With love wonderful souls xxx

Dance to the rhythm of your soul and you’ll never miss a beat xx

Love US

Hi Agin - this is easier than a new page and we have your attention LOL - we'll post pics through a hotmail address as this site wanted to download stuff with aHot bar and we had big problems after a soccer / footy site last time - so that wasn't an option.

We went to Peppermint Grove between Busselton and Bunbourough - a beach house - with spectacular views of the ocean and of the forrest - that looked for all the world like Africa. We spent new years eve with K and S and the pooch and US - the sky was full of stars as 2012 arrived down under and a warm breeze wafted the scent of the Oleander and Frangipani and we toasted the new year and the end of an Epoch. We lit wish papers and watched as they rose high and then vanished into the ether [ LOVE those things they are awesome !! ].

We awoke to blue skies and dolphins off the beach - which we feel is a sine of serenity and protection - we saw them many times each day when we were there and one late afternoon we were in the ocean as they swam by - truly breath taking.

We walked along the ocean front homes and looked at lots for sale - thinking how bizarre it is - WHO decided to fence off parcels of the planet we all live on ? Well royals with armies and big sticks we guess - but seriously how crazy is it - none of us can really own the earth we are custodians of it - everyone should have a home and we should help each other build them - people should be able to live where they want a world without boarders - think of how amazing that would be.

Anyway it's late here and the orange box is packed away this evening :-)

But it is crazy ??? Here's to 2012 bringing a true new dawn to the planet :-) [ in a great way ].

Had supper in Freo tonight and out with girls a few times over the next week - we are off to catch some open air movies, up into the hills to find a sculpture park [ they have really great sculptures all over WA], off to an Apiary, cruise up the Swan River, catch an open air Shakespeare play,see some bands, take in another Classical music concert and some galleries, explore some new places and of course spend time on the white sand and splashing about in the azure waters [ when it's not toooo hot ] and of course having fun with the guys.

We count our blessings daily and count you in them -

Love as always

Crossers UPSIDE DOWN xxxxx

Australia a land of contrasts

2crossers — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 20:14:00 GMT

Sunshine, A lunar Eclipse and a Symphony WOWSER

2crossers — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 18:20:00 GMT

Well here we are in lovely sunny Perth with beautiful and amazing daughter and wonderful son in law and cute surfer dude doggy.

We had a great trip getting here [ told you we wouldn't be on line much }LOL we flew from London UK and had some time before the fight to Dubai so took in Brighton - it was sunny but blowy and we got to do the Pier and walk along the front - also pick up some stuff to take to OZ for the guys.

We went to Brighton Pavilion and if you ever get the chance to go - then go see it - it's quite a work of art and so out of place it's pretty cool.

We were though very sorry we missed a place called CHOCKY WOCKY DOODAH - the guys watch this amazing show about this choclatiere that make the most incredible stuff [ they watch food stuff as Stu is a chef and even though he is family we have to say he's a pretty FAB one !!! A big OZ food critic regularly eats where Stu is - so do we !!!] anyway we may try and track it down when we land back at the UK in Feb as we prob wont be there again for a while.

Being here with guys is amazing and we miss them so much so we are savouring everyday.

The weather in East Australia has been awful and today terrible storms raged - here is hot and sunny and we have been swimming everyday I actually have tanned legs - so alert the media.

It is now 4pm hot and sticky and we are out to meet some friends we met when last here and some new ones of Kate and Stus.

Last night Phil and I went to see WASO [Western Australia Symphony Orchestra ] a free concert in the Esplanade park on the Swan river - WOWSER what an amazing night they were spectacular - 20000 people gave a standing ovation and a solo by Giulio Plotino made me cry and you could have heard a pin drop until he had finished playing then the place erupted. It was a warm clear night - most of us sat on blankets many on chairs all with picnics and drinks - no drunks no litter no bother just great people and spectacular music . They did the 1812 overture with cannons FANTASTIC !!!! And it was Lunar eclipse that we watched with Kate and Stu great memories being made.

We met a nice couple at the train station then were joined by another lovely lady and a young girls - we had a chat went to the concert then went our own way as some had chairs so sit in one area - we had a blanket the young girl was meeting friends.

WE left by a different exit and walked a different way back to the train stopping water and the loo - we hopped on the train to find the 6 of us were all back sitting together and we got off of course at the same stop - 20000 people what are the odds ! Obviously together in a former life :-)

The world is full of amazing people and listening to the exquisite music it was clear what an amazing species we are capable of such beauty and such horror - all from different planets I guess here for an experience - We're going back to the planet with exquisite music beauty and love .... oh yes that would be this one :-) lets just convert the others with love.

Have a great one catch up soon

Love Crossers down under

Preparing for another fab adventure

2crossers — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 12:50:00 GMT

After scouring the net for travel Ins [ which is crazy expensive in NA generally ] we remembred WORLD NOMADS YAY !!!! and we got a great deal and it has this great BLOG bit - so any of you wanting to keep up with stuff on our travels can.

We plan to to be doing stuff rather than writing about stuff, so there wont be a timed update etc rather as and when. This blog though is great place to put some pics up as we are poor at sending and showing pics so this can be like an ongoing scene as it were.

When there is great grammer and spelling you'll know Phil typed it and when it sounds like a fast talk and not grreat spelling you'll know it's me [Rita].

So here we are still tons to do but getting ever more excited about seeing the guys in OZ and UK.

The fire is roaring here on this blustery night and a mad rain storm is forcast - tomorrow is 11.11.11 and we are meditting with whatever lovely friends feel drawn and able to get here. Visualizing a wonderful harmonious planet free from greed and a monetary economy, everyone fed,and housed with great health and education for all.

This is a little try out of the bells and whistles on this thing so hope it works - keep checking back if you wanna see some pics and hear where we've been and what we've seen and whatever thoughts roll out.

Love and hugs

US x