Two Star Rating.....!

Like all seaside cities around the world there is nothing Perthites love more than taking their four legged 'best friends' out for a romp on the beach. While the Trigg dog beach may only have a two star rating, it was definitely popular when Aimee and I passed by on our Sunday walk.You can see by the last picture that it's more of a 'cove' than a long stretch of beach, so I'm guessing it would probably be used more by the locals around the Trigg area who can just walk down. If you're going to take the time to get in the car and drive you would more than likely go to the Scarborough dog beach which is perfect for long walks, it has a four and a half star rating! I'm wondering how they came about these ratings, did it go something like this..'now Oscar, what did you think of this beach?', 'woof, woof'.. so that would be a two then! and it's not even silly Sunday haha!Have a terrific Thursday, stay safe.....

Nessie.. a long way from home.....!

What can I say, I just liked it!! When you catch the water at just the right time in the late afternoon the sun literally sparkles on the caps of the waves, irresistible! I asked my sister in law Sue who is a writer, screenwriter and poet to compose a short poem to compliment the image. I was amazed when she sent the words through to me that she had seen something quite different to moi, but if you look at the two famous images taken in the 1930's, The Surgeon's Photo, a grand old hoax regarding the Loch Ness Monster, it's uncanny how similar they are to my two shots (minus the sunbursts as any time I've visited Scotland there has never been any sign of the sun haha!) what do you think, do you see it.....?

Like a summer’s day Nessie in her deepest loch

with itinerant Hugh Gray's camera watching on shore,

she bows her head to honour the sparkling blue

and dances in the sunlight between the stars.

She is a he whose strong arms plunge out to sea

powering over and above possible danger beneath,

relentlessly pulling liquid waves to his chest -

a celebration of strength, youth and fearlessness.

Frances Macaulay Forde © 2012

The Triumphal Quadriga.....

This rather magnificent horse that sits above the entrance to the St. Georges Square building on the Terrace was one of eight such equestrian monuments sculpted in patinated bronze in the 1980's by Italian artist Ludovico De Luigi (excellent link) inspired by The Triumphal Quadriga or the 'horses of St. Mark's' in Venice. The other horses in this San Marco II series are in France, Switzerland, Colorado, Italy, Missouri, Illinois and the Ravagnan Gallery in Venezia. I'm not sure why but information about this sculpture was not easy to come by, after much googling and coming up with zilch, I contacted the group that once owned the building, they put me onto the architects and after some archive research (thank you so much Nick, Elizabeth and Ken) I had the artist's name. Finding out the why and how this unique and original piece came to be sitting high above the entrance to the St. Georges Square building is another matter again. I have heard that Lord Alistair McAlpine, described as a 'bon vivant, raconteur and visionary eccentric' (I'm not sure why but that just makes me want to chuckle!) was involved. I'll have to get back to you on that one because again nigh on impossible to find out through the usual sources and I'm sure it'll be a good story, alternately if there are any Perthites reading this that know the story, feel free to enlighten us! Have a happy and safe Tuesday.....

 

Mr. Whippys' on Tourist Drive 204.....

Not a bad spot to stop for a breather.....!

It was such a gorgeous day Aimee and I decided to step out just that little bit further than our normal walk. We started at Hillarys Marina and walked down the coast road to Trigg Point, I'm not sure how far it is but it took us three hours at a fairly brisk pace..although there was that 20 minutes when we sat eating a Mr. Whippy admiring the view, and oh yes the 15 minutes or so that we played around taking shadow shots at Trigg park.. You really need to get yourselves over here, you'd love this walk. Hope your Sunday is all that you hoped for, stay safe.....!!

Best pew in the house.....!

Sitting on the corner of Hay and William St. right in the centre of the city is one of Perth's oldest churches. Designed in the Gothic Revival style by Richard Jewell, The Wesley Church opened it's doors to it's first Methodist congregation in 1870. So much has changed in the 142 years since then, apart from the obvious ones like the surrounding skyscrapers, the Wesley Church is also home to Wesley Mission and is now one of three Uniting Churches in the Perth city area, providing very much more than religious instruction. Some things never change though..when it was built way back in the 1860's, at the considerable cost of three thousand pounds, to encourage public donations to help cover this expense the 'Pew Incentive Scheme' was developed... and here's the bit I love, fifty pounds or over got you the best seats in the house, cheaper seats at the back.....haha! Next time I visit the Wesley Church, I'm going in.....!Hope you have a wonderfully relaxing Sunday.....

Touché.....!

A while back in February I did a post called 'Too much information' where I was a wee bit scathing about the current worldwide craze of displaying decals showing the dynamics of the family aboard! I burst out laughing when I spotted this while we were driving down the coast road yesterday.. even though I find the figures slightly annoying, I probably wouldn't go to this trouble, but it made me very happy to think that there was an even bigger 'grumpy chops' out there than moi!! Hope you have a fabulous weekend, stay safe.....

There's no harm in looking right.....!

When things get a wee bit exasperating, there's nothing like a walk along the coast to soothe the ragged nerves. The sound of the waves crashing on the shore, the sun glinting on the waves... and oh yes! a little bit of eye candy doesn't go amiss either haha! The weather is cooling down in Perth and the beaches are definitely not packed these days, but at 25C there are still some ready to top up their tans in the midday sunshine. The boats on the horizon are anchored and lined up in Gage Road the shipping lane that leads them into Fremantle Port, Rottnest Island is out there too, under that little fluffy cloud. TGIF hope it's a good one.....!

...it could have been worse!

It all started on Tuesday when I tried to access my facebook page only to find I was locked out, the question posed 'had I tried to access my facebook from another device', AS IF!!  I know phones are used these days for so much more than just making and receiving calls and texts, but not by moi..When I'm out and about I'm not interested in checking facebook or anything else so my phone isn't even connected to the net. It seems that someone in Broome 2,200kms north of Perth had tried to access my facebook, goodness knows why!! Then a few other odd things occurred, I think I might have opened a 'dodgy' site, anyway to cut a long story short my computer was out of action yesterday while it was defragged and security checked.  Hopefully all 'A' ok now, not so lucky the driver of the car above, the parking inspectors do a pretty thorough job in Northbridge, many a time I've arrived back at my car just before their pen has hit paper (once they start writing there's no turning back) and managed to talk my way out of a ticket, I would have liked to stay a little longer to snap the 'grrrrrrrr' face of the recipient, but I had to hotfoot it down to my car before he slapped one of those little suckers on my windscreen haha! Hope your week has been going well, catch up today.....

High in banana tree.....

Well not really, it's a rubber tree, but Harry Belafonte never sang about a 'yellow bird high in rubber tree' and strictly speaking although the Rainbow Lorikeet does have splodges of yellow, it definitely couldn't be described as a yellow bird (gosh that song takes me right back, it was played a lot in our house when I was young). This beautifully exotic looking bird is not actually native to WA, it was accidentally released in the 1960's and has since increased in numbers to the point that it is in competition with indigenous birds in the hunt for food resources and nesting spots. I think visitors to Australia are often astounded and sometimes annoyed by our extremely strict quarantine regulations but when you hear about some of the things people try to smuggle in and also take out, thank goodness for them! The other thing I didn't realize until I took these shots, these spiky branches covered in what looks like berries, is actually the flower of the rubber tree, and delicious if the number of birds feasting on them was anything to go by. They weren't easy shots to take, the one thing that is actually true to the lyrics of the song is that they were very high up and the late afternoon sun so bright!! I hope the sun is shining in your part of the world today..p.s my computer is on 'go slow' (so frustrating) will catch up tomorrow.....

Jenny's 'biggest morning tea'.....

Ever since it began in 1994 every cup of tea sipped at a 'Biggest Morning Tea' event held all around Australia in the month of May, has to date raised over $100 million dollars ($8 million in WA). I have to say those statistics blew me away (last year alone $11.2 million dollars), I knew it was Cancer Council Australia's most popular and fun way to raise money, but that is outstanding and makes me extremely proud to be Australian! For the last few years I've been lucky enough to get an invite to Jenny's 'tea' which was held on Saturday, the weather was perfect (25C), the company delightful, the cakes delicious, all made by Jenny, served on the prettiest plates..ahh! the joy of eating cake without guilt. It's such a simple yet brilliant way to raise funds, I was wondering if similar annual events occur in other countries. Hope you have a good start to the new week, stay safe.....

One for the 'ladies'.....!

I did also have a peek into the 'Gents' and am relieved (no pun intended) to say that although not quite as pretty, they're not half bad either..... Back in March I did a post about the Indiana Tearooms in Cottesloe and I mentioned how gorgeous the ladies room was, a few of you requested that the next time I was there I should take some pics, as I was there again on Friday with a friend je présente.. 'les dames'! The entrance has just the right amount of 'shabby chic' plus a sweet little stained glass panel, the carved cubicle doors look like something out of Arabian nights and in each one a different trompe-l'oeil mural, a column on each side of the mirrors add a classic touch! As much as I adore the decor, I appreciate even more the fact that they are super clean and smell divine, how much do we ladies enjoy that!! Happy Sunday, stay safe.....p.s. this one's for you Red.....

So much more than just a pretty facade.....

Back in March this year I showed you the Indiana Tearooms at Cottesloe from the beach looking in, I was there again yesterday with a friend and took a few shots from the inside looking out..and in!! These views of the beach can be seen all the way around the front and both sides of the tearooms and are as spectacular when the skies are blue as here, or in the middle of winter when the ocean is wild and stormy. Btw this isn't the post that had me 'google challenged', that'll have to wait until Tuesday when I can speak to a REAL person, who's doing real person things like having a holiday, not a machine. I have a feeling it's going to be a good weekend, I hope yours is also.....

Even though it's not really all that cold yet they already have the fire lit in the lounge area. 

A 'paddle out' for Simon.....

This isn't the post that I had planned for today but yesterday was the fourth anniversary of the tragic passing of a lovely young man, the son of friends and a schoolmate of my own son. It was incredibly difficult to write this post, how do you even begin to understand how things like this can happen and the pain parents feel. I wanted to do it (with the ok from Simon's Dad) as a tribute to a fine young man, well loved and missed in the body boarding and music scene here in Perth. I'm sure that he would have been there in spirit on the chilly day that his family and mates gathered on the beach to give him the traditional surfers send off called a 'paddle out'. Above, Simon's sister, brother, girlfriend and close friend prepare to go out into the heavy swell each carrying a flower which they will, along with the ashes, release into the ocean that he loved so much. After this private moment many surfing mates paddle out to join them, forming a circle of boards they cheer and slap the water, the traditional sign of respect, while family and non surfing friends watch this very moving ceremony from the shore. It's extremely hard to understand why things like this happen, I'm sure there must be a plan..a bigger picture, it's just not always easy to comprehend what it is.   R.I.P Simon Lee.

Magic mushrooms.....!

Well just to be clear, magic in the sense that when the weather starts to get a little cooler and wetter, these little fungi pop up literally overnight, they're not there and then pooof.. next morning there they are! Does that mean that they're fully formed like this under the ground just gathering up the energy to burst through..who knows, does anyone know? I could Google 'the growth habits of fungi', but I'm all Googled out trying to find information on tomorrows post, so feel free to enlighten me please! I found these 'funky fungi' at the bottom of my garden, wonder if the birds eat them? So many questions.....! Hope you have a happy and safe Thursday.....