Going out with a bang.....!!

Every year on the 26th January, Australia Day is celebrated by Skyshow, a fireworks display that gets bigger and better every year....I'll tell you more about Perth's Skyshow after the event but in the meantime here are a couple of shots I took last year to bring in the New Year. I hope you have a fantastic time whether you party, party, party or have a quiet night with family and friends, stay safe and I'll see you next year....how weird does that sound.....!!

Skies over Sorrento.....

The sky two nights ago when Aimee and I were doing our constitutional along the coast road..I know I tend to complain a tad (who, moi?) about the weather in Summer (39C blegh!!) but deep down in my 'clammy' heart I do know how incredibly lucky we are to live five (three if the lights are green) minutes away from sights like this. Happy skywatch Friday....

Jumping for joy.....

Last few shots taken while having lunch at the Matilda Bay Cafe, these youngsters were having such excellent fun running along the length of the jetty and flinging themselves off the end with careless abandon. It did bring back memories, because even though I grew up in the middle of Africa, with no ocean for thousands of miles, just sixteen miles out of town there was the Mindola Dam reservoir, where as kids we would picnic and have exactly the same kind of fun as above. Ah! life was so simple back then...haha!!  39C in Perth today, so my simple pleasure will be floating in the pool, even though I'm sure I'd rather be trudging around in snow somewhere cool.....! Anyone care to swop?

Down by the Bay.....

Now where were we before we got sidetracked by Christmas, ah yes, lunch at Matilda Bay Reserve (Matilda Bay). As Rae from perthandotherplaces mentioned yesterday on her post, it's the perfect place to have a picnic lunch, with skyline views of the city in one direction and the Mounts Bay Sailing Club in the other....

It's also a wonderful spot for youngsters to swim and enjoy themselves in the Swan River, you'll note that they all have either T shirts or what we call 'rashies' (Rash shirts) made from a very lightweight material but extremely sun resistant, to protect from sunburn,  and hats, a necessity in our climate.....

And definitely a magical setting for weddings, I had to be a little careful here not to intrude on a private moment but couldn't resist a quick click (I think I have the bride sufficiently swamped by the tree to ensure her privacy haha!). My niece and her husband had their wedding service here by the side of the Swan River a few years ago, it was perfect....

Wings and wonder.....!!

Well can you believe it, the build up, the angst (well, not much angst really!) and ziiiip it's over for another year!  With seven great (literally and figuratively) nieces and nephews ranging in age from four years to four weeks old it's been a delightful Christmas in our extended family. I couldn't resist just one 'opening pressies' shot before getting back to business tomorrow.  I know that it's a troubled world out there but I sincerely hope that you had the best Christmas that circumstances allowed.....

The temperature's rising.....!

It's hard to believe that Christmas has come around so fast, is it just me or does this year seem to have passed by at the speed of light..? It's been a good year, in a lot of ways it's been a 'miraculous' year for some of my family members, with next year hopefully even better. I took this shot yesterday at Scarborough Beach and it's a scene that will be pretty typical here over Christmas with Perthites flocking down to the beach for barbeques and picnics. They started predicting the weather for Christmas day at 26C, nice..then it went up to 28C, still good..the last I heard was 31C, so really the weather will be what it decides to be on the day and whatever that may be, all will be good!! My son and his new bride have arrived from Sydney to spend Christmas with us which is brilliant, but won't leave me much spare time, so I wish you a wonderful Christmas, I hope Santa brings you exactly what you wished for haha! More than anything keep yourselves safe and I'll catch up next week.....!

Happy Bday Mya.....!!

Yesterday on my way to lunch at Matilda Bay, I passed Eliza (Eliza), a great link this one.. She is regularly dressed up by mysterious 'fashionistas' in the dead of the night for whatever significant event is happening at the time! The last time I showed you Eliza was just after Cadel Evans had won the Tour de France earlier in the year and she was victoriously holding aloft a bicycle! This time she is 'styled' for Christmas in a glamorous red frock, fur stole (bit hot for that), tinsel and a Santa hat..and oh yes there's a bit of a clue there methinks... wonder if Mya might have an idea who the culprits are.....!! In the picture below you can see The Royal Perth yacht Club in the background.... Only a couple of days left till Christmas, hope you're all better organized than moi.....!!

Nautical musings.....!!

A lot of my favourite reflections seem to be of the 'nautical' nature, which is a little odd as the thought of sailing out into the deep blue sea is pretty alarming to me....! Why are we so often attracted to the things that scare us the most! The above picture was taken in Fremantle harbour..... and in the one below the boats are all lined up in front of the 'pub' at Hillary's Marina.....Hope your day pans out the way you'd like it to.....

Saved from suburbia.....!

I thought I might explain a little bit more about the spot where I take most of the kangaroo pictures, it's called Hepburn Heights bushlands and it's a 20 hectare piece of natural bush that only just managed to escape the clutches of environmental destruction at the hands of the notorious WA Inc (WA Inc) State Government who wanted it for residential development.  A six year campaign from 1987 - 1993 by conservationists ensued and was won, saving this piece of nature and all that lives in it..result!! It adjoins Pinnaroo Valley Cemetery, where the kangaroos love to eat the lush green lawns,and as Aimee and I often stop to say 'hello' to my Mum and Dad this is where we see them quite freely moseying around. It's a beautifully landscaped cemetery with pretty little bridges over ponds that can, at the right time create lovely little montages...what do you think?  Hope you have a peaceful Wednesday.....

The Old Swan Brewery.....

This shot of the old Swan Brewery was  taken from high up in Kings Park (Kings Park), you can see the city to the left and also the Narrows bridge going from the city over to South Perth. The brewery was founded in 1837 but only occupied this spot (Swan Brewery) by the side of the Swan River from 1879. There was a bit of 'argy bargy' as the area was being occupied at the time and deemed to be Aboriginal land, but the brewery went ahead anyway.  When the brewery was relocated in the late 1970's the Government claimed the land for commercial use and this time the Noongar (Noongar) Aboriginal community set up camp on the site, their claim was opposed by 'the Brewery Preservation Society' (hmmm!!) the conflict lasted several months, and in January 1990 the police broke through picket lines to allow development to begin. The renovated 1879 brewery building is now home to a cafe, restaurant, function centre and a 'micro-brewery'. You will see if you click this link (old brewery) that it is the perfect location for this type of enterprise, hugely popular with locals and tourists alike, I can't help wondering how it would have been developed if the Noongar community had won their case!! Hope you have a great day.....

 

Happily munching..... until.....!!

Walking with Aimee through Pinnaroo yesterday in the late afternoon as the sun was sitting just at the right height to give off a nice mellow glow, you know 'that special time' that we all love, about an hour or so before sunset, I spotted these guys through the arch of a tree branch nibbling away daintily on the grass. As I took this shot above, their ears and heads popped up to see what had made the intrusive noise.....

Checking me out, they must have decided I looked harmless enough and went right back to business.....! Honestly they are such a pleasure to watch, when something startles them and they bound off, it's quite a unique sight to see.....

A sad tail.....!!

I know it's a common problem in many parts of the world, this very pretty little pussy cat is one of the many, many feral cats surviving around the marina. It looks quite healthy with a shiny coat and bright eyes..if only it had a happy, loving family to care for it, but not so.  You often see them ducking and diving in the rocks near fishermen, hoping to pick up a morsel here or there. It breaks my heart to think of them out there in all sorts of weather, thankfully Perth has a relatively mild climate....

The solution to this problem could be as simple as owners taking responsibility and having their cats neutered, and if someone has a cat that they decide is impossible to keep, they should do the right thing and either try and find it another good home or take it to the RSPCA to see if they can.  DON"T take it and dump it somewhere and leave it to fend for itself, that's just too horrible.. OK rant over, but hey, I'm sure you all agree right.....!

Getting priorities straight.....!!

This is a familiar scene along the beaches, the sign for 'rocks no swimming' in the right hand corner of the top picture, never deters the hardened (?) surfers although in some places it can be treacherous BUT what made me chuckle was, even though the surfer in the shot below is cruising over imminent danger, he DID remember to put his hat on to guard against the hot sun haha! Got to get things in perspective I guess.....!!

Sailing on the Swan.....

The South Perth foreshore is a popular point for sailing on the Swan River, you can hire one of these catamarans (funcats) and even if you are not adept at sailing there will be experienced staff to show you how to go about it, hmmm! I don't think so..not me...ok, moving on!! It does look great fun and apparently there is always the possibility of seeing a dolphin or two when they pop up in the river..now that WOULD be nice, dolphins have a way of making you feel happy...!! Just incase you hadn't noticed there's another glimpse of the city.... some other things that you might see as you walk along by the river are pelicans, black swans, lots of seagulls and also the occasional white faced heron.....

Tree with a view l .....

One of the things I love about Paris is that if you keep your eyes open you can see little glimpses of La Tour Eiffel from so many places, up little side roads, across a 'pont'. It's the same in Sydney with the Harbour Bridge, it's iconic presence can be seen from far and wide, and even in St. Louis, Bob shares a picture every Thursday of the fabulous St. Louis Arch.. We don't have any really tall iconic structures, well there is The Bell Tower (Bell Tower) which I've shown previously, but because it's situated fairly low on the banks of the Swan River it's not that visible.  Just lately I've noticed that the one thing that you CAN see glimpses of from the most unexpected places is our beautiful City itself, so I will keep my peepers peeled to see how many spots I can find her.. This view is from  Lake Monger a  great place to walk especially if you are a bird watcher...Happy Thursday.....

Not quite kosher.....!!

For ten months of the year Karrinyup (great name yeh!) Shopping Centre (Karrinyup) is my shopping centre of choice, it has everything I need including a cafe where I don't even have to tell them how I like my coffee, they just know!! Then for two months at the end of the year when they drag out the Chrissy decs it all goes 'pear shaped'... You can see why can't you...I mean.. WHY PURPLE? It's just not right, they're Prancing and Dancing alright but I bet Donner and Blitzen would be mortified, as for the tree, those colours are hideous, and yes I know in the overall BIG picture it's a small matter, but what happened to red, gold and green and even white reindeers would be acceptable..next year I'm definitely complaining to the management, 'grumpy old woman comes to mind' haha!  What do you think..traditional or 'glitzy'.....!! Thanks so much for the 'get better' vibes, much appreciated.....

Crawley Edge Boathouse II.....

Well I'm digging in the archives myself this morning. The last few days I've felt a bit 'shabby' not too well, in fact as we say here in Australia..'a bit crook'.....So I haven't been out and about and even less communicative.. Back to normal soon I hope. This is another view of the old boathouse just up from The Royal Perth Yacht Club on the Swan River.... I seriously hope that you are having a better start to the week than I am....catch you soon.....!!

More fun in the sun.....

This group of young people arrived at the beach en masse and all dived into the water with great enthusiasm! It wasn't actually all that warm 25C so I'm guessing they weren't locals, maybe visiting from cooler climes, they were certainly enjoying themselves enormously, trying to pick the right waves to 'body surf' and ducking under the waves that were too big.....

They were lucky that they chose the morning for their swim, by later in the afternoon it had turned windy and cloudy, although the temperature didn't drop that much it would have been cooler on the beach.....Hope you have a great week.....!

Every young girl's dream.....!

Mon ami Marie and I went on the hunt on Friday for the perfect chair to suit my new desk, naturally my first choice would be a small, old chair with a bit of history that I could 'fix up'.  Guildford being one of Perth's oldest areas with so many, some would say 'junk' shops, well that seems a little harsh to me, I prefer 'pre-owned and loved', was the best place to start looking.....Alas I wasn't successful this time, but I'm in no hurry and enjoyed many other aspects of the morning, like finding these beautiful old revamped cottages, 'roses and white picket fences, every young girl's dream' came to mind, surely not anymore hopefully.....

And I couldn't resist taking a shot of this sad little red bicycle leaning against a ladder surrounded by old tat, I bet it's seen a few scraped knees in it's time.....!! Hope you are having a wonderful weekend.....

Birds in my garden V.....

The birds in my garden are up at the crack of dawn and these days that's pretty early, I'm so happy that I planted these Geraldton Wax (wax flower) last year because it keeps the Port Lincoln Parrots (28's), also known as 28's because of the noise they make, busy until I can get out there and feed them with the rest of the birds. This shot was taken at sun up and they were so busy snacking that they didn't notice me at all.....