Lancelin Update

So I’ve been here for about a month now and having a great time! At the Tavern, I’m not lost in what I’m doing anymore and I’m even training up some of the new staff. On Saturday nights we have a ‘band’, but not like any I’ve seen before. It’s usually a guy with a guitar and a drum machine singing along to all of the popular tunes from 1970’s and onward. Why not just have a DJ? Or even let the juke box play? But, now that I’ve accepted this definition of a band, it really does liven up a Saturday night and makes the evening way more fun. And now that we’ve got a bit of a rhythm with the team behind the bar we have a pretty good time working.

It’s finally started to warm up and feel like summer time in Australia. We often leave the door open and on hot afternoons we have lizards hanging around the house and birds that fly around. It feels a little like a zoo but the company is good.

It was a busy weekend at work but Sarah and I had a break in the afternoon so we went for a swim out to Lancelin island. Other than my fear of all aquatic life, it was a good swim. And when we got there, it was like a tropical paradise. The island has a few sheltered beaches and there is nobody there, except for the birds. The water is crystal clear and bright blue! It was perfect.

This morning we went for an adventure with two of our work mates down to Ledge Point, an even smaller town just down the road. They have a much better bakery and tastier pie. There was an incredible thunder storm last night and you could see lightning crashing way out over the Indian ocean. It’s still been rainy today but the water looked warm so we decided to go for a body surf. The water wasn’t warm, but the waves were small and not so scary. I managed to catch a few really good waves and not let them knock me down the way they usually do.
I am still quite terrible at surfing, but I’ll have to get out and try again soon now that I’m more comfortable in the water. The wind surfing, on the other hand, is going really well. The wind has been great the past two weeks so I’ve been out lots, going faster and faster. Next lesson is with a smaller board, bigger sail and a harness. Should be fun!

I made it down to Perth last week for the opening of their newest Monday night lindy hop venue. It felt soooo good to swing out again! There is workshop in two weeks with Hanna and Mattias from Sweden and I’m super excited about it. That will be my last weekend out west. I’m hoping to meet up with some other backpackers and take a road trip across the country to Melbourne, just in time for the Melbourne Lindy Exchange.

As you can tell, I really enjoying the life up here in Lancelin, but now that I’m getting a hang of things, it’s time for a change. There is much to see and do in this enormous country! Oh, and I saw a kangaroo. A real live hopping one! That’s one thing to check off of the list.

Lancelin

In my quest to find a job out here in Australia, I looked at a map, found a nice looking town on the coast, not far from Perth, and called the local tavern. The manager was more than happy to receive my call and brought me back up to Lancelin with her a few days later.

Lancelin is about an hour and a half north of Perth. It is famous for it’s wind surfing and hosts the Ocean Classic wind surfing race in January every year, which brings in thousands of racers and spectators from around the world. It is also a great spot for kite surfing, surfing and sand boarding on the dunes to the east. Playing in the water is relatively safe since it is an enclosed bay protected by the reef a bit further out.

I’m working at the Endeavour Tavern, which is a very old place, but it’s lovely. It has huge windows overlooking the Indian Ocean and on Sunday afternoons, they hire a guitarist to play for the people sitting on the grass in the sunshine. When I first arrived it was pretty slow, so I spent a few evenings getting to know how everything works. The biggest challenge apart from memorizing the till, is understanding what they’re asking for! They have 4 difference sizes of glasses (pint, schooner, middy, glass) but everyone has a different name for them. I didn’t know any of the beers, and of course they each go by several names, and on top of the accents and the music, it was a bit tricky. But, I think I’ve got a handle on it now.

Last weekend was the footy (Aussie Rules Football) grand final and a long weekend. Since it’s a cottage town, it was a very busy weekend, but I got through it and I still have a job. Hurrah!
The locals are very nice. I know most of them by name now, and they know me well too. I also know what they all drink and what size glass they prefer.

I’m living at the tavern essentially. There are 2 apartments above an old storage area just across the parking lot where a few of the staff members live. There are 3 cooks living in one, and Sarah and I living in the other. She is from England, but has been living in Australia for a few years now. She is very well travelled and came up here for the summer so that she could spend her afternoons kite surfing. We get along really well and have fun together. The rest of the staff are great too.

It’s been pretty darn cold here. There is no heat in our apartment, so I bundle up under the covers and drink tea when I am at home. It’ll warm up really soon, and we’ve had a few nice warm days, but it’s definitely not summer yet.

For a small town, it’s pretty spread out so I bought a bike off of someone I met at the local grocery store (the “have a chat”) for $50. Now I zoom around town (trying to remember to stick to the left side) and go walking along the beach. Sarah and I are going to take wind surfing lessons next week, hopefully I don’t get blown out to sea.