Light show

I was treated to a relatively rare thunderstorm on Saturday night. Perth averages only around 60mm of rain from the beginning of November thru till the end of February, yet when it does rain, it can be very impressive. My apartment on Scarborough Beach gave the perfect vantage point to capture the storm coming in over the Indian Ocean. I'm dissapointed with the quality of the shots I got though, and will have to spend more time reading the manual for the camera. Rushing around in the rain doesn't help much either. The first few shots were blurry from pressing the shutter, so I had to put a delay on it. The other issue was that the camera would only "open" it's shutter for max. 15sec...of course meaning I would always just miss the good ones. I did get one huge double strike on the water though, but it was so bright that everything else got bleached out.

More Creatures

On Friday, I was finally able to get a photo of one of many Kangaroos that are living around the site. It seems like I have to either get to the site before 7 am, or leave after 7 pm in order to see them out of the bush.

Just before I saw this guy, I came across a Bobtail skink on the road. They move much slower and are easier to get close to, although they are much harder to find. The Bobtail name is due to the stumpy tail, and apparently it has a blue tongue as well (which I didn't bother to check for).

Wahoo Cones

I've been feeling rather lazy lately regarding making meals, and when it's not worth buying things like cooking oil, butter, and sugar for a 3 week trip, eating out usually wins over at the end of the day. I walked down the sidewalk to a close-by shopping district which is mostly filled with small surf shops, a little grocery, pizza joints, and my favourite - Star Fish restaraunt. On Wednesdays they have $5 Wahoo cones, which are these conical packages made of newspaper, and packed full of the best fish and chips I've ever tasted. They go a bit heavy on the salt, but I was able to moderate it with a beverage I dearly missed back in Canada - The local Redback.

Laugh...Kookaburra laugh

When Sophie and I were here in Perth from June - August, it was the middle of the Australian winter, and we missed out on spotting lots of different animals. Now that it is getting up to 30 degrees here during the day, lots of unusual creatures are starting to appear.

I was doing some work in an outbuilding today, when I heard this real racket starting outside. Next thing I knew, the sound turned into full-blown hysteria, and I got to hear the unmistakable laugh of two Kookaburra's really getting worked up. It helped that they were perched in the antenna mast, and so their calls were very amplified. I went to grab my camera so that I could get an audio clip of these two clowns, but they just gave me the eyeball and then flew off.

I also came across 6 kangaroos last night when I left. They'll only come out in the morning and evening now as it gets to hot during the day for them. Seems they prefer to just lounge around in the shade. With all the rain from July/August, I've been told that there may also be some Joey's on the site as well. Kangaroos tend to be much tamer than deer, and you can often get as close as 20 feet before those hoppers bounce away with their mouths full of grass.

In less interesting news, I pulled a good size kangaroo tick off my leg two days ago. Here's hoping the ticks here are no different here than back in Canada. My friend Bruce also gave me a quick course on dealing with snake bites, and how to wash the venom off. He says it's best if you can get a description of the culprit as well, so that the hospital can give you a specific anti-venom, and you won't get as sick. You have to watch out when you open doors, cause they like to hang out on the concrete and soak up the sun.

Of course, pictures would be better - I'll see what I can do.

Hong Kong smog

I ordered a Zima...not emphysema

The flight to Hong Kong was brutal. I don't think I will ever opt for a flight longer than 10 hours again. It's not that the actual flight was bad - no turbulence, the food was surprisingly good, only one screaming kid, and I actually managed to snooze for about an hour, but, the psychological aspect of flying for 14 hours starts to get to you...especially over water. It's like Angelo was telling me - a plane just doesn't seem to be in it's natural state in the air. If a boat loses power, it still floats. If a car runs out of gas, it just sits there on the road. Planes are a different story. I also find that you just can't distract your mind enough from trying to solve life's problems while stirring in your seat, no matter what arsenal of distractions you bring on board with you.

When I awoke in Hong Kong, I was amazed at the fact that the entire airport was on a man-made island. Everything seemed to be done to a grand scale, the airport terminal, the thousands of skyscrapers, the indulgent use of technology in everything imaginable. Not surprisingly though, it comes at a cost, and the smog was the worst I have ever seen in my life. It is estimated that Hong Kong exceeds the European Union limits for airborne pollutants by 300% ... most of it due to the uncontrolled economy in neighbouring Guangdong, China. I believe that if more people saw the real effects of our "lowest price is the law" mentality, they would make wiser decisions regarding suppliers, and examine what the true difference is between a need and a want. In actual fact, if every person on this earth lived a comparable lifestyle to an average North American, we would require over 2.5 planets to survive. It's not surprising that our world has gotten to the point where we are actually advised not to go outdoors in order to protect our health? Anyhow, nuff said - we own too much disposable cheap plastic crap, and it's destroying our future.

The remaining part of the trip had an uneventful 3 hour stopover in Singapore. I couldn't help but think of all the Aussie's who have been caught with drugs in this airport recently, and are now facing the death penalty. It's constantly in the headines here.

Arriving in Perth at 1:30 am, I was glad to see so many recognizable sights when coming in for landing. So after 28 hours in the air, and a 12 hour time change, it was time to learn how to drive on the left side of the road again. Thankfully, there is no one on the roads at this hour as most people are sleeping, and the rest are in the bars till 5:00 am...yup...5:00 am.

Seashells and Sandcastles

It looks like I'm heading out on the road again after a long-overdue break from all the travelling earlier in the year. I'm going to be back in Perth for a 3 week trip, but unfortunately Sophie won't be making the trek with me this time. She's resourceful though, and will be hanging out with her friend Kathrine in Montreal, and spending heaps of time attending Karate here in Ottawa. I'm sure she'll be checking on the Mayfair theatre a few times as well.

I'm staying at the Seashells Resort in Perth - the same place Sophie and I were at in July - August. It's one of those deals where the place is much larger than needed, and you kick yourself for not being able to magically transport all your friends down to stay with you.

Tonight though, I'll be stopping over in Vancouver, to check out Joe & Esther's new place. Should be good times. I'm not as keen about the 14 hour flight to Hong Kong the next morning though!

Don Deli

This photo was taken the morning after our wedding day in Winnipeg. We had decided that the best way to cure a sore head from a late night at the Kings Head pub, would be to stroll over to the Don Deli for a classic diner breakfast. It turned out to be an awesome fall day as well - one of those one's where wearing a black shirt catches just enough sun to warm your bones.

Sens game

This last week at work I was offered tickets to the Senators vs. Sabres game at the Corel Centre. The guys from work and I enjoyed a kick-ass suite, where we gorged on all the usual artery clogging fare, while watching the Senators continue to dominate. I was shocked at the towering size of defensemen Zdeno Chara (6'9"), who actually had the NHL rethink their rules on stick length, such that it is now limited to a percentage of your total height. This morning, Sophie and I compared what it would be like for her to stand next to this tree.

Unfortunately though, the talk of the night revolved around the 1.5 hour commute to the game due to a deadly crash on the Queensway. The game was actually delayed due to the lack of fans at puck-drop. I've never seen a city so dependant on one main artery running through it...doesn't seem sustainable for much longer.

Okay...we've arrived

Alright, so after much procrastinating we have finally decided to get a blog up. It will likely end up being a picture show for the first while, until we both get comfortable posting to the site. Yeah...that's right, we are going to try our hands at maintaining a joint blog.

I've heard different reasons for maintaining a blog...a way to keep a journal of day to day activities, a method of allowing us and geographically distant friends to catch up more easily on short trips home, and some I guess just want a way to vent into the public domain. I suspect that most of this applies to us, but if we are comfortable posting, and get some general interest in the site, it will certainly evolve in it's own way.

That's enough rambling for now....let's see how things comes out on the other side. Oh, wait, I'll try doing a link as well to The best page in the universe.