September 30th2010

This is my last week of co-op!!!It has passed so quickly, but at the same time it feels like my placement at the Algae Research & Development Center was ages ago!

This week, Perth is hosting the Australian University Games which is where over 6,000 uni students come to compete in various sports (beach volleyball, surfing, basketball, bowling, footy, rugby, track and field, and the list goes on!) at a national level.My three housemates are playing (Rune=Soccer, Danny=footy and Matt=basketball), so our house is always busy!Each night they have themed parties throughout the city, so I never know what I'm going to walk in on when I reach home after work!The themes were Beauty and the Geek, Retro Sports, Emergency Services and Gender Bender.Danny decided to dress as a girl for ALL of the themes... he has a serious addiction to cross dressing I reckon!It looked like an absolute blast and I would have definitely participated but I am technically not enrolled at Murdoch at the moment due to co-op, so I was unable to play.I did go out and support a few teams throughout the week (mostly basketball though; boys came 5th and girls came 1st!!!)

This week I also checked out the Perth Royal Show, which is similar to the Binbrook fair, but times 10!Various farm animals were on display and you could learn about the different breeds of sheep, alpacas (which may be one of my new favourite animals!), pigs, cows, chickens etc.I went with my friends Rojesh and Erin.According to Rojesh I had to pet a pig, so I did... I also had a nursing cow suck on my hand lol!!!We went on a few fair rides and checked out the "showbags".I still don't fully understand this concept, people spend ridiculous amounts of money on a plastic goodie bag of candy that you could easily buy at any store for less money!But it's an Australian tradition to pick up a showbag at the show, so I bought one for Matt to satisfy his sweet tooth!As it got dark, the three of us watched a horse race and BMX/dirtbike show.An awesome firework show followed.I'd have to say that the display was better than the ones at Valley Park on Victoria Day except for the fact that the debris released from the explosion landed on us!We walked away having to pick out little black pieces of burnt firecrackers, but it was worth it!

Thursday evening I went out for a goodbye Indian dinner with Rojesh.He made me try all kinds of traditional Indian food including: Kashmiri kebabs, Beef Vindaloo (SO hot!), Dahl, a vegetarian dish with tofu and lots of garlic and plain naan bread to soak it up!

Today was the GRAND grand final with St. Kilda vs Collingwood.My team, Collingwood won by a landslide with a final score of 108 to 52!!!!Woohooo go Magpies!

Tomorrow is my last day in Perth, so we are having a bit of a Sunday session at my favourite spot--- Little Creatures and then calling it an early night in order to be up and ready for my flight to Alice Springs on Monday morning!