Dugites and Quokkas and Skinks, Oh My!

Dutch explorers dubbed it Rottnest (rat nest) Island when they caught sight of the quokkas that populate Western Australia's only good-sized island.

There are also a few on the mainland, but Rottnest is where this particular marsupial mostly hangs out. It's a good thing they've got friendly furry faces, because the rat tail could really put you off. The other prevalent island resident is a poisonous snake called a dugite, but everyone assures me that they're 'shy'. So am I when it comes to snakes...

Del and I ferried to Rottnest on Sun. for a two day-getaway and stayed in one of the beachside cottages pictured. We rented bikes when we got off the ferry and met our luggage at the cottage where it had been delivered; the State owns the island and all the accommodation on it, and has the check-in and out procedure down pat. Our cottage was basic and had a fully accessible bathroom, and if you didn't see the porch with the gorgeous view, you'd think you were in a nursing home - two twin beds in each room with a reading light suitable for surgery.

It really is a paradise out there - no cars, just bikes and miles of beautiful, deserted white sand beaches. The snorkeling is good, although we ran into a gang of stingers the first day out which was a little unpleasant. They kill you over on the east side of the country, but really only annoy you on the west coast.

They call this golfing?!?

My friend Joan took me out with her ladies golf group this morning at a beautiful local course - Glen Iris. Because of the heat, she picked me up at some God-awful time somewhere near 6 am and before I'd had my regulation 2 cups of coffee. Things started off pleasantly enough until we got to the first green and I put my ball within 2" of the cup. I thought Annie was going to faint when I tapped it into my hand and walked away. Apparently there are no "gimmes" in Australia. And Joan told me that if I had been playing with Edith "she would have your guts for garters". Okay, so I'm really glad at this point that Edith decided to stay home. On the second tee I corkscrewed my ball off into a bush area where I'm told snakes have their homes. "How about a mulligan?", I asked naively. Nope. No gimmes; no mulligans.

I knew I was in a foreign land when Lorna got into a monster bunker on nine and took 8 strokes to get out - no swearing, no attempted kicks or throws out of the sand - nothing. I was just thankful that Joan was on my wavelength and ordered us 2 beers just after 9 am. I needed that.


Black swans in the Swan River and that's the Perth skyline in the background in the top photo

Street scenes - Perth and Fremantle

My toes have blisters from walking the streets in Perth and Fremantle, and although prostitution is legal here, I definitely wasn't walking that way.

The shiny silver toilet pictured here lured me in with its blinking blue light which meant it was unoccupied. I pushed the big green button and the door slid open, and then I pushed the big red button on the inside and the door glided shut. A melodious male voice informed me that the door was locked and that I had 10 minutes remaining in my 'session'. What anyone could do in that metal box for 10 minutes is beyond me - I don't want to think about it. As soon as I made contact with the seat, muzak filled the cube with the strains of "What the World Needs Now". Other than the seat, I didn't need to touch anything else - soap, water and a hand dryer were all there for the asking. If the voice had been Scottish, I would have feared that Scotty was about to "Beam me up". I know what you're thinking - "Who sits on public toilet seats???" I guess that would be me.

Wildlife

Life's a zoo down here...

Summer in Oz

Clancy's lunch with Lyn, Bridget and David

The riding chicks and the paddling chicks (below)

Summer was the name of my horse on Fri. as we set off through the bush. She seemed to be in a snit over something and flattened her ears whenever any of the other horses were nearby - perhaps it was the novice rider she had to cart around for a few hours in the heat. At one point she apparently had had enough walking and thought galloping really fast was a good idea. I lost one stirrup almost immediately and while clinging like a burr, attempted to rein her in. Despite there being two horses directly in her path, she paid no attention and caromed off them like a pinball. At least they slowed her down enough for me to get back in the saddle, as they say. We walked the rest of the way, other than the times we jumped sideways when kangaroos were nearby. I saw one fox, a mob of 'roos and no snakes (yea!).

I'm moving pretty slowly today but have to get limber enough for dragon boating tomorrow night. I've persuaded Lyn to take advantage of having the Garden Gnome in residence, so I'm cleaning up her front yard tomorrow. Since I have no idea what constitutes a weed and a plant here in Western Australia, she'll have to stay in the vicinity, lest the Gnome alters her garden beyond recognition.

Scotch on the Beach

My friend Lyn and I were on a drive up the coast and just passing through Cottesloe when she swerved into a parking lot exclaiming that Scotch on the Beach was on. Here we go, I thought, another drinking opportunity in Australia and it's only 10 am and 35 C. Turned out that I didn't hear the -ture as in Sculpture. Each year, international artists are invited to install their works on the beach in this town with a gorgeous seascape as a backdrop.

If you've noticed a dearth of posts to this blog, it's because I've been too busy relaxing! Outdoor movies and concerts, kayaking on the Swan River (taking care not to roll into the water amid the big brown jellyfish that were everywhere), and dragon boating seem to take up a lot of my time.

Today we picked up David Edwards and his friend Bridget at the cruise ship pier and gave them a tour of Fremantle and the Little Creatures brewery, the sculptures at Cottesloeand the riverside drive into Perth. They fly out to Auckland tomorrow after a cruise all around Australia, including Bali.

Tomorrow I'm horseback riding with another friend and will hopefully get a half-dead pony who's not afraid of snakes or kangaroos, which I'm told we'll see. Next week is a two-day trip to Rottnest Island for biking, barbequing and drinking wine. Actually drinking wine is a regular activity wherever I happen to be.

Just so I don't forget...petrol here is $1.29/l and in NZ it was $2.02 - I guess we don't have it so bad. Relatives are rellies, cookies are bisquits and bisquits are bikkies. This weekend is Labour Day and I just took in the concert and fireworks just down the street. It's rained once here since Nov. so there's very little chance that any of these outdoor activities will be cancelled - what a great country!

Hot, hot hot!

Arrived in Perth after a 7 hour flight from Auckland only to wait on the tarmac while an electrical storm cleared the area. Apparently those Aussie ground crews don't like working around lightening. I was sitting in the annoying traveller section with a kid kicking my seat in back and a very large woman in front who interspersed pacing the aisles with flinging herself into her seat. I had visions of the seat and the woman landing in my lap, severing my legs, or at the very least, badly bruising them. I was ready to kill someone by the time I made it through immigration, customs and the fruit, nut, honey check.

My friend Lyn was there waiting and we thankfully recognized each other. Neither one of us could remember when I had last been in Perth, but we think it was 2005. My other friends, Del and Joan, were waiting on Lyn's porch when we finally got home and we ate and drank until I was too tired to keep my eyelids up. The night had cooled off to 37 and I left salt stains on the sheets.

Tonight was dragon boat racing with Graham the steerer/coach in back yelling commands that I didn't understand, and the strokes up front setting far too fast a pace for my liking. Once Graham knew I was from Canada (my T-shirt with Canada in big letters across the front might have tipped him off), he encouraged us all to do Canadian racing starts which he assured us was the reason the Canadians were such a dragon-boating powerhouse - who knew?? Anyway, they were really hard and I'm sure most of my fellow boaters are hoping I don't come back, or maybe that Graham doesn't.

Lyn and I plotted out my time here until the end of the month and I think I have about 45 min. free next Tues. I may not have time to blog...