Yesterday I arrived to the Shire of Merredin, 300 km far from Perth.

I arrived at 5.30 pm and I was supposed to meet the Finnish girl with whom I will work. Nobody was there…great..and now? I just had the name of the street, but no clue on how to get there.

I asked a person that was there outside the station and I asked how I could get to Barrack Street? “Barrack Street? You are already in Barrack Street!”

So easy! I just had to cross the street and the place where I will work and stay was there!

I found Michael – the owner – waiting for me at the door entrance. He showed me the place where I will work – the pub at the ground floor – and then my room at the first floor. MY ROOM.

Guys, after 3 weeks in a hostel, sharing the room with other 5 girls, free climbing to go to bed, locking my things everytime , bringing  my stuff back and forth from the bathroom, labeling  my things in the fridge in order not to lose them, fighting to find a place to cook, after all this..I have my room! And I get one good big meal per day for free.

 The place is old, dusty, the room is simple and a cockroach welcomed me but I have everything I need: freedom to do whatever I want, whenever I want.

It’s true you just realize the value of things when you don’t have them.

Honestly I could not bear one day more at the hostel, with 50 people around, different work shifts, slummering doors at any hour, people coming back drunk and shouting, noise and mess around.

I’m not really in the party mood in this period. Last week straight after having received the confirmation of the job, I got the email I would have never wanted to read from Italy: She passed away at 2 am.
In 30 seconds, I passed from the relief of having found a job to the desperation of having lost another pillar in my life and the feeling of being totally powerless, because I’m too far away this time. I could not understand anything in that moment.

I needed a change, I needed to leave and I wanted to go exactly where I am now, the middle of nowhere.

Tout vient à point à qui sait atteindre (Good things come to those who wait). I mean, I spent 3 weeks looking for a job, interviews, getting replies, and then in a few minutes last Monday the situation got unstuck. Sent the cv, got the call, got the job. Easy.

Merredin is 3600 inhabitants and the funny thing is that it’s the biggest town in the Central Wheatbelt.

Yesterday I went sightseeing with Sayla (the Finnish girl)..the shortest tour I’ve ever done. One street and that’s it! That is all Merredin is about. Bank, post office, Subway, a couple of shops and cafè, the Tourist office, a library, a swimming pool and a little park.

The sky bar is the veranda of the place where I’m staying and the business travelers here are guys working in the mines or road works.

I just finished my first day at work..Midi, Pint, Swan Draught, Superdry, Extra Dry, 3.5, Carlton Dry, and 5 different beers more + the drinks + the meals + the till. There are a lot of things I have to learn…sometimes it’s pretty hard understanding the Australian accent, even because they use slang..so a bottle is not a bottle is a stubby, a Canadian Club (a whisky) is a CC. Some of them don’t say: could you please give me a pint of Draught, please as we all learnt at school. They just mumble: blablablablabla. And I am like: Whaaaat!? One time, two times, even 3 times. It’s frustrating (for me) and funny (for them) at the same time.

Here I could save a lot, not because I will earn a lot , but just because I cannot spend. That is good. I have a couple of travels in my mind and I need money for that.

I don’t know how much time I would spend here, maybe until the Australian Winter. It should be quite mild.I would just take things as they come.

See ya mates!

After 3 weeks I’m leaving Perth…The city is nice, the hostel amazing and the people I met here wonderful. But I got bored. This has been like an holiday, the only thing is that I just realised it.

Yes because I arrived here on the 1^st of February and I immediately started looking for a job ,  without enjoying as I should my stay in Perth, the here and no­­w. I’ve been just too worried about how to fill my days.

If I think about the last 6 months, I realised how I’ve been on the move:just in January I’ve been to Madrid-Marseille-Aix-en-Provence-Madrid-Rome-Madrid-Milan-Bangkok-Perth.

And in Perth I stopped. For 3 weeks. I haven’t stayed in a place for such a long time since September I guess.

While I was walking on Sunday, I was thinking about the main reason that brought me to Australia: going out of the comfort zone and try something different.

Perth is nice, but it’s a capital, it’s a city. What makes this Australia? I could be in any other city in North America or Canada: white collars running in the office,  shops, shopping malls, Wifi in the park,  people getting drunk at weekends.

That’s why I wrote that just when I saw the Ocean I got the feeling of being in Australia (btw – it seems there has been  a shark attack on Sunday in Scarborough, but I was not there…quite scaring I guess).

And then the comfort zone…I had a couple of interviews in the past week. One for the International Airport and one for an big hotel chain. Something somehow related to my background. But this is not why I’m here actually. I was still set on the old mindset.

It’s impressive how a person that you just met can be right on target  in such a short time:

“You are sticking to the past, Mary. You have like an open chapter in the book of your life. Just close it or go back.”

I want to close it and go further.

I have a train to catch this time. Destination: the middle of nowhere,  Australia’s Golden Outback.

Ok, this level of the game is not exactly that easy as I thought..I haven’t found a job yet!

This week I received some positive feedbacks to some applications, but I decided to take some time more (one week again) and try to get what I really want. If nothing happens, I will just get a job, whatever it is. Continue reading →

Now I got it. I mean the feeling of being on the other side of the world. Of being in Australia.. Today I  went to the beach – Scarborough, one of the suburb of Perth. What to say…simply amazing! It’s a natural reserve and there’s the possibility to choose between white and fine sand, grass and pinewood or shadow under a kind of amphitheatre…

Perth is not a city that makes you say: wowwwww, amazing!! At least not at first glance..It’s a modern city, that is now booming due to the mines business..as a result, many people are coming here for working and prices are increasing. I’ve been told that this is one of the most expensive cities in Australia.

To give you an idea, the other day I went to the supermarket and I bought: 4 tomatoes, bananas and peaches, salad, private label pasta, Barilla sauce, 2 bottles of water and one  bottle of Lipton Ice Tea = 22 dollars…

Apart from this, I cannot deny that Perth is nice, full of parks and things to see..and is located in Western Australia, the most extended State within Australia.  Here distances are huge! A good thing  in Perth is the transport network..there’s a Free transit zone, where you don’t have to pay for using the bus and a special bus called CAT that consists of 3 lines (red, yellow and blue) that covers basically all the CBD (central business district) and other parts of the city)..that is completely FREE!

In the past days, I sorted out a couple of burocratic things like opening the bank account, getting a mobile number and usb key for internet, activate the Medicaire(there’s a special agreement between Italy and Australia, so that I can get health assistance just with my EU Card for the next 6 months) and request the Tax file number (it’s necessary for working and paying less taxes). Everything went smoothly and I made everything in a couple of hours.

Now I’m looking for a job..that it’s not that easy as it seems, because they require experience for everything..let’s see! I’m first considering something related to travels, but even working in the hospitality industry – like front office in hotels – would suit me.

I’m not stressing myself too much for this, but the objective is getting something (whatever it is) by the end of this week. Then I would make my considerations if staying here or moving somewhere else!

The hostel where I’m staying is pretty good, full of backpackers that actually stay here for weeks and months in some cases! It’s in Northbridge, the area full of cafes, restaurants, nightlife. Basically it’s a house adapted as hostel..there are like 40 people living here, but everybody is independent..there’s enough space to isolate yourself if you want..

So let’s see what’s going to happen this week! But so far so good!

Keep you posted!