See you next year!

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!

So tomorrow is 2007.

An update on what I've been up to since arriving in Perth: Includes some old buildings, lots of beaches and swimming, some seed picking, and a concert.

I've been in the Perth area for a little over a week, and I have to say I have yet to go downtown and see Perth. So what have I been up to?

The first few days in Perth were devoted to running errands and doing last minute Christmas shopping.
Christmas Eve we went to the Carols by Candlelight, held in a little park. It wasn't actually dark when it started, as Western Aus had just switched to Daylights Savings and the time for the Carols hadn't been changed, so the sun was still in the sky at the start. Luckily it was close enough to sunset that we managed to light candles towards the end of the show. It started off nice, with the Girl Guides (Girl Scouts) singing a few songs, and then a girl with a lovely voice sang; but by the end no one knew what they were singing (was alcohol involved or did they simply not know the words?). It was still nice though. And I guess singing the carols did make it seem a bit more like the holiday season. Christmas day we opened gifts (how did Santa manage to find me all the way over here?!), and watched movies (Life of Brian somehow seemed appropriate to watch on Christmas...I'm sure a few would cringe at the thought but we found it funny). Christmas dinner was outside, with turkey, ham, and lots of summery salads. And a few white russians. Ok, only 2, as we all know how well Mel handles her alcohol. 😊

Boxing Day we tried to beat the heat by going up to Lake Leschenaultia, which is a manmade lake originally designed to provide water for steam engines. Now it's a nice recreational spot, and excellent for beating the summer heat. And it was very hot over Christmas! Or rather, I found it hot as I'm not used to it. I think it was close to 37 (98.6F) on Boxing Day. After some swimming and finding a nicer spot (our initial spot was rather full of weeds, making it hard to swim!). There was also a nice picnic dinner of Christmas leftovers by the lake. I wish I had brought my camera, but I guess that means we'll just have to go back up there!


The past week has been a bit of a blur, but it included lots of beach action. Last Wednesday, Sarah volunteered with Conservation Volunteers Australia, and I explored the city of Fremantle, locally called "Freo". It's a cute little place, full of beautiful old architecture. It was really hot, so after wandering around a bit waiting for stores and the Visitor's information centre to open, I ended up in the water! I was down by the Round House, which claims to be the oldest building in Western Australia, and spotted a beautiful little beach. And so I dipped my feet in and discovered it was refreshingly COLD. And of course I had my bathing suit (or "bathers" as refered to here) with me (I was supposed to meet Sarah after her volunteering and we were meant to go to the beach). So I changed and into the water I went. This was around 10am. If it was hot enough for me to dive into the water at 10am, could you imagine how hot it must've been later in the afternoon? I spent the rest of the afternoon seeking as much shade as possible and trying to avoid the queasiness from the heat that I had experienced on Boxing Day and in Adelaide.

As I looked for air conditioning, I visited a digeridoo shop, where I got a free lesson! I think I managed to spend over an hour in that store, and had quite a bit of fun making some strange noises come out of the digeridoo. And I got quite dizzy and light-headed trying to play it and control my breathing at the same time. But I did manage to get some neat sounds out of it by the end! I may end up going back for a proper lesson, which they offer every week. I had always considered the digeridoo a neat instrument, but figured it was such a tourist thing to buy. But now that I've had a lesson and I know where to get more lessons, I am tempted to actually buy one. Of course, I'll have to save a bit for it, but who knows...I may come back into North America carrying a digeridoo!

I finally left the store when my hunger decided it was time to go. So I set off in search of The Mill Bakehouse, which the guy at the store had recommended. There I got this very tasty chicken sandwich on a fresh roll, with avocado, cheese, tomatoes and pesto. Very yummy. And I found a nice park by the port with large shade-giving trees to eat it in.

Then I wandered off to the Shipwreck Galleries. They had a really fascinating display of a shipwreck mystery, broken down into six sections, through which they gave the various clues to the identity of the ship and described how they determined whose ship it had been and when it had sunk (the ship turned out to be that of a shipping company based in Boston, MA). They also had part of the hull of the Batavia, a famous shipwreck from 1692. I was also intrigued by the collection of old cartographer's maps that they had on display. I love looking at old maps, and the early ones of Australia were particularly funny, as they'd show one coastline but no opposite side to the coast (not even a guess as to how large the land mass was, most maps simply showed a coastline surrounded by water on both sides!). Other maps showed parts of the Aussie coastline joined with some of the other Pacific Islands, which was amusing too.

Then it was time to meet up with Sarah, and so back to the train station I went. We took a train to North Freo, where we met up with another friend and spent a couple of hours swimming in the refreshing waters. That evening we went for dinner and out to a pub, where some old married guy decided we were cute. Doesn't seem to matter where in the world you are...skeevy old men exist everywhere!

The next day I volunteered with Sarah...we went out onto the dunes to gather seeds for a conservation group. It was hot, and we had to wear long sleeves and pants. The view was both beautiful and a bit of a torture, as we were on top of the dunes in long sleeves, with the sun beating down on us, and the water was so close and inviting. It was aboslutely gorgeous, but I couldn't wait to actually get into the water! Luckily after lunch there was a bit of a breeze, which made picking a bit easier. Afterwards, we had a dip in the water and it was good.

Friday night was aweome...we went to see The Cat Empire live at Belvoir Amphitheatre, which is an outdoor ampitheatre. The opening act was a local Perth band called the Sunshine Brothers...they were pretty good. And then Cat Empire came on, and that was just AWESOME. It was a great show, full of energy and just so much fun! I actually recognized one of their songs, which makes me think that perhaps they played at the Montreal Jazz Fest last year...but I'm not certain.

Yesterday was yet another day at the beach...I just love the water! I can't get enough! Afterwards we had dinner in Freo, and saw Casino Royale...which was fantastic.

I hope everyone has a great New Year's!

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Photos

A beach in Freo
A lovely beach by the Round House where I took a morning dip.

Freo Art
A statue in Fremantle

Freo Reflections
A reflection of the lovely buildings in Fremantle

The Whaler's Tunnel
A tunnel below the Round House

The Cat Empire
At Belvoir Amphitheatre, an open air theatre. Awesome concert!

Sunset Trees
In Fremantle near the port.