Australia, continued...
Well, the adventures continue.
When I last wrote, we had just arrived back in Perth after being ousted from the house in Margaret River. A few fun and entertaining things of note have happened since then...
When we were at the music festival in Nannup last weekend, we met one of Troy and Amanda's friends, Ian. Ian is a through and through Australian outbacker. He fences the outback, hunts Kangaroo, drinks like a fish, and has nothing nice to say about the Aboriginal people, but other than that, he is a really nice guy and would give you the shirt off his back.
On Tuesday, Ian invited us down to his place in Punjarra for a day of boating and drinking. Now, I was thinking that we would be going out in a motorboat of some sort, but when we arrived, I saw a nice little tin boat sitting on a trailer in his driveway. I started to chuckle to myself. I found out later that we were also borrowing the neighbour's boat because there were too many of us to fit in just the tinner. The neighbour's boat was even sketchier than their's.
We had a nice drive down the Murray River to the Estuary where we had lunch at a marina pub. Ian's sons took the neighbour's boat out for a spin while we were eating, and managed to crash it into a tree and take a huge chunk of fiberglass out of the nose. It was still sea worthy though, so we weren't stranded.
I got dragged in a tube back to their place behind the tinner, which was interesting. The Murray River is a brown, murky, saltwater river and even though crocodiles aren't seen in that area, I was on the lookout. I was nice and fat from lunch and would have been an easy target for some hungry sea-creature.
Everyone was into the booze when we returned back to Ian's. At one point, one of the sons came sneaking up to Ian and said, "Hey, it's Mom's birthday today". It ended up that the whole family had forgotten, other than the eldest son who called from Perth who reminded the other kids. So, of course we felt a little awkward. We had planned on leaving their place at about 4:00, but Ian threw together an impromptu BBQ, so we stuck around for that and didn't leave their place until well after 11:00.
When we finally escaped, we drove home laughing our faces off recalling the events of the day.
So now I can say I've been to a real Australian BBQ.
The next day we had booked a trip to Rottnest Island, which is a beautiful island 19 kms off the coast of Perth. We drove down to Fremantle and caught one of the fast ferries over. The island is gorgeous. There are coral reefs everywhere surrounding the coast, so the water shines with this amazing turquoise blue. There are no vehicles allowed on the island, except for a bus and a few emergency vehicles, so everyone travels around by bike or foot.
The island was once a defensive post, and housed a gigantic cannon-like gun. It is decommissioned, but still intact, so we decided to take a tour of the base. The tour consisted of a 25min train ride to and from the site which gave us a really good view of the island. The barrel of the cannon is around 14 feet long and has a range of about 30 kms, so it was massive. There was also a maze of tunnels built into the side of the hill it sat atop, so we got to wander around in those as well. It was pretty interesting, even though that kind of stuff isn't my thing.
Peacocks run wild there, as do a little animal called a Quokka. Quokka's are little marsupial-like creatures, that look like rat-sized Kangaroos. They really are quite adorable, and are only found on Rottnest and a small area around Perth. A Dutch explorer discover the island and thought the Quokkas were a type of rat. He claimed the area was like a big rat's nest, leading to the name Rottnest Island.
The rest of the day we spent sitting at the beach-side bar. Mom and I flopped down in the white sand and kept getting fed Daiquiris. It was our first chance since we arrived to sit on the beach, so we soaked it up.
The next day we got up early again and headed to the Perth Zoo. I haven't been to a zoo in eons, so I was really excited. Their zoo is phenomenal. There's a huge Australian section where you can actually go in and walk with the animals. I got to pet a kangaroo and an Australian penguin. The zoo also hosts a huge Asian and African selection of animals.
My favorite animals were the Orangutans. I could have sat and watched them for hours. The big male is actually from the Toronto Zoo, so I found that kinda neat. The resident crocodile is massive and scared the shit out of me. Thank christ they aren't down in this area of Australia. I don't think I'd ever go in the water again.
We went shopping in Fremantle yesterday. I am constantly amazed at how cheap some of the clothing is here. Billabong and Roxy shit is so cheap that Mom and I were discussing buying up a bunch of it to sell at home. I bought a Billabong purse for $40, which would cost me about $100 at home. Pretty sick.
The neighbours invited us to a seafood BBQ last night which was mind-blowing. The host's brother-in-law is a chef, so he did all the food. I tried a few things I'd never had before, and had some good conversations with some of the other attendees about the differences and similarities between Canada and Australia. It's amazing how little most people over here know about Canada. Lots of people lump us in with Americans. I suppose all they know about our countries is what they see on TV or movies, much like my first impression of Australia.
Tonight is our turn to host a BBQ. (The 'ol "shrimp on the Barbie" lifestyle is so true!) The same neighbours from last night, Ian and his family, and some of Troy's band mates are coming over, so that should be an interesting mix. I have no clue what we are making, but we are off to the grocery store soon, so I better wrap this up.
Hope all is well with everyone, and don't expect another installment from me in the next week or so. I think we are heading down to Margaret River again on Tuesday, so I may not be around a computer for a bit again.
Ta ta for now.
When I last wrote, we had just arrived back in Perth after being ousted from the house in Margaret River. A few fun and entertaining things of note have happened since then...
When we were at the music festival in Nannup last weekend, we met one of Troy and Amanda's friends, Ian. Ian is a through and through Australian outbacker. He fences the outback, hunts Kangaroo, drinks like a fish, and has nothing nice to say about the Aboriginal people, but other than that, he is a really nice guy and would give you the shirt off his back.
On Tuesday, Ian invited us down to his place in Punjarra for a day of boating and drinking. Now, I was thinking that we would be going out in a motorboat of some sort, but when we arrived, I saw a nice little tin boat sitting on a trailer in his driveway. I started to chuckle to myself. I found out later that we were also borrowing the neighbour's boat because there were too many of us to fit in just the tinner. The neighbour's boat was even sketchier than their's.
We had a nice drive down the Murray River to the Estuary where we had lunch at a marina pub. Ian's sons took the neighbour's boat out for a spin while we were eating, and managed to crash it into a tree and take a huge chunk of fiberglass out of the nose. It was still sea worthy though, so we weren't stranded.
I got dragged in a tube back to their place behind the tinner, which was interesting. The Murray River is a brown, murky, saltwater river and even though crocodiles aren't seen in that area, I was on the lookout. I was nice and fat from lunch and would have been an easy target for some hungry sea-creature.
Everyone was into the booze when we returned back to Ian's. At one point, one of the sons came sneaking up to Ian and said, "Hey, it's Mom's birthday today". It ended up that the whole family had forgotten, other than the eldest son who called from Perth who reminded the other kids. So, of course we felt a little awkward. We had planned on leaving their place at about 4:00, but Ian threw together an impromptu BBQ, so we stuck around for that and didn't leave their place until well after 11:00.
When we finally escaped, we drove home laughing our faces off recalling the events of the day.
So now I can say I've been to a real Australian BBQ.
The next day we had booked a trip to Rottnest Island, which is a beautiful island 19 kms off the coast of Perth. We drove down to Fremantle and caught one of the fast ferries over. The island is gorgeous. There are coral reefs everywhere surrounding the coast, so the water shines with this amazing turquoise blue. There are no vehicles allowed on the island, except for a bus and a few emergency vehicles, so everyone travels around by bike or foot.
The island was once a defensive post, and housed a gigantic cannon-like gun. It is decommissioned, but still intact, so we decided to take a tour of the base. The tour consisted of a 25min train ride to and from the site which gave us a really good view of the island. The barrel of the cannon is around 14 feet long and has a range of about 30 kms, so it was massive. There was also a maze of tunnels built into the side of the hill it sat atop, so we got to wander around in those as well. It was pretty interesting, even though that kind of stuff isn't my thing.
Peacocks run wild there, as do a little animal called a Quokka. Quokka's are little marsupial-like creatures, that look like rat-sized Kangaroos. They really are quite adorable, and are only found on Rottnest and a small area around Perth. A Dutch explorer discover the island and thought the Quokkas were a type of rat. He claimed the area was like a big rat's nest, leading to the name Rottnest Island.
The rest of the day we spent sitting at the beach-side bar. Mom and I flopped down in the white sand and kept getting fed Daiquiris. It was our first chance since we arrived to sit on the beach, so we soaked it up.
The next day we got up early again and headed to the Perth Zoo. I haven't been to a zoo in eons, so I was really excited. Their zoo is phenomenal. There's a huge Australian section where you can actually go in and walk with the animals. I got to pet a kangaroo and an Australian penguin. The zoo also hosts a huge Asian and African selection of animals.
My favorite animals were the Orangutans. I could have sat and watched them for hours. The big male is actually from the Toronto Zoo, so I found that kinda neat. The resident crocodile is massive and scared the shit out of me. Thank christ they aren't down in this area of Australia. I don't think I'd ever go in the water again.
We went shopping in Fremantle yesterday. I am constantly amazed at how cheap some of the clothing is here. Billabong and Roxy shit is so cheap that Mom and I were discussing buying up a bunch of it to sell at home. I bought a Billabong purse for $40, which would cost me about $100 at home. Pretty sick.
The neighbours invited us to a seafood BBQ last night which was mind-blowing. The host's brother-in-law is a chef, so he did all the food. I tried a few things I'd never had before, and had some good conversations with some of the other attendees about the differences and similarities between Canada and Australia. It's amazing how little most people over here know about Canada. Lots of people lump us in with Americans. I suppose all they know about our countries is what they see on TV or movies, much like my first impression of Australia.
Tonight is our turn to host a BBQ. (The 'ol "shrimp on the Barbie" lifestyle is so true!) The same neighbours from last night, Ian and his family, and some of Troy's band mates are coming over, so that should be an interesting mix. I have no clue what we are making, but we are off to the grocery store soon, so I better wrap this up.
Hope all is well with everyone, and don't expect another installment from me in the next week or so. I think we are heading down to Margaret River again on Tuesday, so I may not be around a computer for a bit again.
Ta ta for now.