Another successful day

My plan for the day was to do a circular tour on the bus - bus 30 to Curtin to explore the campus in more detail, then another bus to Perth city centre, then bus 30 back to the flat. 

I have discovered the walk to the bus stop is 12 minutes, half of which is uphill away from the riverfront.  As I have rushed up this several times now, my hamstrings are starting to feel very tight - as I am so unfit.  However on a positive note, my trousers are swinging on me like a marquee.  They have either stretched ... or maybe I've lost weight!  Don't have any scales, so I'm hoping it is the latter.

I thoroughly explored the campus - I can confidently find my way from the bus station to the Textile and Printmaking block, up to the library and Student Centre, to the bank and cafes.

Lovely lines and textures

and shapes and colours, on campus!

In the library I found the textile section and took out a book, to test whether my student card was working.  It took a bit of practice but I got there eventually.  You need to scan the barcode on the book, and I was scanning the publishers barcode, when it needed the university barcode!  And you need your student card password for everything.  You also need to regularly check a subsection "OCC" on the university computer when you take a book out.  The standard loan is for 6 weeks - but if anyone else requests the book, the library will recall the book, via OCC.  You are not sent an email, but are instructed to check OCC every week.  If you fail to return the book, you are fined. I have yet to find my way around the Curtin computer system but I expect I will get used to it.

The book I took out is Art Textiles of the World - Australia Volume 2.  What an ace book.  It shows the work of 12 Australian textile artists and the philosophy behind their works.  A must for all textile enthusiasts.

 Amy, at Westbank, was most helpful today.  I was wondering how to find out how much cash was left on the cash passport, when she told me the balance could not be read by ATMs.  I asked whether my Westbank cards had arrived, and they had not, so I said I could not draw cash.  Amy said she could draw cash from my account on my behalf, so we checked the balance.  No international transfer had been made, so she offered to check at 1pm and 3pm and ring me so I could come in to collect some cash once the transfer had been made.  At 1pm Amy rang, stated the transfer had gone through, and I was the proud (temporary) owner of $1000.  How's that for customer service!

I've been comparing prices with the UK.  The bus fares seem cheap, but most other things seem to be a similar price to London!  In an oriental restaurant, a one course sit down meal was $60 for 3 people.  We only had 2 x plain rice, 3 meat dishes and large bottle of water.  This equates to c£14 per head.  In one of the student cafes the main hot meal (chicken curry and rice) was $9-80 (c£6.50) and a medium bowl of salad was $7.40 (c£5).  This was the full price - you can buy a guild card, which I think is a discount card which entitles you to a discounted price of between 10-15%.  I'm not sure how much they cost, but I think is is around $50.  So if you are eating on site all the time for a whole year, and using it for your main meals, it would be a good deal, but for occasional use, not worth it.  I think we find out about Guild during International induction next week. 

By the time I got back to base, I was exhausted.  I saw Tangea and her husband Richard, and paid the bond.  I am very glad to have paid my bills without too much delay.