Happy Labour Day!

Today is a public holiday and we get the day off work. It has been a much needed break for me as I have been working 4 weeks full time now. It is amazing how difficult it is to get back into the working routine. I have been getting busier at the office and have been doing quite a bit of field work, including asbestos monitoring at a 3 million dollar mansion, not too shabby! Over the weekend we went to an Aussie Rules Football game, picture a more confusing and violent version of rugby. Well the West Coast Eagles (Perth's team) got absolutely smashed by Port Adelaide but it was fun nonetheless. We watched the gold medal hockey game this morning at 4am at one of George's coworkers houses. I was outnumbered 3 to 1 by Canadians so as you can imagine the end of the game was not the most pleasant experience for me. I have finally gotten around to putting pictures on my computer so I have included some from my parents trip over, our SCUBA adventure in Queensland and our trip to Shark Bay.

Great Barrier Reef

Look closely. One of the many sharks we went scuba diving with on the reef

Getting the car ridiculously stuck at Shark Bay

New Year's Eve at Fibber McGee's

George feeding a wild dolphin at Monkey Mia

The top of the Bicentennial Tree

Stringray at Hamelin Bay

Stromatolites oldest living creatures on earth at Shark Bay

Employment!!

I have almost made it through 2 weeks at my new job! I started with WSP, an Environmental Firm, on February 1st. I had some visa issues so I started two weeks later than originally intended but it all worked out. The company is international and quite large but the Perth office is really small, it is an interesting combination. I really enjoy the people I am working with and it is great being able to greet the whole office in 10 seconds. My office is only 3km away so I have started biking to work which is an adventure in itself. I have not done a lot other than training at my job yet but once I get going I will be doing a variety of environmental work. They do cleanup mainly for developers and I will get to monitor groundwater, sample soil and take landfill gas readings among other things. This job will have a lot of variety and will involve little to no travel. George is still doing great at URS and I was lucky enough to find some casual work there while I waited to start my new job. The weather here is getting a little cooler but there are still a few more months until "winter". Well that's all for now, cheers.

Queensland Adventure

Well I am not sure if anyone still reads this since I post on it about as often as Hailey's comet comes by but here goes anyways. My parents stopped by for a lovely visit and we had a great week in Perth. We showed them all the city has to offer, including some rather lively trips to the beach, and even went on a nice tour of the southwest and popped into a winery. After a week jam packed with fun my parents went on their merry way to Uluru (Ayer's Rock) and then to Cairns in Queensland to join up with a tour. George and I flew to Cairns and spent a few more days with them. We had a great time walking around the city but got a tiny bit wet as it is monsoon season up there. Then on the second day of our trip George and I started our 5 day Open Water SCUBA diving course. We spent 2 days in the classroom and a swimming pool getting the basics down and then we boarded a boat for the 60km journey out to the Great Barrier Reef. We spent an additional 3 days and 2 nights living aboard a boat that went to several dive spots on the reef, it was amazing. We got our Open Water Certification on the second day on the reef and then we were free to dive on our own. We participated in a few adventure dives including one night dive where we saw 20+ sharks. Some were within 3 feet of George's frightened flippers, it was incredible! They showed little to no interest in us but it was still a little scary since some were 10 feet long. The fear soon subsided and it turned into my favorite dive of the trip. We had a few more dives and saw some other amazing creatures and I can not wait to get back into the water in Western Australia. Things are good back in Perth, I should be starting my job any day now, just waiting on visa approval. The weather here is scorching and it never rains so it seems to be business as usual. I will write more to all my devoted follower(s), likely just my Mom, when I start working. Cheers for now.

Our Apartment!!

Hello, here are some pictures of our new townhouse in Perth. The neighborhood is Leederville and it is a great location with plenty of restaurants and pubs. Our shipping crate arrived last Friday and we are totally unpacked, it is a miracle!