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.

The Monk versus Xwray

last weekend felt pretty hectic as there was lots going on. Out in Freo with my friend, Lex on friday. We went to the Monk. The Monk is a pub on the main strip of Freo. I've walked past it a few times in the day and it's always been heaving as it's a great sunny spot for watching the world go by. We thought we'd check it out as I hadn't actually been there (and i had a 25% off voucher!) So, in short, i think we did it all wrong. As i said, it's a sunny spot, so i think it's best appreciated on say, a sunny sunday afternoon, and not a friday nite, when the atmosphere wasn't up to much. Like, it was busy, but i dunno, it felt a bit generic pub maybe. It's also a brewery so they brew their own beer. We however opted for a couple of glasses of wine. The reviews of this place on Urbanspoon pretty much say the tapas is awesome, well... we went for the pizza, which wasn't. Just had a couple of veggie pizzas which were, well, ok, i guess, nowt spesh at all. So, all in all, i can't say too much about it but probably would suggest trying a couple of beers on a sunny arvo and leave it at that. Afterwards we went round to Xwray (no website to link you to and i always forget to take my camera with me so no pics either - i'm such a rubbish blogger). Anyhoo, much cooler and a real lovely cute place to hang out. R and I stumbled across Xwray on our first trip to Freo. It's tucked away on Essex St opposite the Luna and is definitely worth checking out. And in a contest between the Monk versus Xwray, Xwray would win every time.

sunday sesh

Sunday, we headed into Freo, for a couple of reasons. Firstly to pick up a juicer which I'd spotted on freecycle, secondly, to meet up with james, rusty's bali yoga friend, and thirdly, (this is all in chronological order btw, rather than importance), to hang out with my new friend, lex and her boyfriend, loz. So, Freo (as the locals call it. it's actually called Fremantle) is a port just outside perth. It's on our train line so we jumped on the train with our bikes and were there in 20 mins. it was a glorious day and after doing our chores, (picking up the 1970s juicer) we had coffee at Vespa patisserie, a fabulous brunch at Aubergine (Ian - i had a breakfast burrito!), and then headed down to the South beach to soak up the sun. After a couple of hours basking, we headed into the town to check out some pubs, where we found the fantastic Clancy's fish pub, which had an amazing selection of beers on tap. i had the feral belgium white from up the road in Swan Valley. we sampled some yummy fish and chips, drank some more beer and then staggered home. Such a lovely day! And the pub sign makes me laugh. Mmmmm, fish beer. p.s. check out my bright green cycling gloves. they are WAY cool.