It was a very special year. When we arrive in Australia, the custom didn't allow my wife to pass, because she changed the passport after lodged the working holiday. We were very worried in that time. We might come back to Taiwan directly, because we don't have correct visa. Luckily, the custom call few call that make make sure my wife's visa was OK. When we go out to see the airport, and we found it's in Melbourne not Perth.
Although we took the plane from Taiwan to Perth, we land in Melbourne because of the heavy fog. So we stay in Melbourne for one day, and live in airport hotel Mantra. Also we met some friends and keep the good relationship until now. At that time, we thought we might start from Melbourne, because we don't have any plan for job yet. But I had already ask my Couchsurfing host to let us stay, and he can pick us up as well. So we decide to come back to Perth and meet Ashley. At the beginning, we're really afraid of couchsurfing, because it's our first time to try it. When we arrive in Perth, it's the midnight and it's really cold. Luckily Ashley sill come to pick us up in the airport. He show us around Perth in the midnight, and took us to the best lookout place, King's Park to enjoy the view. First day and second day in Australia were really special for us. He is also our first local friend in Australia. He is a really simple person but eat very healthy. We share lots of stories about our country. It was a nice experience.
We thought that it will be very easy to find a job in Perth, so we only brought 700 AUD for our trip. In our first three days in Australia we had already spent almost 1/3 money for food, simcard, and traffic. We started to worry about that.
Then we go to Warnbro to meet our second couchsurfing host, Michele and Ron. They were very professional to be a host. They give us lots of information about how to find a job and took the public transportation in a cheap way, that use Day Rider or Family Rider. It can save a lots of money, at the beginning, we need to spend 25 AUD for the traffic. When we use family rider just need to take our 11 AUD and can enjoy the whole day trip. Michele's place is really convenient. It's close to the beach and it only need to take us 10 minutes walk, and 5 minutes to shopping centre and swimming pool, and 3 minutes to bus stop. Michele is a good cook and make some traditional OZ food for us. In the same time there are 3 couchsurfer, and she assign us everyone need to prepare the local food from our own country. So we tried the OZ, Kiwi, Hong Kong, England food during that time. Although we though that we're lucky to stay here, we still didn't find a job yet. So we tried to find a next couchsurfing host, but there are no any reply. It's really sad that time, because we almost run out of our money. We ask Michele can we stay here longer, then she still love to help us and try to help us to find another job information as well. When we talk about the Toastmasters, she is a member as well, so she was very happy to take us to meet her friends in Toastmasters.
Before I came to Australia, I want to visit all the branches of Toastmasters around the world. So I tried to collect all the information about Toastmasters in Western Australia, and tried to attend some meeting. It's really hard to do it without a car and without enough money. Thanks for Michele, and she really help us a lot.
14 days left, it was 23rd July, my birthday. We don't have much money to celebrate it, so I just want to make it easy. When we come back home, and we still felt upset about jobs. After dinner, they just prepare a cake for my birthday. I was moving at that time. I never thought they will do that for me. Thanks again.
And the next morning, we contact our couchsurfing host, and he also have a job about selling arts. We're really interesting in it. So we just move there and start our new life.
Saar pick us up from Michele and Ron's house, so we don't need to take lots of things to move. When we arrive there, it was so beautiful and huge. It's really close to the beach, and it only need 1 minute walk, and 5 minutes walk to the Penguin Island. We live in a big room with a big window, and we can enjoy the sunrise in the sunny day and rainbow in rainy day. It's a really great place.
Our job is selling oil painting door by door. It's really exciting thing for us, because we can meet lots of people and practice our English everyday. At the fist day we tried to sell the painting and we earn 170 AUD in two hours. And my best record was earning 575 in 4 hours. That really great. Because of the job, I meet over hundreds of people from 32 countries. And we also make some good friends from them. Some people will invite us to drink beer or eat dinner together. Even someone had gave me 50 AUD without anything. Also I had a part time job to be a carpenter. It's 18 AUD per hour. It let me experience a very cool job and good salary.
On Saturday, we don't need to work, and Saar will bring everyone to travel. And we had been to Margret River and nearby. Everyone just work together and play together. I love this feeling.
Because we live very close to the beach, and I love to do some exercise, I just tried to play Penguin Island triathlon by myself running 10 KM and cycling 20 KM and swimming to Penguin Island and back about 1.5 KM. When I come back home, there a small gym in the house, so I can train my muscle as well. I love here.
But Venus don't like it very much, she prefer to find another job. She find a job in the Chinese restaurant in the Rockingham Shopping Centre. And also I tried to find a job to be a massage therapist.
So I have three job in a day, in the early morning, I'm a carpenter, from 9 to 3 I'm a massage therapist, after 4 PM then I selling the painting. At the first two week was OK, but after that, we need to go to further place to sell, we need to start to work earlier. So I must make a decision. I want to work with my wife in the shopping centre, and I enjoy to solve people's problem by massage. So we move to Rockingham.
Although the place was smaller than Penguin Island, we can eat lots of free food from restaurant, pizza shop, and bakery. What's more? We only need to pay the rent for 100 for us. It's only half price than we live in Penguin Island. It's really good for us to save money. And the average we only spend 20 AUD for food per week. It's really a big deal.
During the time I help lots of people to solve their problems, lots of people suffer from different chronic pains, some people felt pain everyday because of car accident for few years, even some people suffer form the pain over ten years. And I just solve it. Even a lady she suffer from headache for few years, she need to do massage to ease her pain every week, when I tried to do the massage for her. Then she hasn't came back for 3 weeks, then her husband and daughter come to shop and thanks me and said her wife didn't feel headache until now. I really enjoy to do this for others and I always try to help others in a easy way. So I do this job for 6 months. It's a really long time for a working holiday visa holder.
During the time, I still try to attend meetings in different place. When I attended the Rockingham Toastmasters meeting, I found a familiar face, which is my customer, Sandra. What a coincidence. Even I fry to Gold Coast to have a training in Jupiter casino, another customer, Paul, call my name in the hotel. That's so amazing. I was lucky can meet so many friends during working.
- Because we want to travel around the world for 2 years, my wife want to earn more money, we want to stay here longer. We want to extend our visa for another year. We need to do specific job in regional areas for three months before June. What date is it? It's 5th January. We only have less than 60 days to find the specific job and it can work 88 days continually. So we decide to buy a car, the most struggling thing is we work all the time. We only take 10 day off in six months.
One day is Royal show and we enjoy the best fireworks in my whole life. And we visit Fremantle as well.
One day we joined the CS Christmas party in Swan River. There are over 80 people to join the party, no limit beers and food. It's really crazy. We swim in the Swan River in the afternoon. We have a music jam after that. Then everyone slept in the tent and enjoy the beautiful stars.
And the next day, we join another CS Christmas lunch. We talk and play board game and enjoy the food whole day. It was really great.
And I also took few days to attend Toastmasters meeting. Although I try to visit all the branches of Toastmasters, it's a really big challenge for me. And I'm not sure that am I still love it or not? It's still difficult for me.
And the rest of time. We just want to find a second visa job as soon as possible. What a pity. Although we stay in Perth over 7 months, we don't know it very well. But we still want to swim with dolphin, we just book it. And we really did it. Although it's not good enough as we think, it's still a good experience.
In January I just drive my car to find every farm to find a job, then go back to work at 9 AM. One month past, but there's nothing.
We decide to move to south and find a job.
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