Busselton: the South West Coast of Australia

We decided to delay our trip down south a night to go out for dinner at the only casino in Perth called Merrywell at the Crown Casino. I attempted to gamble and play casino war and was successful in losing 40 dollars. Ugh! After that, another visit to Kings Park at night to see the city lights at night time! Beautiful pictures below from the hotel in the casino and Kings Park.

Out front of the casino hotel crown 

A view from kings park at night

The next morning we had an early start to Busselton, which is comparable to wasaga beach for a vacation destination, but with prettier beaches, surfers and tons of wineries and breweries.  We started the day with a quick tour of a few beaches called Meelup beach, castle rock beach and then down to Yallingup to smiths beach where i saw my first look at the local surfersand how busy this tourist area is. After this we hit 1 winery and 4 breweries (along with a chocolate shop, silk company and jams, chutney and relish store). Finished up at the Cowaramup brewing company and then headed back to Busselton to meet family friends from England for dinner and games. We played "heads up" which is similar to headbandz but on a mobile app, a game I introduced to the group after plating numerous times with the Curley family. Cam dominated at the disney category and the poms did great in global landmarks and harry potter! The charades part was the most fun however.

A beautiful sunset from our condo. I used effects to make the colours show like this

Overlooking smiths beach

Christmas & cricket Aussi style

Christmas day was a beautiful day at a high of 30 degrees. We headed over to the Barber's to help prep for the big lunch and I met even more family!

Menu included:
Roast pork, roast turkey, ham, about 9 different salads, cheesecake and pavlova.

It looks as though salads are big in Australia for holiday meals! Yummy!

The next day we drove up to Beverly to one of the family's farms where they were supposed to have baby kangaroos (joeys) but the people that had them couldn't make it. Bummer!

The most exciting event, however, was the big 20/20 cricket game, which I still dont really understand, but the Perth Scorchers miraculously came out on top. At these events you can get a tray of 4 drinks (7$ a piece) at a time,  but the drinks are only half percent alcohol which is their tactic to get people buying more. I was impressed in a stadium that held 25,000 at how quick and easy it was to get booze, food and to the toilet! We had seats in the middle of the front row of a section and our way to get out of the long row was to hop over the railing (which we all managed quite easily towards the end) Oh wait, that was after Cameron had accidentally sat on an entire tube of sunscreen that exploded all over himself. Yes, this was one of the more exciting things to happen in the cricket game! Haha! Well next to the pyroglifics and mascot which was a person dressed up as a giant fireball and then actually understanding what was going on towards the end of the close game, it made for a good sporting event for a first timer!

Pictures and captions below!

In the first row at the cricket game. Thats what they call perve row. It was also useful for getting out quick!

The WACA stadium in Perth City.

A beautiful Christmas lunch table set for the big meal.

The Barber boys with their new beer cozies ("stubby holders") i got them from Canada. These ones we decided to call "woolies" specifically for their warm exterior.

Rottnest and tacos

Today we decided to go for a day trip to Rottnest island which involved getting heavily sunburnt, swimming, lunch and more drinking. Got to see little quokkers though which are rat/kangaroo resembling things that hop around and keep to themselves. The island is very large and we didn't manage to cover the entire thing which could have easily been done by bike. Oh well! We got to visit different coves on the island including one called Geordie Bay. Had a nice afternoon and had friends over for Christmas eve tacos Canadian style! (Well made by me haha). We had an early night and got ready for Christmas the next day. Merry Christmas Eve everyone!

Pics and captions below!

Quokkas on rottnest are like squirrels only way bigger and are only on the island

Our ferry that took us over to the island

drinks and fish and chips on Rottnest

geordie bay. One of the many on Rottnest

Bumming around Perth style

The last few days have involved copious amounts of drinking. Saturday started with a long hike along Port beach where I experienced my first "shark scare" which really turned out to be a massive sting ray that was later chased away by some of the surf club boys. This made for a decent/entertaining view and then I decided it was time to give Cameron a bit of a transformation, starting with a nice Christmas hair cut (not counting beard). Yes,  I am still on vacation with zz top. 

Next it was time to hit the shops and finish his Christmas shopping.  I wrapped my presents and he did what he had and now our tree is looking pretty damn good.  That night we had hordeurves and drinks at Cams cousins house (which has a pool in the front yard) where we were roped into taking his young second cousins to the aquarium one day after Christmas. Plus side is we get entrance covered for babysitting for the day. Score! Next was drinks at the Windsor hotel where I got to meet more friends and afterwards try my first kebab. I still prefer my poutine and mcdonalds over a spicy kebab!

Next day was a late rise and a bbq with more friends equipped with tons of meat, rosé and vb, then the ocean beach hotel in the city to watch the sunset. Whoops! Missed the sunset so just drinks then til 10 and my first illegal train ride about two stops into the city in an attempt to get home.  Hopped off when we saw transit guards checking for tickets. What tickets?!

Below are pics of the surf club boys scaring away the sting ray, the beautiful beach, and our xmas tree with all the presents!

More pictures!

Not sure why, but my mobile app is only letting me post 2 pictures on each post. Here is the christmas tree and me sitting in the 4x4 (im not allowed to drive it, not that I would be able to since it's standard and the steering wheel is on the passenger side!) Cams like "I would never let women's drive" aha crazy!

Arrival in Bull Creek & City Adventures

My first night in Perth was a bit hazy. Coming off of a 30 hr journey with only 5 hrs sleep, I decided my first stops in Bull Creek were HJs (fast food place exactly like burger king pronounced "hache jays" by anyone with an accent) and bottle-o (liquor store) for some ice cold beer. Cam convinced me to stay up til 830pm and then I had to crash.

Day 2 we drove to Leighton beach on the west coast and then went to cams parents for dinner in Attadale. I managed to go for a 5k run along the swan river and got my first glimpse of the city from across the water. Also got a nice shorts tan! After dinner we ate and ran to make it for drinks with friends at vic-park hotel.

Day 3 was a relax day but we managed a trip into the city where I could take some touristy pictures. Poor cam is my designated photographer and has to take pictures of me at all these places!! He has just informed me that he hates taking pictures and cant be "bovered" (bothered) doing so but is willing to make an exception for me.. great! So we drove up to Kings Park and had a picnic and hung out in the city for a bit. That night we set up the christmas tree and made a big kebab dinner. Apparently they love their kebabs here.

Below you will see my airport shuttle, our beautiful christmas tree and the lookout over the city in kings park.

Finally down under with no sign of that day I lost...

So after a very long and extensive trip I have finally landed in Brisbane. Just waiting to board my last plane that will take me to Perth. Its no surprise that its hot and sunny, but im surprised at how fast the 5 hr flight to LA and then the 13 hr flight to brisbane flew by. I think its finally hit me that im on vacation! Will have to wait and see how I feel once I get to Cams. He has informed me that he just started cleaning in preparation for my arrival. With only 5 hours to spare!  Haha such a guy...

First impressions - its pretty much exactly what I expected, except everyone is a lot nicer then I thought they would be. Here are some pics from the flight. The first pic at night time is landing in LAX, the second is landing in brisbane a couple hrs ago.

18 Hours and counting!!

Hey everyone!! 

It's Shauna. I'm in Danielle's room watching her try to pack everything up to leave for her long journey to Perth tomorrow!! I'm quite entertained watching her play tetris with her suitcases at the moment. It's 10:30pm on December 15, 2013. Delle is leaving for the airport for 2pm tomorrow. Still lots to do apparently! 

Right now her bags are almost packed.....totally not ready to go though. 

As I helped her set up this blog, I must say - have an amazing trip!!!! Merry Christmas!!  Happy New Years!!  uhhh hemm... .and missing my birthday!! I guess I'll get over it! But have an amazing time exploring Australia!! Make sure to wear tons of sunscreen - girlfriend I've seen you without and aloe doesn't heal everything!! I'll miss you lots!!  So jealous I can't explore another continent with you!!! But you will have HEAPS of fun!!  If you are in doubt, think what would Shauna do....... And then do the opposite!!! 

xoxoxooxox!! 

Shauna