Had a very busy weekend. I ended up staying the night at the trio's hotel (VERY comfortable couch!) on Friday night (April 18). Kristin and I went over around 6pm and helped cook and eat burgers with them. Then Kristin and I taught them how to play "3's" which was fun once they started understanding the rules of the game. After Kristin left we watched some TV then went to bed.

On Saturday April 19 we got up, ate some toast or English muffins, then jumped on the train into Freo - easier buying tickets with me there I'm guessing. We walked around the Freo Markets where I think they bought a few things (nothing for me though). Walked over to the shoreline after they were done shopping to eat at Joe's Fish Shack - tasty as always! They gave us too many chips (fries for you Americans) so we used the tupperware thing our bread came in to take some home. After the food, we traipsed back across Freo to the prison, where we did a "Doing Time" tour. It was really interesting and informative. Then we hopped back on the train and got off at the Cottesloe station. By now it was about 4:30 so getting dark and colder by the minute. We walked over to the beach and waded in the water (ankle deep) and took some pictures. A larger than expected wave managed to soak my pants - was a cold walk back to the station! Then got back on the train to Perth and then to the Esplanade. Had leftover pizza for dinner and hung out and watched TV. Mom and I went down to the hot tub to soak for awhile, and met some interesting ladies down there. An Aussie and a UK- both friends. They had some interesting things to say (and had had a bit too much to drink!). Afterwards mom and I headed back up to watch some TV and then sleep.

Sunday April 20 we got up relatively early (8 am?) and got ready to go to Rottnest Island. We were trying to make the 9:30 ferry but as we were running up to the C Shed, the ferry was just pulling out. Luckily there was another one at 10am. We headed over to Rottnest - I mostly slept on the ferry. All day it went between sunny and brief showers. We got there around 10:30-45 and got a map and rented some bikes. By then we were starting to get hungry so grabbed some sandwiches from Subway to go. Started to ride around the island and first stopped at Bathurst Point and the lighthouse there. There was a pretty little beach (Pinky's Beach) below that. We sat on a bench and ate our sandwiches there. As soon as we had sat down, the rain started pouring down, so I put my sandwich paper on my head and we ate in the rain. We then hopped back on the bikes and rode the 4.5km (at least!) to the other lighthouse in the middle high point of the island. Took some pictures there, then road down to the southern coast and along that back into the main town (Thompson's Bay). It was very hilly terrain but the work kept me warm at least. While the trio had their raincoats on all bundled up, I opted to put my shirt and coat in my backpack and go in just my swimsuit - I think it was a wise move. Rode back into town where Lynn and Gramma stopped to do some shopping. Mom and I instead went back over to Pinky's Beach where I finally convinced her to get in the water and snorkel with me. She wouldnt let me go out too far but we found some really neat shells. The ocean was heaps warmer than the air, I didn't want to get out but we had told the other two we'd meet them by 4pm (our ferry was scheduled to leave back to Freo at 4:30). So after awhile at the beach we walked back up to our bikes to head back into town, and I discovered that my front wheel was flat. Not low on air, but completely flat. That made for an interesting ride back - accompanied by a lot of walking. We met up with Lynn and Gramma and decided to check into the Gift Shop where I got my requisite pin and mom found a nice photograph-print. (She had gotten a print of a painting of Cottesloe back in the Freo Markets, and now has a photo print of Pinky's Beach as well). We returned the bikes and got on the ferry. The ferry back was fairly wild, like a roller coaster of gigantic waves. Got back to the B Shed and walked over to the train station. There was apparently a big footy game because the trains were all delayed and running very slow, what usually took about 25 minutes took our train 50 minutes to complete. We then got on the Mandurah line to get off at the Esplanade closer to their hotel. Got back to the hotel, made chicken for dinner (tasty) and then I headed back to Murdoch. Because it was a Sunday, the busses were barely runnning, so from the Train station to campus I just walked - counting my steps the whole way. It's 2,631 steps from the station to my room. Watched Serenity (pilot) and The Train Job of Firefly with Michael last night, then slept until today. So far today I've talked to Kristin, showered, and just now updated my blog!