Australian Holiday Adventure

Saturday morning we got up and left early in our rented caravan headed north. We spent most of the day driving with a stop in Geraldton for a lunch break and some sight seeing. That evening we arrived at our first destination in Kalbarri. 

Sunday morning bright and early on the bus for the Kalbarri National Park on the Murchison River. We did our first three absails on the "short wall" (yeah right) and then moved on to the "big wall". The first time over the edge there was no point in looking down. Just watch your feet and try not to panick! and don't forget to breathe. From then on it was not quite so scary. We all three had a great time and the view was great.
Monday morning up early again and on the road to the dunes. We've never been snowboarding because Sherri does not like the snow, but I would imagine it has to be softer than sand! Plus you have a chairlift, which would have been nice when climbing back up the dunes! Beautiful beaches, wonderful weather and lots of fun made up for the bruised bums by the end of the day. We spent the rest of the evening driving to Carnarvon where we spent the night and planned to hit the road early the next day.
On our way out of town Tuesday morning, we stopped at the petrol station to fill up with gas. The attendant came out and said there was gas running out under the van. Sure enough, it was quite the flood. He rinsed the ground with water and we waited for the gas to stop leaking, then drove to the nearest service station. Luckily we were in a town and not at a roadhouse, or we would have been out of luck. Evidently the O-ring for the filter on the gas tank was missing, so they made a new one and fixed us up. 5 1/2 hours later, we were on the road again.
About 50 kilometers before our destination in Exmouth and 4 hours after leaving the service center, the van lost power. Paul pulled to the side of the road and we immediately smelled smoke. Paul opened his door to get out and immediately began to yell "Fire, the things on fire! Get out! Get out!" The people behind us pulled over and called emergency services. They said the van was on fire before we pulled off the road. Thank goodness the engine died and Paul noticed the flames. Paul and Alex were able to throw a few things out before it went up completely, but a lot of our stuff was lost. Due to the fact we were out in no where land it took about 45 minutes to an hour for emergency services to arrive. By that time the fire was almost out. Since it was a fuel fire, it went very fast. The people who stopped were very nice and helped us out tremendously. One of the local hotels put us up for free in their last available room. The caravan company flew us back home Thursday and we will be meeting with them soon to sort everything out.
Friday will be spent regrouping and doing some shopping. Sherri was wearing her prescription sunglasses, which she's still wearing in order to see because her glasses were in her purse and it did not make it out. Included with her purse was house keys, car keys, credit cards, drivers license, lots of cash, plus the kicker, Paul's keys because we were on vacation so he put his in there also. 2 mobile phones, 2 ipods, wet suits, snorkel gear, pretty much Alex's entire wardrobe, poor kid and the list goes on and on. 
It's a fun story to tell, but we are glad we are all safe, or it would not be quite so humorous. I hope you enjoy the pictures, and we will continue to post more of our adventures in Australia. Hopefully they will be a little less eventful in the future.

It's hard to believe we are already coming to the end of March.  The weather is beginning to cool and rain clouds are darkening the sky.  It is now fall in Western Australia, but the nice days still out weigh the bad.  Lot's of festivals are being held around the state and we are trying to attend as many as possible.  The Nectar Festival was held here in Fremantle as part of the celebration of National Women's Day.  There were tents set up with local women artisans, guest speakers on women's issues, and female entertainers through out the evening.  The Crab Festival in Madurrah was a great family event in the area.  We took the train down and spent the day wandering along the river side where all the activities and booths were set up.  This past weekend was the Mussel Festival in Rockingham, where Paul works.  Henry, one of the men he works with was performing in a local band and it was great fun to see them on stage.  At the end of the evening we went to dinner with Henry and his family at a local Mexican Restaurant.  I must say it was the blandest Mexican food we have ever eaten.  I think we will try to avoid Mexican in Australia in the future.

Paul and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary this month at The Red Herring Restaurant here in Fremantle.  The food was fabulous as we had hoped.  We both had fish, as that was the predominant choice on the menu.  I believe we both agree though, the fig and almond bread pudding with caramel sauce was the best.

Paul's birthday was also this month, but I think he has reached the age where he no longer cares to celebrate getting older.  We had a picnic with the Australian Submarine Society that day at Kings Park in Perth.  Everyone was very excited to have us join and we will be participating in many activities with them in the coming months.  The highlight of the day was when we had a couple of unexpected guest come and join the party.  Paul has been wanting to see a Kookaburra in the wild since we arrived in Australia.  Two came and sat in the trees for quite some time to make it a special birthday for Paul to remember.

Kookaburra's are a native bird in Eastern Australia, but not Western Australia.  They were original introduced in zoos here, many years ago, and since have become common through out the state.  They are a carnivorous bird and will snatch meat directly off a grill when you are not watching.  They are best known for their unmistakable call, which is uncannily like loud, echoing human laughter.

Hello from down under

We are beginning to settle into a some what regular routine. As per our previous post, Alex is very busy and seems to be enjoying school. He has now joined the environment club, but we are uncertain if this was intentional or not.

Sherri has taken up several different activities to keep her busy and enable her to meet people in the community. There is Middle Eastern Cooking on Tuesdays with instructor Nimrod from Israel; which Paul gets to enjoy the fruits of her labor. Learning to paint with acrylics on Friday; from which we've seen no results yet. And of course volunteering at the Maritime Museum here in Fremantle where she is a guide on the Australian Submarine HMAS Ovens.

Paul leaves early for work each morning so he can go to the gym and workout. Then he is home in time for dinner which is a nice change from our normal way of life. One day of the week is usually set aside in order to make the trip into Perth to the Consulate where Paul takes care of US Navy business, and we collect our mail.

It is the middle of summer here and the weather is wonderful. The west coast has low humidity, and there is an incredible breeze from the ocean, known as the Freo Doctor, which helps combat the heat. There have only been three days since we've been here that we had to close the windows and doors and turn on the air-conditioning. Those were the few days the temperature reached over 100.

The arts and outdoor activities are very big in Western Australia. The Art and History Museum in Fremantle has free concerts on the lawn every Sunday afternoon. As you travel through the city, almost any open field you pass is going to have a Cricket game in progress on the weekends, which Paul always wants to stop and watch. We recently went to see a movie at the outdoor film festival that is held in the park behind Clancy's. It was a French comedy (with subtitles) that we both enjoyed. The Television and Film Institute set up outdoor theater seats and a large screen. People are encouraged to bring a picnic and enjoy the show. Movies are shown Thursday through Sunday for the month of February and March. Outdoor theaters are very popular during the summer in the Perth area. Many of the communities set up screens in there parks, some even have live theater performances on the weekends. There is always something going on that you can enjoy, and many of the activities are free.

We are meeting new and different people all the time. We have made some American friends, George and Diane, who are from Denver, Colorado and are here for just a few more months. George is a Mental Health Nurse and is doing a contract at the local hospital in Fremantle. Diane is a retired marketing consultant and makes beautiful glass jewelry. We discovered we all enjoy trying new restaurants and foods, so we try to find somewhere new to go every couple of weeks. Diane and Sherri are always finding some new adventures to try or things to go see. Their most recent endeavor was driving a VW bug to painting class, which of course was a manual transmission. It was agreed that if one drives and the passenger shifts the gears, then you would be shifting just like an American car. No problem! Luckily they survived the few blocks and are planning a trip farther afield next time.

George and Diane Sawczyn

We have had several people ask about the flooding and fires in Australia and if they are near us. None of the fires or floods are close to us, but they have been devastating for the country. There are many fund raisers going on in the community and all across the country to help the people who have been so tragically affected.

If you have any interest or questions, let us know and we will be glad to elaborate where we can.

Alex on his first day of school!  As you can see, he is thrilled. Wearing a uniform is new for Alex, especially shorts, but all schools have uniforms, including the public schools.  We have only one vehicle which Paul drives to work everyday, so Alex takes public transportation to school.  He walks to the train station in Fremantle each morning and takes a bus to Bull Creek station where there is a private school bus that picks him up and takes him to the school.  On Monday and Friday mornings he has orchestra and strings practice before school starts (no school bus runs) so he walks from the Bull Creek station to the school.  On these mornings he must be up at 5:45, which for those of you who truly know Alex, you understand the sacrifice he is making.  After school is rowing training and interhouse sports competition. This makes for a very busy week.   Alex is in Murdoch house (like in Harry Potter) and their color is red.  He is making friends and seems to be enjoying himself.  Everyone at the school has been extremely nice and helpful.  The school, All Saints College, is a private anglican school in Bull Creek, Western Australia.

Pictures

Just to make sure everyone knows, if you click on one of the pictures in the album, it will open a new window and make the pictures bigger.

Our holiday travels in Australia

Well, we hope everyone had a happy holidays. Ours was HOT! Shortly after Christmas, we made a trip north to the Pinnacles to see the eery limestone formations. Along the way we made numerous stops including a stop at an observatory where they are building a quantum gravity wave detector.
We then spent the next week back home with several trips to Perth to the Perth Mint where were able to actually see a gold bar made. We also made several trips to the beach to enjoy the COLD Indian Ocean. Kris and Alex dipped their toes in but never got in the water. We certainly enjoyed our visit with Kris and were sad to see her leave (maybe I should not include Alex in that "we").
After seeing Kris off at 6 am, we headed south to Albany for a visit to another wine region and the Valley of the Giants. While down south, we took a dip in our fourth ocean, the Southern Ocean. The trip to the Valley of the Giants was highlighted by the Tree Top Walk which reaches a height of 40 meters (about 120 feet). Paul was a little nervous mainly because he was not sure about the Australian Engineering Analysis and also because the walk was swaying A LOT! Although not as impressive as the Redwoods, we were still awed by the views of the Tingle trees. The scenery can change quite quickly as one minute you will be in the lush Australian forest, followed by the bush, then magnificent vineyards, then the beach, and then back in the bush. On the way home, we stopped in Denmark (another wine region) where we stopped at a Meadery and sampled the mead and honey ice cream.
The return home ended our holiday travels and Paul returned to work this past Monday after 3 weeks off! This weekend we are headed camping and water skiing where we hope to get our first view of the stars in the southern sky including the southern cross. Although, we have been in Australia over 2 months now, we have yet to see the stars as the city lights or full moon have hindered the stargazing. On 26 Jan, we will celebrate Australia Day with another 3 day weekend and a trip to ......
We still have lots more to see so stay tuned and be sure to check out the great pictures and Sherri's humorous commentaries!
The Aussie Varnadores