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.