"Farewell Ode to Australia" We love the Australians who are relentlessly cheerful. Rain is seen as a blessing and they can be so stoical often in the face of great adversity. They are more laid back than us, nothing seems too much trouble and their favourite saying is "no worries". Australians have a habit of shortening many words and often adding "ie" at the end. It has taken us a while to get used to it but as we pack our bags to leave I think we have got the...

"A Picnic in the. Park" Our penultimate day in Australia found us packing a picnic and heading for Kings Park. We spent a couple of hours here last month and vowed to return if we could. Over looking the city of Perth and at over 1000 acres there is plenty to see and do. The spring flowers were looking at their absolute best under the blue skies as we walked through the botanic gardens, over the treetop walks, climbed the tower for fab views and then plunged in...

"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 ...