The Trip Over and Our First Encounter With Perth

It was a long journey but we have finally arrived in Perth.  It seemed everything leading toward the final move was extremely stressful - saying good-bye to friends, and family, our house, etc. - and for the most part to me I was in some kind of zone apart from reality.

But here we are.

Our weekend of festivities we had planned with family went well.  We ended up nearly blowing the first night as we were very late getting away from home. The last Monday before our flight our families and we got together for the late lunch/ early dinner and then headed to the airport.  I bought these shirts for us to wear primarily so we could spot Vinny and he could spot us should we be separated.  

The shirts actually proved to be quite the conversation ice-breaker many times.  I think they also helped us get through security.  After all, what troublemakers would make themselves so noticeable?

Vinny was very excited about the planes and was thrilled upon our first takeoff. 

 He stared out the window for a little while but soon got bored with it and kept the window shade closed.

Vinny took the trip very well. He really enjoyed the fact that on every 747 there was a DVD screen in the rear of the headrest of every seat.  What he doesn't know is that WE enjoyed it just as much, as it occupied him.  Most times he was almost angered because we had the audacity to bother him whilst enthralled.  

For an airline, Qantas personnel were very attentive and kind.  The airline even fed us actual dinners and two breakfasts.  Would you like to know something else?  With a totally unexpected act Qantas airlines won my admiration; they brought out ice cream bars for everyone!

He also enjoyed riding the train between terminals.

When we arrived in Brisbane I was selected for a random security search.  It was exciting because we had seen the exact process done many times on Border Security: Australia's Front Line -- at least the swab part. Remember our shirts?  I noticed that he didn't really push the swab down on my luggage very hard which led me to believe he wasn't really searching me; either he just wanted to be closer to my awesomeness or the brightness of the awesomeness shirt truly blinded him and he couldn't distinguish me from someone "dangerous."

Rebecca was quite disappointed that we didn't get to meet any of the people we'd seen on Border Security. I think she was also somewhat disappointed in the fact that we didn't get searched.  We had worked very hard writing down each thing that was in each of our six checked bags and had our carry-ons at the ready.  Rebecca pulled the list out and the first customs guard asked "what's that?" and she promptly told him it was everything in our bags.  He grinned and passed us along.  The customs officials at the counters asked a few questions and we answered them; no opening of bags occurred.  Again, I place credit on our shirts and one cute little boy.  That's the key to getting through security :)   

Strangely enough, I met my first real Australian in Australia in the head.  He had been in front of us in the security screen and was getting a hard time getting some duty-free alcohol into past.  He told me Perth was an extremely beautiful place, even though he'd never been there.

And he's right.

This is the apartment they put us in.  It's the top one on the corner on the right.

It's right across the street from a very spacious and nice park.

A short walk north and we get to the river.  Across the Swan River you can see downtown Perth.

It's actually a very nice downtown area.  It's very clean and busy, albeit crowded.  The apartment itself is kind of small and a little bit dated and dirty but it's ok for now.  The biggest problem was the heat didn't work.  So Rebecca's friend (who has been taking very good care of us) got on the phone with Rebecca's employer and they got it worked out.  I'm sure the employer gave the apartment owner an ear-full.  

Vinny took the camera and took a few pictures of things he liked.  There weren't any fans around, but he did find something else he's quite taken by. 

The power outlets are different.

He always loves to take pictures of himself.

He liked how I'd hung a ginormous dragon serpent scarf over the TV.  It occupies a corner of the apartment and is very noticeable, so I covered it.

I guess he likes the little alcove that used to be a balcony.  

The next day we got out and headed for the city.  There were two objectives:  get phones and get bus passes.

On our walk from the apartment to the ferry we encountered some pretty strange trees.  Anyone know what these are?

We got on the ferry and headed across the Swan River.  Vinny had never been on a ferry before.  He had a blast.

Trust me.  He was having a blast.

And so were we.

There.  See?  He was having a blast.

The streets of Perth near the river are quite beautiful, despite a lot of construction around the area.

I think the palm trees are really nice.

This is the bell tower, made of glass.  The bells in it are real and very loud.  It is surrounded by a small moat.  I think it is very beautiful.

There was also this fountain adjacent to the bell tower with mosaics stretching into the water.

The streets on the river are lined with palms and flowering plants of all types and sizes.

The town is literally lined with green areas, except in the suburbs and downtown.  I haven't seen the suburbs yet other than subiaco, where we went on an expedition to find our phones.

We found this absolutely ginormous tree on the corner. It isn't in Subiaco, but on the riverbank near the bell tower.  We thought it was a magnolia, but Rebecca then saw the fruit and it wasn't what you would find on a magnolia.

Here is the fruit.

They have these areas where there are pedestrian malls, where you walk along streets that are closed to traffic.  The malls are filled with shops and restaurants of all types.  Rebecca had the idea to find a bookstore and look for Rachel's new book.  

And here it was.  They had three copies of it.

But afterward, they only had two.  And we want is signed, Rachel.

We went to the post office where, interestingly enough, they sell all manner of things; things you would never expect from a post office, like a sewing machine and toys.  The phones we wanted weren't at the downtown post office so a very helpful, nay EXTREMELY helpful Chelsea helped us out and found a post office in a suburb where they had the phones we wanted.  She had them hold the phones and all we had to do was make our way out to Subiaco (the hipster suburb) and get to their post office.  We took the train out, retrieved the phones, and made our way back.

It was getting late so we headed back across the ferry and into South Perth.  Rebecca stopped at IGA and I headed to the park with Vinny so he could have some playtime of his own.  He had been such a good boy walking around the city.  We like to help him know that whatever we do, we value his opinions too, and we knew that he wanted to enjoy the playground.

He really got a kick out of this rolling log that I called the "hamster wheel."

On the way back to our apartment I noticed that there was this huge aloe bush.  It wasn't a potted plant.  It was a bush, and very large.

All in all it's like a nice little tropical paradise that has -at the moment- cold weather.

And even if we don't enjoy it -which we do- the boy does.  And that's important.

Next the plan is to head to Rebecca's workplace and open a bank account with their credit union.  Wish y'all could be here to share this place with us.  It's proving to be quite the adventure: beautiful, friendly, and pretty nice weather.. even if it was cold at night.

Think Australia is Small?

People simply do not realize how large Australia is. I didn't either until we first thought of this move.  I swiped this photo off the internet (my apologies to its owners, but I'm using it for educational purposes) and it does a very good job comparing the sizes of the United States and Australia.

To top it off, the population of the United States is 311.8 million as of July 2011.  Comparatively, the population of Australia is 22.7 million as of September 2011.  The state of Western Australia, roughly the size of the United States from the Rockies and west, has a population of roughly 2.4 million as of 2011.

Perth itself has a population of approximately 1.74 million.  So let's think about that.  2.4 million - 1.74 million =  .66 million.  That means there are roughly a half million people living on a land mass the size of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, and some of Washington, outside of Perth.  For the city of Perth itself, population is just a bit larger than what one would find in Philadelphia.  For comparison, the populations of Los Angeles are 3.8 million and New York 8.2 million respectively.  The entire population of the state of Western Australia - 2.4 million - would easily fit within the confines of Los Angeles alone with plenty to spare.

What does this mean?  For a land expanse the size of the United States from the Rockies west, you will find absolutely no one.  Western Australia's population density is currently 2.4 persons per square mile.  This statistic is skewed by Perth, as the true population density of the state of Western Australia is much less -figured at less than one person per square mile.

Does this mean anything else?  If you think about it, yes.  I'm looking forward to actually viewing the stars and Milky Way without haze and light pollution. I hear it's quite the sight to see.  I hear that you can see shooting stars quite often, and at least one per night that blazes across the sky leaving a fiery trail.

Once you get out of Perth and head north or east there aren't very many people at all, and as long as you are prepared, you can have a truly unmolested camping adventure.

This is another reason why the citizens of Perth, despite having criminals of their own sort, are more cooperatively minded.  I hear this is what makes Australians typically nicer, more respectful, tolerant, and engaged than most.  If they don't work together, they're alone.

Sounds like fun, eh?

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.

Whatever You Do, Don't Be a Hoon!

APRIL 16 2012 EDIT:     A Video of a HOON:   
http://video.perthnow.com.au/2223272714/A-blight-on-Perth-streets


Hoon.

What's a hoon?  We first saw the word in reference to driving, usually done by the "L-platers" which, to the American readers, means learner drivers or new drivers.  But a hoon?  What's a hoon?  This is important if you're moving to Australia, because it seems that hoon is a very common descriptor used to label distinct behaviors.

Hoon:     Anyone who engages in antisocial behavior, "in particular, used to refer to one who drives a car or boat in a manner which is anti-social by the standards of contemporary society, that is, fast, noisily and/or dangerously" ( Wikipedia. "Hoon."  http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoon ).

Hoon driving is driving recklessly.  Doing donuts in the street.  Peeling out.  Gunning engines at stoplights.  Driving like, well, a hoon.  Believe it or not, Australia actually has anti-hoon legislation which they call, you guessed it, "anti-hoon" laws.

You can even get a hoon tan:  one white arm and one tanned arm, because you have one arm hanging out the car window all the time.

You can go out and hoon around, meaning messing or screwing around.

I supposed that hoon was somehow related to hoodlum, but have uncovered no evidence as of yet to support the claim.

After this we were interested in other jargon that might come in handy pertaining to deviant behavior.   My wife had heard Bogan a lot which seemed to mean redneck in context, but we really needed to find out for sure.

Bogan:    a pejorative, "or self-deprecating, for an individual who is recognised to be from a lower class background or someone whose limited education, speech, clothing, attitude and behaviour exemplifies such background... used by fans of heavy metal and hard rock music to describe themselves, and was used almost interchangeably with 'head banger.' Bogans typically wore 'acid wash' jeans, ugg boots, and band t-shirts; had mullet style haircuts; and lived in suburbs" ( Wikipedia. "Bogan." http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogan ).

That's a metalhead, not a redneck.....   but still.....

I also remember from dungeons and dragons a bogan being a minor elfling or gnome-like entity that reveled in mischief, and by the definitions both interpretations seem linked to the mythological scottish/gaelic bocans.

My wife had a sure bet that bogan meant redneck, and I'd have to say, after reading examples of it on the internet that yes, Virginia, a bogan is a redneck, but not in the way Americans know rednecks.  Wearing band shirts and acid washed jeans is clearly not what comes to mind when Americans think of rednecks. However, taking into context that the Australian punk/metalhead seems to be the cultural patsy everyone likes to joke about, it is a parallel to our stereotypical "southern-born redneck" and would classify as a redneck (deviant patsy) for their area.  They just don't have the rebel flags and rusted out iron duke camaros so they have to point fingers at metalheads.  And jeez.  Living in suburbs.  Such horror.  Better than trailers, I guess, as is the stereotype in the U.S.

If you don't want to feel judgmental, however, you can equate it with hillbilly which, in essence, really isn't a bad thing.  It all depends on context. Personally, I don't feel left out.  I apply to both.  I may not have rebel flags to throw around, but if they're wanting either to point fingers at a mountain music loving white boy hillbilly - sans mullet and camaro which by definition makes me a hillbilly and not a redneck - or a metalhead, just look my way.

I'll be sure to keep my camera out when I go hoon-hunting.

The lesson I take away from this is:  Don't be a hoon, but you can be a bogan, but only if you're a hillbilly.  Rednecks need not apply.

Moving Costs and Exchange Rates

We've had a few estimates on how much it'd take to move our stuff from here in the US to Perth and the results are astounding.  We aren't even taking cars.  Here's a brief list of what we're taking:

Living Room:   Tv stand, LED tv (which we know might not work other than to play our video games, blu rays, and serve as a monitor), loveseat, two beanbags, a shelf with board games, and two small side tables, one with a marble top.  PS3, PS2, Wii, a combo VCR/DVD, the games (about 140), and about 250 DVDs. Three laptops and two 10.1 inch android tablets.

Dining Room:  Standard rectangular dining table and ten chairs (have extras on hand).  Dining buffet and hutch.

Kitchen:  Pots and Pans and dishes.  We aren't keeping many of our countertop appliances at all, and the large appliances stay.

Son's bedroom:  His bunk bed, dresser, cubbie shelves, toys, and clothes.

Spare bedroom:  Queen sized bed, dresser.

Bedroom:  King sized bed, matching dresser, all our clothes.

Bathrooms:  not much.

Den:  Maybe our PC, our two drawer file cabinet, a small coffee table, six standard bookshelves, around 3 of which are filled with books.

Storage:  Three bicycles, plastic bins (about 24qt each and roughly about 50 of them) and the contents.  Kid's wagon.  Two hiking backpacks.

Utility:  Toolbox and hand tools (hammer, screwdriver, etc.)  All powered items will not be taken.

Shed:  Nothing.  All yard tools will stay.  Customs issues.

For these items the best estimate we could get was from Allied Van Lines, and they said we needed a 40' crate and it would cost us ~$17,000 US to move it all.  Can you imagine?

The current exchange rate is $1.00 US = $1.10 AUS.  That means we'll be leaving most of our money in the US until (if) the exchange rate gets better.  A 10% loss during transfer is not pretty.

Sunrise, Sunset

Perth, Australia. Before last autumn I'd never heard of it. Sure, Heath Ledger came from there but I'd never paid attention to that fact. When someone said "Australia" I would think of Sydney, Melbourne, or the Outback. I knew of Queensland and New South Wales through friendships made online with gamers. I knew New Zealand was down there too, but didn't realize just how far away it was. I'd seen a few movies about Australia; Mad Max introduced me to mind-numbing bush; Australia and Hugh Jackman introduced me to Darwin, not to mention Nicole Kidman, herself an Australian, and all of the movies she'd been in, despite the subject matter relating to Australia proper or not; the iconic Crocodile Dundee and the late Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin opened my eyes to the outback and Australia's diverse biology; Russel Crowe was just outright badass; Dot and the Kangaroo, a book written in 1899 and later made into a cartoon/live-action film mixture first introduced me to Australia; and finally the summer Olympics in Sydney in 2000. I'm sure there were others too, but did any of these inform me of Perth?

Nope.

Not until last autumn.

As it turned out my wife, who is the primary breadwinner of our family because her earning potential as a research scientist is five times mine, was becoming disillusioned with her employment in the United States. There was an internal position that had become available that she applied for, interestingly enough, that she was already performing, but the powers that be had the opinion that she could not be trusted enough to take on the new position formally. What was truly going on was that she was being overlooked because she was a woman. Neither was this an isolated incident nor did they propose any sensible reason based in reality for not hiring her. Other women, too, were obviously being discriminated against.

The whole place has issues with women. If they're not refusing women sanitary environments to breastfeed - they suggested women could pump inside the confines of a bathroom stall! - or provide child care for working families they were approaching her and other women as if they were servants - she, a PhD scientist, asked to set up lunch tables and provide coffee before panels! They loved slapping her face all over their brochures and magazines to show the world how supportive they were of diversity in the workplace, however.

What's the point of all this? She saw an ad in a magazine for a position at a university in Perth for which she was highly qualified. She was the perfect candidate actually, and she asked me if she should apply. Knowing how additional job offers would give her power in her negotiations with her employers I told her to go ahead, that I thought it would be great to apply. So yeah, my fault. Despite her applying for this position thirty days past the deadline she was offered the job at the conclusion of her first interview!

Thus began the several months of heart-wrenching and worry as we pondered the move.

Perth? Where was that? It's no wonder we'd never heard of it. It's situated on the coast on the southwestern corner of the continent where it proudly sits as capital of the neglected state of Western Australia. Evidently it was considered nothing more than a backwater town until they discovered natural resources and BAM after several decades Perth is the fourth largest city in the country in population. It seems to be quite the cosmopolitan place these days.

Wikipedia and Wikitravel had some information about it, but everywhere else I looked, from bookstore to online book sellers to DVDs and audio CDs I could find very little about the town itself. Pictures on Google Earth weren't helpful either as most of the satellite scans are dated 2008. A friend of my wife loaned us the book "In A Sunburned Country" by Bill Bryson which she has read and shared what information she could.

It seems about all I could find about Perth was the equivalent to the AAA travel guide. If you ever want to know about Perth's history, check Wikipedia. If you want to know where to eat or a nice place to hike, check me.

Yet everywhere I looked I could find nothing on the society or the culture. I'm sure these books exist. I wonder if they are hiding from me.

I did come across a streaming video on Netflix about Perth, and it mentioned Perth a couple of times while being mixed in with Melbourne, Canberra, and Sydney (is there not enough about Perth to fill a forty minute program?).

Because of this and the time constraints with this move we are moving to a town practically across the world from us and we have no idea what it looks like, what it feels like (other than hot), and how the city breathes. We don't even know the safest or best places to live. We do know, however, how expensive it is. That information is freely available. Everyone talks about that.

I've found a few dated blogs that discussed things like suburbs and crime statistics. I've gotten a few good ideas about the town from those. WWW.PERTHNOW.COM.AU has also been helpful.

So what's the plan? If I'm going there, I'm going to talk about Perth. If I'm going there, I'm going to make sure I do my part so that anyone else considering this move from the U.S. will have some more information to consider. If anything, it will keep me busy, and as I'll be a foreign national in a strange land with unfamiliar culture and no employment to keep me occupied, I'll need to keep busy.

X-day is sometime in July. I need to tell my parents. Here goes nothing.