How’s it going everyone?
Well, winter is in full swing down on this side of the globe even though the shortest day of the year has passed. The last couple of weeks have been quite hectic but we’re almost done our dash and winter holidays are finally here!
Last weekend, we went hiking out towards Bald Head (a nearby coastal landmark) with some friends on a gorgeous winter day. A lot of people were enjoying the sun’s warmth in shorts and sandals. While our friends saw 4 whales that morning, we didn’t see any on the hike but they are starting to appear with increasing regularity. By the time we return from vacation the whale season will be in full swing!
Two weeks ago we drove up to Perth to attend an Australian rules footie game at Subiaco oval to watch the West Coast Eagles (the Perth team) play Geelong, the best team in the league. Nancy’s deputy principal has been a member (similar to a season ticket holder) of the Eagles for years and years and kindly gave us some seats. No one expected the Eagles to win but they were absolutely trounced; one of their worst, if not THE worst loss since entering the league in 1986. There was a 122 point difference in scores! Nevertheless there was a good turnout (38,000+) and it was fun to watch a totally new sport. The players wear odometers and , on average, run 17 kms a game; talk about being in shape! We stayed over that night with a Canadian teacher and had a great Italian meal at a local restaurant. We had a nice drive back the next day and picked up some local mandarin oranges at a roadside stand. The mandarins here have a completely different taste from the Christmas oranges at home – these are even better!
Yesterday (July 3) was Boyd’s 50th birthday. Yes, he is half a century old now. Among other gifts, he got a West Coast Eagles jacket – which he might be too embarrassed to wear after that game we went to! We had a few friends over for dinner, then a bunch more come over (as a surprise for Boyd) for coffee, cake and good Canadian cookies in the evening. We had a really nice time.
It was NAIDOC week at school this week. (National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee) It was a week of celebrating Aboriginal Culture and we had some neat things going on. One of my Noongar (the local tribe)student’s nans came in and taught us about bush tucker (food found in the wild) which we got to sample, and brought in boomerangs, woomeras (spear throwers), coolemons (wooden baskets), digging sticks and other artefacts to look at. She also brought in books which she and her brother have written to try to pass the culture down to the next generation. It was a very good afternoon. We also had a didgeridoo player come and teach us how to play, Aboriginal dancers, damper making (kind of like bannock), as well as stories and art lessons. It was a very good week.
Tomorrow we’ll drive to Perth and hop on a plane to travel 2,600 kms north to Broome. There we’l l be staying at Cable beach (reputedly one of WA’s more famous beaches) and hope to tour about Broome for a few days. Someone in our household wants to buy pearls there! After a few days we’ll be off on a 7 day 4WD camping tour of some of the sights of WA’s great northwest (the Kimberly, Gibb river road, El Questro station, the Bungle Bungles and more). There won’t be power out there to recharge the camera battery, so we had to pick up another battery for it. Hopefully they will last for the week and we’ll post some pictures to the site upon our return.
Cheers from down under.
Boyd and Nancy
