Western Australia

We arrived into Perth airport at around 1:00 in the morning on Thursday and proceeded very quickly through immigration and customs (there are some advantages to arriving into the smaller airports - Tullamarine would likely have been a lengthy wait even at that time in the morning). We went by taxi to Ant and Jess's place, where we arrived at just after 2 in the morning and were greeted by two barking small dogs and one Ant who got up to let us in.  He had gone to work by the time we eventually surfaced at a more civilised time in the morning!

Jess however had not gone to work. So we chatted with her over cups of tea and then took Krumm and Scout for a walk before heading off for a mooch around Fremantle (and a superb seafood platter by the marina) and thence on to Margaret River where we are staying for a couple of nights.  LAst time Lindsey came she brought Stella and Tony and the rain was so torrential as they drove down that they couldn't see at all and Lindsey had to drive veryveryyeryvery slowly.  This time we were in bright sunshine - until we were about 30 km away when the rain clouds came over to see what was going on and were ever so excited to find that LINDSEY IS BACK and began to rain with enthusiasm.  Fortunately not quite as torrentially!  And only for a short time.  But Lindsey is beginning to think that she, Margaret River and rain are inextricably linked!!!

It did not rain on Friday, when we drove to the chocolate factory to stock up supplies (we might need to return on our way back to Perth - we seem to have eaten the chocolate bullets), to the nearby chocolate liqueur shop for Christmassy supplies, and then on to Cape Leeuwin to admire the lighthouse, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean and the enthusiastic rain.  Then we pootled back towards MR along a back road and stopped at Xanadu for a lovely lunch.  If I say we all had steak and chips for lunch this would be entirely accurate. But it might not quite adequately convey the quality of the steak or the magnificence of the chips!  If you should be in the area I would recommend a meal at Xanadu.

It probably wasn't very friendly of The Builder to try and kill me on my birthday, although it would have given me lovely, rounded dates.  He bought me some cherry chocolate from the chocolate factory assuming (as did I) that it would be cherries covered in dark chocolate.  He doesn't know about cherry ripes.  I do know about cherry ripes but have had no reason to think about them for years and years and years and years (horrible things, cherry ripes).  So neither of us was expecting there to be desiccated coconut in the chocolates. Fortunately, I so very seldom eat anything nutty that my body has become slightly more tolerant of tree nuts and coconut.  Had I not been  aware of my nut allergy, I probably wouldn't even have noticed the reaction.  (This is not a good reason for everyone to start feeding me nutty things, mind you - I don't want to resensitise my body!!!)

Lindsey says she is never travelling overseas with members of the family ever again.  When she went with Ian, Stella and Tony to New Zealand a couple of years back, Stella was struck with osteomyelitis and needed Lindsey's medical attention.  When we went to Japan last year, I came down with a rash on my leg which became very infected and needed Lindsey's medical attention.  I came to Singapore with an eye infection (which didn't really need Lindsey's medical attention, though it got a side glance) and The Builder had a cold. And now I have an infected blister on my ankle which so far is fixing itself but which Lindsey is keeping an eye on.  I have pointed out to her that she, at least, is no longer overseas, Western Australia having not been disenfranchised as yet, and my ankle didn't swell up until we got here.  She seems to think that is an irrelevant point!!!!

Right.  Must get up.  We're heading back to Perth today and I suppose I ought not go in my nightshirt

Click on the flowers to reach the WA photos