January 29, 2007

Margaret River and Canal Rocks (south of Perth)

G’day Mates! Your Sheila from down-under has been busy killing convicts during the night (those pissers). My roo picked me up this morn’ afta the koala next door prepared an Aussie breakie–Vegemite on toast. Then we speared some sharks with our sting ray blades coated in brown snake poison. Bloody rippa’! After tackling sea snakes & box jellyfish in the massive rip tides that cover the beaches, we rode the noon tsunami 10 km to catch tea at Foster’s Brewery (it IS definitely Australian for Beer) and watch a showing of ‘Crocodile Dundee.’ We took Nathan’s pet tasmanian devil, named “Lit’l Bugga”, for a walkabout to collect shrimps for the barbie. I’ve learned to play cricket in the past week and traveling to Sydney to defeat England for the last time. Bloody oath, the stupid flamin’ galahs!

Fair Dinkun, Ocker,
Jessica the Yank
Seriously, that all happened.

My family and I went down to Margaret River area (south of Perth, Western Australia) for 4 days. We stayed at a beach apartment at Canal Rocks. The ocean was just a few meters away, the surf was small, which meant you could swim and sun bathe instead. (Skin cancer can kill!)
We took short car trips to the various wineries (Vasse Felix, Mad Fish), restaurants (delicious salmon salads) and galleries (glass pieces, jewelery and local paintings). Below, was the awesome beach, Yallingup, where the reef was large enough to walk on and pools to chill in.

Below, Inginup beach had massive sand dunes we took turns running down. Then my brother and dad wrestled on the dune, tumbling down a ways. Depending on which beach you went to, there may be awesome waves for surfing, pools for diving, reefs, dangerous rocks, cliffs or long strips of sand. I think we saw all. I am a simple girl, collecting shells and taking photos in between dips in the cool, clear blue water.

Nathan and I tasted a few wines. I like the whites, and he thinks he likes reds, but really has no idea. We prefer beer, the mature wine palette will come eventually. But I'm not waiting for it, wines can be expensive. It is always interesting to compare least expensive to high range wines. The more expensive do have dynamic flavors that last–like chewing gum. Just kidding.

Lamb is a large part of the Australian culture and history of sheep farming. I tried it, but the baby animals are just too damn cute–I’ll stick to the salmon.

I rode in this kangaroo's pouch back to the beach apartment, it was quite roomy, but the in flight service was awful and the bumpy ride made me fall out a few times.

Can you believe all four of us: David, Nathan, me and Marian–are all in one photo together. No Photoshop splicing and emailing across the globe. It has been 6 years since we have all been in the same place. We'll have to send one to Grandma Pat, and others who like collecting family photos.

Here are some coastal shots from Canal Rocks at sundown.
Our beach apartment is 500 meters behind the rocks/bushes on right of the photo.



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jessica--

Thanks for your latest update! Your photos are great; can't wait to see more. I'm glad you're having a good time.

We all miss you here. Kym is out this week (a week later than anticipated) recovering from her surgery. Mark is diving in and helping today, which is quite busy.

It's rainy here and will be for the next couple of days, but not nearly as cold as last week and the week before. Dale probably already sent you pictures of our Tucson snow.

Gotta get back to work. If I have time, I'll talk about more than the weather.

Be safe. Have fun. Come back to us in one piece. Please say "Hi" to all of your family for us.

Yours,
TROY

Vivien said...

Hello Jessica,
I just loved reading this last entry. Your pictures are just wonderful and it looks like you are having a fantastic time with your family. I think I will start saving money for a trip to Australia - it looks just so beautiful - and as usual, you take great photos. We look forward to Dale's visit tomorrow. Lots of love to you and your family. Vivien