Having enjoyed our few days on the west coast it was time to head back to Perth to force ourselves upon Carrie-Anne for another few days! This time however Matt had returned from his 2 weeks at work and so we were able to spend some time with him whilst poor Carrie- Anne was working! Matt is eventually hoping to learn how to Kite Surf however for obvious reasons you have to learn how to control the massive kite before you are let look on the water with surf board/kite combination! He had recently purchased a land kite in order to practice his control on the beach and with Mike keen for a shot we all headed out to one of Perth's many beaches to set it all up. I was more than happy to set myself up with towel and sunscreen and watch the action from a safe distance. Once unraveled Matt took control first and after almost being pulled from his feet a couple of times he soon had firm grip of the handlebars and in what I considered high winds was soon whipping the kite around the beach like a professional although I could see from his tight grip and tense forearms that the kite was pretty strong. After a while it was Michael turn so after a little instruction from Matt and me chucking in my useless tupence worth Michael took control and attempted to raise the kite from the beach. It is at this point I should have turned on the video camera for my you've been framed audition attempt as the wind caught the kite and literally pulled all 12 or so stone of Michael into the air! I am sure it was all over in an instant however time seemed to be in slow motion as he hurtled through the air desperately tring to hold onto the kite as I am screaming "whatever you do don't let go of that kite" meanwhile he is sailing through the sky with beach goers stopping for a piece of the action! The next thing the wind drops and unfortunately Michael drops harder landing face first on the beach with a mouthful of sand but give him his dues he still had the kite and was back on his feet like a jungle cat as if nothing had ever happened!! If it wasn't for the complete layer of sand all down the right side of his body you would have been none the wiser! Once we realised that both Mike and the kite had survived Matt and I erupted into laughter at what had just unfolded, poor Mike and all Matt could say was "sorry about that mate I forgot to tell you not to turn it that way" which just seemed to make the whole thing even funnier and much more entertaining than any book I brought. Within minutes Michael was a professional and was soon whipping the kite back and forwards making it look easier than it is with any doubt. Once adament he was fully in control I ventured closer to get a few action shots before retiring to my towel to relax leaving the boys to their toys!
That evening we had planned to meet up with my old school friend and bridesmaid Jennifer who was on a three week holiday in Oz with her friend Lynne. Having not seen any of my friends or family for 9 months I cannot even tell you how excited I was to be meeting up with Jennifer for some much needed catching up as only old friends can! We had arranged to meet in a bar that was central to both of us and I was watching the door every 2 minutes desperately waiting for them to arrive. At long last they were here and I have absolutely no idea where the next 4 hours disappeared to. It was such a fun night and fantastic to catch up on all the news from home as well as telling old stories from years ago. Tt was such a giggle and poor Michael just had to join in with all the girly chat but he didn't seem to mind at all! I blame the fact that we were having so much fun and laughter for us running out of time and missing the last bus home but it was absolutely worth it just to see them and hear all about their holiday and to share some of our many stories with them too! We walked them along to their hotel before saying our goodnights and heading back to Carrie-Anne and Matts in a Taxi.
The next day for only the second time since we left home Michael and I did our own thing for the day! Michael went rock climbing with Matt and I got to stay at the house and relax myself in the garden, bliss! Matt was an experienced climber so was more than happy to take Michael under his wing for the afternoon. After hiring a harness and special shoes he was ready to go and spent the rest of the afternoon scaling walls of varying difficulty, I don't personally get it but they seemed to have fun! I had a lovely afternoon watching a bit of TV before chilling out in the garden catching a few rays in glorious peace and quiet!
That night was Friday night and Carrie- Anne had invited Jennifer and Lynne over for a few drinks aussie stylee with the old BBQ. The boys had gone that afternoon to pick up meat, nibbles and drinks for everyone and by the time the girls arrived the party was in full swing. One of Carrie-Anne's volleyball friends Kim was also there with her husband Gary. Within minutes poor Kim looked thoroughly lost and confused with the conversation and we soon realised it was the combination of 4 excited Scottish girls gibbering so quickly Kim thought we were talking some foreign Scottish code language! Fortunately we managed to calm ourselves enough to be understood and were soon introducing Kim and Gary to some new Scottish words! The evening was great fun and with Carrie-Anne, Jen and Michael all at the same nursery, primary and secondary schools there was no shortage of tales! As is always the case time flew too quickly and even though it felt like they had only arrived it was time for the girls to leave as they were flying home the next day! At the point everyone left we should have taken the cue and gone to bed however one thing the Scottish do know how to do is keep the party going so out came the vodka and the Karaoke Song Star and what resulted in a very late and very boozy night!
The next day as it was Saturday and Carrie-Anne and Matt were both off work we all decided to jump on a bus and head to the busy port town of Fremantle. Fremantle the largest suburb to Perth city centre and reported as the "cool and trendy place" for a night out, nice lunch or unusual shops. Whilst it is a good 45minutes from the town by bus or train it has a much more laid back and relaxed feel and the perfect place to spend a Saturday afternoon, particularly when your feeling a little fragile from the night before! The first port of call when we got off the bus was brunch as we were all absolutely starving. There was certainly no shortage of choice with the streets lined back to back with cafes and restaurants however our hunger spurned us on to make a decision and we had soon pulled up one of the tables outside on the street and proceeded to order the biggest burgers I have ever seen (well the boys did the girls opted for something a little smaller). The food was delicious and really perked us all up enough for us to go exploring. If you were looking to buy something a bit different for someone's birthday, or even just a wee something for yourself there would be no shortage of places to look in Fremantle. There are very few chain stores which gives way to a real eclectic mix of shops which is fantastic for window shopping as most things are so unusual you probably wouldn't buy them anyway. It must be the only place where a second hand shop gets away with charging near new prices for someone else's hand me downs because they come under the bracket "retro chic"!! I really have been away from home for too long but as I said its great fun to walk around. Fremantle also has a weekend market selling absolutely everything including food, clothes, souvenirs and anything in between. Whilst we weren't really looking to buy anything at the market we enjoy walking around looking at all the stalls and of course there are all the free samples! All the fruit and vegetable stalls are all in the one corner in direct competition with each other, the result being loads of free samples of fruit nicely cut up for your consumption. Having walked all around the town it was definitely time for a refreshment so under the recommendation of our hosts we went to a brewery down at the waterfront called Little Creatures for a pint of their finest pipsqueak cider. The brewery was a huge industrial building over 2 levels with outsides terraces at both the front and back and we managed to get one of the nicest tables on the terrace at the back looking out onto the water. As it was a sunny Saturday afternoon the gardens were full of people with varying degrees of sunburn all enjoying being off work. We stayed soaking up the atmosphere for a couple of drinks until we felt we to were being baked by the sun and it was time to get the bus back to the house.
After a much quieter Saturday night we managed to get ourselves up and organized in time to go for Sunday breakfast at a pretty spot known as Hillary's Boat Harbour about a half hours drive from the town. The coastal drive up to the harbour was beautiful with beach after beach of beautiful white sand and the clearest bluest ocean. It was almost as nice checking out all the amazing houses that people had built looking down onto the stunning sea view, I shudder to imagine what it must cost to live there however both Michael and I agreed it was the perfect spot and definitely our favourite since arriving in Perth. The boat harbour was a commercial centre and man made beach set up around the harbour and being Sunday morning it was a real hive of activity. There were plenty of restaurants and cafes as well as more than the average number of above average tourist shops and having the lovely setting made it a really nice place to wander around taking it all in. We chose to have breakfast at one of the nice waterside cafes. 4 delicious "belly busters" later washed down with copious cups of Tea and orange juice left us all just about able to waddle around the rest of the harbour admiring all the beautiful boats before heading to the beach to collapse on a towel and wonder how we were ever going to be hungry ever again! After the beach it was time for us to say our goodbyes as we had one week left in Perth however felt we had already asked so much of our hosts and so not wanting to take advantage of Carrie-Anne and Matt's generosity we had booked ourselves into a motel unit in town to see out our last week. We had thoroughly enjoyed catching up with them both while we had been there and allowing us to stay in their home for such a long time was an absolute god send and something we will never be able to thank them enough for. The only problem now was having to leave the comfort and pleasure of their lovely house for the no doubt not so homely and comfortable motel!
Our last week in Perth seemed to pass in an absolute blur and so I am therefore going to condense the entire weeks itinerary into a few lines as that is all it seems to take so goodness only knows where the time went? We filled the week with trips to the lovely Cottesloe beach where the most exciting event was an ocean evacuation due to the sighting of a 2metre hammer head shark (so cool)! We also spent some of our time exploring the Kings Park which was conveniently about 2 minutes from our hotel. The park is located on the top of a massive hill and as such it has the most amazing views of the city and river and was a really lovely place to go for a walk either before or after dinner when it wasn't quite so hot. We also took a couple of day trips on the free shuttle bus to explore some of Perth's other suburbs our favourite being Subiaco which was basically a fancier and slightly smaller version of Fremantle. By the time our week was up we really felt we had explored many different areas of Perth and its surrounds. Neither of us can believe that we have been in Australia for nearly 4 months now and that it is now time to leave however having looked back over all the places we have been and the things we have seen we really feel we have achieved what we set out to do when we arrived here all those weeks ago. Having seen so many different elements of Australia from the wet and humid rainforest to the dry and arid outback. From the hustle and bustle of city life and skyscrapers to the beautiful sandy beaches and crystal blue sea this country really has it all in abundance and we have been lucky enough to experience a bit of everything and all in between and we will carry with us the fondest memories of our time down under. Next stop Asia, or more precisely Singapore. Aaaaarrrgggggh!