It's summer in Perth. As a matter of fact, today the high temperature is forecast to be 44 degrees Celsius. Tomorrow we get a little reprieve from the heat when the temperature is supposed to plummet down to 41. Besides the hot weather, summer in Perth means beaches, school holidays, Christmas and another invasion of the the northern hordes trying desperately to escape the frigid arctic conditions (this year that's not even much of an exaggeration!)
We got to spend this holiday season with Kathy, Nadia's mom, who traveled from Calgary to Perth for about 2 weeks before ending her holiday in New Zealand (where she currently is). The trip started off somewhat auspiciously as the airline (who shall remain nameless but it rhymes with Air Schmanada) lost one of her two pieces of checked baggage. Fortunately, the suitcase that had all of Kathy's clothes and essentials did arrive. Unfortunately, the package with Christmas presents and some other miscellaneous items did not. When she arrived in Perth, Kathy and Nadia reported it through the proper channels at the airport and we all assumed it wouldn't be long before the package arrived.
Here's a run-down, via photo, of Kathy's visit with us. The first few days we spent in and around our general area while Kathy recovered from the trip and got accustomed to the time and weather change. Fortunately for her, it never got really hot while she was here.
One of the things we occasionally love to do is visit the huge flock of Cockatoos that roost just a short walk away from our house. Every day at dusk hundreds of them gather, squawk, bicker and hang out. The photo above is just a very small portion of the gathering.
You can't come to Perth in the summer without a) going to the beach; b) going for a picnic; and c) watching the sunset. Here we are killing three birds with one stone (what the birds ever did to us to deserve a stoning no one knows).
...and here Kathy dips her toes in the Indian Ocean, I believe for the first time. That is Kathy in the foreground, she is not the kayaker on the left nor the surfer on the right.
There is a national park called Yanchep that is about a 30 minute drive from our home. It's a nice little area complete with all sorts of flora and fauna. We spent a large portion of one day there. (The lost package has not been found.)
As we parked the car we noticed these two perched in the tree directly above our car. These are a type of cockatoo that is very common in Western Australia called a Gynah. I'm not sure if the nature of their relationship is parent-child, partner-partner, or perhaps a couple of friends just hanging out. Either way they were very entertaining, precocious and cute.
However, the birds that really stole the show during this visit were the Kookaburra's. There are two of them on the branches above but while we were watching there were three of them: one had caught some sort of giant moth and the other two were trying to steal it for almost an hour. Kookaburras are birds that are famous for their monkey-like call that can be heard over great distances. These three were very engaging and noisy.
Koala's aren't native to Western Australia. They live in the forests in Queensland (northeastern Australia for those of you without a globe). However, Yanchep has an enclosure containing 11 of them. The enclosure isn't actually enclosed- I mean it's not like they're going to run away. It allows people to get a close up look at the Koala's while they're sleeping. It's unusual to see them doing anything but sleeping as they sleep for 20 hours every day. The other 4 hours are largely spent eating, scratching and planning their next nap. Above, Kathy is taking a photo of a Koala in a tree (that is likely sleeping).
Here's a close-up of one of the Yanchep Koala's in "action".
Of course, no Australian wildlife experience would be complete with kangaroos. There is a group (herd? pride? flock? school?) of wild gray kangaroos that live in Yanchep. During the day they can usually be found in a shady spot. During the night they can usually be found jumping in front of cars on the highway. Kangaroos, in general, aren't really bothered by people so you can usually get pretty close to them as seen above.
In addition to the fauna, Yanchep has some beautiful flora. We missed most of the wildflower season but still caught the tail-end of some of the blooms like the red tree and purple bush above with Kathy in between.
There are some spots in Perth that could pass as paradise. On the way back from Yanchep we stopped by a beach to dip our toes in the water.
A trip to Perth wouldn't be complete without visiting Fremantle. This is a city about 20 minutes southwest of Perth that is known for it's busy shipping port, commercial fishing, busy weekend market, historic buildings and it's quaint colonial charm. (The lost package has not been found.)
Fremantle used to be a busy whaling port. Here Kathy is walking into the tunnel that was used to drag whales from the beach towards the processing area. It was also later used as part of the historic prison.
In the summer, having a pool is a real blessing. When it's really hot out one of the best things to do is to go play, exercise or just relax in the pool.
Here Kathy and Keva test out our kayaks while some of us are snorkeling. This little reef is about 5 kms from our house.
Whenever possible we like to take advantage of the great weather and eat dinner outside while watching the sunset. Last Christmas the temperature was in the high 30's, but this year it was much cooler. After talking to some locals we discovered that December generally has fairly mild weather (mid 20's) while the real hot stuff starts in January and continues through February. That's been our experience this summer so far. Even so, slightly cooler weather is great for eating outdoors which is what we largely did during Kathy's visit. (The lost package has not been found.)
Enjoying our alfresco Christmas Eve dinner...
...and the next morning (Christmas morning) opening presents, some of which still haven't arrived from Canada in the lost package.
Christmas is exhausting for everyone.
On Boxing Day we packed up and traveled south to the Margaret River area. Margaret River is about 3 hours south of Perth and is a very busy and popular tourist destination (at least among Australians). It's is an area known for wineries, caves, forests, beaches, surfing and food. We spent a week in Margaret River and returned on New Years Eve. (The lost package has not been found.)
The first stop on our trip was in Busselton, a charming little town about half-way to Margaret River. Busselton's claim to fame is it's jetty which is 2 kilometers long, making it the longest in the southern hemisphere. In the picture above you can just barely see part of the jetty in the background. It's amazing we managed to get this picture at all as the flies were so bad that we were either constantly running from place to place or swatting in front of our face in a gesture that is commonly known as the "Perth wave". At the end of the jetty they have an underwater observatory where you can see an amazing abundance of fish and other marine life in their natural habitat. They have even spotted sharks from time to time. This was our third trip to the jetty and each time we have tried to go to the observatory and each time we haven't been able to either because of the time of day, rough weather conditions or that they were fully booked. One day we'll see the bloody beautiful fish in their bloody wonderful natural environment at the end of the southern hemispheres longest bloody jetty.
Margaret River is probably best known for it's food and wine (in particular it's wine). There are probably around a hundred wineries in a very small area. In the picture above we are joined by Tanya's family (Cyrus' girlfriend) at one of the local wineries. The trees, vineyards and rolling hills (and wine) really make it a pleasant place to be.
There are also a handful of accessible caves in the Margaret River region. Above you can see some of us traversing the platform on a guided tour in Jewel Cave.
Margaret River is very near to the southwest corner of the continent where the Indian Ocean (to the west) meets the Southern Ocean (to the south, duh). In the picture above, Nadia and I are dipping our feet into the Southern Ocean for the first time. Now there is only one ocean that we haven't been in: the Arctic. I'm not sure that we'll go for a dip there anytime soon.
There are a lot of really nice beaches, swimming areas and diving areas in Margaret River. One of these areas combines all three. Hamelin Bay is a area where you can laze on the beach, snorkel or scuba with the fish, go for a swim or try to catch your dinner. Hamelin Bay is also famous for it's stingrays. The locals that fish from the beach have a fish cleaning station right on the beach. After they are finished cleaning they throw the remains of their catch (usually the head and bones) back in the water. Over the years this has attracted some very large stingrays to come in very close to shore to feed on the leftovers. Above is a picture of me feeding one of the rays. There were at least two different species of rays, some of them huge, some of them missing their tails and some a little more shy than others.
Margaret River is full of beautiful scenes including the bay in the picture above.
We stopped at the bay to look at the view and then noticed a bunch of surfers in the water. Not long after we noticed a large pod of dolphins not to far from the surfers. Above, you can see the surfers on the right and you can faintly make out the dolphins (on the same wave) on the left.
One of our favorite summer activities in Perth is to go to the outdoor cinemas. There are several different venues in Perth, some with seats and some with just grass. Some of them play Hollywood blockbusters and some play largely foreign films for the Perth International Film Festival. Margaret River has one outdoor cinema and it is at one of the wineries. It is always busy and somewhat difficult to get both a ticket and a decent patch of grass. In the photo above we are just settling into our spots.
On New Years Eve we went out for dinner and watched the amazing fireworks from Sydney on TV (the biggest fireworks display on the planet). We made it all the way to midnight and managed to stay awake. Shortly thereafter we passed out. (The lost package has not been found.)
The next day, on New Years Day, we all drove to the airport to say goodbye to Kathy as she made her way to New Zealand. (The lost package has not been found.)
Then, about a week ago we received an email from Air Canada. The lost package has been found! They told us that it had been sent on it's way to Perth and should be there shortly. A couple days later, the package arrived. Here it is under our tree:
So, a couple days ago we had our second Christmas. As you can see the package is a little worse for wear. It had been inspected by Canadian customs. Presumably it had also been used as some sort of chair or perhaps a sports ball that is kicked and/or thrown from one participant to another. Fortunately, all of the goodies inside were undamaged and, as far as we know, accounted for. So, even though it was sad to say goodbye to Kathy she was still with us, in a way, even a week after she left.
Best of the season to all of the northern, southern, eastern and western hordes out there and happy New Year! May all of your life's lost parcels arrive well-traveled, experienced, shared and undamaged (that's going on our family Christmas Card next year so don't try to steal it!)
