Following the sun

Hello Friends!

My street here in Perth! In a couple of weeks these trees will all bloom with purple flowers and it'll look like it's straight out of Dr. Seuss. I'll post a picture again when it happens.

It has be a great couple of days here in Perth! The weather is beautiful (clear skies, hot and sunny), the people are extremely friendly and the children are adorable.


Today was my first real day of being an au pair! Here's how it went:
5:30am - Alarm, check emails, surf the web (not the ocean...yet)
6:15am - Run down to and along Swan River
7:00am - Freshly squeezed juice thanks to host mum Sue (orange, pineapple, strawberry...I know, yes, it was incredible), shower, get dressed, have breakfast.
9:00am - Play with Paul (23 months)
10:00am - Snack with Paul (strawberries and apple)
10:15am - Walk with Paul around Applecross
11:00am - Paul goes down for his nap (read some stories, snuggle)
11:20am - Chores: Make the "afternoon tea" aka snacks for the two older boys to eat before swim lessons, laundry, hang it to dry outside, fold it, clean up, etc.
2:00pm - Paul's awake! Feed him lunch and play lots more.
3:10pm - Sue is home and the boys are home from school 
3:30pm - Make dinner (bolognese sauce, rice, salad)
5:00pm - Hang outside with the boys as a couple kids are trick or treating - nothing like Canada
5:10pm - Spot some Canadians (one kid was wearing a Canucks jersey, the other kid was dressed as a princess) and have a chat about back home. Halloween in Australia (much like the UK), is not widely celebrated and when children do dress up, they are supposed to be scary.
5:15pm - Chase Paul around.
6:00pm - Dinner with the family! 


As you can see, a pretty laid back and generally quite wicked day. Really can't complain. 


So, produce (specifically fruit) is just incredible here. Mangoes, pineapples, avocados, strawberries; you name it, it's in season and it's delicious. The avocados are HUGE!
However, everything here is expensive. Sue was telling me that bananas are usually around $13 a kg. Don't even get me started on how expensive chocolate is, it's just sad. 
On the bright side, I'm off to look at a road bike tomorrow! So, hopefully soon I'll add some cycling into my training regime and bike down to the beach for some surfing. I'm also getting a membership to an outdoor pool that's a short cycle away so I can get some training in there too.
Still no cell phone. I haven't gotten to the shopping centre close by yet to ask about to see what's cheapest. I did, however, download a free app on my ipod so y'all can text me for free at (647)795-0547 and when I'm in a wifi zone I'll get it and can text you back for free!
SO. Melbourne Cup party tomorrow! Twelve women are coming over and it's a pot luck style lunch. Or as Sue said today, "Bring a plate". I asked if this was the Australian term and she added, "Yeah, Bring a plate. Preferably with something on it". Brilliant.

This is my little man, Paul. Perth city is in the background on the other side of Swan river.

There you go. Adross jetty on the left, Perth city in the middle.

So, the early morning wake ups have been great! The sun is fully risen by about 5:45am and it's fully set around 7:30pm (stay tuned for some sunset pictures). It's before nine as I write this now and I'm nodding off. It seems like the way of life around here too: Gavin and Sue are up at 5am everyday and off to the gym. When I was running it was like everyone in Applecross was out for a walk with their dog, a jog or a bike. I'm loving it!

Being a goof in the backyard.

So, since I'm nodding off, I'm going to hit the hey. It's my day off tomorrow so I'm going to get my cell phone finally, plus the whole horse race party! I'll write again soon. Promise.

With love,
Megan

I'm lucky

Hey folks, 

So it's 4am and I've been up for half an hour since I fell asleep last night at 7:30pm (before all three children might I add). I guess this is a good start since I want to be waking up around 5:30am from now on (early morning runs/swims/workouts), but it'll take some time to fully adjust.

So I'm checking the news and I see this : Quantas grounds all flights

Wow, I'm a lucky gal. I just missed that one by a few hours! My pilot did give a little speech about supporting the pilots of Quantas when we landed in Perth, but I really didn't think too much of it/wasn't listening too intently because I was too excited.

Today I have to get a few things done:

- Get a cell phone

- Find a road bike on Gumtree (the Kijiji of Australia) or Ebay

- Get some shampoo/conditioner

I'm going to Luke's (10 years old) cricket game this morning and I'm really excited! I haven't watched/played a game of cricket in...well, since I moved from England. Here the three major sports are cricket, rugby and Australian rules football. 

I've also been told that we're having a Melbourne Cup party (an annual horse race called, "the race that stops the nation"), so I'll be meeting some other families and kids in the neighbourhood. Ah, the immersion in Australian culture begins!

The Whittomes live in Applecross, a very beautiful area that's close to everything. Gavin (the dad) cycles to work in town every day on the bike path along the river. The Swan river is about a seven minute walk down the road - it's lovely! The area reminds me of Westboro: lots of families, lots of kids, great little shops area and parks everywhere. 

I think I'm going to try and sleep until at least 5am so I'm going to head back to bed for a nap. I promise that my post at the end of the day today will contain photos! 

With love,

Megan

From the future and the other side of the world

Hello my lovely friends!


I know you're all fast asleep, but let me tell you from the future that it's going to be a glorious morning. I wrote some blog material during my three flight cross-Pacific adventure and thought I would share that with you now that I'm safe and sound in Perth!


It begins:


I am currently sitting on the biggest plane I have ever been on. There are two levels and I'm pretty sure there are at least four different class levels (but of course I'm at the bottom of economy). I'm in row 65 of 75 (there must be 350 or more people on this flight!) and I am already in love with Quantas. They gave me a pillow, blanket, headphones, toothbrush, toothpaste and eye mask. A flight attendant just handed me the menu/flight plan for the next 13.5 hours - when and what they will be serving! I had to ask my neighbour if all this stuff was free - it is! Two full meals, snacks, drinks, a "refresh bag" with chocolates and pretzels, fresh fruit. Am I in the right class? I thought I paid the cheapest possible fare. Did I mention the FREE WINE?!


My plan is to try and pull an all-nighter so that I can get closer to Perth time (which is exactly 12 hours ahead). I'll watch lots of movies and knit. It'll be good.


Okay - update. I puked and almost fainted. Classic Megan. I guess I was feeling nostalgic because I used to have the same problem when I was 12 years old and under...


I've arrived! I've had three dinners, three breakfasts, five snacks, four teas, three juices and obviously a chocolate bar. I've lost a day of my life, but now I'm twelve hours in the future and it's sunny and 25 degrees!


I'm unpacked, going to finally have a shower and I've just spent the last couple of hours playing with the kids in the yard. The grass is so strange here! Dinner is in half an hour... 5pm is early, but the plan is to be up at around 5:30am every morning to get in some exercise so I guess that'll work. Who am I kidding, I'll be having another dinner at 7:30pm. I'll post more tomorrow (and photos!).


Take care,
Megan

YYZ - LAX - BNE - PER

5 hour 15 minute flight Toronto - LA
13 hour 30 minute flight LA - Brisbane
5 hour 40 minute flight Brisbane to Perth
= 24 hours and 25 minutes of air time.

Three boarding passes for my adventure

Two things I can't quite believe: 
1) That this whole year has been building up to my flight(s) today. I admit, I love to travel; I love to fly, airports and the whole shebang. However, over a day's worth of travelling and the international date line eating up a day of my life is seemingly a little daunting. 
2) I arrived at the airport, cleared customs, security and I'm now sitting at my gate 3 hours before my flight. I know, you're thinking, "Who are you and what have you done to the perpetually late Megan Underwood?". 


So, for those of you who don't quite know why the heck I'm spending the next 48 hours of my life in transit let me give you a quick rundown...


It was a Thursday evening around 7pm on a cold winter's night in Janauary 2011. The wind was howling, I'm sure it was snowing, and it was most certainly at least 20 degrees below 0. I had an assignment/paper/some form of work to be completed and in classic Megan style I was procrastinating. 


'What will I do when I graduate?' I pondered.


A few internet searches later and it was decided. An au pair I would become. I hasted to the kitchen to refuel on some chocolate chips and sat down to create the world's best au pair profile. I don't know how long it took, or how many refuelings of chocolate chips I needed, but I completed that bad boy and then decided (now at 9pm or something) that I should probably START that assignment that was due at 8:30am. I closed the website and got to work (bahahaha, not! I probably watched some tv online).


Fast forward to about 7am when I wake to check my classic morning websites (BBC, CBC, Weather Office, Hotmail, Facebook, Twitter and Gmail). LO AND BEHOLD, there are a ridiculously large amount of emails/responses from the au pair website. Everyone around the world wants me to come and be their super nanny! 


After class I sat down and went through all of those responses, checking out the family profiles on the website and weeding out the good and the bad (5 kids, are you kidding me?!). I sent of emails/responses to my top 3. By the end of the day I had a skype interview the next morning. By Saturday afternoon, I had a 6-9 month au pair position in Perth, Australia with a wickedly cool family.


So folks, that's how it all began back in January, and it's been building until this moment at the end of October that I'm finally heading down under on a plane (or three). Six months of au pairing for my fantastic host family and then one month of backpacking through Australia and New Zealand. I wanted to get lost for a while and I think I'm going to, but in a good way.


Read it and weep


ENJOY THE CANADIAN WINTER EVERYONE!!!!!!


With love,
Megan

Andrew took this one at Thanksgiving - warm and cozy with tea!