Anyway, back to my point…my physio has always been a strong advocate of keeping my back moving rather than sitting as an amoebic lump on the couch. This started with a strict list of stretches that I had to do every hour to get my full range of movement back as well as to stretch out the muscles that were so tight in my back. A few weeks ago, he decided that I was ready to push even further than this and actually begin really exercising. Part of his goal was to try to push me as hard as possible to see if I broke before I went to Brisbane, since it’d be better to happen now than to think I’m better and then possibly get a job and fall apart once I got there. The good news is that he didn’t manage to break me, and the even better news for my own sanity is that I was able to get out of the house in a different manner than just walking the same streets up and down, day after day.

There’s three significant things I’ve managed to do in the last few weeks that I consider to be real landmarks. The first is that I ran 2kms twice in the span of three days and didn’t collapse afterwards on either occasion. The physio said the real challenge with running would be getting out of bed the next morning, but I managed that, albeit with a significant amount of stiffness in my neck, traps, and in the middle of my back, but no severe pain. It was really exhilarating as well, which was understandable since my physio said that I would probably feel high after the first few times exercising since I hadn’t done it in so long.

The second significant event was competing in the 4km City-to-Surf a couple weeks ago. Normally, I probably would have entered the 12km race, which actually goes from the city (St. Georges Terrace) to the surf, just because I am competitive and would like to see how far I could push myself, but I knew that would be a very dumb idea in my current state. I was iffy on whether I should even enter until the Wednesday before the race (which happened on Sunday, August 31), when my physio told me it would be a great idea, provided I came in the next day for treatment so he could make sure I was okay.

The race itself was absolutely insane, with 36,825 entrants throughout the half-marathon, 12km walk/run, 4km walk/run, and 11km wheelchair divisions. One of those entrants was Cathy Freeman, the Olympic golden girl of 2000, who said at the end of the race that it was the longest she’d ever run and she had to really push herself to finish under 68 minutes (her division). She said she felt she couldn’t stop running because of what people would think! Anyway, it seemed like about half of the entrants were in the 4km division, which started in Perry Lakes. A few friends from work and I got there about 15 minutes before the race and were joined by our Scottish friend just as the runners were taking off. She was planning on running while the rest were going to walk, so I said I would join her for as far as I could, since as I’ve said before, I really wanted to push myself.

Running was really quite difficult, since by the time we passed the starting mats that triggered the timers on our shoes, a lot of the walkers had started as well and were pretty much blocking the entire path with their strollers, linked arms, etc. We ended up running on the grass half the time to get around them. By the time we reached the 1km mark, Ibby had run quite far ahead, which was okay with me because I didn’t want to end up in one of the first aid tents along the way! I managed to run probably about 3 of the 4kms, with many short walking breaks while I avoided various obstacles. It really would have been nice to have a runners’ lane and a walkers’ lane, but it’s probably best that I had to slow down a little, since I was definitely feeling my back by the end of it (but thankfully not enough to make use of those first aid tents!). I still managed to come in roughly 2,400th place out of 9,297 people, according to the <a href=”http://citytosurf.activ.asn.au/2/3226/3179/2008_results.pm”>official results website</a>, which wasn’t too bad at all! Plus, after the race we all got free leg massages and sausages courtesy of Prime Health Care, who my team was associated with.

The third big accomplishment was going to Rottnest Island last week. Rotto is a jewel of an island about a 30 minute ferry ride from Fremantle that Perth denizens love to head over to during the summer. I hadn’t been there yet because I was told it was best during the summer, when the water’s just warm enough to go snorkeling in (there’s tons of reefs lying just off the coast). Unfortunately, I never made it to summer in Perth, so I decided that I might as well go in the beginning of spring instead just so I could see the place.

I nearly didn’t make it over there, since I made it to the ferry terminal well past the 9.30am departure date, but fortunately the ferry was running a bit late. We got over there at about 11, so I had 5 hours to traverse the island and do as I pleased before the last ferry left at 4pm. My first stop was picking up some sunscreen and food in the shops at Thomson Bay. I was surprised to see that they weren’t as excessively overpriced as I thought they might be; Subway was only about $1 more expensive per sandwich than on the mainland. Unfortunately, Subway had an insane line, so I went to the Rottnest Bakery instead, which proved to be even more costly time-wise. They promised me that my squid and chips would be done in 8 minutes, and then 20 minutes later brought me my money back and said they were sorry, they’d burned my chips, so they were going to give me the food for free for waiting so long. I was extremely frustrated at the time, since I felt like valuable minutes were ticking away, but it ended up working out for the best, since I got a free (and very good, but very greasy) meal as well as getting to see some of the local wildlife while I waited. Two peacocks were facing off over a peahen, so there were lots of flared feathers for me and my fellow tourists to get excited about, and even more exciting, a quokka appeared on the deck of the bakery to investigate the smell of food. Quokkas are tiny marsupials that only live on Rotto; they look kind of like a cross between a skinny wombat and a kangaroo (since they both walk slowly until spooked and then hop away). This quokka, like pretty much all of the animals on the island that I saw, was completely unafraid of people and walked straight up to my bike helmet and attemped to get in, thinking that it smelled like food rather than the bag right next to it. It was adorable and attracted quite a crowd!

I finally made it away from Thomson Bay and took my rented bike north towards Bathurst Lighthouse, which stands at the northeastern point of the island. It was under this lighthouse on Pinky Beach that I enjoyed my lunch while lying out on the white sand. What a tough life, huh? It was at this point that I really began to regret not planning better and spending a night at one of the hostels on the island because I knew that 5 hours would just not be enough to do the island properly.

From there, I climbed up to the lighthouse to get a bit of a bird’s eye view of the northern coast before hitting the road again. I traversed a good half of the northern coast, passing turquoise waters and white sand everywhere, as well as the occasional settlement (at Geordie Bay), wind turbine, quokka (two of them were browsing on the side of the road, one of which walked up and started pawing my tire when I stopped), and brown lizard (which I nearly ran over before it zipped out of the way surprisingly quickly). There are very few vehicles on Rottnest, which made cycling a joy. The only downside of cycling was the hunching I inevitably had to do to hang on to the handlebars, which compounded with the backpack on my back didn’t do my back a world of good. I ended up stopping and relaxing at Little Armstrong Bay, a secluded beach with only 5 or 6 other people on it. Just off the sand started coral reefs, which a little boy was snorkeling over. I was jealous, wishing that I could get in the water as well without the chill causing problems in my back. Oh well…just another reason to come back to WA to visit!

The ride back to Thomson Bay took me past most of the big lakes on the island, which were nice, but not nearly as stunning as they look from aerial views. I peddled the 3+kms pretty quickly and ended up having about half an hour to spare, which I enjoyed having a cold drink in the shade (but still with a great view of the beach and the Australian mainland) at the very-under-construction Quokka Arms Hotel. Overall, it was a great day and a great way to do my rehabilitation exercise without just sitting in a gym!

The other big news I have is that I’m heading to Brisbane on Thursday morning. That made last weekend very sad, since it was full of goodbyes–a wonderful goodbye dinner & drinks at the Olive Tree on Friday followed by a goodbye BBQ hosted by my flatmate (and very good cook) on Saturday. I enjoyed them, but it made me realize just how much I am going to miss the friends that have been there for me in the last five months. As I said above, yet another reason to come back and visit! I am excited about going to Queensland though, because I’ll get to see James and I won’t have to do any more packing for a while! Plus, if I get lucky, I’ll find a job there and settle down somewhat permanently, which sounds great to me after what’s amounted to 8 months of being a nomad (even though I was living pretty normally here, it was just rather fleeting).

First and foremost, I resigned from my job last week. Most of you know that I was not happy in the job; it just wasn’t what I saw myself doing when I accepted it last winter. I want to do software development and design, and get my hands dirty in the actual codebase. I want to help create user interfaces and be able to see my work on the screen and know that people are using the program to their advantage. I couldn’t see any of this in my future at my company unless I went back to the development centre in Houston, which I don’t want to do because I’ve already made the big move out to Australia already. There were also circumstances that were beyond my control that contributed to this decision and made me choose to leave (within my contract) immediately, rather than serving out my 30 days’ notice.

In the few days since I made this decision, I’ve felt like a whole new person. A huge amount of tension has been lifted off of my back–literally–and the physiotherapist was very happy on Thursday, as opposed to Monday and Tuesday when I appeared to be backtracking. He was able to get me to do a lot of exercises I couldn’t have done 10 days ago before he left for vacation. The doctor echoed his feelings and feels that I’ve finally “turned the corner” in my recovery. I really don’t feel like I would have been able to do that had I stayed in my job, since I felt like the stress there was really keeping me in a holding pattern of slight progress followed by continual backtracking.

So, overall, things are looking up finally. I am now officially a tourist in Australia–I got a 3-month visa granted to me on Friday–and I’m planning on staying in Perth for another 3 weeks before heading to Brisbane in the middle of September. Hopefully that’ll give me time to get everything sorted out here and for me to see all the people that have been so great to me in my fleeting time in Perth a few more times. Then, I’ll get to be in Brisbane for a while with my Australian family, which will be great. From there, there’s a few different courses of action I may take, depending on my back’s progress; one of which is going home for a while and then coming back to do a master’s degree at the University of Queensland next year. Anyone that spent much time with me at all during my time at Rice has probably lost all feeling in their jaw as it hit the floor, but I’ve found a program that looks really good and would really fit me since it’s centred much more around the aspects of computer science that I’m interested in (user interface design, etc).

I’m feeling much better in myself and have my fingers crossed that the worst is finally behind me. I’m not exactly ready to get back out on the tennis court again, but it’s just so great to be able to do normal day-to-day activities without being in constant pain. I guess you really never know how lucky you are until something is taken away from you!

And of course, I’m sure you expected this post to me littered with flower photos so I will not disappoint. I’m still taking lots of walks and still taking the camera along, although perhaps I’ll change my photo subjects shortly so as to not get too boring…and yes, that orchid was still living as of a few days ago, 5 weeks after James sent me the bouquet. Unfortunately the last flower fell off yesterday, but I’m still pretty proud of myself for keeping them going that long when they were cut to begin with!

On the good side: James was here for the weekend. It’s great to see him normally, but it was even better to see him standing on the doorstep this time because I really just needed him here…even if he was sick and possibly passed it on to me. It wasn’t that he was here to wait on me hand and foot; it was just nice to have someone there for me, especially someone with a rental car that could take me to physio and hydrotherapy! We definitely had a quiet weekend (I’m not in any state to do anything more really) but we did get out and see a bit of Perth, both for his sake and mine. I wanted a bit of a change of scenery for my daily walks so we went to Kings Park, so James got to see Perth and the Swan River and marvel at just how much it looks like a harbour rather than a river. On Sunday we went to Fremantle (which is really a must for anyone coming to Perth) and had a great meal at the Mexican Kitchen with some friends…followed by a short visit to Little Creatures (the brewery in Freo) so James could have his obligatory drink there. On the way home, we drove past Cottesloe so he could see Perth’s “main beach” and the Indian Ocean. Needless to say, he was thoroughly surprised to see that it looks much like the Indian Ocean.

My back steadily improved as the weekend went on. My physio appointment on Saturday had mixed results; he told me that he wasn’t expecting a lot of improvement from the previous visit and he didn’t get much. My range of movement was still very limited and the muscles tight as ever, so he resorted to sticking needles in my back to get the blood flowing to the muscles with “microtears” in them. Luckily I don’t really have a fear of needles if I can’t see them, but I could definitely feel the throbbing in my back afterwards. I felt that as I did my stretches through the weekend my range of movement did slightly improve, and James agreed that I seemed to be moving better by the time he left. Sitting in the chairs at the restaurant in Freo pretty much killed my back though–I was pretty miserable in the car on the way home–which made me wary about my chances of being able to work and make that all-important trip to England.

Monday was D-Day. I didn’t go to work because James took me to a hydrotherapy pool in the morning before he got on the plane and then I had physio and doctor’s appointments in the afternoon. The hydrotherapy felt good when I was in the pool, which was really just a lukewarm pool full of mothers with babies learning to swim, since I could actually move around much better since I had much less weight on my back. It kind of hits you when you get out of the pool though! The physio appointment went much better than that on Saturday since I’d regained much more range of movement, even though there was still a lot of pain and the muscles hadn’t loosened up at all. However, the physio thought that going to England would be too much too soon and unless I found a physio over there to go to twice a week, I would undo all of the good that I’d done so far. The doctor concurred after doing an exam where he still managed to make me jump after prodding that one certain point in the middle of my back. So, this means no trip to England at all for me, after four long months of waiting for it.  Unfortunately this means that I now have to wait until November to do my training, which will be in Kuala Lumpur. However, I do agree with the doctor and think this is for the best; I really don’t think my body is up to the strain of traveling for 24 hours, much less doing training for 8 hours a day, 5-6 days a week, plus all the mandatory networking dinners, etc, that come along with such a training course. As the doctor said, it would be setting me up for disaster, and I wouldn’t want to go to training if I wasn’t able to fully utilize it because I was distracted by pain. It just makes things a bit difficult since I’ve already been waiting for this training for so long. I’m just hoping that things work out for the best in the long run, and at this point, “for the best” to me means that my back heals as quickly as possible with no lasting effects. I want to be able to just do daily activities without pain; I want to get back into tennis like I was in the weeks before the accident; I want to have the ability to do another trip like I did earlier this year and carry my backpack everywhere; I do not want to be like the many taxi drivers that have empathized with my situation and told me that 2, 3, 5 years after their accidents they still experience constant daily pain.

The doctor also declared me unfit for work for the next two weeks. I’m instead to concentrate on physio and my exercises, which I think is a good idea because I just want this to get better as quickly as possible. It’s also good that the Olympics start this Friday because it will give me something to do! Not that I’ve been lacking for things to do really; I’ve managed to occupy my time pretty well and have even begun work on another travel journal because my mind isn’t feeling nearly as addled.

A funny thing happened two days ago now when I went on my walk. As you’ve noticed, this post is littered with flower pictures, because it gives me something to photograph when I’m on my walks. Well, I went on a walk that was in the general direction of my doctor’s office, and I started taking pictures of some African daisies when I heard “Oh! It’s the flower girl!” I couldn’t believe that someone recognized me after having only walked in that direction a couple times, but apparently this man did. He was a retiree who was gardening with his wife and wanted to know if I’d seen any camellias around. I told him no, so he showed me some that lined his driveway and started picking them and giving them to me! He told me to keep them and take them somewhere where I could get good light and take nice photos of them. I ended up juggling 6 different flowers–white, pink, and red–on the way home. What a nice guy.

The doctor obviously knew it wasn’t good because I was coming in earlier than expected, and he immediately set about trying to get me on another course of treatment that will hopefully start improving my back. It was definitely worth the try to get back to work and to normal life, but that obviously wasn’t working so I’ve been ordered not to go back to work for the rest of the week. On top of that, I’m going to physiotherapy tomorrow, which I am really hoping makes a difference. I will be realistic though and figure that after the first treatment, I’ll probably hurt worse, but I’m hoping it will help me make great strides in the long run. I’d like this because it’s looking a bit doubtful that I will be able to get on the plane in what is now a week and two days, since a valid point has been made that I only have one back and sitting on a plane for 20 hours might do it much more future harm when it’s already in this state. Not good. I just have to wait and see what the physio does and what the doctor has to say during my next appointment on Monday.

Until then, I’ll be lying in bed reading The Great Hunt and hoping my back doesn’t implode when I visit the physio tomorrow. Also, there’s been more good news about the car situation–it looks like I’ll just be getting back what my car was worth rather than having to go through the hassle of finding the same car when there are very few new ones left in Perth. As much as I’d like a new Ribena, I think it’d just be easier to save the money and wait until I’m in a better place (ie not about to depart for England and not with a mangled back) before I get a car again.

Inspired by the weather, I decided to set out on a little walk down to the local tennis club that I was planning on joining until a couple weeks ago. I felt bad that they had nominated me for membership and then I’d disappeared off the face of the earth, and I figured a little walk to stretch my back wouldn’t go awry. I took my camera along for the walk so I could take random pictures and keep my mind occupied–plus it gave me something to fiddle with later on the computer–and did manage to make it to the tennis club, albeit in slightly more time than it normally takes. Even though I don’t know the people at the club all that well, it was good to see them and have a chat/cup of tea during their break between matches.

I think I did overdo it going to the club though, because on the way back my back became quite stiff. It especially wasn’t a good idea to try to lean over and get a few flower shots on the way there, but I tended to become stuck on the pavement before I realized that I was being stupid. Next time I’ll just have to be a little more sensible, but I guess sometimes it’s good to be reminded of your limits.

I just feel so completely flat at the moment. Luckily, a friend (Chris) from work came over yesterday and cheered me up some with various TV series and a trip to see Kung Fu Panda (again, anything to get out of the house!) but I feel lethargic and brain dead. I feel exhausted just from walking up and down the stairs because something’s just constantly there in my back. I feel lonely because all of my family is so far away; thank goodness for phone cards and the internet, but what I wouldn’t give just to have a hug from one of them right now.

The only thing really to do in my case is hope that it gets better, and quickly. I went back to work today in an attempt to work a half day. I did manage about 4 hours, but by the end of it, I was in much worse pain than I’ve been in a while. I managed to pilfer a tall chair that gives me enough support, but I just don’t think my back’s used to the pressure of sitting up for such a long period. Hopefully each day it will get a little stronger and I will work back up to a normal work day, since I feel like I’m such a whinger, talking about my bad back when so many other people have it so much worse in car accidents. I’m trying my best though, and I hope that people can see that.

In other news, I talked to the Honda dealership that I got my little Ribena from today. Apparently there are very few Jazzes left on the lots in Perth as they are clearing them out to bring in the new models. There aren’t any “misty violet” ones at all, but there are a few other choices other than canary yellow, which is good…Now it’s just a waiting game to see whether they are all gone before everything with the insurance gets settled.

Since the car has been written off, my insurance policy states that I will get a brand new car of the same make and model. This sounds easy enough, but I think it’s going to be a real hassle. I ended up in a constant back-and-forth of calls between the insurance and the bank where no one could come to any agreement. It left me nearly at the point of tears because I had to be at work on my day off, struggling to even sit in the chair to make all of these calls. I’ve faxed what I can to the insurance and they said they’d try to do their best to get things done, but it’s likely it won’t all be finished within 2 weeks so I’ll have to appoint someone to sort it out while I’m in England.

On the injury front, I’m doing okay. I’m trying to move around some rather than lying about all day, because 1) I’ll go crazy if I just sit/lie here constantly, and 2) because it can’t help my back to be completely immobile. I went back to the doctor on Thursday night for a checkup, and he said that my neck’s much improved (which I’d noticed) and my lower back’s gotten a little better. The problem area is still my upper back, which the x-rays show actually has a bit of scoliosis, which could be caused by the mangled muscles on either side pulling it back and forth. He just said that I’m lucky I’m young because this sort of injury doesn’t heal in older people, but that he really doesn’t have a timeline on when it’ll get better. He’s recommended half-days of work for next week, since neither of us thought it would really be possible for me to sit in front of a computer in a desk chair for 8 hours right away. Luckily, all of the people at work have been great and have told me that I can take as much time as I need to get over this, especially in light of the fact that I’ve been waiting for training for 4 months and absolutely must be my best to get on the plane in two weeks’ time.

Yesterday was a bit difficult, even before I went into work, because I managed to pop something in my back just trying to get out of bed. It seemed like it undid any of the good effects that resting and medicating had already done, and it took me a while to even struggle out of bed after that. It’s just tough when things seem to be getting better and then one wrong movement sends you back to square one. I’m just going to have to take things as they come and just hope for the best.

I hope that you all aren’t sick of my complaints yet, but I’m trying to be as positive as possible in the circumstances. At least I don’t have to worry about Ribena being possibly broken while I am driving, which is a definite upside. I’m just hoping that the same colour is available (which is unlikely, since I got her at an end-of-year sale when they were trying to clear the lot of the last of the ’08s) because I got a bit attached to the “misty violet”! If anything, I just really really hope I don’t get a canary yellow Jazz (one of the other 5 colors the car is made in), although at least people would be able to see me and hopefully avoid hitting me (but then again, isn’t that what brake lights are for?).

Also, thanks to all that have sent along well-wishes. It’s really helped to get a few cards in the mail and to see messages online. It’s been a difficult time out here in Perth so far and things like this make me feel even more isolated. My friends here have been fantastic and have really kept me buoyed up, but what I wouldn’t give just to get some hugs from family right now! At least I’ve got a shining light at the end of the tunnel: James will be here in a week. While we definitely won’t be doing the driving holiday weekend we planned, I still can’t wait to see him get out of that taxi cab…

I mentioned in my last post that, while I walked away from the car accident, I was still a bit injured. My neck was burning and slowly turning into full-blown whiplash, but the doctor that I visited on Friday told me that there was nothing I could really do, and that it was just going to get worse before it got better. Over the weekend, this injury just got worse. Sitting in the rock-hard seats at the Wallabies game didn’t help, but they certainly didn’t cause any extra damage–if anything, they showed me that sitting in anything less than the high-backed seat I had in the theatre for the Dark Knight (which was a great film, by the way) on Friday would cause me serious pain…which wasn’t a good omen for work.

I went to work on Monday morning and was pretty promptly sent home and told to get myself looked at because the pain had spread from my neck down about 2/3 of my back. I couldn’t walk properly and pretty much every movement was painful–getting out of a chair, opening doors, etc, etc.  I decided that it would probably be good to get a second opinion, so once the taxi dropped me off at home, I called the closest doctor’s office. It turns out that you have to register as a patient IN THE OFFICE before you are allowed to make an appointment, so I had to walk (luckily, only a few blocks) to get there and show them my driver’s license. You’d think they would know that someone wanting to make an appt is probably not in the state to get to the office for a short visit, go home, and then come back later for their actual appointment…

But I digress. My appointment was made for 6 o’clock that night. After describing the exact circumstances of the accident once again to the doctor, he got me to stand up and started poking and prodding at my back and neck. I jumped quite a few times, especially when he found a spot right in the middle of my back. I swear I jumped about 3 feet! He also wanted me to try to bend over and touch my knees, and I barely got past my waist before I got completely stuck.

This doctor was a lot better than the previous doctor I went to, because he actually examined the injury in depth and then explained everything he thought was going on in my back and neck. He even got out a model of a spine and demonstrated what happened during the accident during the rear and front impacts. He said that he was pretty sure that I didn’t have any fractures in my back, and that it was just “significant soft tissue damage” in the muscles around my spine from my neck all the way down my back. This obviously causes swelling, which was causing the prickly feeling I got occasionally all around my back, especially during the one time I tried to play MarioKart. Apparently the swelling pushes on the nerves going out into my back and makes them tingle like that.

For the pain, he gave me cortizone tablets to take for the next 5 days, plus valium to help my muscles relax so I could finally get a decent night’s sleep. The valium’s definitely helped me get slightly more comfortable so I can sleep, but I haven’t noticed much improvement on the cortizone. However, the pain’s stopped getting worse, so that’s definitely a positive.

Even though he was pretty sure that I didn’t have any fractures, he was still on the fence about whether I should get x-rays or not. The thing that tipped him over the edge was the fact that I am heading to England in 3 weeks’ time, and he didn’t want me to go abroad with any undiagnosed injuries. I went and got those x-rays done yesterday, which took quite a while since they had to do about 10 different ones to get my neck all the way down the length of my spine. Fortunately, the results came out good–aside from a bit of scoliosis that was already there, there is no other obvious bone damage, although they said that if I keep having pain I should go back and get a bone scan.

On top of all this, the doc said it would be a terrible idea to get into a bus, since every time they stop and start they simulate a whiplash-like motion. So, I’m essentially banned from using them, and it’s not a good idea for me to be on the road at all if I can help it. Plus, he didn’t think it would be good for my back or neck to sit in a chair all day, so I’m not going to work for the entire week. I’ve pretty much just been lazing around the house, doing a few chores until my back starts really complaining and then going back to bed. Luckily, Chelsea introduced me to the Wheel of Time series, which consists of 12 books (one as yet unpublished) that are all about 800 pages each. It’s fantasy that’s similar to the Lord of the Rings, and I’m really enjoying it. I finished the first one yesterday and have plowed straight on into the second one. It’s definitely helping time pass, as is LibraryThing, a new web 2.0 application I found that lets you catalog all of the books you’ve read. It’s sadly addictive.

I’ve also spent quite a lot of time on the phone talking to concerned friends & family. Thanks so much for calling and chatting–it definitely makes a world of difference!

Other things keeping me occupied: Flickr, especially browsing random photos and checking on the insane number of comments the flower picture I posted at the top of my last post has received. Funny, for a picture where I just stuck the camera under some flowers and hoped for the best! Also, it’s given me time to get my IgoUgo up-to-date, but mostly picture-wise since I’m not in much of a state to write at the moment. This blog will hopefully have a lot of things added to it in the next few days as well, including my library from LibraryThing and a new format for my Igo travel journals. All in all, thank God for mindless ways to spend time on the internet!

Also, I got a call from the insurance yesterday saying that the damage on Ribena looked a lot worse than it was, so she’s going to be repaired rather than replaced. I just hope she comes back in perfect shape!

After some deliberation on whether I needed a car in Perth or not, I finally decided to go out and have a test drive or two a couple weeks ago. I figured that a car would give me much more freedom than I currently have to explore the city of Perth and its surrounds, since I may not be here forever and I’d like to see what I can while I’m here rather than just sitting around the house all weekend!

I wanted a small car that had good fuel economy, since I only needed it for puttering around town and wanted to save as much on skyrocketing fuel prices as possible. I ended up narrowing it down to a few choices–mainly, the Honda Jazz and the Toyota Yaris. I found a demo Honda Jazz on some online listings that had a good price and a very low number of kilometers, so when Chris offered to drive Henry and me around in his new Civic Type R during our lunch break and Henry suggested that we drive to the dealership so I could test drive the Jazz, I jumped at the chance. When we got there, they told us that that car had already been sold but that I could have a new car for that used price. I was dumbfounded that the “bargaining” would be that easy, but it turns out I just got there at the right time, meaning it was right at the end of the “end of financial year” clearance.

We all went for a test drive in the new Jazz, which was great. It drove smoothly and the engine was so much quiter than my Accord at home. Also, according to the guys in the back, it was very roomy. After we got back to the dealership, the salesman demonstrated all the ways the seats can be moved around (which was quite a lot) and I noticed that even my bike would fit into it–and it’s a tiny hatchback! All of that combined with my great experience with Hondas had me sold.

Flash forward to two weeks later–last Tuesday. It had taken the dealership what seemed to me to be an interminable time to get the car ready, but apparently they were very backlogged with the end-of-year sales and just couldn’t get it to me sooner. At least it gave me time to get my loan and insurance sorted out. It was a very rainy afternoon when we arrived at the dealership to pick up the car, with me clutching more money in checks than I’d ever held before. The salesman took me on a quick drive to the service centre to get me acquainted with everything, and then I was on my way.

I was so excited to get my little Jazz, which as you can see from the pictures is…purple. The dealership called it “misty violet” or “blackcurrant”; I hooked on to “blackcurrant” just to make it sound a little less goofy. But hey, all of the guys that saw my car agreed that it was not an obnoxious purple at all…most actually found it quite nice. I know I was turned off by the thought of a purple car but it really grew on me. I liked it even more once James came up with a name for the car…Ribena. For those of you in the US that haven’t had it before, Ribena is a purple-coloured blackcurrant juice drink sold in the UK, Australia, and NZ. It was such a cute name to go with a cute little car. People at work even wanted me to get personalized plates that said RIBENA.

Then, Thursday night happened. Paul wanted to go get a few things for his room, so I offered to drive him to IKEA. I can’t say I ever pass up a chance to go to this massive warehouse of a store, and I certainly would have found a reason to go driving that night even if Paul didn’t need a laundry basket. It was a rainy night, although it was only drizzling for most of the ride. Just before the IKEA exit, traffic started building up as more cars pulled into the left lane so they, too, could take care of their housewares needs. On top of this, there was a fender bender on the shoulder, which was a perfect opportunity for some people to rubberneck. I did not, but I had to quickly brake as the cars in front of me came to a halt. I stopped in time and had some space between me and the car in front; this gave me time to look in the rear view mirror and start screaming as I saw the car behind me’s lights coming up way too fast. Fortunately, Paul didn’t know what was about to happen, so he didn’t tense up as I probably did. The inevitable smash came, which pushed Paul, Ribena, and me into the car in front. I don’t remember anything after that–it’s just a complete blank. I know I was screaming and I know I somehow got out of the car, although I don’t have any idea if I checked for cars before getting out on the shoulder or what. I just remember being on the side of the road completely freaking out while Paul and the lady in front tried to calm me down. At least everyone got out of their cars in one piece.

Ribena, on the other hand, was in shambles. The back was obviously smashed inwards where the car behind had hit; in front, the hood would not close and the grill was damaged, implying to me that something could have been smashed internally as well. When the tow truck driver arrived, he confirmed the worst–I could not drive Ribena home. She would have to be towed away, possibly for me to never see again. He wasn’t sure about the extent of the damage but said that at least the radiator was damaged and leaking. I was devastated. It was only the third time I’d even driven her! Both of the other cars in the incident could be driven away.

I’m just so happy that Paul was there with me to help out. I’m unhappy that he had to experience the accident with me, but I’m very very happy he managed to get out of the car and that he helped to calm me down. I finally managed to get all of the information from everybody, after a few frantic phone calls to the other Paul, who was also a great help. Chris from work was fantastic and immediately came over to pick us up when the tow truck driver dropped us at IKEA.

I said before that everyone walked away from the accident. I don’t know about the other two drivers, but I know that Paul is physically fine; I, on the other hand, am not quite so. The ankle of the foot that was on the brake is possibly sprained and a bit difficult to walk on (but the x-rays the next day confirmed there was no break, hairline or otherwise), and I have a pretty bad case of whiplash. I’ve spent most of the weekend in bed because it’s just uncomfortable to not be lying down. I’ve ventured out a few times–to the Wallabies game that I’d already bought tickets to (and the Wallabies won, beating the Springboks–the world champions!) and out to the front yard to take some pictures of flowers–but that’s about all. It’s going to be rough having to sit in a computer chair for 8 hours a day, since sitting up for even a short period of time gives me pangs all up and down my back, as well as a prickly sensation every once in a while.

Friday was a really long day, what with having to go to the doctor, get x-rays, file a police report, file a claim with the insurance, go to the pharmacy, etc, etc, etc. I was feeling absolutely run ragged when I arrived home around 4pm. I noticed something tipped over on the doorstep (there were gale-force winds that day) when the taxi driver pulled up, and to my surprise, it was a vase full of orchids and a box of chocolates, from James. I can’t describe how much that gesture meant to me. It really brightened up my day to see such beautiful flowers waiting for me. Now I can just hope that I don’t manage to kill them before the remaining blooms open up! The flowers also inspired me to go out yesterday morning and take pictures of the purple African daisies growing along the sidewalk in front of our house. It was good to do this because it got me out of the house so I could enjoy the day without actually having to go very far or move my body around too much. Plus I got some pretty decent pictures!

So, life doesn’t seem to get any easier. Hopefully it goes up from here though! I haven’t heard about what will happen to Ribena yet–whether she can be repaired or will be written off–but I hope I do soon as I am going to England for training in just under 3 weeks’ time. I just don’t want to be mired in paperwork from half a world away!

 The first week that I was here was for getting myself sorted out. I went into the office each day, but only for a token period of time after the first day (when I signed contracts, etc). I spent the rest of my time trying to get a feel for the city of 1.5 million so I could begin the house hunt, which promised to be long and quite possibly thankless. There were plenty of small chores to do as well, like finding the Department of Planning and Infrastructure and applying for my Western Australia driver’s license.

 The apartment that Schlumberger provided me with was amazing. 3 bedrooms, huge kitchen, lounge area, 2 balconies, one with city views….wow! It was located on Mount Street, which is just across the freeway from my office–it was literally a 5-minute walk for me in the mornings. It was also just down the hill from Kings Park, which is Perth’s best (and quite possibly biggest) park. I spent a number of afternoons strolling in the park, which overlooks the Swan River and Perth’s CBD. Perth is definitely what I would call a pretty city, even though the CBD’s skyline is dominated by massive cranes that are trying to expand the infrastructure of the rapidly growing city. The city’s skyscrapers aren’t ugly–the BankWest building is pretty cool-looking–and most importantly, the Swan River is actually a beautiful, deep blue color! I know this is unheard of for Australian rivers–Melbourne’s Yarra and the toxic Brisbane River come to mind–but I think the picture backs up my claim. I saw the river from the 20th floor of a nearby office building while on a client visit and it looks like the ocean (which makes sense, since it’s really an estuary filled with seawater!).

 On top of the nice views, Kings Park is expansive and I could have walked around in it for hours. As it is, I think I’ve only seen about 5% of the place. I love Fraser Avenue, which is lined with giant white gum trees, and the area around the Anzac Memorial and eternal flame. I saw that memorial in a whole different light (literally) when I went to the Anzac Day dawn service, which starts at 4.30am and runs until about 6.30am on the morning of April 25, the day that the Anzac soldiers landed at Gallipoli in 1915. I was lucky that I didn’t have to take any form of transport (besides walking) to the event because it seemed like nearly half of Perth was streaming down Fraser Avenue at around 5.30, when I finally stumbled out of bed. My entire street was completely impassable, since cars had parked on the road, on the grass, and down the sidewalks. I’d never seen anything like it in my life!

 As I walked into the park, big screens were showing scenes from World War II and later wars. As 6am approached, the screens flipped to a live feed of the services, which most people in the park couldn’t see because of the sheer numbers around them. I could just see the Anzac Memorial but I even had to stand on tiptoes for that. The silence was eerie; no one except the little girl next to me begging her dad for breakfast said a word. There was no commentating or anything–we just had to hope we could follow the people marching on screen and figure out what was going on. I wish I could have known more of what was going on, but I enjoyed the moment, watching the memorial from afar as the sun slowly rose behind it. Once the ceremonies completed, there was an inspiring speech and a flyover by about 7 warbirds, which marked the end of the official services. I’m very glad I went, since the Australians seem to remember & appreciate the Anzacs much more than Americans do their veterans.

As for the house search…I couldn’t stay in the Schlumberger-provided apartment permanently (since it costs $850 … per week!). I launched into the house search immediately upon arrival in Perth (thanks to the already-set-up broadband connection in my apartment) and started trying to whittle down a list of suburbs I’d like to live in and any apartments that looked even remotely affordable in those areas. The house market in Perth is quite absurd at the moment, since business here is booming and people can’t move here fast enough. Even the tiniest 1 bedroom fetches at least $200 a week, and you won’t get that in any of the sought-after suburbs. All I wanted was a place that was a relatively quick & easy commute from work, within my price range, and allowed pets. I soon took pets out of the equation because possibly only 1 rental property in the entirety of Perth allows them.

 I got to see quite a lot of Perth just by traveling via public transport to all of the open houses. I visited at least 10 properties in the north, west, and south of the city over the span of two weekends, but all of them had little niggles about them, like only having a tiny bar fridge and dryer in the unit but no washer in the entire complex, or being a 20-minute walk, 15-minute train ride, 25-minute bus ride, and then another 10-minute walk away from the office. The latter was in Scarborough, one of Perth’s beaches. I would have loved to live near the beach, but it was just a bit too out of the way for me, and quite a few people related stories of it being dodgy at night, so I stayed away. I did get to go to the beach after visiting a few homes there, and it was just as nice as the beaches on the east coast–plus it was novel because I’d never seen the Indian Ocean before! Unfortunately it’s getting into winter now (and it’s bloody chilly in Perth today) so I might not actually get in the water for a while, but it’s good to know it’s there!

 Another new and completely different part of Perth that I got to see a couple weekends ago was the area called “the hills.” The hills border Perth to the east and are quite a contrast from the beach and the Perth city area in general. The dirt was significantly redder than here in town, the trees were all gums, and kangaroos were hopping between the BBQs (you can’t have a proper recreation area in Oz without BBQs!). It was a fantastic day with barely a cloud in sight, yet not too hot–our group from work really couldn’t have planned it better. We had a ball wandering around, attempting to find the signed waterfalls (there were none, due to the fact that the rivers were bone-dry), eating BBQed & marinated lamb chops, and feeding leftover sausages to the brightly-colored twenty-eights (birds that looks somewhat like lorikeets) only to have them stolen by big & angry kookaburras. If only I had a car, I’d now have a great place to take people for a BBQ and nature walk when they came to visit me in Perth!

Anyway, I digress. Back to the house search. I was lucky enough to find a share house on the weekend before Anzac Day. It’s in a very good location–even in peak hour traffic, the bus straight into town only takes about 25 minutes–and I liked the apartment at first sight. It’s not the newest, but it’s very well kept up and quite big for a townhouse. Even better, it came fully furnished–my room already had a queen-size bed and everything–and was significantly cheaper than living in my own one-bedroom place. To top it all off, since I’d have flatmates (and my flatmate’s parrot Ambika, who has a huge personality of her own), I didn’t have to worry about getting a pet to keep me company! Seemed like a great deal to me, so I applied and moved in on the afternoon of Anzac Day. I get along with both of my flatmates well and it’s definitely nice to have someone to talk to when I get home in the evenings–and even better to have someone to play MarioKart Wii with!

There will be plenty more about Perth soon!

I know you guys might have been hoping for a conclusion to my previous post. It is in the works, but I thought I’d get these photos up while I was at the internet cafe.

Without further ado, here’s the list of what’s been added/updated (denoted by a ***):

New Zealand
***Queenstown: more from Deer Park Heights & the Remarkables.
***The Milford Track: from days 3 & 4 of the track (with plenty from going over Mackinnon Pass).
Milford Sound from Land: from around Milford Sound township.
Milford Overnight Cruise: from my overnight on the Milford Wanderer in the beautiful fiord of Milford.
The Kepler Track: from my overnight trek onto the Kepler Track, up to Mt. Luxmore & Luxmore Hut and back.
Kayaking Doubtful Sound: from my 5 hours on remote Doubtful Sound and the long (but stunning) trip to/from the sound.
Warbirds over Wanaka: from the biennial warbirds airshow held at Wanaka airfield.
The West Coast Road: from my day-long bus trip between Wanaka and Franz Josef Glacier.
***Franz Ice Climbing & Quad Biking: plenty more shots of me looking stupid trying to climb ice walls and from the Waiho river valley where I went quad biking the next day.
Drive Across Arthur’s Pass: from my day-long bus trip between Franz Josef Glacier and Christchurch.

Australia
Queensland Sunsets: sunset shots from a few different days in Queensland.
Queensland Flowers: currently only shots of some pink hibiscus in James’ mother’s garden, but I’m hoping to add more when I go back sometime.
Queensland Animals: shots of kookaburras and blue-tongued lizards.
My Australian Family: some of my favorite shots from some photos James’ family and I took while I was up the Sunshine Coast.
Apartments in Perth: pictures from my (very fancy) temporary accommodation. None of my current apartment, and those will probably only be available to “friends” on Flickr once I do add them.
Kings Park: the beautiful Kings Park, which was just up the hill from my temporary accommodation. Also, shots of the ANZAC Day dawn service held at the war memorial there.
Scarborough Beach: my first glimpse of the Indian Ocean!
General Perth: where I’ll chuck all my pictures that don’t fit into other sets from Perth. Right now, it’s just fireworks pictures from a display I was lucky enough to see a couple weeks ago.
John Forrest National Park: the “Australian” pictures everyone is waiting to see. These are from a fun BBQ I went to yesterday up in the hills near Perth. Plenty of red dirt, gum trees, kookaburras, and kangaroos!