crazy weather

So Tonica joined us for 3 weeks in WA and I think they've had the biggest mix of weather conditions ever. It was baking hot for their first couple of days, reaching up to 40 degrees and some hot nights when we had to put the air conditioning on. Down south they said it was positively mild, only mid-teens and then back to Perth, we've had rain, lots of overcast days, it's been humid and many, many clouds. Now the weather seems to have evened out into proper perth weather - clear blue sky, no clouds and sun, which is perfect for my dad as he's happiest when it's sun, sun, sun.

At the weekend we went up to Trigg beach. the water's quite rough here, there's lots of rocks and parts of it are off limits for the swimmer but the ocean was full of surfers waiting on their boards for the perfect wave.

rotto

At the weekend we went to the marvellous Rottnest Island. Rotto is a small island just off the coast from perth. It takes about 25 mins on the boat from Freo so we got up early with the bikes and a picnic and set off for a day of activity with Tonica. Rotto is great for cycling because no cars are allowed and it means you can explore the whole island (it would take too long to walk it all and it wouldn't be much of an adventure going around on the island bus!) The weather was quite overcast but still lovely and warm and we spent the day cycling around the island, snorkelling, swimming and spotting wildlife. The quokkas are common as, so it was minus points for spotting them. Yes, they are basically oversized rats, which is where the name for the island comes from (Rats Nest Island).

but plenty of points for spotting dolphins (check), whales (check), birds of prey (osprey in this case) (check) and a manta ray! woo hoo. This is me spotting the whale at the far end of the island. It was very grey, misty, windy and drizzly out on the point.

And look at these two crazy cats.

moody beeeeyatch

i was gonna call this post 'down in the dumps' but that wasn't right, so i opted for this one. And it's all about boring old PMS. And i wouldn't even bother writing about it but it's been pretty hefty this month, and to be honest, i just need to write down how bloody awful it is, for me, and for my lovely, patient, tolerant boyfriend. Especially when, actually, my life is so bloody awesome, as i wrote here just a couple of weeks ago. I started taking some supplements a couple of months ago with b6 and chaste tree in, which really seemed to help. unfortunately, about a week ago i ran out, and i've been so busy with house guests, i kept putting off getting to the chemist. Ohhh how i wish i'd prioritised that on the 'to do' list! (especially as Tonica arrived back to stay with us again on tuesday for another week). What gets me is that i just feel like a totally different person and when i come out of it, it's like, wow, did that really happen. It's like something's trapped and it needs to be released through tears or shouting or something, and then i'll snap out of, but nothing was managing to 'snap me out it'. I should have just sat down and watched an episode of Secret Millionaire or something. That usually makes me cry! So it started last sunday when i had a wobble over my shorts, and then as you'll may remember, my inexplicable emotion at the bagpipers at the parade... hmmm, not so inexplicable now. It then continued with a general nagging, irky, tetchy feeling throughout the week, culminating in the big finale on saturday nite when poor R, (admittedly rather insensitively, but on another day, i may have seen the funny side), telling me whilst out having dinner with his parents, that it looked like i had a moustache (we'd been out in the sun cycling all day and i had caught the sun, somewhat unfortunately it would seem!). Needless to say, in my current state, this did not go down well with me. Ahhh, the poor guy, and poor parents. I now feel very embarrassed and sure that everyone must think i'm some kind of crazy deranged person, and y'know, sometimes that's what it feels like, and it totally sux, especially when it lasts a whole week or more. :-( Sorry everyone. (And i posted a photo of me happy as sometimes i need to remind myself that i'm not always like this). For my own future reference (and for the sanity of those around me) I will now ensure i don't run out of vitamin supplements.

the parade!

By the time we'd come out of the market, people were expectantly waiting on the kerb for the parade to start. The parade was cute and colourful.

i was inexplicably finding the bagpipers quite emotional so by the time the 3rd band had marched past i was really hoping there wouldn't be anymore, otherwise it really might all end in tears!

I think this little kid had been moved by the bagpipers too.

Lex was sporting an extreme hangover after the previous night's street party so after the parade we headed back to her house to meet her very teeny tiny cutey pie bengal kitten, Sookie! Eek!

Freo festival

Yesterday was the last day of the Fremantle festival so after a morning at the beach, R and I hopped on the train (too easy!) to Freo, where we met up with R's friend, James and my friend, Lex. We had a mooch around the market. Freo market is pretty cool - loads of different stalls - fashion, souvenirs, food and it's fun to have a look around. it's only open fridays, saturdays and sundays and it gets pretty busy. It even has a bar in there!

I was looking for a sun hat but had no luck. I've realised i take after my pinhead mother (yeah, thanx for that Biv), and hats just don't suit me. We did however find some suitable food - chocolate strawberry kebabs! And somehow managed to pass on trying the potato twist.

Outside the market, the streets were packed with people drawing on the streets with chalk as they waited for the parade to start.

A bloody good indian

As Tonica headed south, the Farmer called to see if there was any room at the inn. The Farmer, aka R's oldest friend (in longevity, not age) lives in NSW but often pops over this way for work. We love the Farmer, (particularly when he kindly brings gifts of an iron and mandarins), so we welcomed him with open arms. And last nite he very kindly took us out for dinner. I fancied Indian food and so we headed to Punjab, (J and T's fave Indian restaurant in the whole of Perth) and after our meal last nite, I concur. It's in an odd location, on a retail park next to Subway in Innaloo (hee, hee, Innaloo) but don't let that put you off. We've been to the Cinnamon Club, our local Indian previously. Admittedly my review of that meal was somewhat influenced by the air con being turned on full blast directly above my head towards the end of the evening when they clearly wanted us to leave; the loud party of people celebrating Christmas in June (noooo, i'm not making it up, yessss, this is a real something that people here do); and R's tipsy-ness from after-work drinks making it very difficult for him to select wine and choose his dishes, BUT, aside from all that, the food wasn't that great and the saag aloo was ridiculously hot, which i've never, ever experienced before. i wouldn't describe myself as a chilli wimp so i don't mind hot(ish) dishes but i wouldn't have thought a saag aloo is meant to be spicy and it ruined the flavour for us. We've also been to the Two Fat Indians restaurant in Mount Lawley. This was not only a grease-fest with most of the dishes full of oil, but we were somehow duped into getting the banquet for 4 (don't worry, there were 4 of us - we weren't that duped) which meant dishes we didn't really want and lots of leftover food (which obviously i doggybagged up and ate the next day for lunch, grease and all).

Anyway, back to last night. Once we'd got over the awkwardness of the waitress not understanding my wine request (i first got brought a bottle of stella and then a glass of red wine, before the correct drink came), we ordered poppadoms, lentil daal, chicken jalfrezi and lamb madras with rice, peshwari and plain naan. I think our main beef with the indian restaurants in Perth is that they don't do curries like in the UK (not that i'm after a vindaloo or anything you understand) but there are a lot of good indian restaurants and here, it's not so much of an institution. There are a lot of Thai restaurants, Malaysian, Indonesian, but not so much Indian. Having a curry at Punjab however was like being back in the UK. The flavours were superb and spice levels as we expected from mild on the daal, upping it on the Jalfrezi and then hotter for the Madras. Too often curries have small cubes of over cooked dried chicken but none of that shit here. They use free range Mount Barker chicken in all their dishes (that would be in all the chicken dishes, not all the dishes, fear not vegetarians) and it showed. And you could tell that the vegetables were all fresh too (which worryingly isn't always the case in restaurants - my memory specifically recalls a very bad meal at an Indian restaurant in Kettering in 2006 with frozen spinach and tinned mushrooms). My only mild niggle was that the peshwari was slightly too sweet. But other than that, the food was amazing and there were no leftovers for me to bring home! 3 cheers for the Punjab!

kangaroos!

at the weekend we took Tonica out to the Perth Hills. The Perth Hills are the Darling Range just on the outskirts of the city. We've been cycling up in John Forrest National Park before and we thought we'd take the folks out for some bushwalking. Unfortunately our walk was cut short due to a bushfire earlier in the week and we could still see one part smoldering. But we got to check out the amazing views, lots of Xanthorrhoea (commonly known as grass trees or blackboys), saw some parrots and kookaburras (no pix - by the time i'd changed lenses on the camera, they'd flown away, their laugh echoing in my ears) and saw some roos close up! Perfect for the visitors.

another day in paradise

we have such an awesome life here in perth. I'm so happy and so loving life at the moment. Visiting melbourne was great but coming back to perth was more great! i love it here and we have totally got it made (probably me slightly better than R because i don't have to work!) but we have gorgeous weather, a lovely house and garden, bike riding is so easy, no traffic jams, beaches, the list is endless, no stress at all. Our set of friends are getting stronger and sitting out on the verandah last nite with Tonica (we've opted for Tonica over MonoTone) and J and T having a bbq, drinking homebrew and WA wine, with our new solar powered fairy lights(!), it's hard not to think we have it made here. life is pretty sweet. As the aussies might say, too easy. p.s. the rocking chair was rescued from the verge and fixed by handy man R.

plagued by birds

i've realised that i have a fear of birds. Birds in trees, on lakes, up high in the sky.... all fine. Birds close to me and in places they shouldn't be... not fine. Take for example these crows... evil looking... huuuuuuuuuge birds ransacking the bins and tables at Kings Park cafe. This is not ok. Compare to Egret on pond... ahhh, lovely.

sunsets in november

R's parents, aka M & T, (or as i like to affectionately call them - Monotone) (which i should point out is purely for play on words purposes) have arrived and we took them to enjoy their first WA sunset. R was by himself when he decided a dip in the sea was a good idea.

Gotta get myself some of those amazing specials

if you don't get into oxford....

melbourne part 2

So, aside from the art, we also went to see Low at the Forum - an amazing band at an amazing venue and also met up with an old face from brighton, so a good nite all round. The next evening we had a few too many pints (R was shitfaced before dinner - his words, not mine) followed by a yummy dinner and rounded the evening off at the gin palace. The rest of the weekend included tram rides, cakes on Lygon Street, a stroll to St Kilda, spotting fairy penguins and some more cake. All in all, a successful trip!