A few short updates since our last post from Rottnest Island:
Lovely picnic at Matilda Bay for our neighbour's birthday party. The Bay is next to the University of Western Australia, and the views look back towards the downtown (known as CBD here, for central business district).
It was 35 degrees, so the adults mostly hung out in the shade of a big tree with beer and food, while the kids played push-each-other-off-the-dock.
Sol finished a set of 5 surfing lessons at Scarborough Beach. He still feels he has some way to go to perfect his technique, but definitely made progress over that period. Now we have to figure out ways to get him surfing opportunities back in Victoria...
Weekend visit to Mundaring Weir included a stop at the Mundaring art park:
We met some fun loving tourists in the park as well. Couldn't quite figure out what they were all looking at.
The weir itself is pretty impressive, sending 90 million litres of water per day to the goldfields of Kalgoorlie, through the longest freshwater pipeline in the world (560 km).
However, when the Rainbow Lorikeets of Mundaring get thirsty, it's not water they are after.
This past week, I went up to the Kimberley region in the far north of Western Australia for a work trip. Although the subject matter was challenging (suicide prevention), the region is fascinating and we did get to fit in a visit to the famous Cable Beach to watch the sunset...
And on our way back from Mowanjum/Derby, we spotted a few freshies (Crocodilus johnsoni) sunning on a rock. Our list of Australian wildlife spotted is gradually lengthening.
Very strange this year to celebrate Hanukkah in the hot sun. But learned a very useful trick, to keep the candles in the freezer to prevent them from melting in a puddle before they are even lit.
