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Off we hopped, back up to Perth for Australia Day with the Perth-Aussie Farnham’s. A national holiday celebrated on 26^thJanuary this date commemorates the arrival of the British first fleet to establish a colony at Sydney Cove in 1788. The date is controversial to some Australians, particularly those indigenous aborigines, leading to it being called various alternatives, such as Invasion Day and Survival Day- as we saw with the protests on the day at a function attended by the Australian prime minister (not sure if you got the on the news back home). The conflict between the two groups seems to be a hard one to solve and is a considerable national challenge. Anyway, moving on ...

For Australia Day, we ventured out to the Darling Range of Hills, inland of Perth, to an idyllic small town, Mundaring, where Peter, Andrew’s brother, and Anne live on a beautiful spacious plot of land festooned with native trees, bushes and flowers – plus a swimming pool, to the delight of the children! They were much chuffed indeed to meet their Uncle Peter and once more we enjoyed typical generous Aussie hospitality with a traditional sausage sizzler & lamb chop BBQ! This meal has become tradition just in the last 15-25 years as the nation has become more patriotic since the bicentenary. We also enjoyed a traditional Pavlova and there were jovial arguments with some Kiwi guests as to whether this dessert is Australian or New Zealand in origin..... Enough said! It was also lovely to meet some more second-cousins. This day was 42 degrees, the hottest Oz Day since 1930, but by now we were happily quite acclimatised I am amazed to say.

That evening, the children and I went with Jill into Perth City Centre to experience the ‘Skyworks’ fireworks show, said to rival Sydney’s New Year Fireworks. We chose a spot below the skyscrapers from which many fireworks were ejected and with a backdrop of an electrifying thunder & lightning storm, the combination of which was incredibly exhilarating, if a little terrifying! The patriotism of the Aussies came to the fore with the countdown & commentary expelling the virtues of the “hardworking Australians and the best city in the world, the best country in the world” – quite cringe-worthy, but amusing none-the-less! We also had a jovial time in the crowd of just a little bit merry spectators – one of whom took a liking to Adam and insisted on carrying him aloft on his shoulders to view the fireworks!

An experience that was a must do on our list was to ring the Swan Bells at the Perth Bell Tower (proclaimed as “the biggest musical instrument in the world” –err, hmm... forgetting that we have hundreds of the things across England!). This certainly impressive and beautiful architectural creation was constructed for the millennium with the donation by London of the old bells from the Church of St Martin in the Fields, Trafalgar Square. Every day at noon, bell ringers are able to join the tower captain and his/her band for a ringing session and Andrew, Ellen & I did this and were made very welcome by them. Andrew and Ellen, being current and fairly proficient intermediate ringers, were able to ring some methods whilst I stuck to ringing some ‘rounds’. It was great fun and a real privilege to ring there! Adam & Michelle were invited to do what non-ringing visitors do and that was to chime the bells (in their ‘down’ state). Ellen even got the t-shirt! What does rival any English bell tower is the view from the observatory at the top – it is pretty special!

Well, another pretty spot is the beautiful Kings Park, with the most spectacular views over the city of Perth. It is an area of native bush land & a botanical garden with majestic trees and assorted native flora of Western Australia. They even have a baobab tree that was recently transported down 1000’s of miles from the Kimberley region in the north of Western Australia – it’s just about surviving. This is the largest inner city park in the world and you certainly don’t feel like you are in the midst of a city, it is very peaceful. We also visited the gallery of Western Australia to continue in our quest for Ellen’s Art homework! Apart from that, this young city, the most isolated in the world, is very beautiful, thriving & exciting, but so strikingly devoid of the sights and sounds we are used to in a city of a much longer history. It was after all only created in 1829!

We finished January with a birthday bash today at a smart restuarant for Peters 60th Birthday with his partner Anne, sister Jill & her hubbie Clive. Otherwise, the children are still cracking on with some school work!

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