Rottnest Glory

We took a boat ride a couple of days after Christmas at the invitation of a family friend and his wife; Dave and Jenny. Dave is Steve's very regular dive buddy. Jenny doesn't dive, but she is an artist and lovely woman. They offered to take us all to Rottnest Island, a picturesque island off the coast of Perth. It is an hour boat ride, (and a wild ride at that!) but once you arrive you feel as though you've been transported to a time and place that might have existed years and years ago. Transportation on the island is only via bicycle, unless you sign up for a bus tour. The island is inhabited by the infamous Quokka, a smaller version of a kangaroo and in plentiful supply. In fact, Rottnest Island used to be known as Ratnest Island, because the people used to think the Quokka was a rat. Fortunately, it was found to be a marsupial, and Ratnest became Rottnest; honestly, a much more appealing name.
We swam and went snorkeling and had the most amazing day. The pictures tell it all. We had an even wilder ride on the way home, as the wind had picked up quite a bit and the swells on the ocean were considerable. No one was seasick, thankfully, except the boat captains wife, Jenny, who says she always gets sick.
All the kids tried a bit of snorkeling off this amazing reef with exquisite colors. We all saw a variety of beautifully colored fish, coral and various plantlife. It was spectacular. I could not get over the incredible beauty of this place. Now I am told this pales in comparison to some other places within a days drive that we are being encouraged to visit. I'm certain that we will...
Lucas and I were allowed to strap on a dive tank and dive below the water, after some instruction from the boat captain, Dave. Neither of us had done it before and it was just thrilling. Lucas is ready to get his diving certificate, and will probably start a course in January. Yea Lucas!
Enjoy these pics. Sorry it's so cold in the States right now....

Merry Christmas Crackers

We were introduced to an Australian/English tradition this Christmas. It was such fun. They have what they call "crackers" which are put at each person's plate for Christmas dinner. They are wrapped in pretty paper with ribbons, with tufts of wrapping paper at each end. The idea is to have someone pull on the other end while you pull on your end. One of you will pull out a useless bit of cardboard, and the other person will get the contents. It makes a "pop" as it's pulled. The contents of our crackers included a Christmas hat (to be put on immediately), a piece of paper with a joke (much like a fortune cookie), a few pieces of chocolate, and a tiny squirt gun. Our guests made and brought our crackers, which allows you to put whatever you want in them. Suzie, my friend responsible for the crackers, quietly asked me to put a bowl of water at both of the tables where we were to enjoy Christmas dinner. The kids had a bowl and the adults had a bowl, though I had no idea why (until, of course, after we opened our "crackers")! It was great fun "pulling" our crackers and discovering the contents. The hats went on, the jokes were shared, and the squirt guns were put into immediate use. There was a spell of complete chaos as water fights broke out between the two tables, but finally we all settled into eating our meal. Of course, due to the heat we had a cold Christmas dinner, with a fabulous fillet of beef, cold lobster, shrimp, ceviche (an appetizer of small pieces of raw fish marinated in lime or lemon juice, often with onions, peppers, and spices) and several different types of cold salads. It was memorable. Afterward, we again were introduced to an Australian/English staple at Christmastime; Christmas pudding. I had never had it before, but it was quite good. It is made from rum-soaked dried fruits essentially inside a fruitcake, but of less density. It is served warm with a rum-cream to go over it. I was happy to have tried it, but I would opt for our more traditional apple, cherry, blueberry or mince meat pie any day. As it turned out I had made a 3-berry crumbleberry pie, which was instantly devoured by all the kids. No Christmas pudding for them!
After singing some Christmas carols with the group, accompanied by Suzie's 89 year old father playing a "Concertina", we went to the beach for a swim. It was spectacular. However, it was quite windy at the beach, so we could not stay unless we were in the water, as sand was blowing everywhere. Due to the high winds, the surf was rocking and rolling and it was great fun.
So, Christmas, Aussie-style. Very different from what we know, but truly a great time was had by all.
Happy Birthday, Jesus!

Christmas carols a la July 4th...

Goodness, how does that happen? Christmas just sneaks up and happens and then it's gone again. Here it is 28 December. Heck, Boxing Day is over already too! Anyway, our first Australian Christmas was memorable; if nothing else, then for the fact that we were in Australia! Of course, add to it that it's daylight savings time here now (Christmas lights are not visible until 8.30 or 9.00 pm), Christmas activities are done in shorts and tank tops, and it's warm and we are swimming in the ocean every day! Nonetheless, Australian's seem to enjoy their Christmastime just as much as the next continent. Before Christmas we enjoyed going to a "Carols in the Park" event with some friends. It's an event that features singing Christmas carols, hearing a Christmas message (it's sponsored by a Christian church), and finishes off with fireworks after dark. It was just like a 4th of July celebration in the States, except with Christmas carols! There were booths there for food, people throwing footballs, frisbees, and anything else easy to launch, lots and lots of glow sticks, necklaces, headgear, etc. It was quite fun and certainly did a lot to get us pumped up with that elusive Christmas spirit. Pics and a video clip below!

Behind the waterfall. Sneaky. Remember the scene in "Last of the Mohicians?" Well its a little like that except that if you jumped in here the water would come up to your ankles and the choi would nibble at your toes. Except for that, its just like the movie...

Paula is spewin'!
Only in Singapore can you find a giant half fish half lion spitting water out of its mouth. Tourists (like us) line their bodies up in funny positions, making the water come in and out of their orifices. This is especially popular with the Chineese.

Christmas cheer...a fat rear?

OK, this is weird. It's Christmas time, right? December 13th, it's in full swing; people are counting the days; the stores advertise how many shopping days are left. Technically, I think they say there are more shopping days left than there are days left before Christmas, but that's a topic for another blog....

Anyway, think about this...it's Christmas, and everything that goes with it is in your face; lots of good food, baking cookies, extra helpings of chocolate, bla bla bla. OK, well, dammit, it's summer here! We're supposed to be looking good in our shorts and bikinis! How the heck does that happen while Christmas is going on?????? Oh, it's all wrong! We should be wrapped up from neck to toe in anything red or green, which shows our seasonal spirit, and conveniently hides those extra kilos...um, eh, I mean pounds. This thing about being scantilly clad in summer clothes does NOT jive with all the Christmas trappings.

Who do I talk to about this?????

Signed,
Feeling phat

home sweet home....

I felt that way about our home in Perth a week ago when we were on our journey to Kaula Lumpur in Malaysia. Our little abode in Australia looked pretty good from there, and our Australian hosts did too. We were the only white, blue eyed, blond people as far as the eye could see most of the time. Let me tell you, if you need a scarf, the place to be is Kuala Lumpur...no where else on the planet could possibly have more stores selling fabrics with which to make scarves and burkas. Not sure if we went to the wrong area of the city, but we could not find any good shopping (unless you seriously loved scarves). We were frustrated by that, as we thought it would be really awesome and we would get great stuff really cheap. We tried to communicate our wishes with each taxi driver with whom we took our lives in our hands, but, alas. It was certainly an adventure and now we can say we have traveled to Malaysia.
Having said that, we left a day early and took the train to Singapore. Let's just say it wasn't the luxury liner we had been led to believe, but, another adventure. Don't even get me started on the toilets. Anyway, we arrived in Singapore and were instantly smitten. What a fabulous city. We enjoyed our time there immensley, and we even hooked up with an old college buddy of Steve's from U of O. He and his wife are American but have lived in Singapore for 13 years. We had a good old time with them. We racked our brains to figure out a way to stay longer, as the few days we had was nowhere near enough. There is a great deal to do and see in Singapore and it is lovely there. But, you have to leave your gum at home (illegal)and swallow that loogie or you will be caned. (I hear that hurts quite a bit) Needless to say, there is no gum on the sidewalks, which are also quite free of sputum. I liked it.
We had a wonderful trip and my husband outdid himself for my 50th birthday. However, we've both agreed next time we'll book a resort at Phuket in Thailand and sip Pina Coladas while we sit on chairs in the Andaman Sea. Pics below are in Kuala Lumpur....





















The pictures below are from Singapore!

Meet Bob....(tail)

Found this little guy on our porch as I was going out the front door the other day. Imagine my surprise! Actually, I had seen his kind before; they are all over the place here, especially on walking paths in the parks and by the coastline. They are called Bob Tails and they look much more fierce than they really are. The can't move very fast and if they feel especially threatened they will hiss at you, but that's about it. I got this guy to hiss at me several times, but never when the shutter on the camera clicked so I don't have a picture of it.
They can give you a bit of a scare the first time you encounter one, but they are harmless and many people like to have one or two in their gardens to eat the bugs. I imagine he is still around our house somewhere, but I haven't seen him again yet.
See you next time, Bob!

Halloween...Australian style...or NOT

Well, I can't say I wasn't disappointed. Australian's do not embrace Halloween as we do in America. They consider it a strictly American event and have no interest in joining in. OK, I get that. But, as Americans in Australia we missed it! Cami is the only one who attempted the door-to-door adventure for candy. Sam was just back from his week at school camp and Lucas, well, he's just too big for trick-or-treat now! Being good brothers to Cami, Sam and Lucas took her and her 2 friends out around the neighborhood where they met with mixed results. Oh well. We'll have no fewer than ten ORANGE pumpkins our first Halloween back in America and do it up right when we are home again. In the meanwhile, here's a picture of our pumpkin in Australia. It's really just a squash and was the biggest we could find. It cost us $10. That's $3.99 a kilo or a little over $2 per lb.
Turning to thoughts of Thanksgiving...which is, of course, a strictly American holiday, I found turkey's in the frozen food section in the grocery store; the least expensive one was about $73. I'm thinking shrimp on the barbie this year!
Cheers...