Weather & Seasons in Oz...

OK, I haven't updated this in a while so I thought it was time for a new post...

It's really starting to cool down now. We still have days where it might hit 30 degrees, but there's a much bigger difference in the night time and early morning temps. It now cools down to around 14 degrees at night which feels surprisingly cool! Then hits around the mid 20's in the day.


As Australia is the Southern hemisphere the seasons are reversed...

• Summer: December to February
• Autumn: March to May
• Winter: June to August
• Spring: September to November

This means that Christmas takes place at the height of summer. It also means that the school holidays for students happens in the UK 'winter'. The end of year break for students is commonly known as both 'summer holidays', or the 'Christmas holidays'.

Even though the four 'official' calendar seasons have the same names as the northern hemisphere seasons, the weather during these seasons is very different to northern hemisphere weather patterns. Australia is generally a very dry place, so summers can get much hotter. The pattern of rainfall is also distinct - some places have abundant rain at one time of the year and almost none at other times.

Indigenous Australians have long had their own seasonal calendars, which are different from the seasonal calendar brought to Australia by the British in 1788. For example, the Jawoyn, from the Northern Territory, recognise six seasons. Jiorrk, the wet season, lasts from January to February. Bungarung, the end of the rains, lasts from March to mid-April. Jungalk, the hot start of the dry period, lasts from mid-April to the end of May. Malaparr, the cooler, middle part of the dry period, lasts from June to the end of August. Worrwopmi, the humid time, lasts from September to the end of October. Wakaringding, the humid time when the first rains begin to fall, lasts from November until the end of December.


We're now nearing the end of Autumn, although autumn in Perth is not typical of autumns most people would be familiar with. Autumn in Perth is like an extension of summer, or perhaps a second spring. With warm sunny days and cooler nights, there is still plenty of sunshine left before the onset of winter. Although the weather is still mostly fine, there may be occasional showers.

And here are  a few shots from sunset at the beach the other night...in Autumn... lol

Roo's, Koala's and Emu's!!

I know I haven't posted in a while, so sorry, but this will only be a short one!

Okay, so last week it was Australia Day; the official national day of Australia commemorating the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and proclamation of British sovereignty over Australia.  For the 'Australia Day Weekend' we celebrated by being really Aussie, having a BBQ and spending some time with some 'Roos and Koalas!

Loz does her BEST 'Roo impression!

An interesting fact on Koalas... They spend about 4 hours per day eating, and then because Eucalyptus leaves don't have much nutritious value, they spend the other 20 sleeping to save energy! But, Eucalyptus leaves have the added bonus of (when saturated) having enough water that the koala doesn't ever have to leave the tree (there's a  joke there somewhere...) to drink! 

(No... there wasn't any 'shrimp on the barbie'... And they're still called prawns here too!)

A short while ago, I told Loz to make sure she fully integrates with the Aussie culture and to make some Aussie friends.... 

Not exactly what I had in mind though!!

10 Facts you didn't know about Perth!!

1. Perth is the capital of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populated city in Australia, with an estimated population of 1.83 million living in the Perth metropolitan area. It is also the most isolated capital city in the world.


2. Perth experiences a 'Mediterranean' climate, with warm hot summers, and mild winters.  Perth is the world's sunniest capital city, averaging an annual eight hours of sun each day, 365 days per year.



3. Perth is also the capital city in the world with the most consistent wind, with the welcome breeze of the 'Fremantle Doctor' arriving to cool down beach goers between 12pm & 3pm virtually every day of the year.


4. The Area just North of Perth is the premier spot in the world for 'Sail Boarding' - Wind Surfing.
 

5. Perth has the largest inner city park in the world, Kings Park... yes, bigger even than New York's very own Central Park. It was also the first park to be designated for public use in Australia in 1872.


6. Perth is the only city in the world where aircraft can land in the central business district. 


7. Perth has the highest population per capita of self made millionaires in the world.

8. Western Australia is the richest plot of land in the world for natural mineral wealth. 


9. Perth was nominated by the original American astronauts as the 'City of Lights'... standing out as the brightest spot on planet Earth! 

 
10. The Festival of Perth held each February in Perth, is the oldest international multi-arts festival in the Southern hemisphere. 

Perth is also apparently the 'prettiest city in the world'... Well come & prove us wrong! ;)

Thanks to http://www.discoverwest.com.au/didyknow.html for the facts and Google Images for the photos

Our New Home...

Our New Home!!

Right then! I thought it was about time we showed you our new home! For those who don't know, it's in Secret Harbour which is a suburb in the very south west of Perth:

Secret Harbour sits about 35 miles south of Perth and has a population of around 6,000. It has a small shopping centre with a supermarket, a golf course and of course, a beach! (No not a harbour, ironically!)

Unlike the UK, no two houses are ever the same, (well, not EVER but you know what I mean!) Each house is built by a separate builder as specified by the home-owner, as opposed to a builder building a batch of houses on an estate. This makes the streets and suburbs very interesting and 'different'. The Aussies also make a thing of entrances to the various suburbs, with each having some sort of sculpture or design...

Our new home, like the majority in this area of Australia, is single storey and features a number of bderooms, an open plan kitchen/dining/living area, a billiard room, a theatre room, a 'rompus' (play) room and a nice 'al-fresco' area outside with a swimming pool and decking with sun-loungers... ( I know, it'll be hard to get used to this new way of life! ;)  )


The House:

The Kitchen:




The Billiard Room:




The Bedroom:

The view from our bedroom:




The Pool:

Loz approves!:

And two things you definitely need in this Aussie sun!! :

Definitely needed these today... it's been over 40 degrees, it's now 9.30pm and it's still 32 degrees!!


On that very hot note, it's time for a shower!


Speak Soon!!

Dan & Loz are in Oz!!

Dan & Loz are in Oz!!

Well... We're finally here! After a long and uncomfortable 24 hour journey (Manchester > Munich > Singapore > Perth) we've finally landed in sunny Perth!

We took off on SQ328 aboard a Boeing 777-300ER sat in row 40. This was the first time I've flown Singapore Airlines and I was really impressed!!

After a short trip we touched down in Munich and disembarked so ground staff could load the plane with the 130,000 litres of fuel we'd need for the journey ... (I'd like to see the bill for that lot!)

We took off from Munich about half an hour late due to the tug that was latched on to tow us out to taxi broke down! We lifted off at around 12.30 to begin the 11.5 hour 6,250 mile journey to Changi Airport, Singapore.

The Krisworld entertainment service on Singapore Air is top notch. All services are on demand and between a few games of Battleships and Bejewelled, and listening to albums from Calvin Harris and Swedish House Mafia I watched: 'End Watch', 'Bourne: Legacy' and a documentary on Felix Baumgartner (the Red-Bull sponsored nutter who leapt from a balloon at 39,044 metres in October 2012. To put this in perspective, the 777 I was sat on was cruising at 35,000 feet or around 11,000 metres!?!...)
Singapore Air are definitely the best airline carrier I have flown with, they beat Emirates for service (I was fed more than I could eat [and that's saying something!]) and was I was grateful for the few cheeky Jim Beam and Cokes that I managed to 'force down' ... just to help me sleep of course ;)

The flight was pretty uneventful, with a bit of turbulence giving the Loz the occasional scare!

We touched down in Changi around 1am GMT in need of a good stretch! Changi airport is absolutely HUGE! With skytrains to take you between terminals, no fewer than 300 shops, more than 120 eateries, 2 cinemas and a butterfly garden... you could have a holiday in the airport alone! There were a few Airbus A380's on the tarmac... these are perfect for Changi airport... they're massive too!

We had roughly an hour to kill (not nearly enough!) so we headed to the Duty Free shops then boarded the next plane; a 777-200 to Perth.

The excitement really started to kick in as we were now much closer to Oz, 'just' 5 hours away!!

We got a few hours sleep as tiredness really kicked in and I woke up to the following view, my first glimpse of Australia, mate!

We touched down in Perth to bright blue skies and 31 degree heat. Passing through customs after a brief meeting with a sniffer dog, we headed straight for the shade outside to wait for our driver to collect us in the mini bus.

On the way 'home', I was glued to the window taking in all of the new views and surroundings. It will take some getting used to, the flight here showed just how vast this place is; with arrow straight roads as far as the eye can see!!

After chucking the cases into the room and having a wander around the house, we tucked into some food then headed for bed, tired, jet-lagged, and with swollen ankles.

I haven't seen any Roo's, spiders or snakes yet, but the pool awaits, so I'll update soon with some more info on our new home!!


Speak soon!