Ok, we are just going to ignore that is has been 11 days since our last blogentry... We have been very busy though!
Let's start with "Spring in the Valley". As we've told you in our last entry, we went to see more wineries in Swan Valley. We were such an attraction on our bikes! People couldn't believe their eyes. The owners of the wineries were hugely disappointed, mainly because we couldn't carry any mass load of wine on our mountain
bikes. We liked most of the wines, but our true favourite is 8 year old portwine! It comes with a sweet taste, a tempting smell and a deep brickred colour. We talked to a lot of people, the old lady from Entopia Wines thought it was 'neat to have us at their winery'. We spent the sunday evening at the neighbours' house, enjoying a great variety of XXL pizza's and the fantastic hospitality of Ruth and Tony (Josh' parents). (Pictures: impressions of Spring in the Valley)
(Picture: Berrie at Bells Rapid)
The day after "Spring in the Valley" Paula took us to Bells Rapid, a beautiful piece of country just 15 minutes from here! A flowing river, blooming flowers, bloody annoying flies surrounding our mouths and noses and a bright sun warming our topless bodies made our afternoon very enjoyable. We crossed the river in our undies and climbed the rocks with the danger of drowning any minute in the wild water of Upper Swan River. We spent 1,5 hours there, until Paula picked us up again. She showed us the area of Swan Valley, and took us to its most luxurious resort full of huge villas AND we saw our first kangaroos there!
(Picture: Us and the selftimer at Bells Rapid)
During last week we wanted to go to Guildford, but on the first day we tried to get there we didn't manage to find it! On the second day, after miles and miles of cycling next to the highway we did find it! We went to the tourist information and the woman there gave us a map with 3 cycling routes through Guildford, which we all finished within 10 minutes. We ended up in Midland Gate shopping center once again. Yes, Guildford was very exciting. In the evening we cooked for our guest family. They enjoyed the vegetarian meal very much, at least they said they did...
We also managed to set up a bank account last week at Commonwealth bank! Their staff was very friendly; full of jokes and nice comments about Dutchmen (especially about their performance in bed: "Dutch men are good lovers!"). One of our trips to Midland ended up in Henry's Kitchen, a Chinese restaurant which Henk advised us to go to for dinner. And indeed, the food was very nice and not too expensive (we could write the Lonely Planet part for this area in mean time!). But we didn't realize that the dark night sets in so quick in Australia. We had dinner when it was bright outside, and just half an hour later it was dark, and that means very dark, pitch black dark. Remember, we went to Midland on our bikes, with only one having just a front light. So, as you can imagine, we were not too keen on getting back on the highway without any lights. We ended up cycling through the darkness, taking a new route to get home. Every time we heard a car approaching we got off the road, praying it would see us and we would still stand there after it passed us.
Last friday we went to Fremantle, a nice city on the coast of WA. We went to see the Shipwreck Museum with the wreck of the Batavia in it, and took a walk through the old town centre and had a nice lunch at Mill Bakery. Before we went home, we had an icecream and took a walk on the beach to get on the train again afterwards. New disaster! Berries bike had a flat tire! Which meant he couldn't cycle the 8 kilometers back from Midland Station! Drama! But since the Aussies are so nice, they didn't hesitate to take Berrie AND the bike on a bus to Herne Hill. Poor Paul had to cycle all the way back on his own, while Berrie enjoyed the comfort of being driven home for free ("That's alright mate, free this time!"). Well, we both found our way back home and the next day we learnt how to fix a tire four times (we kept on finding leaks!).
OK, we had a major change of our stay in Australia. We intended to be in Yallingup by this time, to work on a winery for Sjaak de Jong, which Jeffry and Bianca (friends in Holland) arranged for us. But, it didn't seem to work out. Since we had no car at this point it was impossible for us to live there as the distances to everything we need are too far to do on our bikes. We talked about the situation with Henk Jan and Paula and they offered us to stay here and look for work, which we did last saturday. Within an hour we found work in a very decent place. We now work in the restaurant of Black Swan Winery, being paid $18,- an hour each! Since that saturday we almost worked nonstop, trying to make as much money as we can (our new bankaccount loves us now already!). (Picture: Berrie ironing his shirt for work)
CAR CAR CAR! You won't believe it! Our very own car is very close to us now! This afternoon we're going to pick up our Holden Apollo (which is just a Toyota Camry with a Holden badge on it) with Henk Jan! Last monday Henk took us to Auto Europe to check it out, and we are in love! It's huge, it's white, it's automatic, it's from '93 and it'll be OUR car! Next time you'll be able to take a look at our car, if we survive driving on the left side of the road...
On the same day we had a major foodshopping trip! We spent nearly $100,- on canned food and coke. We are now completely living on our own in the cottage, making our own dinner and having breakfast together.
And finally, to close this entry, we would like to gossip about the new, amazing, stunning, timeless, beautiful, classic Spice Girls single "Headlines (Friendship Never Ends)". If you're not interested, this is where the entry ends for you. Scroll down and comment now. Thank you.
ISN'T IT AMAZING?! We heard it for the first time this morning, and are absolutely amazed by it. Our favourite Spice Girls have leading parts in the song and, well, what can we say, it's so Spice Girls! It's more than we expected it to be. We are currently on our 779234th listen and we love it more and more! Maybe you wondered why the Spice Girls are in the banner of this blog (or maybe not), but we still want to go to see the Spice Girls on tour in Sydney. But they keep on adding dates in the UK and USA, so we still don't know when the Sydney date will be. Oh well, enough about the Spice Girls (we love them and their new single).
It's getting a bit too warm in here now, we'll wait outside until Henk comes back from work to take us to our car which has airconditioning by the way. We promise you won't have to wait that long for the next entry. Greetings to everyone at home in Europe who is reading this! We think of you a lot.
(PS. Ik wil heel graag iedereen die iets in het boek heeft geschreven op mijn afscheidsfeest heel erg bedanken! Het was heel fijn om de berichtjes te lezen, en hartverwarmend om te vernemen dat sommige mensen me echt gaan missen! Bedankt! Berrie)
13 comments:
Hello dear Berrie and Paul.
Is's nice to read something on the blog again. You 2 are having such a great time. And also the picture's are amazing. I am also curious for that good wine ofcourse. You discribe a lovely wine. Over there the beautifull weather is back again, but here "winter" has started! (I send picture's soon Berrie). We need our wintercoats, shawls and gloves now and then, but the sun is also shining often, so it's quite nice. I am glad you guys stay longer with the Gevers family. It feels good. They help you out with lots ot things so it is easy for you 2 to get used to the Australian way of life. Thank you so much Henk Jan and Paula!!
Berrie, have you seen the comment of opa-Wolvega? Yesterday opa and oma Wolvega have been watching the blog (in your room, at your own computer). I translated your adventures for them. They watched the pictures and liked it a lot. Then I googled the Hunts man Spider for them.... I also googled Jack Russel... whoops, lots of Quincy's. They had never been at a computer before. Then opa said, can I also write on the blog? So opa wrote and I put it on the blog.
I'm proud of you boys, that you got a job that quick. Good for you!! Did you have to "unfleash" some rabbits again Berrie?
Next week I have a week off. So I can help Dana with her flyers. I will fold them and deliver them. So Dana can use her time for her schoolexams, she will have that within a week.Coming sunday Dana and I will go (with a car filled with kids) to "de Huttenheugte" with the Flora. So we will be on the "wildwaterroad" again. Must be fun.
Well all for now, take care of each other and enjoy the Aussie-way of life!!
love and kisses from
mama/Ineke
heeey :D
schön, dass ihr wieder was geschrieben habt, hab ja fast das gefühl als würd ich selbst in australien wohnen hehe ^^ geniale fotos mal wieder und ich freu mich, dass ihr beiden so schnell arbeit gefunden habt :D und ein auto... omg ;)
grüße, benny :)
Waaaauw! echt mooi daar! lijkt mij ook erg spannend/leuk om in zo'n rivier over te steken!! haha berrie aan het strijken, tja dat moet nu ook gebeuren hè!!
Hoe is het nu op jullie werk? al nederlanders tegen gekomen?
ik heb vandaag heerlijk de hele dag geleerd. fantastisch!! maarja het moet wel, voor de Schoolexamens straks!! Berrie ik heb jou ook nog een mail gestuurd lees die ook maar eventjes!!
Nog veel plezier daaroo!!
kus Dana
Wow wat kunnen jullie toch geweldig jullie verhalen schrijven! Jullie maken echt zoo veel mee daar! En al werk, wat goed! Betaald dus toch wel aardig he Ber ;) En een eigen autootje!! Wie kan dat nou zeggen hier, dat z'n eerste auto een stuur aan de rechterkant had! :D Super tof!
Lieverds veel plezier maar weer, en kusjes!
Hello guys!
Your story sounds great and it seems as if everything goes great there! A job, a car, a place to stay; it's a hard life being a backpacker ;)
I'm still in the race for that spice girls tickets so if I win them I'll let you know and you can buy them from me for 500 pounds a peace (which you will certainly pay :P)
Here in Groningen things are going great! My tests were all good and I'm even back in the gym Berrie! I have found other victims to go with me :P
Hope to hear from you very soon! I check your site every day!
Love,
Nico
I keep my fingers crossed for you getting Spice Girls tickets! ;)Ill talk to Nicolette whether she can the reduce the price a little since you are such poor backpackers now ;) (Though Ive never received 18dollars for just one hour work!)
Everything looks so good over there, beautiful landscapes and lots of good wines, perfect!
Like Nioolette Im doing fine too, busy with a lot of things (even exams coming) and I just returned from a rowing weekend (you know Im rowing now right?:D)
Have fun and big kisses from Holland!
xx Wieneke
Hee Berrie en Paul !
Wat leuk om zo te lezen en te zien wat jullie allemaal doen.
Riny is hier nu, en die zat even achter de computer en toen liet ze het me zien. En toen keken we even alle fotos met zijn drietjes ( riny gerard en ik)
echt mooi ! en nu al zo snel
lekker geld verdienen.
Veelplezierdaar !
Groetjes en liefs froukje
hey paul, haste die email bekommen? war mir nicht sicher, ob die wirklich gesendet wurde ^^
grüßle, benny :)
Ha die Berrie en Paul.
Voor het eerst jullie bloq gelezen. Beetje laat, maar beter laat dan nooit. Wat lijken jullie het allemaal goed voor elkaar te hebben! En wat leren jullie een hoop andere competenties die je waarschijnlijk nooit op school zou leren. Ik hoor regelmatig de verhalen van Erik en Ineke aan en houd me via deze weg ook op de hoogte. (Het is ook een excuus om ff weer een wijntje te scoren!)Nou boys, ik wens jullie nog heel veel leuke ervaringen en laat wel weer eens een reactie achter. Groeten van Aris (op zee), Taco,Jurjen en van mij. Toedeledokie.
Hoihoi!
Wat gaaf dat jullie nú al 'n auto hebben! Zijn zeeer benieuwd naar de foto's:)
En wat vertellen jullie alles hardstikke leuk trouwens:)zo krijgen we er echt 'n beetje een idee van hoe 't daar moet zijn.
En zo mooi ook dat jullie het samen zo naar de zin hebben!
zo te zien heb je ook dáár alweer aardig wat winkels uitgekamd hea bebs;)hoe kon t ook anders...:P
Maar werkse daar en vooral verdergaan met plezier maken!
xx-jes van de walsma's
Hoi liefste berrie!
Mooi dat je gewoon nu al zoveel leuke dingen te doen hebt dat je niet eens meer op je blog schrijft, en dit meen ik serieus!! Jullie stukjes zijn geweldig, en ik wou dat ik de nieuwe single van de Spice Girls ook kon horen, ben echt benieuwd na jullie enthousiaste verhalen! Volgens mij komen ze ook naar Beijing! Wie weet... :P
Hier beignt het ook koud te worden, en de verwarming gaat pas 10 november aan! Nu dus nog even warme vesten aan doen als ik thuis ben. Mn moeder is hier nu met mn tante! Super gezellig en ik heb het gevoel dat mama Nederland in mn huiskamer brengt: alle laatste nieuwtjes en roddels :). Nu huiswerk maken, pfff ik moet hard aan de bak hoor! Maar, lang niet zo hard als Jolien, Dieuwke, Suzanne, Wieneke en Nicolette denk ik, nee ik heb best veel vrije tijd. Gelukkig maar :D.
Straks Yoga, ook al een week niet meer gedaan... Nu zijn mama en mn tante een nacht buiten Beijing dus kan ik even mn eigen dingetjes doen hier: voornamelijk huiswerk eigenlijk....
Nou berrie, ik hou je in de gaten, blijf zo door gaan!! kus en knuffel!
ich find's immer noch seltsam, dass ihr WIRKLICH in australien seid. freu mich über jeden eintrag von euch hier. ihr habt wirklich eine sehr schöne zeit, wie's aussieht und das freut mich immer wieder für euch! lg
Hoihoi!
hier maar weer een berichtje van je zusje!!
jullie hebben het wel druk of niet?
ik ben zeer benieuwd naar een foto van de auto haha!
ik heb het best druk met leren,ik zit in de toetsweek, of zegmaar schoolexamenweek. vandaag economie/duits gehad. ging wel goed!! maar dat moest ook wel want ik was heel lang bezig, wel n week! morgen debat... wel eng hoor! hopelijk ga ik niet raar doen ofzo =P
nou dit was Dana uit Holland.
xxx
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