Monday 30 March 2009

He, mate ……

True mateship is a real Ozzie thing.
Mates …..go for a drive, go fishing and drink a beer together. They help each other with work in or around the house and share a barbie with their families.

I always thought this only intended males, but no………….this word concerns male and females alike!

I have been working at WA police sites for almost a year and I have discovered that it is true ……………the coppers are a very good example of how true mateship (read: true friendship) is achieved.
They help each other through thick and thin and even if you are not a copper yourself you are being treated as one of them, all the same!

I know the word ‘mate’ is being considered a bit as ‘slang’, but I have learnt to reconsider my feeling about this word.
A mate is a true friend and that really means something :-).

Monday 11 August 2008

My double!

Word is out! I have a double in Perth!
No idea what she looks like (like me I suppose) but I mean in real life, you know what I mean :-). I guess she is living on the South of the river, because a lady from the company restaurant told me she daily took a bus to the South.
I do hope she behaves though. Just image that friends or colleagues start asking you what you were doing yesterday, drunk on the sideway :-)!

Sunday 3 August 2008

Sharing the fridge!

In Perth (WA) everything is prepared to deal with the heat. Just take a look inside the houses. Apart from the three a bit colder months of the year, you will have to search for a heater. These are sometimes just put in a closet during the summer (it can be that small!). But almost all the homes are fitted with an air conditioning or an evaporative air system (blows a hydrated breeze through the house) to keep you comfortable and cool during the largest part of the year.

The same you will see with the transport of cool food. The large supermarkets sell their chiller bags (a strong and large insulated grocery bag, that you can close with a zipper). But the Aussies also love their Eskies and not without a good reason. The Eskies are used to keep food cool during transport or during any kind of entertainment (meat for the Barbie or drinks while entertaining in the beach or in large parks).
They come in all sorts of colours, large or small, though or soft, and with or without wheels.
The Eski is even used while you go and visits friends and you want to bring a nice cool wine or cool food.
Don’t be surprised that when they visit you for dinner, they bring a lot of drinks, a salad or even a dessert or chocolates to make your life easier.
They will come in, give you a genuine hug, get confused when we want to give them more than one kiss ……..and then walk on with their eskies straight to the fridge, open it and fill it with all the cold stuff they are planning to drink or share with you. You don’t need to worry for your guests during the evening, because they will take another of their own drinks when they are getting thirsty and bring one for you in one go.

Don’t forget the tradesmen (the tradies) the hardworking guys who are working on your pool or arranging your pavers. They will need to take cover from the sun, when they eat their lunch and it is very well accepted that they will use your fridge in the garage (if you have one) to preserve their food and keep their drinks cool …………...

The fridge is a very important feature and always ready to share…..

Friday 25 July 2008

Cold, cold winter.......................

- You would think………..
that someone like me, who has lived (for the biggest part of her life) in a cold country (Holland) and where the summer always only seems to exist for a couple of precious weeks in a year.
You would think that I would get used to a winter?

- You would think………..
that if you move over to a country where it is warm for 8 months of the year in, in stead of the other way around, that you would start appreciating the cold?

- You would think …………….
that experiencing a winter, in which the day temperature never reaches below 13 degrees, although the night can be around freezing point, is a lovely winter everyone would wish for?

Well, let me surprise you………………

- I can’t wait ………….
for the precious warmth of around 28 degrees with a nice sun that shines all day!

- I can’t wait …………
for the pool to reach 30 degrees again and have a daily very relaxing swim in water that feels like a soft blue- ish creme!

- I can’t wait …………
for a pleasant beach walk on bare feet, smelling the sea and enjoy the doggies on doggie beach at Hillary’s!

- I can’t wait ………….
dragging my canoe into the river, while water of about 24 degrees is surrounding my legs and birdies are playing around and skeets screaming as if it is the last day of their life.

No ………………I will never get used to the winter again………
Let’s hope September will soon bring the first nice warmth of spring………….I can’t wait!

Sunday 20 July 2008

Driving in WA

Have you ever heard of P-platers……….? In Australia was the first time we heard the name. It is very simple. These are people with a distinctive plate with a ‘P’ on it attached on the front and the back of their car.
It means they have passed their driving exam successfully (and have the provisional permission to drive, that’s why it is a ‘P’), but are not very experienced drivers yet and need to apply to specific rules.

Young people in WA are mostly trained by their parents, who learnt it from their parents and so on………………. You can understand that some rules tend to be forgotten after several generations…..

But also consider the youngsters themselves think they will never die, so if you see a car crossing the road with less than a second before impact (while you approach them with 70 or 80 km), just have a good look …. Most of the time you will see this sign on their car hanging there, almost like an excuse or an apology ......

But also the more experienced driver might surprise you now and then. Just go to a roundabout and have a look at the signal lights of the approaching cars. One thing is sure; it won’t tell you anything about their planned direction.

And don’t consider yourself safe while walking on the side ways. You would not be the first to be hit be a car spinning out of control (mostly again the P- plater) while the V8 engine is playing its own game…

I am every day looking in amazement when bicyclists are risking their live bicycling on the side skirts of the roads while drivers (and P-platers!) are passing them by with 70 km an hour. They are real heroes!

No it is definitely not very safe on the roads of WA, but on the other hand very relaxed………….

You will always find a place to park, and outside the city you hardly will have to pay for it.
Changing lines is easy peasy. Just switch you signal light and you will see they will extend the gap to give you enough space to move in.
Most of the time you will drive at a speed of about 70 or 80 km an hour. On the freeway 100 km an hour and outside the city (on the highways), sometimes 110 km an hour. But that’s it. No high speeds.
We can imaging the culture shock, when we will be driving in Holland in a couple of years on a holiday.