Perth

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We were in Perth, Western Australia from mid February to mid March -- avoiding the cold of our winters and enjoying the warmth of their summer.

We rented a small apartment for the month near Scarborough Beach (that's north of the CBD but not as far north as when we stayed at Sorrento back in 2004). Kate was busy enough with work at NDRI/Curtin University and I had lots of time to explore the city. We'd often go on adventures, especially on weekends. The odd creature in the photo is a "Quaka" which are only found on Rottnest Island near Perth. They're large rodents, very curious and friendly.

We took a short boat trip out to Penguin Island near Rockingham (that's just a little south of the city) to swim and see the Little Penguins (sometimes called Little Blue or Ferrie Penguin). These were in a zoo like viewing area. If there are some in the wild we didn't see them. They're endangered and wiped out in many parts of the country -- they rest during the night in burrows and are easy prey for cats, rats and dogs. All creatures that have been brought into the country.

We of course spent a lot of time on Scarborough Beach, there are nice restaurants on the beach and lovely sunsets. You're on the west coast of Australia. And there's lovely sand beaches for miles and miles. We visited many of them. We learned about the distinction between "Bogans" and "Hoons" -- even went to an event where they celebrate Bogans. Both are Australian slang and derogatory. In our part of the world we'd say "red neck" rather than "bogan". "Hoons" are the idiots who jack up their cars and burn donuts -- we were told that Scarborough Beach was rife with them but nothing seemed out of place to us. Perhaps that happens more around the December - January holiday period. Kids were back at school when we were there.

One weekend we went south to the Margaret River wine region with our bicycles. Probably the best wine area in all of Western Australia. We bicycled around a bit (gosh it was hot), sampled lots of wines, good restaurants and went swimming in the ocean. At the South Western tip, Cape Leuwin, we did a tour of the Blackwood River on a small boats . Lots of birds, some wind surfers and even a couple of dolphin. At Hamelin Bay we met up with some friendly stingray at the beach. There's the beautiful Yarri forest nearby. On the way back we stopped at the Bussleton Jetty.

There's lots to see in Perth. Reabold Hill is natural parkland within the city near NDRI with good views of the city. I went one day after dropping Kate at work. At Cottesloe Beach, south side of Perth,  there was an impressive juried sculpture exhibition right on the beach. Lots of bright colors and thought provoking works. King's Park in Perth is always interesting. It's a huge park with lots of natural woods and grasslands. There are great views of the city and the Swan River. Lots of interesting trees including a giant Boab (bottle tree) that they trucked thousands of kms from the Kimberley region (up near Broome and Darwin).

Kate and I visited the town of Fremantle again. Our first trip to Australia was to a conference held here in 2003 (per-digital era). It's the container port harbor on the Swan River. At the local farmer's market you could buy free-range ostrich eggs. They're huge. We stopped into a funky bar, "Mojos", in North Fremantle and caught an afternoon of music.

I've mentioned already our bike trip on Rottnest Island. There are a lot of secluded bays where you can go snorkelling in crystal clear waters. I managed to gash my head open swimming under some rocks.

Perth is a lovely city to visit. The weather is ideal, the beaches go on forever, there's nearby vineyards and lots of great wine. We like visiting, it's unfortunate that it's just so far away!