Perth Storm

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/video/perth/-/watch/18745716

We survived the Perth Storm 22nd March 2010 !!

Wow, we had a bit of a storm yesterday !! Worst storm in 50 years apparently !! It started at about 3pm, blackness rolling in. Me and Digger had decided to go and take the DVD's back and made it back just in time......we did run all the way home though ! It was so windy and the rain started. I ran round shutting all the windows and tried to calm poor Digs down. It lasted about 10 mins, with thunder and flashes of lightening. I tried to get some footage but had to get back inside to see to poor Digger. It seemed to sail over the top of us but then came back with a vengeance. Hail the size of golf balls and it was so windy ! The rain came down so heavy and just kept on coming and coming ! I was trying to get Digs to calm down and heard a gushing noise. Went into our bedroom and the air conditioning vent had a waterfall straight onto the carpet. I ran to the kitchen to get as many pots and pans as I could and tried to catch the water. The the light fitting above the bed started to gush water so I had to try and lift the mattress off the bed and angle some pots under that. Poor Digs didn't know why I was running around like a mad woman ! I rang Ben and he was just setting off from work. Car windows were smashed and the vans were dented at Megavision with the hail. They had let Ben go early but just as he was checking round he noticed that the showroom was leaking in ... all over the plasmas ! By the time he was setting off back the streets were like rivers. He got dropped off near the station and walked straight out into the torrent of water at the side of the road. The station was in chaos as you can imagine. In the meantime I was trying to ring Emma and not getting anything. Eventually I heard a car pulling up outside and Em was home. She just collapsed onto the carpet, she was soaked. She had to drive back in the worst of it all and had to drive through deep puddles. It was so nice to have her home safe, Digs was so pleased to have her home. Ben wasn't long after Emma and was absolutely drenched ! He said the Perth Train Station was in total chaos, everyone just panicking cos it just hit that fast. We watched a bit of the news and it was same all over Perth. We had to sort out the bedroom and by now the light fitting was full of water. It seemed to go on for ages and we were so glad when it eventually stopped. Ben was so lucky as he got to go into the loft. He mopped up what water he could see as our ceiling was soaked. Luckily it was only one bedroom that had sprung a leak, could have been so much worse. Apparently the Thornlie "tree man" Richard Pennicuik was struck by lightning whilst staying in the tree but is still up the tree !! 105 days he's been up there now !

The storm was supposed to be back again this morning but as of yet there's been nothing. The sky was a bit black and Ben noticed some fork lightning on the way to work but nothing has rolled over yet. I've managed to wash all our bedding from last night and hopefully can get it dry before (if) it comes over again. Our first rain in Perth since November, they were all complaining and they got it in the end !!

1 Year Anniversary !!

G'day everyone,

Hope everyones ok. We're both fine, had some good days out and making the most of our last few days here in Oz.

Wednesday, I met Ben at Leederville when he finished work, we had a walk up and down the strip. It was a funky little place with loads of restaurants, even has Little Caesars ....... apparently the best pizza in WA ! It was closed though so we didn't get to rate it unfortunately. We didn't stay long there, it was really hot walking about so we caught the train back into the City.

First stop was Bobby Dazzlers and the place was decked out in Green, all the staff were dressed up for the St Patrick Day celebrations. Ben went for drinks and came back with 2 pints of 'Green' Bulmers. Every drink we had after that was green and we noticed everyone else's was the same. They put Green Food Colouring in the drinks, so cool ! We then had a walk down to the Moon and Sixpence, it was heaving and they had a live irish band in the garden. We listened to it for a little bit then walked down to Durty Nellies. Again we were a bit late and it was heaving, so we called into the Generous Squire for a swift pint before heading back to Bobby Dazzlers for some more greeness !! After a few drinks we decided to head back and have a drink with Emma at our local, The Victoria Hotel.

Ben was working Thursday but didn't have to be in until 10am so we had a bit of a lie in. It was Quiz night and we came 3rd ! We didn't have the help of Dean or Helen this week, so it was just the original 4. We didn't think we'd done very well but at half time we were joint first with another team. I even pulled out of the bag an old music questions ...... it was a guess which song from the intro and I got it right at "Simon Says!" ...... well I was impressed ! Ha ha. We're joining forces with another team for me and Ben's last night at the quiz. We need to come first and to beat the team that always comes first. We've even going to sit at there table to make it even worse. So hopefully we'll have 11 on our team, we've got to win with that many !

Friday was Casino night ! We were so nervous but excited. Ben was at work and got home usual time. We were chauffeured to the Casino by Emma and we hit the floor. It was massive and so busy. We made straight for the Buffet Carvery and stuffed our faces. There was loads to choose from and I even managed to stuff in 3 puddings, Ben could only manage a measly 2 ! That was it we hit the floor. Ben wanted to put his money into Texas Hold-Em poker so we headed for the Poker Room. Unfortunately there was a wait so we had a look around to see what was available. I decided to put some of my money on the Roulette Table and after watching for about 15 mins I paid my 20 bucks. Didn't win anything, realising this wasn't what we were going to win our millions on we headed back to the poker room and ben managed to get a table. I sat and waited at the sofa area, so much money was being played. After about an hour Ben came back, not smiling ! He didn't get any good hands and was out, so disappointing ! We still had some money left and decided to have a go on the slot machines, there was thousands of them. I put my 10 bucks into the machine and pressed go, we didn't have a clue what to do but then it starts flashing and saying we'd won 13 free games. The machine starts playing on it's own, winning every time and our winnings kept going up and up. Ben ran off to get a cup to put the money in and by the time he got back it was at $141 !! We were so excited ! We quickly pressed collect and it all dropped out in $1 coins ! All in all we left 50 bucks down and got home at 2am.

Saturday was a lovely day, we caught the ferry to Fremantle. It took us right along the Swan River all the way past all the posh houses.

We even got to see some dolphins again. It took about an hour and we had a small walk to get to Freo. We went straight to the pub, the Sail and Anchor and managed to get some seats on the balcony to watch the Buskers. We had just missed the Badpiper and caught the act 'Dreamstate". A couple who did acrobatics and juggling, they were so funny too.

We decided to head down to Little Creatures for our tea and then caught the train home.

Sunday, our 1st Anniversary and unfortunately the Mr had to go to work. He was there 9am til 12, so we still had the rest of the day to do something. We went to Woolies and got some picnic stuff in and headed down to the Swan River. It felt like a stormy day and was really humid but sitting down by the river there was a nice breeze. We sat and watched the Wake Boarder on the River and the people walking there dogs and cycling round. Ben even got to speak to his nephew Charlie, who was a big 5 yesterday !! He was too busy playing his Crash Bandicoot on the Playstation though ! Happy Birthday Charlie, hope you had a lovely party xxxx

We headed back just before it started to get dark and missed taking pics of the best sunset by the river! We could still see it but just behind all the buildings. The whole sky was lit up lovely.

We got back just in time for the Biggest Loser Weigh In. It was the perfect Anniversary weekend, thanks to everyone who sent us a card and thank you for your congrats wishes .... so kind !

Ben's working every day this week, even the weekend...... our last full week in Oz ! Birthday boy tomorrow, we're heading to the local Mexican for our teas. Nothing much really planned this week, apart from our last Quiz Night on Thursday. Hopefully Blog you with some good news !

Thanks again for all your messages. Take care and speak soon. xxx

Top O'the Morning to Ya !

Hello everyone and Happy St Patrick's Day to you !!

Hope everyone's ok, we're both fine.

We haven't really been anywhere much as Ben's been working. We made it to the quiz last week and managed a very poor 2nd last ! None of us were into it that much, we didn't have the usual Quiz Host Mark and the other guy was boring. It went well over usual finishing time and we were all knackered, hopefully we'll do better this week. We've all said we need a first before we leave, this weeks going to be our best shot because we get bonus 5 points for coming 2nd last ! We also got a drinks voucher, so it's not that bad coming in that position !

Ben was working on friday night and Em asked if I fancied a pizza for tea. Off we trotted to Avanti's up the road and we sat outside listening to the live music coming from the Victoria Hotel over the road. Ben even managed to get away for an hour to come and enjoy a pizza for his tea before going back to work again.

Me and Emma found a car boot sale advertised for the saturday morning and immediately set to work loading up the car. It was an early start on the sat 6am !! Poor Ben, we didn't see him again until 4ish that day. We drove to a place called Kwinana, about 30 mins away. It was a very strange place and was packed with Poms !! We do love a good car boot sale !! Everyone was British, I've never seen so many in one place before. We did ok at the car boot sale and managed to get rid of the big items. We got home just after 12ish and we crashed in front of the telly until Ben came home. Ben was home and then went out for an hour and then came home again. He was to go out at 11pm so he didn't quite enjoy his saturday evening as much. He wasn't home until 4.30am sunday morning and was then out to work again at 8.30am ! Poor Ben. He was home for 1ish though and we went to the pub for a well deserved pint and some dinner. We got some DVD's and crashed on the sofa for the rest of the day.

Ben was working monday and I started my Lady of Leisure routine !! I was finished at the council on friday. I got a bunch of Lillies (very beautiful) and had a morning tea ! The Aussie's do love a morning tea ! I felt really sad to be leaving there, it was such a great place to work. I said that I was available in case they needed me for a couple of days up until we leave so we'll wait and see if they do. I'm going to meet my recruitment lady, Sarah for a coffee before I go too.

I have started my exercise .... ha ha, well dragging Digger round the Park. We walked Ben to the train on monday morning and then carried onto the Park. We did a couple of laps and then headed back to collapse for the rest of the morning. I could hardly walk the next day.

Tuesday Ben was given the day off work so we started it with our walk around the park with Digger. We then caught the train to Mandurah, a small town near Fremantle. We found a coffee shop overlooking the Bay when we got there and enjoyed a Brew and a slice of cake.

We saw some dolphins in the Bay, about 5 altogether just swimming and jumping in the water .... very cool !

We didn't think we'd have saw something like that and thought we should have brought our swimmers ! We had a walk around Mandurah and then caught the train back to Rockingham. We had a walk around there and had some dinner.

We decided we'd go to the cinema but the showing wasn't until 6.30pm so we headed to the beach. We caught the bus and had a walk along the front by the beach. It was lovely, just a small strip on sand up along the gorgeous water. Took us ages to find a pub so we could sit and enjoy a beer and watch the world go by.

We caught the bus back to the Shopping Centre and bought our Gold Class tickets to watch Green Zone. We weer then shown through some glass doors into a lunge area full of leather chairs. Ben went to the bar and ordered our complimentary drinks for movie and some popcorn. We then bought a couple of beers and waited to be called into the showing. We made our way through and sat in an exclusive lounge to watch the film. It was 2 Leather Loungers with a table in between us. A button on the table for when we wanted a drink or food, just press it and the waitress comes along. We could push a button and the chairs go back, it kept Ben amused for ages ! It was the best way ever of watching a movie ! Just a shame the movie wasn't all that, but the experience was awesome ! Definitely worth paying the extra !

We made our way back to the Bus Stop and got back in time for the next train home. We were so tired and the journey seemed to take for ever. We got home just after 10pm and we just crashed. Luckily Ben got a text o say that he wasn't needed into work until 10am so he even got another lie in ! He's working until 3pm so I'm going to meet him in town and we'll go for a couple of Guinesses ..... would be rude not to today !

Hope everyones ok ! Take care and speak soon xxxxxx

Birthday Celebrations and stuff

G'day everyone,

You'll be pleased to know there's been no more 'Muggings' this week. I was talking with my Manager though and could see the Kookaburra through her office window .... it was taunting me I'm sure !!

Monday was a Public Holiday here so it was a very short week. Quiz night, we had 10 people on our team and only managed 3rd place ! No drinks voucher or anything. Dean and Helen came and brought Dean's folks who are over here on holiday. We had Carol and she brought her partner and then Rudi (Em's cousin) came. We should have won it with all the people !

It was Em's birthday on saturday so we bought her a Birthday Banner and some balloons and decorated the room for when she got back from work. We hid behind the chairs and frightened the life out of her when she opened the door ......... probably not a good idea after just having the break-in really but funny all the same !

Em drove us to the beach and we had a walk around the Sculptures by the sea. Pieces of art that people had designed and they display them on Cottesloe Beach. We just missed the sunset but it was still lovely. Em had fish and chips and we sat on the beach for a while whilst she ate them. Very nice.

Saturday Ben was working 10-2pm so we gave Em her present before Ben had gone. We had bought her a DVD that she wanted, also got her a ACDC keyring (as she's going to see them on monday night) and Digs bought her a Birthday Girl badge (which she wore all day !). Me and Em watched the DVD together and then I headed out to town to get some shopping done and to have a wander. Got back just after 3 and Ben wasn't long after. We had bought Em some Mr Kipling cakes and put some candles in them and sang Happy Birthday to her.

At 6pm some of her friends arrived and we got ready and went up to Elie's Tent. It's a Lebanese Restaurant just up the road. There was 9 of us altogether and we sat on the sofas ready for our Banquet. The food was awesome, so tasty and so much of it. There was kebabs, hummus, falafel, lebanese bread .... so tasty. It's a Bring Your Own restaurant so we'd got loaded up with our Tooheys. After the food had been served the music came on and there was a belly dancer. She even got Ben and Emma up to dance !

Needless to say he'd had a few Tooheys by then ! She even came back and got Johnny up to dance too ... he was too good at it ! The staff there were amazing, so funny. We've got a Council Cleanup here monday so everyone is putting stuff they don't want, out onto the streets. 2 guys walked past carrying a kids slide whilst Em was having a smoke. They asked her if she wanted a go and she did, right there on the Albany Highway !! So funny ! We were ready to go and the waitresses came and thanked us for coming and showed us how to do a dance .... check out the footage !! It's actually on You tube !!

We all came back to the house afterwards and continued the drinking and chatting. Everyone left at 2ish and Em decided to get out her firesticks .... probably not wise after drinking ! Ben had a go but couldn't quite master it. Em was amazing, it was so mesmerizing. I didn't even attempt to have a go, I couldn't even twirl it right without it being lit !

When we'd finished we decided to watch Em's DVD again ...... it was 5.30am when we got to bed. Awesome !

Ben got up at 12 today. I did too and lasted 3 seconds on the chair before thinking I wasn't ready to sit up just yet and went back to bed. 3.30pm I eventually got up and had a shower to wake me up. We went for shopping and then headed to the pub for some dinner. There was a sunday session there and the guitarist was awesome. We just chilled there for a while, reading the papers. Couldn't manage a pint though !

We got back and helped Em sort some stuff out for the Council Collection tomorrow. We've just chilled out watching Biggest Loser and probably all going to bed now cos we're flagging a bit now. So impressed that Em made it work today .... not quite sure how she did it !

Got another week at the Council .... no surprise there ! I'm back with the Executive Services Department. Not many weeks left, we've really got to start planning our NZ trip !!

Hope everyones ok, we send our love to everyone !! We're both fine (apart from the hangovers!).

Bye for now ! xx

Mugging at Subi Council ......

Well just thought I’d blog about my mugging yesterday. It was a usual morning at Subi Council and I decided to have my lunch at 1.00pm. I just go and sit in the park right next to the council offices and eat my lunch and read my book for the 30 mins I get. I sat at one of the benches and opened my lunch box ready to start my lunch. Getting out my crackerbreads and tin of tuna and making a little sandwich. Oblivious to the fact I was being watched.......
Next thing I knew I was under attack ... only a bloody Kookaburra trying to steal my crackerbreads !! It was slow motion I swear to you, it even copped a hold of the skin between my finger and thumb before flying off. I let out a scream and luckily no one saw what had happened as it was rather embarrassing. I was shaking like a leaf for ages and scared to have another go at eating my lunch. Minutes later it came back only this time it sat at the end of the bench I was sitting on and decided to glare at me. It’s beak was huge, couldn’t believe it was so close. I put away my lunch, thinking there’s no way it’s going to get anymore and got out my phone instead. Getting footage of the beast sitting watching me, I was careful not to make eye contact too much, as I had visions of it pecking out my eyes. A woman looked over and gave me the thumbs up, I tried to mouth “Help!” but she looked away. It sat there for what seemed like years before it decided to go and mug some other poor person (probably!). I couldn’t believe it. I did want my lunch so I decided to head back to my desk where I thought it couldn’t get me ...... wrong it broke into the building ...... ha ha in my head it was going to!!

Today I decided that I would be strong and not let this Kookaburra dictate where I can go for my lunch break. I headed back out and luckily someone was sitting at my bench where the attack took place. I sat at another and made sure it was near someone else who was eating so at least it had a choice of who to mug. Next thing I heard a yelp and the woman who I’d sat near had a Kookaburra hanging off her arm ..... ha ha, it was stealing her sandwich. Her husband just sat there amazed. It flew off and sat right beside them until the woman (terrified) gave it some of her sandwich. Little bugger !!! It then flew off, probably to share the said sanger with the rest of his chav/bogan Kookaburras. She looked at me and I gave her the sympathetic look, I’d been there I knew how she felt. Needless to say I headed back inside to again eat my lunch at my desk.

Question is do I go out tomorrow ??? I’ll keep you updated !

Boom Boom Boom ... let me hear you say FREO ..... FREO!!

G'day everyone, we're writing this on our Labour Day Bank Holiday. Ben's playing the guitar beside me. We're just having a lazy day today, recovering from our time at Freo. We've just watched some DVD's, Bronson and Van Diemens Land. Bronson awesome ! Van Diemens land ..... well should have known when it said it was the modern day "Deliverance!" ....

Had a great week. Went to the beach with Emma and Digs last week and watched the sunset. We did go dressed for a swim but it was so windy and the waves were a bit wild. We had a paddle instead though.

We had the quiz on thursday night again and the poms Helen and Dean turned up to give us a hand. Lucky they did we came 2nd again! Better than the 2nd last, last week ! We got our drinks voucher again, so exciting ! Although we didn't celebrate with ice cream this time, just went home for some more drinks instead.

Ben was working saturday for a few hours again and got home at 2pm. We packed an overnight bag and caught the train to Fremantle. Got there at about 4ish and made straight for the Hostel to drop our bags. The hostel room was rubbish, overlooking the drinking area of the hostel and no air conditioning or ensuite ! We quickly left our bags, not even getting changed out of our shorts and headed out. We called in at the Sail and Anchor pub and then headed on to Little Creatures for some tea.

We weren't really sure what we were going to do and ended up going to a Comedy Night which was on in the Little Creatures Loft. We met a guy called Woody from Brisbane and he had the best mustache in the world ! He sat with us to watch the comedy show and yes because of his mustache we got picked on !! So funny. We're a bit blurry about what happened next but we ended up at the Sail and Anchor Pub again. We caught the end of a band, which were really good and then walked back to the hostel.

Sunday morning we awoke and were feeling a bit shady so we decided to go and find somewhere for a sit down and to have some decent breakfast. We decided to stop at a cafe by the side of the road and watch the people go by. Freo is such a great place, just has a laid back atmosphere. We ordered our stodge and sat and watched the world go by.

After breakfast Ben mentioned about the Fremantle Prison, so we had a walk around the indoor market and headed to the prison.

We were just in time for the first tour that was on called the Doing Time Tour and our guide James took us into the Reception area of the prison to start this.

We were lead round and shown the different cells and divisions of the prison. There was 4 Divisions altogether and even a womens prison behind the mens. It was closed in 1991 and is currently applying for heritage listing. We were shown the prison kitchen and the places where the prisoners would exercise.

We were even shown the Gallows .... complete with noose ! Very cool !! They would bring prisoners here to be hanged and this would happen at 8am on a monday. There was even a women hanged here.

We stayed for the next tour which was called Great Escapes. We were again lead round by James and were told Escape Stories of some of the prisoners. We were even shown prisoners cells which had been painted by the inmates. On this tour we got to go up into one of the guntowers, from here you could see 360 degree views of the prison.

We were there for about 3 hours and it was so great. It was very hot walking round, so we decided a drink was in order at the Sail and Anchor pub ...... we were on our holidays !! We got a cider and sat and watched the Freo Buskers outside ....... Matty Blades and Mickey J. We even got to see the local drunk being run over by an angry guy in a wheelchair. It was hilarious, people were trying to stop the guy in the wheelchair and he was trying to run them over instead. The drunk was sitting right in the middle of the buskers area and was playing spoons badly and drinking his Goon (cheap boxed wine). Eventually the drunk was bribed away with cash and we could watch the buskers again. We decided we would head back down to Little Creatures for some tea before heading back to Perth. It was so busy and we got to sit outside in the sun and eat our tea. We even managed another pint !!

We left there and collected our bags from the Hostel and made our way back to the train station. Luckily there was a train in and we boarded. We got into Perth to see our train was in and 1 min left to board. Ben legged it and left me lagging behind. I was exhausted but made it through the doors with seconds to spare .... I was like Indiana Jones without the hat !

We arrived back to home and both just crashed ! We just missed the start of Biggest Loser AND it was weigh-in ... we were gutted ! We managed to stay awake until the end and watched the beginning of it online before heading off to bed. It was 8.45pm when we got to bed and didn't wake up this morning until 8.30am !! Lightweights !!

Emma was working today so we decided a chill day was in order and chilled we have. It's 37 out there today !! We did manage to go out for our shopping and to pick up the dvd's.

It was the last day of summer here yesterday and now it's autumn.

We're both fine, both working this week .... although a short one!! I will be wearing my Finance hat .... they asked me to help them out this week !! Jack of all trades by the time I finish ....... if I finish, they might not let me go !

Hope everyones good at home. Sending our love to everyone.

Lots of love, us two xx