Monday seemed like a good day to visit the Caversham Wildlife Park in the Swan Valley. Located within a larger State park, Caversham is totally fenced in to keep predators out and residents in. It was neatly laid out in sections of various Australian birds, mammals and reptiles (not many reptiles, though). Many of the birds were in huge aviaries so you were right in there with them. A large area was open to stroll around with totally laid-back, tame kangaroos. You could pet them and feed them. You could also go in with the Koala bears and meet them up close and personal. They were also very laid back - mostly sleeping since they only eat eucalyptus leaves which are very low in energy. They sleep 18 hours a day and eat the rest of the time. They were quite adorable-looking and very soft to touch but somewhat lacking in personality. It was nice to be able to take pictures of them so close up.
There was the typical children's petting farm also with quite an assortment of goats, sheep, burros, llamas and even camel rides. The whole park was well designed and attractive with native plants and neat landscaping and walkways. It made for a pleasant afternoon. We certainly wouldn't be able to see these native animals so up close and personal.
Before visiting the park, we stopped at one of the wineries for lunch. We chose one called Oakover and it turned out to be a good choice. One of their lunch specials was a seafood risotto topped with 3 tempura battered shrimp and a tangy green salad. The flavors were fabulous and we chose a bottle of their white wine to go with it. Well, we didn't drink the whole bottle, of course, but took it home to enjoy later. John has to keep his wits about him when driving down here.
Monday, April 2, 2007
Burns Beach and Joondalup Festival
Friday through Monday
Just a 10 minute drive from home is a beautiful beach on the Indian Ocean called Burns Beach. It was another lovely warm, sunny day - perfect for a stroll by the beach. The beach was quiet and the water wonderfully clear. Seemed a bit chilly when I waded in it but we were not planning on swimming anyway. There was a walking/cycling path on the limestone cliffs above the beach and we took a fairly long walk there before heading home to park the car and then walk to a nearby area for lunch at an Asian restaurant recommended by our neighbors. The menu had lots of things we never heard of, Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, etc. - quite a selection. We decided on dishes we knew: John had Pad Thai and I had Sweet and Sour Pork - both were very good. That evening the neighbors, Geoff and Joy, joined us for a bottle or two of wine and a very pleasant visit. One of our favorite things about home exchanges is the opportunity to meet locals. Australians and New Zealanders are very friendly.
Saturday was the beginning of a 2 day annual street festival in Joondalup. We walked over in the afternoon to catch a few street performers and a very creative parade - made up mostly of the various primary schools and community organizations. I loved the bagpipes at the end of the parade. The theme of the parade was about a children's fantasy book which was collectively written by a community writers organization, as I understood it. Each school made costumes and floats (mostly out of recycleable materials) to represent sections of the book. We thought it was very well done. After the parade we strolled back home and stopped at the local fish and chips place - Govendors - I'm not getting tired of fish and chips yet and enjoy comparing them. Here we had a choice of types of fish and we decided to try the barramundi. It was excellent - the breading was light and crisp and tasty. The fish was perfectly cooked and absolutely fresh. So, it was pretty high on our list so far - probably just exceeded a little by the restaurant at the fishing dock in Fremantle. Today (or tomorrow, depending on whether it was the 31st here or in the US) was my birthday but John has plans for a dinner party at a restaurant in Perth next week so we will celebrate then, if becoming old enough to go on Medicare is reason to celebrate - ugh.
Sunday we did a little food prep and laundry. We invited our friend's daughter and her 2 teenagers over for an American meal of hamburgers, cole slaw, potato salad and apple crisp with ice cream. We enjoyed the visit with Myra, Calvin and Mia very much. Myra is an event planner at Chapel Farm in Swan Valley in the heart of the wine district and she seems to be a very hard working young woman and has done a great job bringing up her kids so far. Matt, 15, was about to leave on a 2 1/2 wk trip to Thailand with his school to visit and help with some orphanages there. Mia, 13, is also a charming, well behaved young lady and both seem to be good students as well as a help to their mother. They live right at Chapel Farm.
Later that evening we saw some of the festival fireworks display from our back patio. It was very impressive, even though we are accustomed to the seemingly continuous fireworks in San Miguel. We felt sorry for the poor local birds - they were protesting and flying in every direction thinking the world had come to an end having been so rudely awakened from their evening's roost.
Just a 10 minute drive from home is a beautiful beach on the Indian Ocean called Burns Beach. It was another lovely warm, sunny day - perfect for a stroll by the beach. The beach was quiet and the water wonderfully clear. Seemed a bit chilly when I waded in it but we were not planning on swimming anyway. There was a walking/cycling path on the limestone cliffs above the beach and we took a fairly long walk there before heading home to park the car and then walk to a nearby area for lunch at an Asian restaurant recommended by our neighbors. The menu had lots of things we never heard of, Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, etc. - quite a selection. We decided on dishes we knew: John had Pad Thai and I had Sweet and Sour Pork - both were very good. That evening the neighbors, Geoff and Joy, joined us for a bottle or two of wine and a very pleasant visit. One of our favorite things about home exchanges is the opportunity to meet locals. Australians and New Zealanders are very friendly.
Saturday was the beginning of a 2 day annual street festival in Joondalup. We walked over in the afternoon to catch a few street performers and a very creative parade - made up mostly of the various primary schools and community organizations. I loved the bagpipes at the end of the parade. The theme of the parade was about a children's fantasy book which was collectively written by a community writers organization, as I understood it. Each school made costumes and floats (mostly out of recycleable materials) to represent sections of the book. We thought it was very well done. After the parade we strolled back home and stopped at the local fish and chips place - Govendors - I'm not getting tired of fish and chips yet and enjoy comparing them. Here we had a choice of types of fish and we decided to try the barramundi. It was excellent - the breading was light and crisp and tasty. The fish was perfectly cooked and absolutely fresh. So, it was pretty high on our list so far - probably just exceeded a little by the restaurant at the fishing dock in Fremantle. Today (or tomorrow, depending on whether it was the 31st here or in the US) was my birthday but John has plans for a dinner party at a restaurant in Perth next week so we will celebrate then, if becoming old enough to go on Medicare is reason to celebrate - ugh.
Sunday we did a little food prep and laundry. We invited our friend's daughter and her 2 teenagers over for an American meal of hamburgers, cole slaw, potato salad and apple crisp with ice cream. We enjoyed the visit with Myra, Calvin and Mia very much. Myra is an event planner at Chapel Farm in Swan Valley in the heart of the wine district and she seems to be a very hard working young woman and has done a great job bringing up her kids so far. Matt, 15, was about to leave on a 2 1/2 wk trip to Thailand with his school to visit and help with some orphanages there. Mia, 13, is also a charming, well behaved young lady and both seem to be good students as well as a help to their mother. They live right at Chapel Farm.
Later that evening we saw some of the festival fireworks display from our back patio. It was very impressive, even though we are accustomed to the seemingly continuous fireworks in San Miguel. We felt sorry for the poor local birds - they were protesting and flying in every direction thinking the world had come to an end having been so rudely awakened from their evening's roost.
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