Ambar night club- January, February 2007

Well...that was a very special experience.
Most of you guys have heard of it through my emails...but now, you actually can contextalize the scene of the madness.
When I first got to Perth after the west coast trip, I was broke (as always when I got to somewhere new lol) and I needed a job straight away.
As I was working as a (very popular lol) barman in Broome, I had some connections in Perth and I got this job which sorted me out.
I thought I was meant to replace someone for just one night but it turned out Simon, the manager, wanted me to integrate the crew and to work along for a bit longer, which didn't bother me...I was actually very keen!
I was working on fridays and saturdays from randomly 9, 10 0r 11pm till...usually 7ish in the morning...which was exausting especially when I found the other job (I indeed had 2 jobs in Perth for about 2 and half months) as it was a full time, so once again I was screwed up with no day off at all for bloody ages.
Anyhow...Ambar (the night club) was club number 1 in the whole Australia in 2006 concerning electro, house and breaks...I loved it so much, heaps more than I was expected!
Being addicted to Ambar easily occurs, and it's very hard to put in words.
I used to work there for about 6 weeks and unfortunately decided to quit for the combination of the 2 jobs was a bit too much to deal with especially such a short term before leaving the country.
It was one of the most amazing working experiences I had in Australia.

With Gillian behind the bar having a shot...well, I'll be waiting up to see yous face to face to tell you all the stories for it'd be a bit too trashy on here.

Thumb up, Simon, awesome manager, very efficient and competent person.

The actual dancefloor...too much crazyness to be explained...

Scarborough beach backpackers- Mid January till early April 2007

The Scarborough backpackers hostel's been my home for exactly 76 days in Perth.
A lovely setting a bare 50 metres from the indian ocean with the most amazing (I found it hard to get the right superlative as she truly is a special person) owner and manager, Claudella.
Just a few photos showing the general setting of the hostel, with the pool area, my room that looks very much like the other dormitories...

Stacey and I on that day we decided to organize a BBQ, a classic...

With Leano and Steph sizzling the sausages...

BBQ area...

And later on chilling out by the common area...if you ever go to Perth, you HAVE TO pop in...and Claudella will look after you... you'll be bewitched throughout the hostel's stunning and peaceful atmosphere anyway!

Toga party- February 2007

A fantastic day with the backpackers crew...
We started off at the hostel (and getting in the mood as well- no comment ;-)) and went to Andrea's (my english friend from Broome), Brian's and Travor's (irish lads) where we all were kindly invited.
As it's been happening pretty much all along in Perth, it wasn't as internationalized as it could have been in another context with the same amount of people though a lot of fun.
Don't get me wrong, it was brilliant but what I meant is most of the crew was from the UK and Ireland...a few Aussies though and one french!!!

Andy in a straw corona hat, from Scotland.
My 2 gorgeous "flatmates" (as we used to live next door at the hostel for nearly 3 months), from Manchester, Stacey the blonde one and Joanne the brunette.

Emma and Andrea...Broome crew as I actually met Emma in Broome as well.

Just mentionning that with Andrea, we've done loads of different trips with one another;

from bodyboarding in a cyclone in Broome, spending a night boosing in a wrecked car, going to the big day out, a toga party or a bit later on such as a mutual achievement of Perth lifestyle, organizing this crazy fancy dress party!!!

Nick from Melbourne (on the left), Andy and my mate Will from London who has been my room mate for 1 and half month, he 's a funny one.

Andrea with Susan (right) and Christina from Ireland.

Big day out 07- February 4th 07

The big day out is one of the biggest musical event in Australasia.
It gathers about 40000 people enjoying a large amount of artists coming from all over the world touring for a couple of weeks.
The show kicks off in Auckland and then sets off to Australia with respectively Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.
I missed out last year in New Zealand but I made it to Perth early Feb.
Although a bit too much comercialized and full on, it was awesome getting thrilled on a beautiful summer day to see a few interesting bands e.g. the killers, muse, violent femmes...

I met Andrea a few months ago, in Broome, and it was brilliant catching up again in Perth!!!

Comet McNaught, late January 2007, Scarborough beach

Comet McNaught happened to be the brightest comet in the past 42 years...rather hard to observe though for it was very close to the horizon and the sun.
I still didn't find out if it was observable from the northern hemisphere, you guys might be able to enlighten me when I get back.
It's been visible for a few days between the 15th and 20th of January and was a delightful and enchanting show.
I found these 2 photos very interesting.
They both obviously are set on a long time of exposure.
The first one is a wide angle shot of the conjonction of the comet on the left hand side and Venus aand the moon on the right hand side.
Furthermore, if you enlarge the picture, you can distinctly see all the spectrum colors from dark red to dark indigo (bottom to the top).
I very much the second shot for it looks amazingly surreal...much more like some sort of drawing from elsewhere!
Both shots have been taken from Scarborough beach in Perth.
I felt very lucky and priviledged that night.

West coast trip, Broome to Perth, January 2007

Broome to Perth is 2400km of wilderness, especially the northern part of the trip...we've driven an extra 400km with a few detours on the way down.
It obviously was a bush camping trip as well, camping all the way down in the most remote areas!
I was travelling with 2 swedish ladies of the nicest company, and we got lucky enough to get a relocation brand new toyota landcruiser!!!
To me, W.A. (Western Australia) is the place to be or to travel throughout.
I met so many people in Perth and they were like..."oh yeah well I'm heading towards the east coast afterwards because it's fun there and bla bla bla..."
But they definitely miss out for so few of them will make their way back to the west coast!
W.A. is the real genuine Australia.



Typical harsh landscapes in the northern part of the trip...not very comfortable to sleep on there either!

Well...the very first morning, I was still half asleep and I felt something slithering beneath my tent...it got pretty much right by my head and I tried to smack it with my elbow for I couldn't be bothered going out of the tent to check it out.

I forgot about it and when I folded up my tent a couple of hours later, it actually was a death adder, one of the deadliest snakes in the world, snuggling beneath my skull!

I thought about picking it up but swiftly forgot about it as I was in the middle of nowhere, if I had got bitten...

Observing my prey...

On the second day, we burst a tyre on the way, something rather rare with this type of cars...it was just due to the extreme heat of the tar I reckon...it was about 45 degrees out there, and that's what we had to bear when fixing the damn wheel during an hour.

You know this sort of day you feel like each gust of wind seems like coming from an baking hot oven...lol

We did it!

Camping in the middle of nowhere by the sand dunes in Coral bay...quite comfy with the short moor on the ground.

The following day, we've been 4 wheel driving on the dunes like 80km/ h , it was such a stunning experience!

Coral bay and the pure crystal waters, that is so typical of the indian ocean...a daydream.

That's the type of roadhouses you have all the way down to perth if you get the munchies or whatever.

Getting below the tropic of Capricorn hadn't happened in 8 months!

The pinnacles desert, about 2 hours driving north of Perth, different and geologically very interesting!

A few kangaroos by hangover bay... lol

Sarah on the left and Annika in the middle, my swedish companions...celebrating our fantastic trip that went all good mate!!!