Flaming January

Posted by Trevor Smith on February 7, 2008 10:28 AM

Spending the summer in Perth quickly dispels any doubts about global climate change: The recent heat wave has been breaking records and this year looks to be heading in the same direction. After surviving the hottest Christmas on record, we have just struggled through the hottest January since records began in the 1950s. With an average daily maximum of 32.8 degrees, 2.5 degrees above the monthly average, January is now a month to be endured rather than enjoyed

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A letter from down under

Posted by Trevor Smith on December 27, 2007 4:03 AM

Dear all,
Thanks for the cards and the presents, just thought I’d drop you a line and a couple of photos to tell you about our Christmas.
It’s been absolutely roasting here, 43 on Christmas day and over 44 on Boxing Day; definitely the hottest Christmas we can remember.

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An Act of Kindness

Posted by Trevor Smith on December 18, 2007 10:58 AM

I thought that I would give Australia a rest this week and tell you instead about a holiday that we took in Newquay 40 years ago. The holiday was nice enough but was memorable to us for the journey home and the kindness shown to us by a Midlands family.

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Chapter 4. Shark and Chips

Posted by Trevor Smith on December 11, 2007 12:18 PM

How to furnish a house in Australia in one weekend for less than 1000 dollars? Well it can be done; all you need is a Sunday newspaper, a street directory and a trailer.

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Chapter 3. Life's a beach

Posted by Trevor Smith on December 4, 2007 11:13 AM

The beautiful Swan River flows into the Indian Ocean at the port of Fremantle, but 12 miles before that the river opens out to form a lake nearly a mile wide, and it is here that the city of Perth sits, surrounding the river as if to protect its most treasured possession. The tree lined St Georges Terrace runs along the north side of the river and is the main business district and heart of Perth.

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Chapter 2. New surroundings

Posted by Trevor Smith on November 27, 2007 6:20 AM

What was special about January 10th 1982, give up? well it was the night that the coldest ever temperature was recorded in England.
I was watching the ten o’clock news with my wife Sue and when the weather came on they said that a record low of minus 26 deg. centigrade had been recorded at Newport in Shropshire. I couldn’t let the opportunity to experience, what would probably be a once in a lifetime event for me, slip by. I went and woke the kids up, Richard 10, Sarah 13 and told them to put on their warmest clothes because this was the coldest night ever and we were going out.

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The adventure begins

Posted by Trevor Smith on November 26, 2007 1:14 AM

It seems unbelievable to me now but it will be 25 years this Christmas since I first walked across the tarmac on that hot summer night into the small building that was then Perth airport.
I was starting to feel nervous as the reality of what we were doing slowly hit me.

Flying down the west coast of Australia it stuck me just how big and empty the country was with just the lights from the odd coastal township to break up the blackness.

So here I was, one o’clock at night in a strange country with a young family, not knowing where we would sleep and with exactly one thousand pounds to my name.

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