Short Post, Big News

I am very excited to announce that I have bought my plane tickets and finally have an actual departure date for the Philippines! I am leaving Perth on Sunday 28th December 2014 (at a very civilized hour, for those of you who might be interested in seeing me off at the airport), spending a few days with friends in Hong Kong on the way, and then arriving in Manila on the 31st. Woo hoo!! Philippines, here I come!!

Packing: You're Doing it Wrong!

Yesterday I called the Western Australian contact for FOREX, the company that ships boxes from Australia to the Philippines. I was really only intending to find out where their outlet is so that I could work out when to pick up a box or two. Although I don’t need to send my boxes just yet, I thought it would be helpful to have one in my possession to give me an idea of how much I might be able to fit into it.  Anyway, by the end of the day, I had two boxes delivered right to my door!

They are bigger than I was expecting; that is, I had the dimensions so I knew how big they are, but they LOOK bigger than I expected them to. I am also quite impressed with how sturdy they are. There are four flaps of cardboard on the bottom of the box, so it should be able to handle the weight of everything I want to pile in there.

But although they are quite large, sturdy boxes, you are still not allowed to pack motor vehicles, motorbikes, people (alive or dead) or your neighbour’s favourite pet into them! (Check out their website if you don’t believe me: https://www.forexworld.com.au/cargoFAQ.php#.VBD6YmPzuME) So naturally...

...this was just begging to be done! :-)

The Tulips at Araluen

Yesterday was my birthday. I spent the day at Araluen Botanic Park, having a picnic lunch with some friends and strolling through the beautiful gardens together. It was a lovely day, and I think it’s rather convenient that Araluen’s famous tulip display happens to coincide with my birthday! Here are a few of the many pictures that I took: