Its been a while - probably about 8 weeks! Lots has been happening - but as I have been in Perth for the last two months I said I wouldnt bore you guys with my daily routine!!
After landing back from the adventure of a lifetime (3 natural disasters in one week and a travel insurance company that now hates me!) - I decided it was time to knuckle down and do some work to get some final funds for the last leg of the trip! We spent a few days hanging around with the West Coast Trip crew before they all jetted off to other parts of Oz or back home...it was sad saying bye to everyone :( But a gang of us headed out for the 1st Six Nations Game! Off to Rosies for Ireland vs Wales! Brilliant night was had - had to be up at the crack of dawn for an interview, not so good!
After about a week on the job hunt (not gonna lie there was also time spent on Perths amazing beaches also!) - I got a job working in HR for a month smack bang in the city centre. So off I pottered to work and first nice surprise - the bank is located in the same building as Rio Tinto. Wink Wink. Lotsa hotties in the mining industry. Really enjoyed my time working with HR - I even got extended for an extra couple of weeks, so I must have done something right!
Whilst in job mode - I said why not get back into gymming it.....wink wink again, SO many people workout after work. A lot of male lookers to oogle over. Sha-wings!! For all you gals wondering where this place is - Murray Street Fitness First!
After my 1st two (tough) days in work...nat...we headed off to Margaret River. This is a place about 3 hours south of Perth and is just filled with winery after winery! Lisa M came over from Sydney and joined myself, Ronan, Leona, Tommy, Emer and Will on a weekend of wine and fun! We set off super early on a Sat morning and visited about 6 (possibly 7!) wineries, it got a bit blurry at the end! Wow...they were amazing. Free wine all around!! We visited a chocoloate factory and a liquer factory to finish off the day! After a lovely dinner in Mgt River, the boys took to the bar to watch some boring footie and us girls went to another Vineyard in the dark. Im sure you are all saying....hmmm...too many vineyards?! But no...we were going to see an outdoor movie (but we did also indulge in wine...when in Margaret River and all that!). The outdoor movie was very american indeed and very enjoyable and different. Definitely not something that could be done at home!
The next day we headed to yet another vineyard for brekkie and hit the beaches in Margaret River while the lads went caving! We hit the road to get back to Perth and our grown up lives (well grown up-ish!) on Sunday evening. We are still living in hostels, there is a huge shortage of rental accommodation in Perth as there is a mining boom at the moment. Most hostels are what are known as "working hostels" where most of the people staying in the hostels are working in the city or on sites. And when I say "most people" - I mean they are 99% Irish aswell! We've made heaps of friends here and feel like we have a Perth family!
Speaking of family - I met up with some family while I was here too! Emily and Rachel (my little sisters) have cousins living out here. So I met up Ronan (the cousin!) and his fiancee for dinner and drinks.. they kindly invited me to their wedding so I will get to experience and Irish Ozzie wedding too!
A week later, I turned another year older (probably not wiser), and we rounded up the troops for a great night out! The gang spoilt me rotten with massive fondue treats, making me dinner, ample amounts of chocolate cake and bubbles! Photos from the night out below!
Week 3 in work - and it was all going really well, my team are so nice. Come Friday evening I was invited to "Boardroom drinks"...very google like indeed! But I wasnt complaining...my boss then thought it would be a nice idea for me to join them on the after work boat cruise (otherwise known as a 4 hour booze cruise).
Rule Number 1 - dont get drunk in front of your boss....well what if its your bosses fault you end up on the other side of tipsy? It was a fab cruise up to fremantle with copious amounts of corona and a great way to get to know all the work peeps (pity Im leaving :( ). Another Six Nations Game in Rosies - its nearly a tradition now! View from the cruise in the photo below....
Week 4 in Perth and Grown Up Life - More of the same really, more work and less play (decided to take a break from the daily wine consumption this week..it was becoming ridiculous!). We all went out for dinner in Sienas for a family night out during the week, 12 of us I think - all friends from the 1st hostel we stayed in! Marie works in the restaurant, lucky her -the food is yummy and they were really nice to us.
This week we moved to a new hostel ( I use this term lightly - its not new compared to the lovely one we were in, in fact its very old and possibly haunted, but cheaper!). Location is still great and its still only 5 minutes to work! When Alan helped move all our stuff from A to B he reckons no suitcase could be as heavy as mine and Bryony's and that we've possibly cut up ex boyfriends and the likes and are carrying them around with us! Now now Alan....who would do something crazy like that!
Week 4 Weekend - The Woods-Gilmore Wedding
Woke up of a very sunny and super hot Saturday morning and got the glad rags on. Probably not the wisest idea to wear a sight black wooly dress when its near 40 degrees out! The boys kindly agreed to drop me to Caversham House where the wedding was taking place. This place is stunning - everything about it was just perfect - like something out of a fairytale! The bride- Vicki looked just fab and her new hubbie Ronan scrubbed up ok too!! It was an amazing day - made lots of new friends (Barbara and Mike get a special mention ;) ) and the unlimited bubbly resulted in an almighty hangover the next morning. The photos just speak for themselves here...
Week 5
More work and more play! Really begin to settle into Perth and love life here! Could maybe even see myself living here (Sorry Mammy!) - but of course then everyone could visit. We are stilling living it up in the Britannia Hostel - where Auntie Po follows us around like our mother and us Irish are a major ethnic minority in the kitchen. I shall say no more!
I finished up in HR in the city this week - awhhh....I will miss those guys - yes Suzie I shall! You never know though - our paths may cross again! Great experience of working in the hustle and bustle in Perth that I was very grateful for! Myself and the Gilmores took off to the races - where as usual I lost my shirt! But really fun night was ha!
Week 6
Highlight of this week was visit Rottnest Island. Yes the name aint the nicest - but just 30 minutes from Perth its a very well kept secret! Its an island with white sand and clear blue waters, I know Ive seen a lot of these lately - but its awesome that its so close to the city! Rotto (as its known) has funny looking creatures unique to the island called quokkas - they are like mini kangaroo-esque rodents. Fabulous right. Well I would have taken pictures for ye- but someone (no actually sure who) sat on my camera and the screen smashed one fine night out in Northbridge- and its now a surprise camera cos I cant see the pictures I am taking!! So no quokkas! I did get some snaps on the trusty Iphone though. Thanks Caroline and Phil for putting up with my whinging and dry wit as we cycled around the island for hours!! Lots of fun was had and we finished the day off with a nice glass of Moscato (my new favourite drink!)
Myself and the girls (Marie, Brid, Bryony, Leona and Nicole) had a little BBQ in Kings Park. Very grown up indeed - the facilities in Perth are amazing. Its such a pretty city - I am like a Trip Advisor ad now so I will stop!
Week 7 - Paddies Day!
Although Paddies was the highlight...I was "lucky enough" to land a 2 week temping assignment before I go away again. Mother-a-god. I went from talking all business and dealing with hotties in suits....to screaming down the phone to old people who A) cant hear me as most of them are near deaf or B) cant undertand my "foreign accent". I was working in an aged care office - doing project managementy stuff....very entertaining. They even had the stupidity to put me on reception for a while, well I hung up on more clients than I could count.
2 days of work and I was bloody well delighted it was Paddy's Weekend! The Irish were out in force...lots of proud Irish sporting green white and orange slash gold! We hit Northbridge relatively early in the day -without sounding like we have a drink problem - I can confirm wine was consumed at breakfast time. We stayed in Rosie O Gradys all day and all night - very Irish indeed. Thats all really ;)
This was followed by a Sunday Session in "The Cure" - our local - which didnt let us down either, brilliant Trad Session - sure you couldnt feel homesick.
Only to be followed by a Monday in Work - screaming on the phone again!!!
Week 8
Last week before I jet off on my holidays....we did the usual "out" on a Saturday night. Nearly Died on a Sunday weekend. I said goodbye to my lovely friends Caroline and Philip - who I met on my very first day travelling in New Zealand, when I had never ever stayed in a hostel! Will be seeing them very soon though!
Also - couldnt go without mentioning - this week we had a very momentous occasion....our Brid landed a job in the same hip-happening company I work in, so she gets to shout at old people from an office closer the city. Bitch. Anyway - great day for the Parish when all four of us got up for work in out room!
Packing me bags for travelling to Bali on Friday night - 2 weeks of Sun and Spa's (I mean beauty Spa's :) ).... SJtheTraveller is going solo for the first time - so send out the search parties if I am not back in two weeks!!
One more Blog on Bali....and then guess who is making her way back to the Emerald Isle!
Happy Blogging.....
xxxx
