Watts in Australia: March 2008

Monday, 24 March 2008

D's Birthday

Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday Dear D. Happy Birthday to you. Carrot cake isn't traditional Birthday Cake but is really tasty and after all, who cares! No the candles don't indicate age! Well perhaps mental age :)

Just look at that cake. Yuuummmm.

Birthday bubbles in the back yard.

And an Italian ice-cream in Freo to finish the day off.

WA Museum

The Western Australian Museum is a fascinating place. Lots to see and do. We shall return and see the things we missed this time (ran out of time). K had an uncanny interest in the spiders, insects and reptiles, which are all pinned inside drawers (with perspex covers). She also found the amphibians really interesting. In fact anything non-human that lives and breathes interests K. Can't say it's a bad thing though. We have only selected a couple of pics as we intend going back. The visit was a bit rushed because of time constraints.

Interesting ceiling.

Clam + K's hand for scale

Delia and Chloe's favourite section; the butterfly gallery. Not sure what it is about winged insects with pins stuck in them but there you go!

Interesting fossil

Easter weekend - Mechanical toys (and bushfire)

In the afternoon we went to the Art Gallery but photography was banned. We then visited a special display at the WA Museum, dedicated to mechanical toys (automata). Some sneak peeks below. Most pieces were by an English craftsman.

We saw this bushfire while out for a drive. It must have been started only minutes before we drove past. Reports indicate it was started intentionally and has engulfed 25 hectares. As I write it is still burning and there is a possibility of 10 homes/farms being affected. Let's hope no property or livestock is harmed. The photo doesn't really do it justice. It was quite frightening and we were very careful not to get too close and definitely not down wind. Although not shown in the photograph there were 4 helicopters attempting to douse the surrounding bush to prevent it spreading. http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=145&ContentID=64318

Easter Service

Kaitlyn had her Easter Service at the nearby church. They were very good and year 4/5 did the play this year. The upper years, 5 - 7, sang a few songs also. Everything was quite similar to back home, with the exception of all the pupils getting a small chocolate Easter egg. They had to go outside when the service was finished and stand in a big circle. Once the teacher had said his speech they all smashed their eggs and ate them. Anyway this was indeed the highlight of the day – eating their chocolate.

K with friend on right, next to her teacher. He's a cool dude and gets the kids really enthused at school.

Piney Lakes (new sculptures / Artists)

You may remember our entry last year after our visit to Piney Lakes. There are now 16 new sculptures. Some are good and others not so but the setting is lovely and a nice place for a walk. Here are a few pictures as well as some insects and an aboriginal hut from the Education Centre, also located at Piney Lakes.

Fish out of water

Fallen leafs

Answers on a postcard

K + Echidna. A very simple piece but quite effective. If you've seen an Echidna you'll know what I mean

T'weet T'woo

Again - Answers on a postcard. Somewhat disturbing if you ask me.

Colourful Dragonflies...........in RED

and BLUE

An aboriginal hut. It looks like animal skins but is infact bark from a paper bark tree. Not very good at keeping the rain off. Then again!!!

Sunday, 9 March 2008

Boat Show, Victoria Park

Here we are at McCallum Park, in the suburb of Victoria Park checking out the Perth Boat show. No photos from the Miss Yamaha 2008 Bikini competition but Michael felt it was one of the better events associated with the show.

A floaty, blowy welcome from red and yellow dudes.

All the usual free gas barbeques, benches and seating, kids play areas, etc. common along the waterfronts of Perth.

Victoria Park has several exercise machines, easy to use and completely idiot proof so kids can't hurt themselves.

And another.

2D tram, near the causeway.

Burswood Hotel from the causeway.

The RAC Rescue helicopter.

Kaitlyn sitting in the Paramedics seat.

I can't find the keys to start this thing!

Go Kaitlyn. Watch out for birds.

Kaitlyn got a piece of A4 card with pop-out shapes, which she turned into a mini-RAC-Rescue helicopter. See below; landing to rescue a stranded ant.

Tall chick collecting for the surf life saving fund. She's probably one of the volunteers herself!

Jet-Ski racing. These guys were really motoring. Soooo glad we got the new camera. Would never have captured shots like this with the last one.

Wake boarding on land???? Yes, if you've got an extremely long inflatable pool and a fast winch at the other end.

There were boats of all shapes and sizes, ranging from inflatable kayaks to luxury, multi-million dollar cruisers but Michael had his eye on this beauty.

or maybe this one!!

Delia liked the boat with the Alien theme.

As you can see.

Paul and Leanne's Wedding

One of Michael's colleagues invited us to their wedding on Friday 7th March. It was a fantastic ceremony, held outdoors (the first and probably the only outdoor ceremony we will ever see) and the location was fantastic. Caversham House, on the banks of Swan River was the venue. The gardens and water features were incredible. Real jaw dropping stuff that you only ever see in movies. http://www.cavershamhouse.com.au/home.php

The wedding was very much a water/beach themed event, seeing as Paul and Leanne both love surfing, wake boarding, diving and almost anything else you can think of involving water (you may remember the blog entry with Paul's boat and Michael's poor attempt at wake boarding).

The reception was held at AQWA (Aquarium of Western Australia) and the function room had a view over the ocean, with the sun setting as the bride and groom made their entrance.

Even the invites were beach themed. The attention to detail wasn't really appreciated until the Bride's Father told us during his speech that the sand and shells used in the "message-in-a-bottle" invite were from Lancelin beach, where Paul proposed to Leanne.

View of Hidden gardens taken from Caversham House. This is where they made their marriage vows.

Water fountain. The walkway from the marina passes under this wall of water. The Bride walks from right to left (as you look at the picture) as she makes her way to the waiting Groom.