April 2011 final days in Margaret River

Dinner party

It has been a fantastic 6months in Margaret River but like all things it has come to an end. I would like to give a brief description of our experience in Margaret River from the challenge of finding a house, to driving on the opposite side of the street dodging the kangaroos and learning how to understand the Aussie slang!

It is not so cheap in Western Australia. A six-pack of standard lager costs $16. A nice meal out on the town with a glass of wine, dinner, dessert will cost a minimum of 50 a person. That being said it is all relative to the wage you are earning. A minimum wage here is $18 per hour. Not bad Right!. So all being said as long as you got a job with 25hrs of work a week you are living pretty good. Chapin and I started with about $200 each when we arrived at the end of October in Margaret River and manage to get jobs within the first week. We found a kick ass apartment in the first month, some chill flat mates, a Ford laser that gets us to the beach everyday and freedom to explore the beautiful wineries of the region.

Pizza Party

Life has been pretty fantastic, I feel bad for mentioning it but the weather has been nothing but sunshine everyday. While the rest of Australia was flooding we were heading to the beach, I guess you can say we were in the right place at the right time. Actually Chapin reckons if you run into a familiar face along your journey through life then you are exactly where you are supposed to be. And we have seen many familiar faces. Good signs!

We didn’t get a chance to hit up many wineries this month due to other exciting events and work opportunities but those are worth mentioning.  The first week of April Chapin and I worked for a 6 star ASP surf event held here at Margaret River’s main break. It was a full on week of work, excitement and perks. We didn’t get to watch much surfing during the event being a hit coffee and food stand but we met some cool promoters, event staff and surfers. As well we got to work with a sensational team of people which pretty much was the icing on the cake.  Plus we saved some good coin for Bali. It was a great week but pulling 14 to 16 hour days when it was done we were both relieve

Chaps being sneaky

Are next exciting event was the Blues and Roots festival where we got to see Toots and the Maytals, Rodrigo and Gabriela (I would you tube these guys) and Michael Franti perform. As well Bob Dylan, Grace Jones, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Elvis Costello and many more. What a great festival, probably one of the best lineups so far. We had great company from Andrew are intelligent awesome Aussie friend and some of our crazy fun Margaret river friends.

  

Renada and chaps

With about a week left and lots to do I am feeling a little overwhelmed. It is Easter break but that means no break for us. The restaurants will be pumping with people so no rest till the fat lady sings. With only six months of living in one spot it’s surprising how much you can accumulate; cars, house accessories and toys. Everything must go!




Chapin’s and mine objective for heading to Australia was to earn enough money to enjoy months in Indonesia a land of surf, sun and massage. What happens after Bali is still a mystery but we will try to maintain our blog with new interesting news of Chindia’s adventures through South East Asia. Thanks for becoming a fan.

Chindia