snow in Perth, Exmouth and Dingo.

---

Snow in Perth



Sunday 7th



Breakfast on Elizabeth quay. Wandered up to the shops. Bronwyn, with absolutely no room in her pack, still managed to find a jacket to buy.



Explored the art gallery. A broad collection of quality artworks well presented. Paintings, sculpture, ceramics, and a couple of installation galleries,



We didn’t have to pretend to be intellectual and ‘knowingly’ stare at an empty room or a pile of detritus being passed off as a ‘meaningful installation’, but instead we saw quality painting from Australia, traditional and contemporary, contemporary indigenous, and a few surprises from international artists.



Later in the afternoon I was walking through the shopping precinct and amidst a low howling noise and high-pitched squeals of children it snowing. Yes, Snowing in Perth. Snow machines had been set up for their ‘winter festival’ I guess it was down to about 16 degrees, so is that winter?















Monday 8^th Update from Exmouth



3am start. Our bags had arrived with about 9 hours to spare. Following the confidence boosting supply of small items (such as new underwear) we got a few hours’ sleep. We took a taxi to the airport with a smelly taxi driver who proudly explained that most nights he slept in his car. We really believed him.



Monday morning at 5am the airport is full of queues of yellow hi viz shirts. Miners returning from the weekend, some carrying their white helmets and red-earth dusted boots. Our flight was the odd one out as we had the tourists, the usual mix of backpackers and travel clothing.



Relaxed flight to Exmouth, arrived just after dawn, picked up the rental car, Spent the afternoon exploring. Drove up to the Vlamingh lighthouse, wreck of the Mildura, wandered a beach.











Tuesday 9th



Woken up in the pre dawn by a schoolyard at high volume. A flock of at least a hundred parrots were flying in circles above the town. We think cockatoos but felt no more favourably towards them for that.



Alongside the road were small villages of termite mounds. As we are in the “shire of Exmouth” we had to check that it was termites that lived in them and not some sort of marsupial hobbit.



Saw a dingo, nonchalantly wandering along the side of the road. We slowed and stopped beyond him and watched as he wandered across the road in front of the other traffic. No apparent road sense or he was just used to traffic stopping for dingoes.







Lakeside has an excellent reef however the currents were strong. We couldn’t swim against them. Oyster stacks were better although still a surprising current. We are thinking this must be unusual. Bronwyn stood in the water and a turtle swum past right in front of her.

---