...And now we take a break from our regularly scheduled complaining about housing in Australia.
The first Tuesday of every November marks the most significant annual cultural event in Australia. It's a horse race known as "The Melbourne Cup" and, as you may have guessed, it is held in Melbourne. The race consists of 24 thoroughbred horses carrying 24 small men around a grass track for a bunch of money. The race is such a big deal that it is a public holiday (ie. day off of work/school) in the state of Victoria. Even in Western Australia it's big deal. At my office my company ordered food for about 500 people, set up live TV feeds on all of our floors and gave everyone a free hour off. Elsewhere, people took the day off of work and chose the event as an excuse to drink a little earlier in the day than they normally would.
Prince Charles and Camilla were in attendance at the race. There was an embarrassing moment when the horse handlers tried to lead Camilla into one of the chutes. Fortunately, an international incident was avoided. Otherwise, there was quite a bit of pomp and pageantry, complete with gaudy hats and loud clothing. The race itself, although short, was actually pretty cool to watch. It's quite a display of raw power.
The other big deal about the Melbourne Cup is the betting that takes place. Almost everyone places a bet on the race, either through the formal gambling channels or via an office pool. We had an office pool also with the top prize being $80.
Speaking of betting, gambling is very much a national pastime in Australia. There are commercials on TV and radio encouraging people to bet on sporting events, there are strip malls with betting outlets all over the city and of course there is the lottery. Gambling is a big part of the culture here. As a matter of fact, today is the draw for the largest lottery prize in Australian history: $100 million. As I write this it was just announced on TV that there were 4 winners across Australia that each will receive $28 million. Not bad. You can get a lot of gaudy hats with that kind of cash.
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Today, in preparation for our move on Wednesday and Thursday we bought a fridge, washer and dryer. Rentals in Australia don't generally come equipped with what they call 'white goods', although, our last home did. So, we are basically ready to move in. We can't wait. Just in time too. The weather is starting to warm up and the pool is beckoning.
Tuesday, 6 November 2012
Home-Sweet-Relief
The housing drama appears to be over for the next 12-18 months. We were successful in our application for the Peruvale home. That particular home is one that we saw about a month ago, went to the open house, got temporarily distracted by our dream house, and eventually applied for it only to discover that it had been leased. The lease fell through and we were the first to apply for it and we were successful. However, it wasn't without it's own drama.
When I called the realtor yesterday I was told that she was sick, didn't come into work and therefore wasn't able to process our application yet. As a result, the open house scheduled for 5pm that day was going to go ahead. That meant that, suddenly, instead of being the only applicants, we would have competition and likely quite a lot of it. Needless to say I was stunned that yet one more thing could go wrong with this whole process. The consequence of this was that we needed to make a decision. Our current temporary accommodation runs out on Thursday. The only other one we could find wasn't available until Sunday which meant that we'd have to stay in a hotel Thursday, Friday and Saturday. However, if we didn't confirm the booking Monday night we would lose it. So, we had to make a decision.
As I was on my way to meet Nadia after work I got a call from the realtor informing me that we got the property. I just about evaporated with relief. We go in on Wednesday to sign all the paperwork and take possession. Then it's just a matter of taking the day off of work on Thursday to move our stuff from storage into the new place.
The house itself is near a park and about 2 km from the kids school. It has a 4 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, double car garage, 2 living spaces, a pool table and a pool! And it's a little bit cheaper than the rent we were paying on the last place. It's a touch older and not within walking distance to the ocean, but it's in a nice neighborhood and it has a little character. We plan to make this house our home until we either move, the kids move out or we decide to buy a house.
There is one small catch though. Right before we saw this home come on the market again we had applied for another property. That property, however, isn't available until Dec.6. On our application we wrote a condition that we wanted it for Nov.17 but we would lease it for 18 months. Some realtors use what's called an option fee, which means that when you put in an application for a home you have to include one weeks rent, in this case $900. If you are successful in your application for the house the option fee is applied to your rent. If you are not successful it is returned to you. However, if you are successful and you decide not to proceed then you forfeit the option fee. So, in a strange twist of fate, we are now hoping that our application for that property is rejected and we get our option fee back. We're not too concerned about it since it was a very nice place, there were many people at the open house and the current tenants were still living there. Someone will make an offer with a more suitable date than ours and we'll be off the hook. It's a weird feeling suddenly hoping that our rental application is rejected.
We're just so relieved that it's over and we have somewhere that we can call home. However, this is Western Australia which means that it will take 5-7 business days for the phone and internet to be hooked up. So, it will likely be another week before we're fully operational again. Now we get to go shopping for a refrigerator and washer/dryer for our new home. Ah, the joys of renting.
When I called the realtor yesterday I was told that she was sick, didn't come into work and therefore wasn't able to process our application yet. As a result, the open house scheduled for 5pm that day was going to go ahead. That meant that, suddenly, instead of being the only applicants, we would have competition and likely quite a lot of it. Needless to say I was stunned that yet one more thing could go wrong with this whole process. The consequence of this was that we needed to make a decision. Our current temporary accommodation runs out on Thursday. The only other one we could find wasn't available until Sunday which meant that we'd have to stay in a hotel Thursday, Friday and Saturday. However, if we didn't confirm the booking Monday night we would lose it. So, we had to make a decision.
As I was on my way to meet Nadia after work I got a call from the realtor informing me that we got the property. I just about evaporated with relief. We go in on Wednesday to sign all the paperwork and take possession. Then it's just a matter of taking the day off of work on Thursday to move our stuff from storage into the new place.
The house itself is near a park and about 2 km from the kids school. It has a 4 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, double car garage, 2 living spaces, a pool table and a pool! And it's a little bit cheaper than the rent we were paying on the last place. It's a touch older and not within walking distance to the ocean, but it's in a nice neighborhood and it has a little character. We plan to make this house our home until we either move, the kids move out or we decide to buy a house.
There is one small catch though. Right before we saw this home come on the market again we had applied for another property. That property, however, isn't available until Dec.6. On our application we wrote a condition that we wanted it for Nov.17 but we would lease it for 18 months. Some realtors use what's called an option fee, which means that when you put in an application for a home you have to include one weeks rent, in this case $900. If you are successful in your application for the house the option fee is applied to your rent. If you are not successful it is returned to you. However, if you are successful and you decide not to proceed then you forfeit the option fee. So, in a strange twist of fate, we are now hoping that our application for that property is rejected and we get our option fee back. We're not too concerned about it since it was a very nice place, there were many people at the open house and the current tenants were still living there. Someone will make an offer with a more suitable date than ours and we'll be off the hook. It's a weird feeling suddenly hoping that our rental application is rejected.
We're just so relieved that it's over and we have somewhere that we can call home. However, this is Western Australia which means that it will take 5-7 business days for the phone and internet to be hooked up. So, it will likely be another week before we're fully operational again. Now we get to go shopping for a refrigerator and washer/dryer for our new home. Ah, the joys of renting.
Monday, 5 November 2012
Happy Anniversary?
In many ways it's hard to believe but it's been one year to the day that we arrived in Australia. Oddly enough, our circumstances have changed very little between Nov.5/11 and Nov.5/12. Last year at this time we were living in temporary accommodation in an inner city apartment. However, last year it didn't seem nearly as stressful as, back then, we had the underlying current of newness and excitement along with all of the uncertainty. Also, my employer was paying for the accommodation last year and was providing us some assistance to find a home. Also, last year at this time we had the Living Away From Home Allowance Tax break, which meant that our rent and part of our food living expenses were not taxed. This year we are treated as Australian citizens for the purposes of taxation with the exception of any possible federal tax rebates, in which case we are considered dirty foreigners.
And now a little good news...
Last Friday afternoon I was checking the real estate website (which I do about 4-5 times per day) and noticed that a home that was previously off the market was listed. I just about fell out of my chair when I saw it. In order to appreciate my excitement, allow me to provide a little timeline of recent homeless-related events.
Oct.l2: We return from Dunsborough and start our home hunting in earnest. We had been looking actively prior to this but all of the homes were available "now" and we needed a late October/early November date. We happen to see two properties that we like: "James Street" and "Peruvale" we'll call them. We arrange to see both of them and come away impressed.
Oct.13: Nadia meets a fellow canuck at an American Womens Club event. While there she learns that the she-canuck, named Karen, is looking to move out of her home although it has a year left on the least. While talking they discover that it's exactly the house we're looking for and in our ideal neighborhood, although it's at the very top of our price range. We'll call this house the "Glades". That night Nadia and I go to see the Glades home and tell them that we will take it. We're informed that they'll need to speak to the owners and that recently the owners tried to raise the rent, which would put it out of our price range.
Oct.14-18: The internet begins to dry up. James Street is leased, however, Peruvale is still available. We are in constant contact with Karen who is pushing the realtor, who in turn is pushing the owner for an answer.
Oct.19: We decide that we can't wait any longer. Nadia goes to put in an offer on Peruvale and is told that it was leased that morning.
Oct.20: We are told by the Glades realtor that the owner has decided to sell the property rather than continue leasing it.
Oct.21-22: Nothing on the internet. Panic is slowly beginning to set in.
Oct.23: A new house pops up on the internet. We'll call this one "Sorrento". It is half a block from our favorite beach. We make arrangements to view it that afternoon. We are the first people to see the property. Later that afternoon we put in an offer on the house. We believe we are the first to put in an offer.
Oct.24-25: Weekend. The realty market essentially shuts down because, you know, people don't need homes on Saturdays and Sundays apparently.
Oct.26: I call the realtor and am informed that there are two other offers on the Sorrento home. Panic.
Oct.27: While out viewing a terrible property we receive a call from the Sorrento realtor who informs us that, while our references were excellent and everything checked out fine, the owner, for whatever reason, chose another applicant. PANIC.
Oct.27-28: We continue to scour through the non-existent properties on-line. Meanwhile, we start looking for a storage unit and temporary accommodation.
Oct.29: We book a storage unit but are having trouble finding temporary accommodation.
Oct.30: We finally manage to find temporary accommodation but it's only available for 1 week, Thursday to Thursday.
Oct.31: We start cleaning our current house and filling the rented truck. We take the first load to storage.
Nov.1: The carpet cleaners arrive, we fill the last load into our truck and finish cleaning the house we've lived in for the past 11 months. We hand in the keys and move into temporary accommodation. We see an open house on "Seaward".
Nov.2: I put in an application for "Seaward". Unfortunately, it's only available for Dec.6. However, we put Nov.17 on the application and add that we will sign a 18 month lease to help our chances. Unfortunately, this particular realtor uses a system where you have to pay one weeks rent to make the application. If you don't get accepted it's refunded. However, if you pull out of the deal it is not. Later that afternoon I look on the internet one more time and happen to see Peruvale listed. I don't think much of it at first because some unscrupulous realtors here keep their listings on for weeks after it's been rented. They do this for advertising. There is one in particular that is terrible for this. We hate her. I look a little closer and see that there is an open house scheduled for Nov.5 at Peruvale. I do a double take and frantically call the realty office to confirm. They tell me that the previous deal fell through and it's back on the market. The irony is that for the last two weeks we've been referring to Peruvale as the 'one that got away'. We were distracted by the Glades siren song when we should have jumped on Peruvale at the time. Within 15 minutes I email them the application and inform them that we are able to move in "tomorrow" if that suits them (our temporary accommodation is booked until Nov.8).
Today: There is an open house at Peruvale at 5pm. We are desperately hoping that they accept our offer (which included the option of an 18 month lease) or nobody notices that the home is back on-line. I'm fairly certain that we were likely the first and only ones to put in an offer on Friday since it was before the home open, the home wasn't listed as new and it wasn't even on the first page of the website. Fingers crossed. Today may be the day that our luck changes. If not, we have to find new temporary accommodation for Thursday and keep hoping something decent becomes available.
To top things off Zaren and Cyrus have their final exams this week and Cyrus is quite sick. Sleep has been at a premium for the last couple of weeks. Sure, it's not the end of the world and ultimately these are very much 1st world problems but there are moments where it's just a little too much to take.
Happy Anniversary?
And now a little good news...
Last Friday afternoon I was checking the real estate website (which I do about 4-5 times per day) and noticed that a home that was previously off the market was listed. I just about fell out of my chair when I saw it. In order to appreciate my excitement, allow me to provide a little timeline of recent homeless-related events.
Oct.l2: We return from Dunsborough and start our home hunting in earnest. We had been looking actively prior to this but all of the homes were available "now" and we needed a late October/early November date. We happen to see two properties that we like: "James Street" and "Peruvale" we'll call them. We arrange to see both of them and come away impressed.
Oct.13: Nadia meets a fellow canuck at an American Womens Club event. While there she learns that the she-canuck, named Karen, is looking to move out of her home although it has a year left on the least. While talking they discover that it's exactly the house we're looking for and in our ideal neighborhood, although it's at the very top of our price range. We'll call this house the "Glades". That night Nadia and I go to see the Glades home and tell them that we will take it. We're informed that they'll need to speak to the owners and that recently the owners tried to raise the rent, which would put it out of our price range.
Oct.14-18: The internet begins to dry up. James Street is leased, however, Peruvale is still available. We are in constant contact with Karen who is pushing the realtor, who in turn is pushing the owner for an answer.
Oct.19: We decide that we can't wait any longer. Nadia goes to put in an offer on Peruvale and is told that it was leased that morning.
Oct.20: We are told by the Glades realtor that the owner has decided to sell the property rather than continue leasing it.
Oct.21-22: Nothing on the internet. Panic is slowly beginning to set in.
Oct.23: A new house pops up on the internet. We'll call this one "Sorrento". It is half a block from our favorite beach. We make arrangements to view it that afternoon. We are the first people to see the property. Later that afternoon we put in an offer on the house. We believe we are the first to put in an offer.
Oct.24-25: Weekend. The realty market essentially shuts down because, you know, people don't need homes on Saturdays and Sundays apparently.
Oct.26: I call the realtor and am informed that there are two other offers on the Sorrento home. Panic.
Oct.27: While out viewing a terrible property we receive a call from the Sorrento realtor who informs us that, while our references were excellent and everything checked out fine, the owner, for whatever reason, chose another applicant. PANIC.
Oct.27-28: We continue to scour through the non-existent properties on-line. Meanwhile, we start looking for a storage unit and temporary accommodation.
Oct.29: We book a storage unit but are having trouble finding temporary accommodation.
Oct.30: We finally manage to find temporary accommodation but it's only available for 1 week, Thursday to Thursday.
Oct.31: We start cleaning our current house and filling the rented truck. We take the first load to storage.
Nov.1: The carpet cleaners arrive, we fill the last load into our truck and finish cleaning the house we've lived in for the past 11 months. We hand in the keys and move into temporary accommodation. We see an open house on "Seaward".
Nov.2: I put in an application for "Seaward". Unfortunately, it's only available for Dec.6. However, we put Nov.17 on the application and add that we will sign a 18 month lease to help our chances. Unfortunately, this particular realtor uses a system where you have to pay one weeks rent to make the application. If you don't get accepted it's refunded. However, if you pull out of the deal it is not. Later that afternoon I look on the internet one more time and happen to see Peruvale listed. I don't think much of it at first because some unscrupulous realtors here keep their listings on for weeks after it's been rented. They do this for advertising. There is one in particular that is terrible for this. We hate her. I look a little closer and see that there is an open house scheduled for Nov.5 at Peruvale. I do a double take and frantically call the realty office to confirm. They tell me that the previous deal fell through and it's back on the market. The irony is that for the last two weeks we've been referring to Peruvale as the 'one that got away'. We were distracted by the Glades siren song when we should have jumped on Peruvale at the time. Within 15 minutes I email them the application and inform them that we are able to move in "tomorrow" if that suits them (our temporary accommodation is booked until Nov.8).
Today: There is an open house at Peruvale at 5pm. We are desperately hoping that they accept our offer (which included the option of an 18 month lease) or nobody notices that the home is back on-line. I'm fairly certain that we were likely the first and only ones to put in an offer on Friday since it was before the home open, the home wasn't listed as new and it wasn't even on the first page of the website. Fingers crossed. Today may be the day that our luck changes. If not, we have to find new temporary accommodation for Thursday and keep hoping something decent becomes available.
To top things off Zaren and Cyrus have their final exams this week and Cyrus is quite sick. Sleep has been at a premium for the last couple of weeks. Sure, it's not the end of the world and ultimately these are very much 1st world problems but there are moments where it's just a little too much to take.
Happy Anniversary?
Saturday, 3 November 2012
Hey Mister, Can You Spare A House?
As we feared, the worst case scenario has come to pass. We were unable to find a new rental and are now in temporary accommodation. It's a two bedroom(the kids are sharing a room), 1 bathroom, 2 storey furnished apartment that's relatively close to the city and right on a strip of restaurants and cafes. It's actually a pretty nice spot. However, we are only able to stay in this place until next Thursday because it's already been booked by someone else. As a result, we rented a truck and and storage unit and moved all of our earthly possessions into a 6x3x3 furniture coffin. We all took a day off of school/work to help move out of our house, clean it and move our stuff into the coffin.
In the meantime, we have put in two more applications for rental properties. We are starting to get desperate. If we don't get approved by Tuesday we will need to book additional temporary accommodation. Even that's not easy in this city. We've been struggling to find a place to stay that still allows the kids to take public transportation to school. We may have to go to a hotel for a couple of nights.
We are pretty frustrated about the whole scenario but we're are trying to keep our spirits up and treat it like a little holiday/adventure. Hopefully within a few more days we'll have someone elses home that we can call our own until they try to jack up the rent. In the meantime, we're exploring the new part of the city and living very much like we did when we first arrived in Perth about 1 year ago. It's funny how similar our circumstances are now to when we first arrived here. We were in a furnished apartment, close to the city, with all of our belongings in boxes and with our future uncertain. The big difference, however, is in our attitudes. Back then we were just starting a new adventure and we were prepared for some discomfort. Now it's just a pain in the ass. One thing I can guarantee is that we will not be going through this again.
Our internet is very limited at the moment so we are not in a great position to be returning emails, going on Skype, etc. So, if you can't reach us is not you but it is most certainly us.
Possible Preview of Next Blog: "Still Homeless After All These Days"
The Klames of Oz chronicle their epic journey as they struggle to find a four bedroom, 2 bath home (preferably with pool) in the central northern suburbs. Will they find a home? Will they celebrate their 1 year anniversary in Perth on the streets of Perth or even the beach? Stayed tuned for next weeks episode of The Klamers of ?...
In the meantime, we have put in two more applications for rental properties. We are starting to get desperate. If we don't get approved by Tuesday we will need to book additional temporary accommodation. Even that's not easy in this city. We've been struggling to find a place to stay that still allows the kids to take public transportation to school. We may have to go to a hotel for a couple of nights.
We are pretty frustrated about the whole scenario but we're are trying to keep our spirits up and treat it like a little holiday/adventure. Hopefully within a few more days we'll have someone elses home that we can call our own until they try to jack up the rent. In the meantime, we're exploring the new part of the city and living very much like we did when we first arrived in Perth about 1 year ago. It's funny how similar our circumstances are now to when we first arrived here. We were in a furnished apartment, close to the city, with all of our belongings in boxes and with our future uncertain. The big difference, however, is in our attitudes. Back then we were just starting a new adventure and we were prepared for some discomfort. Now it's just a pain in the ass. One thing I can guarantee is that we will not be going through this again.
Our internet is very limited at the moment so we are not in a great position to be returning emails, going on Skype, etc. So, if you can't reach us is not you but it is most certainly us.
Possible Preview of Next Blog: "Still Homeless After All These Days"
The Klames of Oz chronicle their epic journey as they struggle to find a four bedroom, 2 bath home (preferably with pool) in the central northern suburbs. Will they find a home? Will they celebrate their 1 year anniversary in Perth on the streets of Perth or even the beach? Stayed tuned for next weeks episode of The Klamers of ?...
Saturday, 27 October 2012
Housing Crisis
Let me preface this by stating that the rental housing market in Perth is terrible. By terrible I mean:
-the prices are outrageous
-the houses are generally either run down pieces of crap or executive mansions
-there is a tonne of competition even for the run down pieces of crap
-for the privilege to view a house you have to practically beg the realtor, more often than not a 25 year fresh out of their parents basement, who, if they are inclined to return your call, may set up a viewing between the hours of 11am-3:30pm Monday to Friday
-when setting up the viewing you generally have 15 minutes to look at the house and then get out, sometimes even less (there was one 'home open' from 4:35-4:40)
So, when I say terrible I mean ridiculous, overpriced, frustrating and generally a rip-off.
You may be asking, "but why are you having to move in the first place?" Good question although it's really none of your business and frankly, a little rude. The house we are currently in is okay. The living space isn't very good, the outdoor space is essentially useless (albeit beautiful), it's freezing in the winter and it's costs a lot more than it's worth. We basically took it because the market was so bad at the time. Little did we know...
So, about a month or so ago we starting looking for a new rental property to live in. The criteria was that it had to be within relatively easy access to the kids school, have 4 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, preferably a pool and, of course, within our price range. There are two pretty good websites in Perth that are generally updated in a timely manner. We were scouring those websites every day and sometimes several times a day to see what was available on the market. There were actually quite a few decent properties listed and we went to see a few of them. However, almost all of them were available immediately. Because our lease doesn't expire until Nov.1, if we found a place we would likely have to pay for two rents for a few weeks. One is bad enough but two means we don't eat for a few weeks.
The good news was that every week there were some decent properties coming on the market. There were even a couple very nice ones that we were interested in that had been sitting available for a couple of weeks. So, we thought that we would be okay. We were mistaken.
When we came back from our recent trip to Dunsborough we began to ramp up our level of house hunting activities. Then, last Tuesday October 16 Nadia went to the American Women's Club coffee party. While there she just happened to meet a Canadian lady who just happened to be trying to find someone to take over her rent in what happened to be our favorite neighborhood. Surely, this was fate. That night we went to see their home. It was a beautiful, huge, 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom home complete with salt-water pool, a pool table, a 5 minute walk to the train station and a 10 minute walk to the school. The only problem was that it was at the very top of our price range. Regardless, we thought that we couldn't pass up the opportunity and told them that we'd take it. They contacted the owner who insisted that it all be done by the realtor. In the meantime, we had a plan B property in mind that was quite nice. This past Monday the current tenants called us and said that there might be a snag. The owners are considering putting it on the market at a higher rate. We told them if that was the case that we weren't interested and we proceeded to put in an offer on the plan B house. The day we put in our offer was the day someone elses offer, put in previously, was accepted. Apparently, there were 9 offers on the property! And as it turns out that was the week that there were no new properties coming on the market. Every other week there were some decent options but they were all available 'now' so we couldn't really consider them. Then we were told that the owners of the property where the Canadian family lived were considering our offer. There was hope. However, that week the internet completely dried up of any new houses. The week we needed there to be some decent listings there were none.
So, the prospect of homelessness was staring us in the face like a drunk hobo screaming "get out of my cardboard box!" We began frantically looking for:
-short term temporary accomodation
-rental facility for our furniture, etc.
-a moving truck big enough for 5 people to live in
Then on Thursday of this week (keep in mind we are moving out on Thursday, Nov.1) a couple new properties came on the market. We arranged a viewing that day at one of them and put in an offer a couple of hours later. We were told that we were the first to see the home and therefore we surmised that we were also likely the first to put in an offer. The only caveat on the home is that it was listed as being available on Nov.2 while we needed it Nov.1, but the realtor said that that might be an option. So, yesterday (Friday) I called to check on the status of our application and I discovered that there were two other applicants and they were going through all of the details and references in the application. The soonest we'll know about the property is on Monday, Oct.29 aka t-minus 3 days before homelessness. At the moment we are completely helpless. To make matters worse, we were informed that the owners of the property where the Canadians are living decided to put it up for sale, so renting it was no longer an option. Now that it's Saturday here we can't even go look at other properties because the realtors are at the beach working on their tans on the weekends. I'm fairly certain that they get their realtor licenses at the bottom of a box of breakfast cereal.
I repeat: the rental market here is ridiculous, overpriced, frustrating and generally a rip-off.
So, the worst case scenario is that we aren't afforded the privilege of paying $850 per week to live in a less-than-ideal home. In which case, unless a miracle property appears out of nowhere, we will be looking for temporary accommodation, storing our goods, and experiencing additional frustrations with this rental market while working full-time and trying to squeeze in a home viewing whenever possible.
The one thing that is certain: we will not be living in our current address after Nov.1. Regardless of what happens, we will have very limited internet access for a certain period of time (hooray, another relatively simple task that becomes a crappy frustrating protocol we have to jump hoops through to accomplish!) Ugh.
Regards,
The Klamers of no fixed address
-the prices are outrageous
-the houses are generally either run down pieces of crap or executive mansions
-there is a tonne of competition even for the run down pieces of crap
-for the privilege to view a house you have to practically beg the realtor, more often than not a 25 year fresh out of their parents basement, who, if they are inclined to return your call, may set up a viewing between the hours of 11am-3:30pm Monday to Friday
-when setting up the viewing you generally have 15 minutes to look at the house and then get out, sometimes even less (there was one 'home open' from 4:35-4:40)
So, when I say terrible I mean ridiculous, overpriced, frustrating and generally a rip-off.
You may be asking, "but why are you having to move in the first place?" Good question although it's really none of your business and frankly, a little rude. The house we are currently in is okay. The living space isn't very good, the outdoor space is essentially useless (albeit beautiful), it's freezing in the winter and it's costs a lot more than it's worth. We basically took it because the market was so bad at the time. Little did we know...
So, about a month or so ago we starting looking for a new rental property to live in. The criteria was that it had to be within relatively easy access to the kids school, have 4 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, preferably a pool and, of course, within our price range. There are two pretty good websites in Perth that are generally updated in a timely manner. We were scouring those websites every day and sometimes several times a day to see what was available on the market. There were actually quite a few decent properties listed and we went to see a few of them. However, almost all of them were available immediately. Because our lease doesn't expire until Nov.1, if we found a place we would likely have to pay for two rents for a few weeks. One is bad enough but two means we don't eat for a few weeks.
The good news was that every week there were some decent properties coming on the market. There were even a couple very nice ones that we were interested in that had been sitting available for a couple of weeks. So, we thought that we would be okay. We were mistaken.
When we came back from our recent trip to Dunsborough we began to ramp up our level of house hunting activities. Then, last Tuesday October 16 Nadia went to the American Women's Club coffee party. While there she just happened to meet a Canadian lady who just happened to be trying to find someone to take over her rent in what happened to be our favorite neighborhood. Surely, this was fate. That night we went to see their home. It was a beautiful, huge, 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom home complete with salt-water pool, a pool table, a 5 minute walk to the train station and a 10 minute walk to the school. The only problem was that it was at the very top of our price range. Regardless, we thought that we couldn't pass up the opportunity and told them that we'd take it. They contacted the owner who insisted that it all be done by the realtor. In the meantime, we had a plan B property in mind that was quite nice. This past Monday the current tenants called us and said that there might be a snag. The owners are considering putting it on the market at a higher rate. We told them if that was the case that we weren't interested and we proceeded to put in an offer on the plan B house. The day we put in our offer was the day someone elses offer, put in previously, was accepted. Apparently, there were 9 offers on the property! And as it turns out that was the week that there were no new properties coming on the market. Every other week there were some decent options but they were all available 'now' so we couldn't really consider them. Then we were told that the owners of the property where the Canadian family lived were considering our offer. There was hope. However, that week the internet completely dried up of any new houses. The week we needed there to be some decent listings there were none.
So, the prospect of homelessness was staring us in the face like a drunk hobo screaming "get out of my cardboard box!" We began frantically looking for:
-short term temporary accomodation
-rental facility for our furniture, etc.
-a moving truck big enough for 5 people to live in
Then on Thursday of this week (keep in mind we are moving out on Thursday, Nov.1) a couple new properties came on the market. We arranged a viewing that day at one of them and put in an offer a couple of hours later. We were told that we were the first to see the home and therefore we surmised that we were also likely the first to put in an offer. The only caveat on the home is that it was listed as being available on Nov.2 while we needed it Nov.1, but the realtor said that that might be an option. So, yesterday (Friday) I called to check on the status of our application and I discovered that there were two other applicants and they were going through all of the details and references in the application. The soonest we'll know about the property is on Monday, Oct.29 aka t-minus 3 days before homelessness. At the moment we are completely helpless. To make matters worse, we were informed that the owners of the property where the Canadians are living decided to put it up for sale, so renting it was no longer an option. Now that it's Saturday here we can't even go look at other properties because the realtors are at the beach working on their tans on the weekends. I'm fairly certain that they get their realtor licenses at the bottom of a box of breakfast cereal.
I repeat: the rental market here is ridiculous, overpriced, frustrating and generally a rip-off.
So, the worst case scenario is that we aren't afforded the privilege of paying $850 per week to live in a less-than-ideal home. In which case, unless a miracle property appears out of nowhere, we will be looking for temporary accommodation, storing our goods, and experiencing additional frustrations with this rental market while working full-time and trying to squeeze in a home viewing whenever possible.
The one thing that is certain: we will not be living in our current address after Nov.1. Regardless of what happens, we will have very limited internet access for a certain period of time (hooray, another relatively simple task that becomes a crappy frustrating protocol we have to jump hoops through to accomplish!) Ugh.
Regards,
The Klamers of no fixed address
Sunday, 21 October 2012
Heading South
During our time in Perth we've haven't been able to do to much travelling. We managed to go to the Gold Coast (Brisbane) for a week but, otherwise, all of our travelling has been within driving distance. We've taken a couple of day trips east but nothing too substantial. Most of our travelling has been to the north of Perth, including our fabulous trip to Kalbarri. However, recently we managed to finally head to the primary Perthite getaway spot: the Margaret River region about 2-3 hours car drive south of Perth.
The 'Margaret River region' is basically the southwestern tip of the country. The next closest piece of land is Antarctica. It is a well known, well used vacation spot for people around Australia but particularly for people from Perth due to its proximity to the city. The region consists primarily of the towns of Margaret River, Bunbury, Busselton and Dunsborough. It is best known for two things: wine and whales. This region is the pre-eminent wine growing region in West Australia and is only overshadowed in it's wines and wineries by the state of South Australia. However, one thing South Australia doesn't have are the whales. Every year both Humpbacks and Southern Right whales travel along what is referred to as the "Humpback Highway": from their summer feeding grounds in Antartica to their winter birthing/mating area in northern West Australian. As a result, basically every Humpback and Southern Right whale on the planet pass along the West Australian coast twice a year. They actually travel right by Perth but usually they tend to be further off shore and therefore are a lot harder to spot, although just this week there was a Humpback at Fremantle- Perth's primary commercial port.
The Margaret River region tends to have slightly more temperate weather than Perth even though it's only a 3 hour drive south. The winters are cooler, wetter and windier and the summers are basically perfect, without the blistering heat that Perth occasionally receives. Our visit took place in spring, so while we managed to avoid the massive crowds (think Banff on a nice summer day) we also were taking a chance with the weather.
Here's a rundown of some of our activities along with visual aids:
The 'Margaret River region' is basically the southwestern tip of the country. The next closest piece of land is Antarctica. It is a well known, well used vacation spot for people around Australia but particularly for people from Perth due to its proximity to the city. The region consists primarily of the towns of Margaret River, Bunbury, Busselton and Dunsborough. It is best known for two things: wine and whales. This region is the pre-eminent wine growing region in West Australia and is only overshadowed in it's wines and wineries by the state of South Australia. However, one thing South Australia doesn't have are the whales. Every year both Humpbacks and Southern Right whales travel along what is referred to as the "Humpback Highway": from their summer feeding grounds in Antartica to their winter birthing/mating area in northern West Australian. As a result, basically every Humpback and Southern Right whale on the planet pass along the West Australian coast twice a year. They actually travel right by Perth but usually they tend to be further off shore and therefore are a lot harder to spot, although just this week there was a Humpback at Fremantle- Perth's primary commercial port.
The Margaret River region tends to have slightly more temperate weather than Perth even though it's only a 3 hour drive south. The winters are cooler, wetter and windier and the summers are basically perfect, without the blistering heat that Perth occasionally receives. Our visit took place in spring, so while we managed to avoid the massive crowds (think Banff on a nice summer day) we also were taking a chance with the weather.
Here's a rundown of some of our activities along with visual aids:
This is the lighthouse region of the area. It is a big, natural area surrounding the lighthouse, on top of a cliff overlooking the ocean. Even looking out from here we spotted a few whales, albeit from a distance.
We spent a lot of time exploring the coast and discovered some really lovely areas. This particular area is a beautiful protected cove. Just outside the cove is a very popular Hammerhead Shark hang-out.
The region has a lot of caves. We managed to go to one of them. Here the kids and Nadia are looking up at the stalactites on the ceiling...
...and this is their view of the ceiling. This particular cave was quite large and extensive and took us over an hour to go through.
Here we are setting off on a 2 hour tour (a two hour tour) to go whale watching. We were picked up from the jetty behind me and brought onto the boat. On this particular day it was raining and windy. As a result, the seas were choppy and pretty rough. Despite the less-than-ideal weather, the ship was full of whale watching land-lubbers.
It's relatively difficult to hold onto the ship for dear life, protect your face from the driving, stinging rain, try to avoid puking and get a picture of an animal that spends about 1 second of every 3-4 minutes of it's life at the surface of the water. I managed to get one semi-decent picture. Here you can see two Humpbacks swimming together. We were fortunate enough to see one whale do a full breach (jump out of the water) but everyone on board was so sea-sick they didn't care all that much. I'd estimate that 75% of the passengers got sick on this trip. I'm proud to say that only 2 out of 5 Klamers got sick, beating the boat average by quite a significant margin. It was a fun experience, however, it could have been a lot better with the right conditions. Even the captain of the ship, as we were boarding, querried "you didn't want to go to the caves today?" By the end of the journey we were cold, wet, tired, sick and generally beaten up. At that particular point I understood why whaling was such a thriving industry at one point: all the whalers were so miserable they needed to kill something out of frustration.
Continuing to explore the coastline. There were some really beautiful spots for swimming, snorkelling, fishing or just lounging on the beach. Unfortunately, the weather didn't really cooperate with us to allow to do any of those things.
Some more exploring. Cyrus on the cliffs.
The region is general is very picturesque. It has green rolling hills surrounded by forrest, country roads and wineries. Also, most of the wild flowers are currently in bloom. There are wild, white lillies everywhere. Above you can barely see a common Aussie sight: sheep.
One of the area's claim to fame is the Busselton jetty. Above you can see the jetty from the shore stretching to the center-right of the picture. This is actually the longest jetty in the southern hemisphere and you can actually see it from space, or so I've been told. It is about two kilometers long and at the end of the jetty is an underwater viewing area. To get to the end you can either take the train that runs along the length of the jetty or walk. We chose to walk. Unfortunately, due to the weather conditions the underwater viewing area was closed. And yet again, we were left cold, wet and tired.
The area in general is very nice. In the height of summer it would likely be fantastic. The trade off, however, are the very large crowds. We certainly enjoyed the trip. Hopefully, next time we will get to experience all of the things we didn't get a chance to do on this trip.
Monday, 1 October 2012
The Royal Show
Every year there's a festival organized that's called "The Perth Royal Show". It's like a fair complete with a midway, rides, mini-donuts, dog/cow/cat displays, inappropriate t-shirts and abnoxious crowds. On Saturday Zaren and Cyrus went with their friends. On Sunday, Nadia and I brought Keva and her friend and went our seperate ways. We stayed as long as we could before we left the girls there and went to a beach cafe.
People wandering aimlessly through the crowd without any direction or purpose and a little nauseous from the combination of rides and junk food. It's like the zombie apocalypse with a carnival soundtrack.
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Speaking of royalty, the AFL (Australian Football League) season is over and a champion has been crowned. The AFL is the big sport in Australia and the "Grand Finals" are a little like their Superbowl/Stanley Cup. This year the Sydney Swans upset the Hawthorne Hawks in the final to capture a trophy with a name that is unknown to me. Actually, as far as Aussie sports go AFL is pretty good. I actually had a chance to go to a game this year but, unfortunately, we were away during the time that I was invited. Maybe next year. Both teams based in Perth, the West Coast Eagles and Fremantle Dockers, made the playoffs. So, that was a nice change for us.
Now that the season is over all sporting eyes shift to Cricket. Ugh. I think Monty Python summed up the sport best (complete with Italian sub-titles):
My apologies to anyone out there that loves cricket, but really it has to be the most ridiculous sport ever invented.
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The school term is over and the kids now have two weeks off of school before they begin the last term of the year. The weather is also starting to change. Spring has sprung. Today in Perth it will be in the mid 30's. Yesterday it was in the high 20's. The days are getting longer and warmer and the beach is starting it's siren song. Also, the bugs and lizards are coming out. We don't mind the lizards too much although they have a habit of being where you don't want them (example: washing machine). The bugs are everywhere and irritating, however. Speaking of reptiles, we had our first snake sighting on Friday. We were at a beach and it went across our path. We don't know what it was but it was small and brown. Considering that Australia has the highest number of venemous snake species in the world, I'm guessing that it wasn't deadly but only mildly dangerous.
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The hunt for a new home continues. We have seen a couple of options and we're looking at a couple more this week. Of course, they are either too small, too expensive, too far from school or too run down. But there are some decent, but expensive, options. The biggest issue is that our current lease expires November 1. At present, all but one property that we are looking at are available now. If we try to lease one now we have to try to get out of our current lease which may or may not be easy depending on if there is someone who is ready to move into our current abode. If we wait, we take the chance that there may not be any decent properties available. However, just about every week a new property comes on the market that is decent. So I think we'll be okay.
Saturday, 22 September 2012
Monthly Update
Since Nadia has been working full time things have been quite busy for us. Really we've been living to work for the last few weeks. Hopefully they'll settle down soon and I'll have a little more time to do this on a more frequent occasion. So, here's the rundown of the month that was and things coming up:
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We Are The Champions!
Zaren and Cyrus (and the rest of their hockey team) won the Midget Championships in Perth. So, we can honestly claim that they were the best Midget hockey team in Western Australia. There were 5 teams in the league and their team, the Lightning, finished 3rd in the regular season standings. Early in the year they lost a few close games due to players being away. The first game of the season they lost their goalie during the game and had to finish without him. Despite that they almost won the game.
Their arch rivals, the Flyers, finished first in the standings. The Flyers and Lightning play out of the same arena and even practice together every week. So they knew each other well.
In the first round of the playoffs the Lightning played a weaker Blackhawks team and beat them fairly handily. In the next round, they played the Icehawks who play in the same arena as the Blackhawks. All year the Lightning, for whatever reason, struggled to beat the Icehawks. However, when the game counted they pulled out the win.
Then they went onto the final against the Flyers. It was an exciting, back-and-forth game with plenty of great plays and exciting scoring chances on both sides. The entire game was a see-saw affair with the Flyers getting a 1 goal lead and then the Lightning would tie it up for most of the game. Then finally in the 3rd period, with the score tied, Cyrus scored to give the Lightning their first lead at 8-7. With 3 minutes left in the 3rd period the Lightning coach put his best 5 players on the ice (including Zaren and Cyrus) and left them out there for the duration of the game. They were tired but went on to win 10-7 and then hoisted the prestigious "Whatsitscalled" trophy. Despite having 9 skaters on the ice and a replacement goalie, the Lightning were clearly the better team.
We're happy the season is over but the season itself was quite fun. While they've come close in the past, this is their first hockey championship trophy and they only needed to move to Australia to get it. The hockey was better than expected and the boys really found their stride. They both scored a ton of goals and really got to play loose in a pressure-free environment. It was probably their most enjoyable year of hockey.
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Nadia has finished her 6 weeks probation at work and next week she is moving to a 3 day a week schedule. She's picked up the work very quickly and by all accounts is doing really well. So, starting next week she works Wednesday-Friday. We're all looking for to it as things have been really hectic and a little stressful for the past 6 weeks.
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Yesterday, Zaren returned from a class camping/hiking trip on the "Cape to Cape" walk. The walk took place about 4 hours south of Perth in the Margaret River region. There were about 40 students and 7 teachers that walked 40 km in 3 days. That's not that bad, however, they also had to carry all of their food, clothes, camping equipment (except the tents that were transported in the bus) and water. We had to rent Zaren a 75 litre trekking backpack. After it was filled it weighed about 25kg (50lbs). The longest stretch they did was on the second day where they went 20km. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate with them. It rained every day and on the last day the trip needed to be cut short due to a severe wind warning in all of southwestern WA, including Perth. He arrived home safe and sound with only a couple of blisters and bruises. He seemed to enjoy it overall but he was exhausted.
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You may recall that a few months ago I mentioned that we were going to be losing our LAFHA (Living Away From Home Allowance) benefits come Oct.1. Originally, we were supposed to lose it on July 1 but it was extended. This time it is not being extended. LAFHA is basically a tax break for those that are living away from home. For instance, if you are eligible for LAFHA and are paying rent of $1000 per week, that $1000 is removed from your taxable income and then added tax-free to your net salary after deducations. There is also a food component whereby we are allowed around $250 per week in food allowance. However, now that we are no longer eligible for LAFHA, we are looking at losing a significant amount of money off my net monthly salary. The money for rent and food is now being taxed and it's moving us into the next higher tax bracket. I'm currently negotiating with my employer to see what they can do but I don't have high hopes. It's a good thing Nadia started working.
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Our rental lease expires on Nov.1. While we like the house and love the location, it's just not quite right, especially for the money we're paying. So, we're back on the market to look at rental properties. Last year we were looking for a rental in December, which is the worst time of year to do so. As a result, we negotiated a 11 month lease so that this year we wouldn't be in the same position. There are certainly more options for us to choose from but the rental market has not settled down at all. The prices are still crazy high. Part of the reason for this is that there is a significant stamp duty when you purchase a house. So, in addition to needing a significant down payment you also need the cash up front to pay the thousands in stamp duty. This results in people buying houses to live in them rather than as a quick-flip money making scheme. It also means that there are a lot more people in the rental market as a result. In addition, because of the formerly booming economy (more on that in a moment) there are a lot of people here on ex-pat packages. That means that their employer will pay their rent essentially no matter what it is. So, the people on these packages don't care how much the rentals cost and are snapping up the rentals and driving up the demand, and therefore the price. Bloody immigrants. In any case, we are now actively searching for our next rental house.
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In the last few months there has been a European economic crisis which has been well documented. As a result, Chinese manufacturing activity has slowed since much of their finished products go to Europe. This has resulted in a drop in the price of iron-ore. Because of this, the shareholders of the major Australian iron ore companies have demanded that the companies scale back their ambitious growth plans and instead concentrate on providing a decent return on investment in the short term. Perths major industry, by a large margin, is iron-ore mining. The slowdown in the industry has resulted in many lost jobs, including my company. Fortunately, I look to be on fairly steady ground at the moment and the commodity prices have already rebounded. By March next year, the 'experts' anticipate a turnaround, and while it won't be booming quite like it was, it'll still be busy. Sound familiar Alberta oilpatch?
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The good news for my work is this week we moved into a new office building, or at least new for us. Our client, BHP Billiton, built themselves a fancy new office. So when they moved out of their old building we moved in. You may recall that many months ago I complained bitterly (a common occurance) about the state of my work environment. Well, now I am quite pleased to say that I am in a nice, modern building. I didn't get an office overlooking the river but it's still a huge improvement.
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The kids are all doing very well. They all have lots of friends and have very active social lives. Last month all of the Universities and Colleges in Perths had 'open days' where you could come and check out the campus and see what they offered. It was a pretty good experience and I think it helped the boys start to focus on what the future may hold. The University of Western Australia has a gorgeous campus, by the way.
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Keva recently went on an evening river cruise with her classmates. It was a formal affair with snacks and pop and dancing. You'll be pleased to know that despite her getting dolled-up with makeup, a fancy dress and high heals, I let her be and didn't stand behind her all night with a shotgun. She seemed to have a good time, probably because I wasn't there.
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Starting next week we should have a little more time on our hands to do things like go outside or when it's raining, blog. If not, the next time you read this we will hopefully have a new place to live.
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We Are The Champions!
Zaren and Cyrus (and the rest of their hockey team) won the Midget Championships in Perth. So, we can honestly claim that they were the best Midget hockey team in Western Australia. There were 5 teams in the league and their team, the Lightning, finished 3rd in the regular season standings. Early in the year they lost a few close games due to players being away. The first game of the season they lost their goalie during the game and had to finish without him. Despite that they almost won the game.
Their arch rivals, the Flyers, finished first in the standings. The Flyers and Lightning play out of the same arena and even practice together every week. So they knew each other well.
In the first round of the playoffs the Lightning played a weaker Blackhawks team and beat them fairly handily. In the next round, they played the Icehawks who play in the same arena as the Blackhawks. All year the Lightning, for whatever reason, struggled to beat the Icehawks. However, when the game counted they pulled out the win.
Then they went onto the final against the Flyers. It was an exciting, back-and-forth game with plenty of great plays and exciting scoring chances on both sides. The entire game was a see-saw affair with the Flyers getting a 1 goal lead and then the Lightning would tie it up for most of the game. Then finally in the 3rd period, with the score tied, Cyrus scored to give the Lightning their first lead at 8-7. With 3 minutes left in the 3rd period the Lightning coach put his best 5 players on the ice (including Zaren and Cyrus) and left them out there for the duration of the game. They were tired but went on to win 10-7 and then hoisted the prestigious "Whatsitscalled" trophy. Despite having 9 skaters on the ice and a replacement goalie, the Lightning were clearly the better team.
We're happy the season is over but the season itself was quite fun. While they've come close in the past, this is their first hockey championship trophy and they only needed to move to Australia to get it. The hockey was better than expected and the boys really found their stride. They both scored a ton of goals and really got to play loose in a pressure-free environment. It was probably their most enjoyable year of hockey.
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Nadia has finished her 6 weeks probation at work and next week she is moving to a 3 day a week schedule. She's picked up the work very quickly and by all accounts is doing really well. So, starting next week she works Wednesday-Friday. We're all looking for to it as things have been really hectic and a little stressful for the past 6 weeks.
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Yesterday, Zaren returned from a class camping/hiking trip on the "Cape to Cape" walk. The walk took place about 4 hours south of Perth in the Margaret River region. There were about 40 students and 7 teachers that walked 40 km in 3 days. That's not that bad, however, they also had to carry all of their food, clothes, camping equipment (except the tents that were transported in the bus) and water. We had to rent Zaren a 75 litre trekking backpack. After it was filled it weighed about 25kg (50lbs). The longest stretch they did was on the second day where they went 20km. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate with them. It rained every day and on the last day the trip needed to be cut short due to a severe wind warning in all of southwestern WA, including Perth. He arrived home safe and sound with only a couple of blisters and bruises. He seemed to enjoy it overall but he was exhausted.
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You may recall that a few months ago I mentioned that we were going to be losing our LAFHA (Living Away From Home Allowance) benefits come Oct.1. Originally, we were supposed to lose it on July 1 but it was extended. This time it is not being extended. LAFHA is basically a tax break for those that are living away from home. For instance, if you are eligible for LAFHA and are paying rent of $1000 per week, that $1000 is removed from your taxable income and then added tax-free to your net salary after deducations. There is also a food component whereby we are allowed around $250 per week in food allowance. However, now that we are no longer eligible for LAFHA, we are looking at losing a significant amount of money off my net monthly salary. The money for rent and food is now being taxed and it's moving us into the next higher tax bracket. I'm currently negotiating with my employer to see what they can do but I don't have high hopes. It's a good thing Nadia started working.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our rental lease expires on Nov.1. While we like the house and love the location, it's just not quite right, especially for the money we're paying. So, we're back on the market to look at rental properties. Last year we were looking for a rental in December, which is the worst time of year to do so. As a result, we negotiated a 11 month lease so that this year we wouldn't be in the same position. There are certainly more options for us to choose from but the rental market has not settled down at all. The prices are still crazy high. Part of the reason for this is that there is a significant stamp duty when you purchase a house. So, in addition to needing a significant down payment you also need the cash up front to pay the thousands in stamp duty. This results in people buying houses to live in them rather than as a quick-flip money making scheme. It also means that there are a lot more people in the rental market as a result. In addition, because of the formerly booming economy (more on that in a moment) there are a lot of people here on ex-pat packages. That means that their employer will pay their rent essentially no matter what it is. So, the people on these packages don't care how much the rentals cost and are snapping up the rentals and driving up the demand, and therefore the price. Bloody immigrants. In any case, we are now actively searching for our next rental house.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the last few months there has been a European economic crisis which has been well documented. As a result, Chinese manufacturing activity has slowed since much of their finished products go to Europe. This has resulted in a drop in the price of iron-ore. Because of this, the shareholders of the major Australian iron ore companies have demanded that the companies scale back their ambitious growth plans and instead concentrate on providing a decent return on investment in the short term. Perths major industry, by a large margin, is iron-ore mining. The slowdown in the industry has resulted in many lost jobs, including my company. Fortunately, I look to be on fairly steady ground at the moment and the commodity prices have already rebounded. By March next year, the 'experts' anticipate a turnaround, and while it won't be booming quite like it was, it'll still be busy. Sound familiar Alberta oilpatch?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The good news for my work is this week we moved into a new office building, or at least new for us. Our client, BHP Billiton, built themselves a fancy new office. So when they moved out of their old building we moved in. You may recall that many months ago I complained bitterly (a common occurance) about the state of my work environment. Well, now I am quite pleased to say that I am in a nice, modern building. I didn't get an office overlooking the river but it's still a huge improvement.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The kids are all doing very well. They all have lots of friends and have very active social lives. Last month all of the Universities and Colleges in Perths had 'open days' where you could come and check out the campus and see what they offered. It was a pretty good experience and I think it helped the boys start to focus on what the future may hold. The University of Western Australia has a gorgeous campus, by the way.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Keva recently went on an evening river cruise with her classmates. It was a formal affair with snacks and pop and dancing. You'll be pleased to know that despite her getting dolled-up with makeup, a fancy dress and high heals, I let her be and didn't stand behind her all night with a shotgun. She seemed to have a good time, probably because I wasn't there.
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Starting next week we should have a little more time on our hands to do things like go outside or when it's raining, blog. If not, the next time you read this we will hopefully have a new place to live.
Sunday, 26 August 2012
Catching Up
Prepare yourself: this post may be a little lengthy. No would would blame you if you now navigated to Facebook, Youtube or your screen saver. Your "favorites" shortcut is right there.
There's been a lot going on as I've been busy, uh, washing my hair...
Actually, since Nadia started working we've had a lot less free time. Everything that she would do during the week now has to be crammed into the evenings and weekends. So, this will be a bit of a purge of the last 3-4 weeks of some stuff that I think is interesting or fun but may or may not interest you...just like Facebook.
There's been a lot going on as I've been busy, uh, washing my hair...
Actually, since Nadia started working we've had a lot less free time. Everything that she would do during the week now has to be crammed into the evenings and weekends. So, this will be a bit of a purge of the last 3-4 weeks of some stuff that I think is interesting or fun but may or may not interest you...just like Facebook.
We've been trying to explore some of the local area during our free time. In the photo above you can see Nadia about to break out into a rendition of "The hills are alive, with the sound of music..." Fortunately, no animals eardrums were harmed in the production of this photo taken in the hills just east of the city.
On the same trip we discovered a local monument. Some places have Stonehenge, others have Niagara Falls. Perth has "Buttock Boulder" as seen on the right. Apparantly, the guy that discovered it was a real @$$hole.
Reading Comprehension: not Perth's best subject in school.
We also went to a local park called Bell's Rapids. It was lovely although there were really no rapids to speak of yet. Apparently, it's gushing in October. Above, the kids are sitting by what's left of the rapids just above what will soon be waterfalls. The city is in the background.
Between Perth CBD and where the southern suburbs begin is a little island called Hennison Island. It's about 2 km long and 1/2 km wide. It's right across the estuary from the CBD so it offers very nice views of the city. But the main attraction are the handful of kangaroos that live on the island. These animals have been rescued from one calamity or another. I believe in some cases they are released back in the wild if they are well enough. However, the ones we saw have obviously been on the island for some time as they are practically tame. Above Keva is showing the Kangaroo her tumblr blog on her iPhone.
We've had a couple more birthdays in the last month. Zaren and Cyrus turned 17 years old. As painful as it is to write that, it's even more painful to feed them the copious amounts of food that is required to enable them to lounge around for hours during the day and sleep for 12 hours at night. We've also discovered that they are completely legal to drive on their Canadian licences as long as we're not permanent residents. There is a rumour that Nadia also had a birthday however there is no photographic evidence. That means it never actually happened.
Just this weekend we gifted ourselves a brand new pair of kayaks. Well, technically one is used and purchased over the internet and the other is new, but you can barely tell the difference betweem them. Above are the "SS Drowning Rat" and the "SS Angry-Cat-in-a-Tub". They are lower range kayaks intended for casual travelling on rivers, lakes and the oceans. Some people use them to surf-kayak on the ocean too. Perth is a city that is literally surrounded on all sides by water. From the northeast the Stirling River runs into Perth. From the southeast the Canning river goes to the city. They meet up in the estuary in the city center. And of course, on the west is the ocean. Not having some sort of water craft in Perth is like not having skis or a snowboard in Banff. There are just so many recreational activities you can participate in when you have a kayak.
This weekend we took out the "Rat" and "Cat" for their maiden voyage in one of the local rivers that helps to form the Canning River. Above you can see Nadia checking out some King Pelicans.
And here we are near the end of our voyage happy that we've managed to stay afloat and upright. Today we are going to test them out on the ocean.
...And on the 7th day He shopped!
Dear friends and family (and spyware), today is a momentus day in the history of Perth and Perthites/Perthians/Perthers/Perthans/Perthies. Today (Sunday) is the official beginning of Sunday shopping in W.A.! This means that all stores that were legally obliged to be closed on Sunday now are legally obligated to stay open. So, now instead of complaining that the government is forcing businesses to lose revenue on a potential busy weekend shopping day, businesses are now complaining that they are being forced to stay open rather than spend time with their families.
What this means from a practical perspective (i.e. my point of view) is that there are slightly fewer time constraints on consumers. This will likely alleviate the pressure somewhat. As it stands now, most stores are open:
- Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday 9am-5:30pm
- Thursday 9am to 9pm
- Saturday 9am to 6pm
The results of this is that any household where all the adults work for a living have only Thursday and Saturday to shop. This includes most groceries, hardware stores and other relatively important shops. One of the notable exeptions to this is liquor stores. They are open 7 days a week with extended hours. If you know anything about Aussies this won't come as a surprise. So, for any shop that sells stuff besides booze, it forces one to spend at least Thursday or Saturday shopping. This also means that malls, supermarkets and everything else (besides the drive-through beer store) are packed to the rafters with shoppers on those two "shopping days". The new Sunday shopping will likely alleviate the pressure a little bit.
Let me be the first to congratulate W.A. on finally arriving to the year 1987. If this rate of innovation continues, before we know it they'll be insulating their homes and adopting daylight savings.
What this means from a practical perspective (i.e. my point of view) is that there are slightly fewer time constraints on consumers. This will likely alleviate the pressure somewhat. As it stands now, most stores are open:
- Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday 9am-5:30pm
- Thursday 9am to 9pm
- Saturday 9am to 6pm
The results of this is that any household where all the adults work for a living have only Thursday and Saturday to shop. This includes most groceries, hardware stores and other relatively important shops. One of the notable exeptions to this is liquor stores. They are open 7 days a week with extended hours. If you know anything about Aussies this won't come as a surprise. So, for any shop that sells stuff besides booze, it forces one to spend at least Thursday or Saturday shopping. This also means that malls, supermarkets and everything else (besides the drive-through beer store) are packed to the rafters with shoppers on those two "shopping days". The new Sunday shopping will likely alleviate the pressure a little bit.
Let me be the first to congratulate W.A. on finally arriving to the year 1987. If this rate of innovation continues, before we know it they'll be insulating their homes and adopting daylight savings.
Saturday, 11 August 2012
The Road
We spend a significant amount of time of our lives in our cars. Since we arrived in Australia I'd say we don't generally drive as much as we did in Calgary. Now that Nadia is working and she has a parking spot, albeit probably only on a temporary basis, we are driving to work together. As a result, we are spending a lot more time in the car and some of the unique characteristics of driving in Perth are becoming more evident to us. The following are the top ten primary differences between driving here in Perth and in Calgary.
1) "You're going the wrong way"
The obvious difference is that people drive on the left/wrong side of the road here. It's actually quite remarkable how quickly we've adjusted to it. It's to the point where when we watch TV and an American show is on it looks odd to see people drive on the right side.
2) "I've got the need, the need for obeying the posted speed limit"
For the most part Perthonians don't speed. Yes, there is the occasional testosterone fueled young man with a more powerful car and less sense than what's required. But for the most part, people either drive at the speed limit or even below. The reason for this is easy to explain. According to (my) empirical evidence the entire Perth police force has no other duties other than to prevent and/or catch people speeding. Almost every weekend in the Northbridge bar district, where we first lived, there is a violent incident with a knife, bottle or other weapon. You would think the area would be crawling with police but they are all too busy ensuring that drivers aren't speeding. Also, there are speed cameras (along with red light cameras) set up throughout the city in addition to the mobile speed traps. I think I prefer the 'slower' driving culture here but sometimes it feels a little too big-brotherish when it comes to the road and not enough when it comes to violent crime.
3) "You call that a truck?"
The car culture in Perth is significantly different than in Calgary. They sell basically the same brands of vehicles with the notable exception of a bargain brand Chinese car company called "Great Wall". Fords are popular here. So are Holdens (GM). So are Toyota, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, Nissan, etc. However, the types of vehicles are a little different. First the good: it's rare to see pick-up trucks or minivans in Perth. The bad: a very popular vehicle here is the Ute which is like an old El Camino (two seater pickup truck built low to the ground with an engine that is disproportionally powerful for the size of the vehicle). The Ute is short for Utility implying that it serves a useful purpose. Originally the Ute was a useful vehicle that was used by farmers and ranchers. Now it's primary purpose is to demonstrate the verility of young males. SUVs are also very popular.
^ A Holden Ute. It also comes in "Manly Mauve", "Pugnacious Pink" and "Baby Blue Bully".
4) "Get on your bike and ride"
Motorcycles are also popular in Perth. Not surprising considering that you can drive them year-round. Motorbikes have their own little sub-culture. They have parking spots designated for them in the CBD and other popular places. Also, when traffic is slow on the freeway they are encouraged to drive between lanes. It's completely legal here. Also, the typical motorcycle rider here tends not to be an idiot with a death wish.
5) "I can barely fit my Hummer"
The lanes here are a little more narrow. It's not narrow like a cobblestone lane in Europe but it's also not the vast lanes like in North America. It's enough space but not what we're used to. As a result, occasionally we drift close to the line.
6) "The blinker is used to indicate"
A funny thing happened to us the other day. We were in bumper to bumper traffic and needed to move over a lane. I turned on my turning signal and the person in the lane beside me made room for me. Later in the drive, I had to move over again. I indicated with my blinker and yet again the person beside me made room. It doesn't happen all the time but we've noticed that, in general, people are a little more courteous on the road here.
7) "Horn not working, watch for finger"
Once in a while, everyone drives like a jerk. We do this either because we're jerks on the road or because we made a mistake and then need to recover by, for instance, abruptly changing lanes or cutting in front of someone. When this happens in Calgary usually you get one of two responses: "the look" or "the bird". I haven't seen either of those here yet. I'd say that, in general, people are not quite as uptight on the road here and a little more forgiving.
8) "Pedestrians beware"
In Calgary, whether it's a marked crosswalk or not, motorists are generally encouraged to stop for pedestrians. In Perth, pedestrians are fair game. If you are jaywalking, which is common, you need to be very aware because a car is not going to stop for you, unless they need to peel you out from the undercarriage after they've run you over. We've had to change our mentality about pedestrians but occasionally we still stop for them when we shouldn't. When that happens the pedestrians are surprised and the vehicles behind us are irritated. The real problems occur when there is a marked cross-walk where pedestrians do have the right of way. We've come close a couple of times to mowing down a pedestrian in a marked cross-walk because our mind-set has largely changed to that of the locals.
9) "No left turn on a red?"
In Calgary, at a red light you are able to legally turn right after coming to a full stop. In Perth, at a red light you can not turn left until you get a green light. There is the occasional intersection where you yeild prior to turning left but for the most part you stop and wait at the light. I've personally run a couple of red lights because of this. Fortunately, there were no police in the area as it was not a good place for a speed trap.
10) "What's antifreeze?"
The temperature in Perth this winter has gone below freezing (zero) exactly once. It was for about 5 minutes and it was overnight in an area of the city that is below sea level and far from the ocean. Otherwise, it doesn't get that cold here, except in our house. So, cars don't have block heaters. They also don't have anti-freeze. And they also don't use windsheild washer fluid. Instead, they use water. It's a little different in that the water doesn't clean as well but it's good enough to scrape the pedestrians off.
1) "You're going the wrong way"
The obvious difference is that people drive on the left/wrong side of the road here. It's actually quite remarkable how quickly we've adjusted to it. It's to the point where when we watch TV and an American show is on it looks odd to see people drive on the right side.
2) "I've got the need, the need for obeying the posted speed limit"
For the most part Perthonians don't speed. Yes, there is the occasional testosterone fueled young man with a more powerful car and less sense than what's required. But for the most part, people either drive at the speed limit or even below. The reason for this is easy to explain. According to (my) empirical evidence the entire Perth police force has no other duties other than to prevent and/or catch people speeding. Almost every weekend in the Northbridge bar district, where we first lived, there is a violent incident with a knife, bottle or other weapon. You would think the area would be crawling with police but they are all too busy ensuring that drivers aren't speeding. Also, there are speed cameras (along with red light cameras) set up throughout the city in addition to the mobile speed traps. I think I prefer the 'slower' driving culture here but sometimes it feels a little too big-brotherish when it comes to the road and not enough when it comes to violent crime.
3) "You call that a truck?"
The car culture in Perth is significantly different than in Calgary. They sell basically the same brands of vehicles with the notable exception of a bargain brand Chinese car company called "Great Wall". Fords are popular here. So are Holdens (GM). So are Toyota, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, Nissan, etc. However, the types of vehicles are a little different. First the good: it's rare to see pick-up trucks or minivans in Perth. The bad: a very popular vehicle here is the Ute which is like an old El Camino (two seater pickup truck built low to the ground with an engine that is disproportionally powerful for the size of the vehicle). The Ute is short for Utility implying that it serves a useful purpose. Originally the Ute was a useful vehicle that was used by farmers and ranchers. Now it's primary purpose is to demonstrate the verility of young males. SUVs are also very popular.
^ A Holden Ute. It also comes in "Manly Mauve", "Pugnacious Pink" and "Baby Blue Bully".
4) "Get on your bike and ride"
Motorcycles are also popular in Perth. Not surprising considering that you can drive them year-round. Motorbikes have their own little sub-culture. They have parking spots designated for them in the CBD and other popular places. Also, when traffic is slow on the freeway they are encouraged to drive between lanes. It's completely legal here. Also, the typical motorcycle rider here tends not to be an idiot with a death wish.
5) "I can barely fit my Hummer"
The lanes here are a little more narrow. It's not narrow like a cobblestone lane in Europe but it's also not the vast lanes like in North America. It's enough space but not what we're used to. As a result, occasionally we drift close to the line.
6) "The blinker is used to indicate"
A funny thing happened to us the other day. We were in bumper to bumper traffic and needed to move over a lane. I turned on my turning signal and the person in the lane beside me made room for me. Later in the drive, I had to move over again. I indicated with my blinker and yet again the person beside me made room. It doesn't happen all the time but we've noticed that, in general, people are a little more courteous on the road here.
7) "Horn not working, watch for finger"
Once in a while, everyone drives like a jerk. We do this either because we're jerks on the road or because we made a mistake and then need to recover by, for instance, abruptly changing lanes or cutting in front of someone. When this happens in Calgary usually you get one of two responses: "the look" or "the bird". I haven't seen either of those here yet. I'd say that, in general, people are not quite as uptight on the road here and a little more forgiving.
8) "Pedestrians beware"
In Calgary, whether it's a marked crosswalk or not, motorists are generally encouraged to stop for pedestrians. In Perth, pedestrians are fair game. If you are jaywalking, which is common, you need to be very aware because a car is not going to stop for you, unless they need to peel you out from the undercarriage after they've run you over. We've had to change our mentality about pedestrians but occasionally we still stop for them when we shouldn't. When that happens the pedestrians are surprised and the vehicles behind us are irritated. The real problems occur when there is a marked cross-walk where pedestrians do have the right of way. We've come close a couple of times to mowing down a pedestrian in a marked cross-walk because our mind-set has largely changed to that of the locals.
9) "No left turn on a red?"
In Calgary, at a red light you are able to legally turn right after coming to a full stop. In Perth, at a red light you can not turn left until you get a green light. There is the occasional intersection where you yeild prior to turning left but for the most part you stop and wait at the light. I've personally run a couple of red lights because of this. Fortunately, there were no police in the area as it was not a good place for a speed trap.
10) "What's antifreeze?"
The temperature in Perth this winter has gone below freezing (zero) exactly once. It was for about 5 minutes and it was overnight in an area of the city that is below sea level and far from the ocean. Otherwise, it doesn't get that cold here, except in our house. So, cars don't have block heaters. They also don't have anti-freeze. And they also don't use windsheild washer fluid. Instead, they use water. It's a little different in that the water doesn't clean as well but it's good enough to scrape the pedestrians off.
Friday, 3 August 2012
Inmates Running the Asylum (Bureaucracy Run Amock)
Back in December I shared a few minor frustrations that we experienced while trying to get our Australian drivers licences. You can re-live the magic by clicking here.
On 8 August Zaren and Cyrus will be turning 17 years old! This has a couple of implications:
1) Holy $h!&*^ they're turning 17!
2) They are able to legally drive in Australia
Before you get too excited about it though, consider this: they aren't able to legally drive in Australia. I know, you're thinking "but didn't he just say that they're able to legally drive in Australia"? Yes and no. No because I wrote it, I didn't say it. Yes, because that's what I meant.
Zaren and Cyrus, henceforth known as "the boys" for the sake of brevity, hold valid Canadian drivers licences. Based on Australian law that means that they're able to drive in Australia. But not so fast. In Western Australia, henceforth known as "WA", you need to be 17 years old before you can drive. You are able to get your Learners Permit as a 16 year old. So, "the boys" were able to only legally drive in "WA" for the first 3 months after arrival. That's how long anyone is allowed to drive on their foreign licence presuming it comes from a recognized country such as Canada. After those 3 months expire you are not allowed to drive without a WA licence, which means waiting until your 17 years old. But getting a WA licence is no big deal. If you recall the link above, to the post entitled "The Land That Time Forgot", you'll remember that it was, in fact, kinda a big deal. For Nadia and I to get a licence we needed to get what's called a "Proof of Age"(POA) card. It wasn't difficult but it certainly was illogical and largely ridiculous. We can look back at it now and laugh about it between the shots of whiskey and tears. One of the criteria to get a POA is that you must be 18 years old. Here are the other criteria that is required to get an WA licence:
A. One of the following:
-Australian or New Zealand birth certificate
-Australian or New Zealand Citizenship or Naturalization documenation
-Evidence of Resident status
-Evidence of Immigration status, ie. visa
B. One of the following:
-Current Australian drivers licence or learners permit
-Australian passport
-Current overseas passport
-Parent idenfication and statutory declartion
C. Two of the following:
-Current Australian EFTPOS (ATM) or Credit Card
-Medicare Card
-Electoral Enrolment card
-Veteran affairs pension card
-Security guard licence
-Marriage certificate
-Photographic student ID
-Photographic Police or Military ID
-WA Proof of Age card
-WA firearms licence
-WA Working with Children Card
D. One of the following:
-Australian bank statement
-Utilities account
-Letter from current employer
-Letter from education institution
-Residential tenancy agreement
-Official document from government agency
I've bolded the documents that we hold and are able to use towards the certification for getting the boys drivers licences. The same rules applied for Nadia and I but since we are over 18 we were able to get the Proof of Age card. The boys are not. That leaves them one criteria short from category C. Therefore, in order for them to be able to get a drivers licence in WA they need to do one or more of the following to satisfy category C above:
-turn 18 years old
-join the military and then retire from the military with a pension
-become a security guard
-get married
-join the police
-become licenced to own and operate a gun
-become a social worker
When Nadia was discussing the difficulty of these option with the supervisor at the WA Department of Transport Driver and Vehicle Services office, he suggested one of three options that may allow the boys to legally drive in WA:
1) wait until they're 18 years old
2) write a letter to the government and hope that they receive enough similar letters that the government will revise their policy that is less than a year old
3) get a student ID from their school
Unfortunately, the schools here do not give photo IDs. You may be asking yourself "then why would they bother to list it as a criteria if it's not even available"? The answer, of course, is to remain consistent with all of their other ludicrous policies. So, now we need to go to the kids school and ask if they will be willing to doctor-up some sort of photo identification for the boys. Otherwise, Zaren and Cyrus will not be able to legally drive in WA for another year. Ugh.
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You probably thought (or hoped) I was finished with the "Bureaucracy Run Amock!" post. But alas, there is more to tell.
Here's another "interesting" law in Australia: they have a two-tiered healthcare system. There is the public health system (medicare) and the private health system. Every Australian is covered under the public system which is paid for via taxes. If you have the means you can also get private coverage which offers some benefits like reduced waiting times, private rooms, private hospitals, etc. However, if you do not have some level of private coverage you are forced to pay a levy. The cost of the levy depends on age, income and other factors. Fortunately, as non-residents we are not subject to the levy. We just need to prove to the government that we are non-residents. In order to do so, we need to provide to the government a certified copy of our used passport pages and Australian visas.
Allow me to summarize: we need to give the Australian government proof of the documents that they issued to us.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Australia is a funny country at the moment. They are desperate for foreign workers as they have a huge shortage here. They are going around the world to recruit people. That's how they found me. But when you arrive here they seem to do everything they can to make sure you know that you're not entirely welcome. The two anecdotes above are small examples of this. Additionally, there is a lot of political bickering about "foreign workers" and immigrants in general. Undoubtably, some of this is because of the illegal refuges, known as "boat people" that try to sneak into Australia, on a daily basis, from countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and others. WA in particular, has seen a huge influx of foreigners, particularly British, in the last 5 years. So, the locals are somewhat sensitive at the moment to non-Australians. I don't dare remind them how Australia wasn't "discovered" and settled by the British just a couple hundred years ago and that the convicts that came over here were immigrants that treated the locals quite poorly (and still do).
The current administration has put policies in place so that foreign workers, like us, no longer are eligible for the living away from home tax allowance. So they're removing a tax break that we currently receive. It was in place originally as a way to encourage people to work not only in Australia, but also in remote parts of Australia. On the one hand they're encouraging people to come and work and live in Australia. On the other hand, once you're here they like to remind you that you're not one of them. And that is okay by me.
On 8 August Zaren and Cyrus will be turning 17 years old! This has a couple of implications:
1) Holy $h!&*^ they're turning 17!
2) They are able to legally drive in Australia
Before you get too excited about it though, consider this: they aren't able to legally drive in Australia. I know, you're thinking "but didn't he just say that they're able to legally drive in Australia"? Yes and no. No because I wrote it, I didn't say it. Yes, because that's what I meant.
Zaren and Cyrus, henceforth known as "the boys" for the sake of brevity, hold valid Canadian drivers licences. Based on Australian law that means that they're able to drive in Australia. But not so fast. In Western Australia, henceforth known as "WA", you need to be 17 years old before you can drive. You are able to get your Learners Permit as a 16 year old. So, "the boys" were able to only legally drive in "WA" for the first 3 months after arrival. That's how long anyone is allowed to drive on their foreign licence presuming it comes from a recognized country such as Canada. After those 3 months expire you are not allowed to drive without a WA licence, which means waiting until your 17 years old. But getting a WA licence is no big deal. If you recall the link above, to the post entitled "The Land That Time Forgot", you'll remember that it was, in fact, kinda a big deal. For Nadia and I to get a licence we needed to get what's called a "Proof of Age"(POA) card. It wasn't difficult but it certainly was illogical and largely ridiculous. We can look back at it now and laugh about it between the shots of whiskey and tears. One of the criteria to get a POA is that you must be 18 years old. Here are the other criteria that is required to get an WA licence:
A. One of the following:
-Australian or New Zealand birth certificate
-Australian or New Zealand Citizenship or Naturalization documenation
-Evidence of Resident status
-Evidence of Immigration status, ie. visa
B. One of the following:
-Current Australian drivers licence or learners permit
-Australian passport
-Current overseas passport
-Parent idenfication and statutory declartion
C. Two of the following:
-Current Australian EFTPOS (ATM) or Credit Card
-Medicare Card
-Electoral Enrolment card
-Veteran affairs pension card
-Security guard licence
-Marriage certificate
-Photographic student ID
-Photographic Police or Military ID
-WA Proof of Age card
-WA firearms licence
-WA Working with Children Card
D. One of the following:
-Australian bank statement
-Utilities account
-Letter from current employer
-Letter from education institution
-Residential tenancy agreement
-Official document from government agency
I've bolded the documents that we hold and are able to use towards the certification for getting the boys drivers licences. The same rules applied for Nadia and I but since we are over 18 we were able to get the Proof of Age card. The boys are not. That leaves them one criteria short from category C. Therefore, in order for them to be able to get a drivers licence in WA they need to do one or more of the following to satisfy category C above:
-turn 18 years old
-join the military and then retire from the military with a pension
-become a security guard
-get married
-join the police
-become licenced to own and operate a gun
-become a social worker
When Nadia was discussing the difficulty of these option with the supervisor at the WA Department of Transport Driver and Vehicle Services office, he suggested one of three options that may allow the boys to legally drive in WA:
1) wait until they're 18 years old
2) write a letter to the government and hope that they receive enough similar letters that the government will revise their policy that is less than a year old
3) get a student ID from their school
Unfortunately, the schools here do not give photo IDs. You may be asking yourself "then why would they bother to list it as a criteria if it's not even available"? The answer, of course, is to remain consistent with all of their other ludicrous policies. So, now we need to go to the kids school and ask if they will be willing to doctor-up some sort of photo identification for the boys. Otherwise, Zaren and Cyrus will not be able to legally drive in WA for another year. Ugh.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You probably thought (or hoped) I was finished with the "Bureaucracy Run Amock!" post. But alas, there is more to tell.
Here's another "interesting" law in Australia: they have a two-tiered healthcare system. There is the public health system (medicare) and the private health system. Every Australian is covered under the public system which is paid for via taxes. If you have the means you can also get private coverage which offers some benefits like reduced waiting times, private rooms, private hospitals, etc. However, if you do not have some level of private coverage you are forced to pay a levy. The cost of the levy depends on age, income and other factors. Fortunately, as non-residents we are not subject to the levy. We just need to prove to the government that we are non-residents. In order to do so, we need to provide to the government a certified copy of our used passport pages and Australian visas.
Allow me to summarize: we need to give the Australian government proof of the documents that they issued to us.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Australia is a funny country at the moment. They are desperate for foreign workers as they have a huge shortage here. They are going around the world to recruit people. That's how they found me. But when you arrive here they seem to do everything they can to make sure you know that you're not entirely welcome. The two anecdotes above are small examples of this. Additionally, there is a lot of political bickering about "foreign workers" and immigrants in general. Undoubtably, some of this is because of the illegal refuges, known as "boat people" that try to sneak into Australia, on a daily basis, from countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and others. WA in particular, has seen a huge influx of foreigners, particularly British, in the last 5 years. So, the locals are somewhat sensitive at the moment to non-Australians. I don't dare remind them how Australia wasn't "discovered" and settled by the British just a couple hundred years ago and that the convicts that came over here were immigrants that treated the locals quite poorly (and still do).
The current administration has put policies in place so that foreign workers, like us, no longer are eligible for the living away from home tax allowance. So they're removing a tax break that we currently receive. It was in place originally as a way to encourage people to work not only in Australia, but also in remote parts of Australia. On the one hand they're encouraging people to come and work and live in Australia. On the other hand, once you're here they like to remind you that you're not one of them. And that is okay by me.
Tuesday, 24 July 2012
Working Girl
As of Monday, July 30 the Klamers of Oz are a double income family. The reason for this is that today Nadia landed herself a job. Not only did she find a job but it's almost the perfect job. She will be working at a medical audiology service where she will be doing some basic accounting, filing, office admin, customer service and dealing with hearing aid and cochlear impants. For the first 6 weeks she will go through training and an evaluation period and as a result it is a full time position. After 6 weeks it moves to 3 days a week (Wednesday to Friday). Her office is located in West Perth which is outside of the core but still relatively central. Her office location is actually very good as it's a metropolitan area but not plagued with traffic and parking issues. The Calgary equivalent would be working on 17th Avenue or Kensington. Not only does Nadia get to take advantage of her experience at the hearing clinic in Calgary but this will also allow her to get some office experience and will broadly expand her marketability.
The process of getting this job was interesting if not a little stressful. Nadia has been actively looking for 2 months. In many cases she was applying for positions that she was perfectly capable of but she didn't even get a call back. In some cases, the employment ad specified that only Australian residents were to apply. She applied for many jobs and was lucky if she even got a rejection notice. In the case of this particular position, she only saw the job ad the day after the posting closed. However, she took the initiative to call the number provided anyways and as a result got an interview yesterday. Very fortunate since they were about to hire someone that they selected during the interviews. This morning they called and informed her that she was the succesful candidate and she starts work on Monday. It's almost like it was meant to be, if you were inclined to believe in that fatalistic type of nonsense.
It will mean that the rest of us will have to make some minor sacrifices but I'm willing for the kids to do that.
The process of getting this job was interesting if not a little stressful. Nadia has been actively looking for 2 months. In many cases she was applying for positions that she was perfectly capable of but she didn't even get a call back. In some cases, the employment ad specified that only Australian residents were to apply. She applied for many jobs and was lucky if she even got a rejection notice. In the case of this particular position, she only saw the job ad the day after the posting closed. However, she took the initiative to call the number provided anyways and as a result got an interview yesterday. Very fortunate since they were about to hire someone that they selected during the interviews. This morning they called and informed her that she was the succesful candidate and she starts work on Monday. It's almost like it was meant to be, if you were inclined to believe in that fatalistic type of nonsense.
It will mean that the rest of us will have to make some minor sacrifices but I'm willing for the kids to do that.
Wednesday, 18 July 2012
Hello Kalbarri
Recently we took a trip about 600 km north of Perth to a National Park called Kalbarri. The following is a run-down of that trip.
We left early in the morning and drove north. We stopped breifly in Geraldton which is about 400 km north of Perth. Geraldton has recently been in the news due to the two spear-fishers that had a close-up encounter with a Great White shark. All we saw was the petrol station. No sharks there but the gas prices sure took a bite out of our wallets *drum roll*
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Early Saturday morning we packed up the crew and prepared to go abseiling. Abseiling is where you propel yourself backwards down a cliff with only a rope to keep you from plummeting to your doom. It seemed like a good idea at the time.
After abseiling we hiked down the canyon a short ways to relax in the river gorge and do a little exploring. On a hot day many people go for a swim. All we could muster up on this particular day was to wade in up to our knees. And in case you're wondering, there are no crocs in this part of Australia. The really dangerous Saltwater crocs are up north. The most dangerous thing in this river is a hungry teenager.
***WARNING: there are many pictures and, as usual, I'm a little wordy. You've been warned.***
Thursday, 12 July
We left early in the morning and drove north. We stopped breifly in Geraldton which is about 400 km north of Perth. Geraldton has recently been in the news due to the two spear-fishers that had a close-up encounter with a Great White shark. All we saw was the petrol station. No sharks there but the gas prices sure took a bite out of our wallets *drum roll*
After Geraldton we stopped at an interesting natural phenomenon known as the "Pink Lake". It is a lake that literally turns pink at certain times of year due to the minerals in the soils. In the picture above it's just starting to turn pink and apparently it gets much pinker. And I promise this is the last time I will use the word "pink" in this blog. Pink.
As we arrived near the town of Kalbarri we stopped at the coastal cliffs. We were greeted by a spectacular site in all directions including the one above. It is also whale migration season in the area where Humpback and Southern Right Whales are moving from the south into their breading areas further north. Unfortunately we didn't spot any whales from the cliffs. Nonetheless, the view was breathtaking.
Friday, 13 July (Friday the 13th)
We had booked a "canoe safari" for the afternoon. So, until the afternoon arrived we were trying to kill a little time. We heard that every morning at 8:45 there is a pelican feeding basically across the street from our hotel. The story goes that a local was hanging out on one of the park benches and starting feeding the local pelicans. A fun thing to do became a habit. The habit became a tradition. The tradition became an obsession. The obsession turned into an addiction. The addiction spawned a tourist trap. The original "Pelican Whisperer" is gone. Or at the very least he's been muscled aside by the local entrepeneurs. The park bench has been replaced by a shaded mini-amphitheatre. And the whisperer has been replaced by a local boisterous know-it-all huckster complete with the "who's from out of town" type of line and the occasional semi-racist comment. On this particular morning it was too cold for the pelicans so they didn't show for their (almost) daily feeding. But it worked out for the best for us. We walked to the beach hut where we booked our canoe safari and they mentioned that there was a whale with a calf in the harbour. We took the 30 second boat ride across the river to a beach and there we started searching for the whales.
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It didn't take long. Before we knew it we were 20 meters away from a Southern Right whale and her calf. I could immediately tell that it was a Southern Right whale by the distinctive pectoral placement. Actually, I had no idea- someone told us. You can see Keva above on the beach looking at the dark line in the water. That's momma. I've never seen anything like it before. We could have literally swam out to them if it wasn't so cold (about 10C at the time). We were told that the mother and calf come every year to this bay for about 5 weeks. They basically just go up and down about a 100 meter stretch of shore and never much further than 30 or 40 meters off shore. Occasionally, in the afternoons, they'll go for a swim further north for a little exercise. (insert fat/whale joke here)
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This is a closer picture of mom. While we were watching, the calf got a little boisterous and was breaching (jumping out of the water). Unfortunatley, we didn't get good pictures of it. Bertha and Bruce (mom and calf) were at the same spot basically our entire trip and we could even see them from our hotel. It was awesome and a once-in-a-lifetime experience, unless, of course, we do it again.
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That afternoon we went on a canoe 3 hour tour (a 3 hour tour). Fortunately, the weather did not start getting rough and the tiny ships weren't tossed. It was a lovely afternoon on the river. To be honest, it was a little reminiscent of the Bow river in Calgary. There was the occasional red rocky outcrop but otherwise it was just like the Bow. Sure, there was the odd flock of pelicans and cormorants, but other than that it was the spitting image of the Bow. Besides the fact that it was in the outback and emptied into the Indian Ocean it was exactly like the Bow. We had a good time on the river and they even fed us. There were no boats capsized although we did have to drag our ships over some sand banks where it got very shallow. And don't worry, just like the Bow there were no crocs in this river.
After the canoe safari Nadia and I went for a walk along the coastal cliffs. We were walking along the coast, on top of and within multi-coloured rock layers from different eras in geological time. On top of it was red rock. It was a little like walking on Mars, but with oxygen and a nice sunset over the ocean.
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During our walk we stumbled upon another mom/baby combo. This time it was a red kangaroo with her Joey. In Perth and surrounds there are plenty of grey kangaroos but no reds. The reds are much bigger and more iconic. It was our first time seeing red kangaroos. Seeing kangaroos in Australia is akin to seeing a deer in Canada. It's common but no so common that it still isn't neat every time.
Saturday, 14 July
Early Saturday morning we packed up the crew and prepared to go abseiling. Abseiling is where you propel yourself backwards down a cliff with only a rope to keep you from plummeting to your doom. It seemed like a good idea at the time.
Here are the children getting geared up for abseiling in front of the bus that picked us up and drove us for about an hour to our destination.
Cyrus beginning his decent.
Nadia on the way down with the river gorge in the background.
Zaren hanging out and enjoying the view.
Keva getting ready to go over the edge.
After the 25 meter wall we graduated to the 40 meter wall known as Big Bertha. Besides being higher the main difference is that after about the first 5 meters the rest is overhang and you slide down for a long way. Here's Nadia on the top section.
After abseiling we hiked down the canyon a short ways to relax in the river gorge and do a little exploring. On a hot day many people go for a swim. All we could muster up on this particular day was to wade in up to our knees. And in case you're wondering, there are no crocs in this part of Australia. The really dangerous Saltwater crocs are up north. The most dangerous thing in this river is a hungry teenager.
Along the coast coming approaching the town of Kalbarri to the south are the coastal cliffs. Not only are there some lovely views (2nd picture from the top) but there are plenty of other things to do. You can walk along a martian landscape and see millions of years of sedimentary rock, you can and see kangaroos and you can experience the Blue Holes. About 20 meters from shore there is a natural shallow rock formation that acts as a sea break. Beyond the sea break there is shallow, calm, clear water. Above you can see Keva and Nadia walking on a rock ledge in the water. You could look over the edge and see all sorts of stuff. Within the water is coral, crabs, fish and other marine life.
Here's Keva holding some "other marine life" aka a Sea Star, aka Starfish. On a warm day this is a popular snorkelling area. Even on a cooler day it was tempting to jump in.
Sunday, 15 July
After checking out of our hotel we headed to another area of the national park. We started at the most iconic spot in the park called "Nature's Window".
Following the trail from Nature's Window we went on a 9km hike down the hills into the river gorge. There were a couple of slightly challenging spots but nothing to riske.
When we started our hike from the top of the canyon we could see many kangaroos and birds near the river below. However, once we got going we saw one a bit closer. It's hard to see it in the picture above but the Wallabee (like a small kangaroo) is near the small tree just to the right of center. It didn't seem bothered by us at all. We later saw another one.
Here's a closer look at the wallabee. At one point we were about 10 meters away from it.
After the canyon hike we hit the road to go home. On the way we stopped to take the photo above. There are many leaning trees just like this in the area due to the strong prevailing southerly winds. Unfortunately, most of our drive home was in the dark so we didn't get to see too much of the countryside. However, we did see plenty on the road. Dusk and dawn are the most dangerous times to drive in most of Australia because that is the time when the kangaroos inexplicably gather near, and sometimes on, the road. Despite seeing many live and wild kangaroos on this trip I actually saw more dead ones on the road.
Pink.
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