WASO's Symphony in the City (photos and mini review)

Last night we went down for the Western Australia Symphony Orchestra's Symphony in the City.  The annual event held outdoors in Langley Park is a free event and had an attendance over 20,000.  I've seen a number of WASO concerts of late (including a concert with the brilliant Ben Folds) and continue to be blown away by the quality and this event was no exception.  In fact, given the setting, the inclusion of the entire WASO choir this...

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Getting stranded on Rottnest Island

Back in early September we decided to take a short 4 day trip to Rottnest Island.  Rottnest for those who don't know is an Island off the coast of Western Australia which takes approximately 30-45 minutes by ferry. A couple of key points about Rottnest: There are essentially no cars on the Island outside of support vehicals and a bus that runs the length of the Island.  The main method of transport is bicycle which you can rent...

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My ongoing list of favorite Perth cheap restaurants

We quickly found out, after being in Perth for a day or so that it's not an inexpensive place to eat out.   Let me rephrase that: it's mind numbingly awestrikingly outrageously expensive.   But... there are exceptions to the rule.  Here are my faves.   I'm going to keep adding to this list it as I find more.  I'll only add restaurants that I have tried and would appreciate any suggestions in the comments. Sept...

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Great mobile apps for Expats - Part 1 the basics

I spend a serious amount of time using my three mobile devices.  My current setup is a Samsung Note3, a 4th generation full size Ipad, and a reasonably new Dell Lattitude laptop.  I also have a trusty Windows PC I built around 5 years ago which still gets a tonne of use.  At this point I'm going to focus on the apps for the phone and tablet but you'll see that many are also available via webapp (usually via the Chrome Web Store). This...

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My get ready for Australian power / Will my TV, computer, device or appliance work in Australia?? guide

Australian power is 230 Volts and 50 Hz.  A medium sized plug is used that looks like you took a three prong US / Canadian plug and bent two of the flat blades of the plug out...as per below.  The wall plugs are also always switched like you see in England. This is not a voltage change if you are coming from most of the world with 220-240Volt power. In that case you either use a plug adapter (see a paragraph below) or cut the plugs...

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Kalbarri is worth a trip

We did this trip up to Kalbarri in early January.  It is about 5-6 hours straight north of Perth on the coast of the Indian Ocean.  The trip was a 5 day, very necessary stress reliever during the events that lead to the bleepedy bleep post here.  I think during my time in Australia, this trip stands out as my favorite.  Margaret River will continue to get awards for it's trendy wine country, sea side surf, fancy cave,...

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