Catching Up

It has been quite some time since I last posted. When I looked at the date of the last post, I almost could not believe how long it had been. Since moving to Perth, I used writing for its almost cathartic ability to allow me to analyse how I was feeling at any given point. Those feelings were somewhere between excitement, terror, awe and uncertainty (and I still feel that way at times). It is interesting that I've let that go by the wayside given the fact that I am involved in daily routine things, like work, tending my home, my lemon tree and my husband. I suppose I am becoming settled into life.

It is about time that I get you caught up in how things are progressing in "life on Perth," because at times, it does seem like another planet (www.lifeonperth.com). For example, I discovered Nordstrom ships internationally. I got so excited as I scanned the pages of the website looking for a pair of wellington boots I had seen in a magazine. I thought they would be perfect for our winter, which is quite rainy, and my walking commute to work. I found them, selected my size and was just about the check out when I calculated that the shipping would be $62.00(USD)!! That was half of the cost of the boots! Needless to say, I have put off any shopping excursions until we get back to the US, what with the Australian dollar being just about on par with the US dollar, our money here is doing well.

Another thing that happened this spring was my knee surgery, another brush with the Australian health care system. I was quite pleased with the care received at Bethesda Hospital. The cafe there has a beautiful panoramic vista of the Swan River. For my day surgery I had a private room where Larry and I hung out until they brought me to theatre which was scary only in that it reminded me of the movie "Dead Man Walking" because the theatre bed had a support for my arm that was surprisingly similar to that which Sean Penn's character had just prior to his injection. Another slight misadventure was the timing of my procedure - November 25. I would have rather been cooking a turkey than having hard cartilage bits extracted from my knee, but hey...when in Rome. My recovery has been slow but steady. I'm gradually getting stronger and looking forward to getting back to cycling and running. I'm already back in the pool, but swimming just as slow as ever.

In my next series of blogs, I will bring you up to date on our adventures from the spring and summer. We've been keeping busy. I will share with you now pictures from our day trip to Yanchep National Park. We went on this day trip just prior to my knee surgery. It is only about 40 minutes north of Perth, an easy drive up the Mitchell Freeway. We got there around noon, just in time to have a picnic. We were about half way through our picnic when we realised that there was a duck sleeping underneath our picnic table. He woke up when about 3 other ducks came begging. There was also another bird that looked like a thin, tall, black chicken - like nothing I had ever seen - and despite having chicken feet, it could swim.

Yanchep has nice picnic grounds, a small hotel, hiking trails and a koala habitat. There is also a cafe and botanic gardens. Here are some pictures from our trip:



There were heaps of nice, easy trails that were great for my tender knee. The rock formation behind us, which I believe is limestone, is typical for the area which is rife with caves. It was almost creepy to be walking along and seeing the signs telling you not to go off trail, that the world off the path is unstable and you might fall through the ground and into a cave where you undoubtedly were never meant to be. We actually snuck down into a cave that they use as a wedding venue. It was beautifully decorated for a reception that evening and very romantic with low lighting and candles and fairy lights galore.

More pictures from our bushwalking:



"You are lagging behind. You are supposed to be walking in front of me to watch for snakes!"



"Wishful thinking"
(It is actually a native species called spear grass and is a really unique plant.)

One of the funnest things about Yanchep is the wildlife. There were kangaroos in the park. When the first one bounced along about 3 metres in front of me I had to do a double take. Then a second one bounced by and I was able to grasp the fact that I was seeing kangaroo and I was not at a zoo. These particular kangaroos must have been used to people, though, as we were able to get quite close.



While I would like to trick you into thinking I was able to see a wild koala, alas, they are not indigenous to Western Australia. At Yanchep there is a koala habitat and we got quite close to some of them. The Koalas are very sleepy all the time. Their diet of eucalytpus leaves is of such high fibre and low calorie that it leaves them somewhat lethargic. Needless to say when we saw them move we got excited.



"Sleepy little bugger"





Overall, Yanchep is a park I would recommend for anyone wanting to get a taste of bushwalking in WA. The trails were well maintained and the only limiting factor for us were the flies. We learned that we will be doing most of our hiking in the fall and winter months, especially inland. We really enjoyed the topography and scenery of the park.



Lake that we hiked around.



Lush forrest.



Bushland scrub.

And this was just the start of our spring/summer times...