Transport, Racism and a Controversial Cheese

Two weeks into the 24 week trip and things are going pretty well. Weather is warming up, (whether or not this is a good thing for someone with a pale complexion is debatable) we’re beginning to find our way around the place and I have potentially sorted out some work; its dependant on passing a course but hopefully I should get use of the Visa quite soon. Its lifeguarding work and on the plus side; it pays more than double what I was getting back home, bargain. I have always thought that £5 an hour for a lifeguard was verging on taking the piss. Although the job is 95% uneventful, the responsibility of a person’s life is worth a little more. Added to this the potential of a prison sentence, should you, god forbid, mess something up that led to a person dying...
So when I found out that the local swimming pool pays $22.60 (£12ish) an hour to their lifeguards I was pretty impressed. It’s just one of many things that Australia does better than England. It just seems that we are trudging along at the back as the Aussies continuously lap us in the race to national perfection. But how is it we are, in many cases, 20 years behind a nation that we should be hundreds of years in front of? I’m yet to bring out the ‘convict’ claim and will remain reluctant to unless strongly provoked. But we did place the first Western inhabitants on to the island all those years ago and yet still we lag behind.
Let’s take immigration for example. I’m not talking about visitors, (see how I covered myself there) just people looking to settle. For years Australia has imposed a points system meaning that anyone wishing to move there must qualify in a number of categories. The main one being that they must carry skills or qualifications that relate to the needs of the country. To put it simply, you must bring something that can benefit the country. Therefore you cannot come over, expect to be given a house and all the money you want while the majority of society works for a living. Oh and you have to pass language competency tests which rules out the ‘language barrier’ excuse for unemployment. England has recently begun the process of mimicking a system like this, but, like the building of Wembley Stadium, will probably take longer than planned to finish.
My next example is public transport. Perth’s Transit system links buses, trains and ferry’s and runs as one combined service. The trains are very rarely late and best of all are REASONABLY priced. Tickets are zoned and can be used on any bus, train or ferry up until a certain time. Or you can buy a day rider which enable you to use any public transport all day, anywhere. This day rider ticket costs $8.80 which is roughly £5.00. Now compare this to a £7.20 return train ticket into Bristol from Yatton, (about half an hour) and you’ll see where I’m coming from. This outrageous pricing scheme on the British Railways comes at a time where we are constantly being reminded about Global warming and cutting down on emissions. You’re not going to convince people to take public transport instead of driving if they have to go without food for a week to afford it.
A further example is sporting facilities. In Perth you will struggle to travel 10 miles without seeing a state of the art facility purpose built for sport. They are facilities that are well maintained and well attended. In comparison to the UK, in which someone has to slip in a pile of dog shit (for want of a more formal term) or fall ill from its effects before anyone thinks of clearing the pitches. I understand that this is as much the fault of dog owners as it is the councils but it’s clearly not good enough. Youngsters will quickly fall back in front of their XBOX or computer if they have to dodge faeces (I’ve found it) like land mines every time they venture outside.
It may look like I’m completely slagging off our great nation. But amongst all its positives (crisp autumn mornings, power, countryside) there are many blemishes. God save our Queen...
Despite being 20 years ahead of us on many things, I have found an issue that Australia is decades behind the UK on. Since I’ve been out here I have heard, on more than one occasion, racism of a strong nature, so to put it. These comments are the sought that only you’re Granddad can get away with because ‘it was acceptable in his time...’ The target of most of the abuse is ironically the aborigines, whose land this was in the first place; the cheek of it.
Whilst trekking through the supermarket this week, my eyes were drawn to the cheese section. I looked once, rubbed my eyes, looked again and rubbed my eyes once more before bursting into fits of shameful laughter. If you haven’t already seen the photo, Australia has a brand of cheese called ‘COON’. In the 21st century this is surely oh so far outdated. I can’t imagine this brand lasting ten seconds is the UK. You can’t even sing ‘Bah Bah Black sheep’ anymore for fearing of offending someone and causing carnage. Needless to say I bought some....We all love a bit of cheese after all.
Finally back off of my many tangents, the trip itself has been going really well. We had the novelty of a rained off cricket match, yes that’s right a rained off cricket match in Australia. Of course we would have played through it back home; a bit of toughening up required on the part of the locals I think.
Cooking is becoming ever easier, last night’s meal was Chicken, rice and vegetables. I definitely didn’t phone my Mum to ask how to cook the chicken, it just comes naturally.
Our housemate Cruella is yet to break a smile. I figured she must work as a pest exterminator by day and end up swallowing hundreds of wasps; it’s the only logical explanation.
I had my first experience of Joondalup’s nightlife on Saturday and took a liking to the local drink, Fusion with a hint of lemon, can’t go wrong. It’s very similar to Clevedon in many ways, a few half decent pubs and then on to a shoddy, worn down night club that everyone goes to because they can’t be bothered to go into the city. I gave Dusk (Joondalup’s version of Vibe) a miss due to a shortage of funds on the night.
I’ll keep trying to update, Ciao for now....x