Our first few weeks in Australia

We've been in Australia for about 2 weeks now and so far it has been a blissful mix of catching up with old friends & family (for him - and meeting new people for me!) and just taking it easy and relaxing. Although I didn't suffer from any jet lag (Rhys did 🤣), it has taken us both a while just to get back into a "routine", if you can call it that!  We are 8 hours ahead of the UK here in western australia, and these guys don't do daylight savings so it only changes when the We've been living at Rhys' mum's house for most of this time and I for one am finally feeling more settled, relaxed, and able to both work, read, and write this blog again. 

I would like to place a disclaimer though, that my camera is still broken and has been sent off to Canon for fixing, so these photos are not amazing and all taken from my phone. There will be plenty more photo content once my camera is fixed.

We've been living out of a suitcase since leaving Lewis almost a month ago (how time flies!) and it is crazy the effect this had on you both mentally and physically! Neither of us has been able to relax properly, or sleep well, knowing that we're moving elsewhere either that day or the day after! Although we haven't done very much other than visiting with my own and Rhys' friends and family, we have also somehow been constantly busy and on the move until about a week ago! 

We've also experienced an eclectic collection of beds since leaving out own bed, in our own flat, about a month ago! We have seen an unbelievable amount of hospitality and generosity in that time too though! From leaving my sister's in Edinburgh we stayed a night in London with Rhys' cousin Loraine, we were then welcomed at the airport by the lovely Maree (who was our own last houseguest in Stornoway pre covid lockdown in March 2020!) Her apartment in North Perth was our base for a couple of nights, unfortunately, she had to work so we'll get a proper catch-up with her another time soon! While in Perth we also caught up with Rhys' niece Vashti and her boyfriend Callum at the well-known gig venue, The Rosemont Tavern. We were too early for any gigs that day, but we'll undoubtedly be back 🤣. Vashti had also made Rhys his grandma's famous 'Pinwheels' which was a lovely thoughtful gift! 

We then moved slightly further south and stayed a night in Bullcreek with a cousin of Rhys', and Corey made us feel very at home as well as keeping us entertained with a wee get-together of a few of the boys that he and Rhys play GTA (Grand Theft Auto) with online. It was pretty cool putting some faces to the names I've been hearing about for the last few months, friends of both lads since they were teens, so that was a hoot! A couple of bottles of homebrew spirits meant for a good night, even if my ankles did get eaten alive by mozzies! 🐜 I'll save you all a gruesome photo of the "before", but thankfully they've all healed up now - thanks to some lavender essential oil and CBD oil - and aren't driving me mad with itching. 

    It's all new to me so I really enjoyed getting the train out of Perth out to Bullcreek, but Rhys got quite emotional driving back through the streets he'd spent many an hour in as a teenager. 

We also visited Rhys' Grandma and aunty Meryl, who live along the street from Corey. It was lovely to spend some time with Betty who is now 92 years old and hear some stories of a baby Rhys! 

On Monday, we caught another train down to Mandurah where we were collected by his mum, Jaqueline, and taken home to our new home-away-from-home, we beautiful house in Australind. 

Rhys' mum Jaqueline and her partner Rua are kindly hosting us in their home until we decide what to do next. It's a beautiful, serene home and I'm already starting to feel much more relaxed now that all my things have been put away in the wardrobe, and now that I've had a decent shower, and slept in a fantastic bed! 😁 In our second day in the area we also met up with Rhys' dad Trevor for lunch, which was lovelty! I can't get over how alike both his parents Rhys is haha I guess it's maybe becuase I've known him for so long and only just met his parents in person. Little similarities like how he laughs exactly like his mum, or has little micro expressions like his dad. It is very nice to see him in this natural habitat.

Rua, like many here in Australia, works up on the mines in the north of the state. The closest thing I can compare this to is the folks from Lewis helicoptering off-shore to a rig in the North sea, except that these folks are helicoptering for hours within the same state! He heads off on the helicopter for about 3 hours (still in the state of Western Australia mind you!) and spends two weeks there and then 2 at home. The mines are a huuuge employer here in Western Australia. We may even do a wee stint ourselves at some point as it qualifies as part of my goverment issue work which is compulsory to get the second year of my visa. They also allow short spells of work, in a non-committal contract meaning we caould do two weeks here and there and travel in betwee. Also, as they pay really well it would be a great way to save a lot of money very quickly since everything is paid for when youre on-site, from your acomidation to your food.  For the time being though we are enjoying just not working, putting our feet up and relaxing a bit, and getting all the life-admind bits and bobs sorted. 

Just in the last few days, I've managed to sort out an Australian bank account which I need to get an Australian driving license - you can only have a UK one for the first 3 months then you're required to transfer it over to an Australian one, although I'm still not entirely sure why 😅. I also have registered for a tax refrence number so that I can work and not be charged the maximum tax rate. Rhys and I both have Australian phone numbers now too, which I am over the moon about as we now don't have to pay the crazy amount of £6 per day for roaming with Vodafone UK! That being said, I have been very surprised with how much accessible free public WiFi there has been around these Australian towns - very impressive! 

We've also started to make friends with the neighbours and had a few social gatherings, sharing meals with our new friends and family. Rhys has also been busy cooking some lovely meals for us all, just for the pure enjoyment of it again which is just lovely to see (and taste)!

The area around us here in Australind is just beautiful too. It is a suburban area which has a lot of new development expaniding it all the time - Jaqueline built here about 15 years ago. There is a lovely walk around the outside edge of the neighbourhood which takes about 45 minutes. We pass through a lot of houses on our right-hand-side the whole time almost, but on the left are huge fields of grassland, forrest and a river. Along this route you alsmot always pass a troop of Kangaroos. 

  

I'm going to sign off for now, as dinner is being prepared as I speak. 

I'd love to know what sort of info you'd like to know about my travels? This blog is a space for me to write down and remember my travels in the future, but if there is info that's of interest to anyone I'll happily write that into the next couple of blogs. 

For now, Oidhche mhath!