Perth is the most isolated city in the world. It is closer to Singapore then it is to Sydney. The classic standup gag in Sydney about Perth is you get on your flight arrive in Perth and put your clock back 20 years. It is a somewhat unfair depiction. Perth is a much more relaxed place in comparison to Melbourne and Sydney. Over in WA (Western Australia) it is somewhat controversial to say you liked living in Sydney. There is a strong sense of a separate West Coast identity to that of the Eastern states. You stick out like an East coaster if you keep attempting to order Schooners of beer; they only do Midis and Pints. You should not question some of the dodgy activities of the players from the West Coast Eagles (some of them like ice and not in a figure skating sense). In saying that I do like Perth. I am a quarter Perthian and have a lot of family/friend ties out here. I have said it before and I’ll know doubt raise it in the future, knowing locals and being able to stay with them makes a great deal of difference to your appreciation of a place. (I might have even have liked Portland if I knew someone who lived there.) There is good nightlife around the Northbridge area and there are plenty of beautiful places to relax in the sun. Kings Park is huge and has majestic views over the Swan River. The Swan River is very pretty and Cottesloe beach is a great place to watch the sunset.
I arrived at the beginning of August. My first few days were spent applying to temping agencies and seeing what sort of work I was offered. Perth is in the middle of a resource boom at the moment, lots of jobs have been created and they are short of workers. Wherever I have been people have spoken about all the work available in Perth. It certainly seems to be true. I was offered a few short term placements and then a long term placement at the Australian Institute of Management. I would recommend DFP temping agency, they were by far the quickest and most effective at getting me job offers. As it happens I am going to become a bit more directly involved in the resource boom, more to come on that later.
Perth has a similar feel to Vancouver about it. They are both cities that are growing. Perth feels like it is really trying to establish an identity for itself (maybe it needs an Expo). There is a lot of building work in the centre of town and a new rail line is being put in to the south of the city. People are friendlier than in the other Australian cities. Strangers talk to each other on buses and trains (unless its rush hour when all commuters act the way that everyone does around the world). Public transport is pretty good, though not as good as Sydney or Melbourne.
I had a great gig at the Comedy Lounge at the Hyde Park Hotel in Northbridge. I added some references to Helen Clark (the New Zealand PM) and the crowd lapped it up. The other acts were very good especially a musical duo. There had just been a big Aussie rules at the weekend between the two local rivals, Fremantle Dockers and the West Coast Eagles (the Dockers won) and I chatted about that. It was a particularly violent match, though not violent enough if you talk to the locals. While in the UK the commentators frown upon fights between players in sport, over here the Aussie commentators actively encourage it. There seemed to be palpable relief in the commentary box when the first derby (pronounced in American manner) fight started. The commentators were advising the players to get stuck in. The guy who ended up winning the Man of Match award was the guy who started most of the fights, so it must be part of the rules. I didn’t realise until that match that in Aussie Rules there isn’t the equivalent of the Yellow and Red cards. All the umpires can do is put the player on report after the match, so if a player does something particularly violent the only way he can be removed from the field of play is if the coach decides to take him off. This weekend a player for the Dockers got elbowed in the nose, breaking it and knocking him out cold. The player who did it carried on for the rest of the match, and it took place 50 metres behind play!
I arrived at the beginning of August. My first few days were spent applying to temping agencies and seeing what sort of work I was offered. Perth is in the middle of a resource boom at the moment, lots of jobs have been created and they are short of workers. Wherever I have been people have spoken about all the work available in Perth. It certainly seems to be true. I was offered a few short term placements and then a long term placement at the Australian Institute of Management. I would recommend DFP temping agency, they were by far the quickest and most effective at getting me job offers. As it happens I am going to become a bit more directly involved in the resource boom, more to come on that later.
Perth has a similar feel to Vancouver about it. They are both cities that are growing. Perth feels like it is really trying to establish an identity for itself (maybe it needs an Expo). There is a lot of building work in the centre of town and a new rail line is being put in to the south of the city. People are friendlier than in the other Australian cities. Strangers talk to each other on buses and trains (unless its rush hour when all commuters act the way that everyone does around the world). Public transport is pretty good, though not as good as Sydney or Melbourne.
I had a great gig at the Comedy Lounge at the Hyde Park Hotel in Northbridge. I added some references to Helen Clark (the New Zealand PM) and the crowd lapped it up. The other acts were very good especially a musical duo. There had just been a big Aussie rules at the weekend between the two local rivals, Fremantle Dockers and the West Coast Eagles (the Dockers won) and I chatted about that. It was a particularly violent match, though not violent enough if you talk to the locals. While in the UK the commentators frown upon fights between players in sport, over here the Aussie commentators actively encourage it. There seemed to be palpable relief in the commentary box when the first derby (pronounced in American manner) fight started. The commentators were advising the players to get stuck in. The guy who ended up winning the Man of Match award was the guy who started most of the fights, so it must be part of the rules. I didn’t realise until that match that in Aussie Rules there isn’t the equivalent of the Yellow and Red cards. All the umpires can do is put the player on report after the match, so if a player does something particularly violent the only way he can be removed from the field of play is if the coach decides to take him off. This weekend a player for the Dockers got elbowed in the nose, breaking it and knocking him out cold. The player who did it carried on for the rest of the match, and it took place 50 metres behind play!
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