"Messing about on the river" Our time in Australia is fast coming to an end and there us still so much to do. We will never fit it all in but will be pleased to have something to come back to again one day. The pace slowed down today as we boarded our Captain Cook River Boat in the port of Freemantle and sat back for a lazy 2 hour cruise up the Swan River to Perth for lunch and then the 2 hours back again. There are more boats per head of population in Perth t...

"Fear of Fire" I have talked before about the fire risks in Australia. Now the season for bush fires is approaching there is much talk about it in the news. People start getting twitchy on a dry windy day or if they see a smoke spiral. Many things can start a bush fire commonly lightning strikes and reflected light. Rain is welcomed and there are information bulletins on how best to protect yourselves and your properties. There are total bans on fires outside. F...

The Northern Highway is the main artery up through Western Australia to the mining fields of The Pilbara region. This Sunday morning we found ourselves joining the stream of road trains heading north out of Perth. Our destination today was New Norcia, a Benedictine monastic community dating from the 19th century. We heard about New Norcia from Bunty's friend Geraldine who is a historian and currently works for the monks a couple,of days a week helping with their ...

Having problems with our blog since updating the software on the iPad. Unfortunately I lost the last two entries on trying to upload them. Will get back to it when I have the patience to sort it out! H x

"Monks, Aborigines and Mega trucks part 2". One of WA's most unusual architectural sights is New Norcia, a monastic community dating back to the 19th century. This unexpected collection of Spanish inspired buildings in the Australian bush is part if a community founded by Benedictine monks in 1846 with the aim of converting the local Aborigines to Christianity. With its long and complex history and on the advice of Geraldine (Bunty's historian friend) we sign u...