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I'll be back...
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geggis
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November 17, 2011 - 9:12 am
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…in three weeks. Going to Australia today! I'll be on the west side in Perth to see family. If I see any particularly scary wildlife I will take pictures and share them when I get back — I expect to see at least one spider the size of a small pig. I've never been further than the Mediterranean so it'll be pretty crazy spending 15+ hours on a plane. When I arrive I'll be going to see Eddie Izzard and then a few days after that will be heading off to Esperance camping and other things I'm not quite sure of yet. I've no plans :-S I should be able to check around these parts every so often so by all means let me know of any things I should see or do while I'm there!

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Steerpike
Subtropical Southeastern Michigan
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November 17, 2011 - 9:15 am
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Gregg the travelin' man! Have fun!

Life is the misery we endure between disappointments.

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Toger
Somewhere, out there...
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November 17, 2011 - 11:11 am
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No pix of spiders!

Have a great time, Gregg! And remember, all the flora/fauna in Australia is trying to kill you. Don't touch anything. [Image Can Not Be Found]

Powered by PMS ™

Jarrod
Brisbane, Australia
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November 17, 2011 - 8:35 pm
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Are you just staying over on the West, or will you be coming over to the East at all?  Let me know if you make it to Bris-Vegas.

 

Oh, and have a good trip [Image Can Not Be Found]

A man goes to knowledge as he goes to war, wide awake, with fear, with respect, and with absolute assurance. – The Teachings of Don Juan

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geggis
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December 9, 2011 - 4:38 am
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I'm back!

Sorry I never responded Jarrod, been very busy and it seems I've got a lot to catch up on on the front page :-S

I was only in WA but I know quite a few folks over in the east so it would have been nice to meet up with some of them.

I'm happy to report that I've been jet lag free as well. Pro-tip: only sleep when you get in bed at night. If you have to, dose for a bit but don't over do it.

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Steerpike
Subtropical Southeastern Michigan
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December 9, 2011 - 3:53 pm
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Welcome back, Greggor! Armand will be thrilled. He spent the last three weeks bitching to me on Steam about how you're a better friend than I am.

Which is true, but still.

Did you have a nice trip? Get some relaxation in? Avoid the spiders?

Life is the misery we endure between disappointments.

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geggis
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December 10, 2011 - 4:40 am
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No bugs to report of apart from flies and mosquitoes. Fucking gajillions of flies, so many that we all had to buy fly nets, they were so damn annoying. I saw some slightly bigger moths than usual. The woodlice were rounder and plumper than the ones in the UK. I saw a bull ant which was big and viscious — it attacked the twig my auntie was pointing at it. Other than that though, no big spiders, no snakes, no deadly anything really. Plenty of stories of deadly/horrible things but I never saw anything to be alarmed about. I can't deny I wanted to see some of the little beasts though and was keeping my eyes out for them all the time.

But dolphins. A pod of wild dolphins. I swam next to them which was pretty amazing! Saw plenty of roos and even saw a resident sea lion called Sammy that lived under this jetty and had mastered the art of being fed by tourists. I went fishing (caught two which were later cooked up!), kayaking, snorkeling, 4x4-ing (down a 22km beach! This one to be precise — trace the beach into the distance!), hiking. It was brilliant and I couldn't really ask for more.

I managed to read one book called The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (who incidentally is Australian) and that was just fantastic, highly recommended. The book is narrated by Death who tells the story of a young German girl during World War II. That's all I'd want to say about it because half of the enjoyment is the way that Death recounts the tale.

I watched an awful lot of films as well while I was going there, actually there and coming back. Bambi, Dumbo, Wall-E (favourite Disney/Pixar film), A Bug's Life, Submarine (excellent), Dr Strangelove (a first for me, excellent), The Guard, Contagion (scary, excellent), Paul (I really enjoyed this), X-Men: First Class (excellent superhero daftness), Red Dog (Australian film which was pretty good), Boy (quirky New Zealand film, really funny), Moon (again, excellent), Captain America (shite, watch X-Men: First Class instead) and The Help (excellent, made me blub like a baby).

We also went to a really quaint theatre called the Bijou Theatre in Esperance and watched an Agatha Christie whodunnit called An Unexpected Guest. It was great fun even if some of the acting was woefully bad. Like, so bad in some cases that it sounded like the script was being read off the props around the stage.

Oh and Eddie Izzard was really disappointing. He seemed to setup a format and then totally ignore it for the rest of the show with most of his pieces going nowhere in particular. It just seemed so scattershot and as a result was very hit and miss.

And boy, is Western Australia expensive. £6 for a pint!! EEK.

Edit: Also, the trip to Esperance was roughly a 2500km round trip! That's the furthest two points of the UK twice! And finally, Christmas and 40 degrees C don't go together in my book.

Jarrod
Brisbane, Australia
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December 11, 2011 - 11:11 pm
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Every Xmas here is a summer Xmas - times for BBQ's, stubbies, flies, cricket in the back yard, and sunburn.

 

Glad you had a good trip G!  Yeah, we've done stories on how expensive WA is getting, especially around Perth, due to all of the wages the mining communities pull in.  Many of the residents are forced to relocate, as they can't keep up with the prices.

A man goes to knowledge as he goes to war, wide awake, with fear, with respect, and with absolute assurance. – The Teachings of Don Juan

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geggis
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December 13, 2011 - 4:30 am
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Is that why the prices are so high? The mining?

Jarrod
Brisbane, Australia
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December 13, 2011 - 7:51 pm
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That's what the media's put it down to – houses being rented for around $1,200 per week, when before the mining they were around $300 per week.  Everyone's trying to get a slice of the action, and the real fear is that when the mining moves on, a lot of places in WA will become ghost towns.

 

http://www.news.com.au/money/p.....6204655246

A man goes to knowledge as he goes to war, wide awake, with fear, with respect, and with absolute assurance. – The Teachings of Don Juan

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Steerpike
Subtropical Southeastern Michigan
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December 13, 2011 - 8:38 pm
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That link is unbelievable! I'm not an economist, but this seems like a disaster waiting to happen.

Life is the misery we endure between disappointments.

Jarrod
Brisbane, Australia
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December 14, 2011 - 7:43 pm
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As so often happens, short-sighted greed is a powerful succubus.

A man goes to knowledge as he goes to war, wide awake, with fear, with respect, and with absolute assurance. – The Teachings of Don Juan

Finkbug
Maine
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December 21, 2011 - 7:14 pm
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Mining creates boom towns which bust out later. Parts of North Dakota in the US are in the boom phase right now.

 

I envy your first viewing of Strangelove. Auditrix had never seen it so I recently had an excuse to revisit the film. A bit creakier than I'd remembered structurally but still one of the best. Protect the purity of your bodily fluids!

grooowrrrr! [menace menace] rrrrowwwr!

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