Internet Connections

Coming from the United States I expected to find some fiber-optic cable connections in Australia but it was not so, at least in Perth.  What they have here is ADSL2.  I don't think it is as fast as our 6Meg/sec fiber optic back home but they claim it is 10Meg/sec over their phone lines.

We weren't sure what to get, so we started searching around.

We looked into Telstra, Iinet, Dodo, and TPG.  There are a few more companies available, but these are the four that were suggested the most, either by word of mouth or by media advertising saturation on billboards and buses and TV.

Telstra is the largest company and is effectively AT&T.  They own everything and they aren't afraid to prove it.  Their services are very expensive.  They may be the most reliable, but again, they are very expensive.  Their services are also the closest to our fiber at home, but again, they are very expensive.  Telstra has a home broadband and a "super-fast" broadband, each with  its own subset of combos.  You can sign a 2 year contract and get 50Gig of downloading per month for $50.00AU a month or you can get the same on the "super-fast" for $60.00AU per month.  50 isn't that much.  Our service at home, the cable fiber always on connection, actually had a limit of around 150Gig.  Most do. The one saving grace we had from Telstra the first month we were here was their mobile broadband.  You can get a mobile dongle that will connect to the Telstra network (can you hear me now?) anywhere at any time.  The cost?  Over $50.00AU for 3Gig.  3! This is why I had to stop posting.

My wife suggested TPG, and I looked into it, and found very bad reviews.  They claim an unlimited ADSL2 with landline phone carrying unlimited local and australia calls and 100 minutes of international calls AND a wifi modem for 70.00AU.  Sounds like a steal, right?  According to the reviews I read, TPG was the worst company around, despite having one or two gleaming positive reviews.  If you're interested in TPG, please read the reviews first.

Dodo was pretty much the same. They had a much lower price for a "naked" service (internet connection only).  They offered ADSL2 with no limits, quotas, peak times, or combos required.  The problem with this service was the two year contract you had to sign.  One would think if one wanted to change services badly enough one could just pay the early termination fee, but according to the reviews of Dodo I read, it is very difficult to get dodo to actually cancel your service.  And with the rumors out here that free broadband is on its way to everyone, it didn't make sense to sign a two year contract.  It seems that Dodo might actually be worse than TPG according to the reviews, but this may or may not be tied to the fact that there are simply more reviews available for Dodo.

We've signed up with Iinet.  We got a combo through them that gives us 200Gig in downloads with no peak times, a "landline" VOIP phone and a FetchTV pack of TV channels (like basic cable) for $99.00AU per month.  This isn't a bad deal.  The phone has free calls to any australian landline and charges only five cents per minute for international calls.  1300 and 13 numbers are 30 cents flat.

Iinet gave us this wireless router that does it all, phone and internet in one, called the BoB2.  We haven't had much issue with the BoB2 other than we can't get the wireless to operate.  No computers can join the network even with the proper security keys, and going into the router to change settings is useless, as nothing is saved upon exit.  We can connect direct over Cat5 though, and that has been ok, but Iinet still needs to be called and this needs working out.

The FetchTV is a little confusing.  The over the air channels come in fine (which they wouldn't on our American TV had we not gotten the FetchTV and its "cable box") but something is up with the package.  I thought we had the starter (which only offers box functions like on demand movies and TV) but the box itself says we have the entertainment pack (which offers additional channels you'd find on basic or extended basic cable). These extra channels, however, won't come in.  This, too, needs working out.

To make a long story short, when it comes to investing in an internet connection in Perth, be sure to fully, and i mean FULLY, research your options before you decide.  Don't be afraid to ask around of the people you meet.  If they have an opinion, they'll tell you.  Most of them will be nice about it, too.

To the Bank and Farmers' Market in Perth, and some Birds

On Friday we went and set up our bank accounts at Unicredit, a credit union on the campus of the university.  Interestingly, it seems the people of Australia rarely use checkbooks anymore, but Rebecca requested access to a "cheque book" just the same.  I think the bank teller thought us quite strange for that.

The setup of the account was weird, too.  We have one joint account, but inside this joint account we have individual sub-accounts that to my knowledge work as individual accounts.  /boggle.

Vinny was a bit in a crazy mood the past evening and morning.  As I had said the heat in the apartment was not working and the landlady had brought us some space heaters.  They work really well, and are of those "fake log fake fire" hot air blower types.

I apologize for the quality of the picture, but this is about the only way you can see the "flames."  But i won't make too much fun of it as the two we have have made our apartment life much warmer.


And it puts an end to this:

Vinny loved telling us about the front loader washer, despite his outfit.

Which honestly wasn't that bad.

But now it's warmer and we can dress in less striking outfits.

On Saturday morning Rebecca's (and Bronson's) friend (who has been a godsend i might add, with all her help in getting us set up and knowledgeable of how things go) took us to one of the many farmers' markets in Perth.  The one she took us too, whether it was the biggest in Perth or not, was absolutely huge.  It was located on the Clontarf Aboriginal College campus off Manning Road.  The campus is very beautiful. 

The college was built in 1901 and was an orphanage, then later used by the RAF in World War 2.  Then it became an orphanage again and then a general boarding school.  In the 1960s it lost enrollment numbers needed to maintain itself and closed as a school.  Afterward it became a sanitarium of sorts for children with behavioral problems.

I thought the school resembled an old Spanish mission or something out of a good Alfred Hitchcock tale.

I thought that this was just going to be yet another farmers' market.  I'd seen them before.  We had a good one in Urbana, Illinois - one of the biggest I'd seen - that took up a good portion off a parking lot. Our farmers' market in Oak Ridge was downright pathetic.  I wasn't looking forward to much.  I thought we'd get a few vegetables, see a few trinket sales, and at least somewhat support local agriculture.

This place was huge!  There were long continuous rows of vendors selling all sorts of fruits, vegetables, breads, meats - real butchers! - and even a milkman with fresh bottled milk ffrom his own dairy!

Rows and rows of food sellers and flower sellers

 and honey sellers and milk sellers and home made food sellers and sustainability sellers. 

 There were ethnic food sellers,

 breakfast food sellers, 

bratwurst with attitude sellers, 

cheese sellers,

and even a man selling ginormous mushrooms!

Yeah!  they were GINORMOUS!

See?

There was even one place selling sweet potatoes as big as your head!

Those are big sweet potatoes :)



We came away with potatoes, fruits, bread, two two liter bottles of fresh milk, a whole chicken and some beef brisket (cheapest I've ever seen beef since Dakota).

 Vinny wanted a breakfast crepe and he ordered one.  I like him to try to do things on his own, within reason, and his montessori background has given him the confidence to do so (sometimes with prodding).



He was given a ticket, which I held, and had to return to the crepe maker when his number was up on the kiosk sign.  When the number came, he was up and hurrying over to his crepe.

It was quite tasty.  He enjoyed it.

They had this large area in the middle where everyone could sit and enjoy conversation and good food if they wanted. We sat there with our newfound Australian friend and let Vinny enjoy his crepe and some of his freshly squeezed (from a cow I guess) strawberry milk.

The next day we just took it easy and hung around.  Later in the evening Rebecca took Vinny to the park across the street.  I went out to take a few pictures of some birds for my mom.  There have been two birds we have seen predominantly.  One looks like a big black crow but it's call sounds more like a dying cat in heat than the gargling caw of our midwestern crows.  I think what they call a crow is actually a raven, only bigger.  I don't have a picture of it yet. 

The other is a small black and white bird that has a very distinctive call.  It almost drives me insane, actually.  I'll have to find a way to get a .wav of it up or something.  Some people have told me that bird is a Magpie.  

The woman in the downstairs apartment throws balls of raw meat out them and they eat it right up.

Here is another one with a different black/white pattern.

There are some interesting trees in the park across the street.  They have wonderful red/ink blooms and the birds seem to love them.  

The trunk and branches are covered in sharp thorns.  Any idea what these are called?

Rebecca noticed some beautiful green parrot-like birds who loved to eat fruit from these blossoms.  Just like with any of the other birds,

 I don't know what these birds are called, and our camera isn't the best when zooming, but I've tried to include what good shots of these birds we could get.

There was also a smaller, white-breasted bird with a black head and black beak in the tree with these green birds.  I don't know what it is either, but I wonder if it is a baby magpie?

Vinny had a great day at the park playing with his mama.  Rebecca posted an excellent picture of him in a tree.  When I caught up with them they were both quite tired.

I can't believe the size of this aloe plant.  I just had to take a picture of it again.  Rebecca also found a rosemary "tree."  Wow.

  We then went home and had wonderful homemade soup made with the chicken from last night's great chicken dinner (both cooked by my lovely wife) and hit the sack.

Nothing to Declare? You'd Better Check Again...

My wife introduced me to this television show aired in Perth and the United Kingdom entitled "Border Security: Australia's Front Line."  You can find complete episodes of it on YouTube.  The stars of the show are the many customs screeners and immigration officials who work tirelessly to protect Australia's borders from exposure to invasive diseases, plant life, animals, the influx of drugs via couriers and mail, and to determine the legal status of everyone entering the country and if they have the means to survive the duration of their stay without violating the status of their visas and breaking the law.

She told me at once she was addicted to it, and after one episode, so was I.  Australia is very serious about customs declaration, so whatever you do, CHECK YES.  If you aren't sure, as they say on their form CHECK YES ANYWAY.  After watching the show you can see how even simple negligence or forgetfulness can doom you to hours of interviews and even fines and jail time.

There is one character on the show named Peter and both of us admit that if Peter ever sat us across his desk and interrogated us we'd end up telling him our most private sins (the man has a "just don't f$*k with me manner" and incredibly piercing eyes and intimidating mustache).  I joked with her that I was going to put the theme song on a voice recorder and play it behind her head upon our arrival in Sydney, immediately provoking a worried search for Peter from her.

Seriously, the show is very informative, and even if you aren't interested in visiting Australia, it is wonderful to see the extent these people go to protect their borders.  I think everyone stands to learn something, be you looking for ways to increase our security or find someone else to criticize other than the United States for treatment - justified or not - of illegal immigrants.

What I find most interesting is how many of their questions of arrivals would never be asked in our country as they would be declared invasive, personal, irrelevant, and rude, yet these are the questions that are the most helpful to them when identifying drug smugglers.  Also of note is how patient they are, as if many of the visitors becoming hostile and angry with them are simply talked down calmly or quietly escorted away, in the United States argumentative, hostile travelers would be told they could be arrested as a terrorist and threatened with detainment.

Check out the show.  I think you'll enjoy it.  Might learn something too.  Here is the first episode.

RPGs in Perth

As we are avid gamers we have been wondering what game stores / groups we might be able to find in Perth and how to get into contact with them.  I've been searching around; as a university town Perth would surely have some sort of gamers' union or game shops where you can find bulletin boards.

I came across http://www.meetup.com/PerthRPG/ off http://tabletopmanifesto.blogspot.com/ and signed up.  Hopefully it will work out for us.  I'd like it if we could find some relaxed gamers who've been around a while.  I'm always willing to take in new players or play with players with little experience but need to do so on a controlled, hopefully one-at-a-time so we can mentor pace.

If anyone heading to Perth wants info about Perth RPG groups, sign up on the forum.  When you get there, look us up.

I hear there is a good Quality Comics store at 872 Hay Street.  You can see their site here.  It will redirect you to their Facebook here.

I also read of a store Tactics where you can get good RPG materials.  I can't find any real info about it yet but will look it up when I get there and give an update.