The Jonnymoon Continues

They came up with that one. I think it has a nice ring to it. Well the two of them did very well considering the JetLag of travelling half way around the world. Not to mention completely missing Saturday. That was JP's 1/4 Birthday as well. He'll have no memories of that special day. They both slept through til about 7am, and have stayed up to current time (9:30pm).

We have had a big day. We did some quick family webcam sessions before heading to the beaches. Monday morning and "cold" weather (only 25 Celsius) means no one is at the beach. We first went to the local City Beach, and then travelled north past Scarborough to a place called North Beach (creative name). It was a beautiful morning, but I've still been unable to get them to go into the Indian Ocean. They still have the shark paranoia. JP bought a towel and boardies (board shorts) at the mall today, so he has no excuse anymore. Oh yah, to get an idea on the crackdown on Drunk Driving in Perth, I almost got "breathalyzed" at 10am on Monday on a beach road (every driver that goes through a roadblock is breathalyzed on the spot). The two cars in front of me got pulled over, but fortunately I snuck through. I obviously hadn't been drinking, but mouthwash can cause you to blow over the limit. Zoinks!!!

We then headed shopping for shoes .... not quite ... but close. First to the Outlet Mall, then took the bus to the city. Not much exciting happened down there. I cooked up some dinner, then we headed to King's Park to enjoy the sunset. Very nice. Wish I had my bocca set for the grass there.

I'm tired... another busy day tomorrow I'm sure.

North Beach .... where are all the people?

It does not feel like Christmas, long days, warm weather .... it feels more like SUMMER!

Can you spot which are statues and which are JP and I

JP taking his token "bark" photos for the trip .... he's actually British Columbia's foremost expert on Bark Photography

Perth Reflections

Another one with the two.

Another Majestic Drive... I mean Sunset

Laura & JP's Australian Honeymoon Adventure ....

AND JON!!!!!!

Well the guests have officially arrived. My sister Laura and her husband JP flew in to Perth this afternoon to begin there 1 month Australian Honeymoon Adventure. They both looked very well considering the 22+ hours of flight time. My roommate was kind enough to lend his other car, so I met them at the Perth Airport. After a few accidental detours (to South Perth ... woops), we made it back to my place. First thing is first, we have to get to the beach. We ended up at City Beach as I had several friends down there. It was a bit windy and choppy, but not the worst I've seen it. Laura and JP were apprehensive about going in the water.... maybe tomorrow. Then back to my place where they napped for an hour, then dinner, then off to Cottesloe to catch the sunset, and have a peak at the Sunday Sessions.

They have now tucked into bed at 9pm, which isn't bad.... it'll take a couple days at least to get over the jet lag. I do find it quite hilarious that my sister is spending the first official night of her honeymoon sleeping in her little brother's bed. I bet she never would have imagined that one. As for me .... I'm left with the swag (thanks Mark and Holly!)

I think the plan for tomorrow is beaches, beaches and more beaches. Whether is still going to be quite cool. It will only be 25 Celsius tomorrow. Today was a chilly 22. Brrrrr...

JP and Laura, happy to see sunshine

First steps in the Indian Ocean


Alright, JP say "Cheese", and Laura, you scream!

JP already starting his job as a Christmas Card photographer ... he's planning to pay for the trip doing this!

Laura and JP ...... and Jon

Not a bad sunset .... a little cloudy though

You gotta love Australia .... they give out free parking!!!! They tried to make people pay for parking at the beaches, but that went against the Australian Way of Life.

Meekatharra Revolutions

A Willy Willy

Well I did another trip to Meekatharra. This time it was just a quick two nighter because the drillers hadn't finished in time during the last trip. They also said they had struck exactly what we were looking. So I headed all the way back, just to discover that they don't know what they are talking about. Talk about a waste.

Not much exciting from this trip. It was much much cooler, only about 37 / 38 C this time. The highlight of the trip was being in the middle of a "Willy Willy". It wasn't quite as extreme as the photo above, but it shows up out of nowhere. We step out of the LandCruiser, and noticed a slight breeze, as we walked out a bit further it picked up. "Nice wind, it's blowing the flies away" [there were still thousands of flies]. Then the winds really picked up and a piece of paper blew out the LandCruiser door. The fieldie raced to close the doors, while I watched this paper to see where it would blow to. I did not expect to blow almost completely vertical, with a spiral flow. Pretty soon it was so far up in the air that we lost it. I'm guessing well over 500m to 1 km high, and it just kept going as it was trapped in it. I'm just glad it wasn't my hat that blew away.....

My other big event in Meeka was discovering that something was in my toilet on monday. It was large, and moved very quick; it went "under" before i could get my eyes on it. My best guess was cockroach or frog. Anyhow, the next day, and after a few "flushes" (props to it for surviving a couple of them ;)..... I saw it just sitting on the rim, and yes it was a frog. Tried to get a photo, but it was camera shy.

That was the excitement. Then back to Meekatharra:
Jon: Hi, my name is Jon, I'm on the flight
Airport Staffer: Ok Jon, place your bag on the scale, Do you have any dangerous goods or weapons?
Jon: Nope
Airport Staffer: Ok, see you on the plane
You aren't even given a boarding pass .... gotta love outback security ..... :)

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Back to Perth, I had a taxi driver tell me he was going to show me something I've never seen before. He said, he knew a building that was built like a sheep. I was quite excited, as this is not New Zealand. Anyway, he showed me the building, and I was really upset, as it looked absolutely nothing like a sheep. Still he insisted, a sheep, a sheep, a big sheep. That's when I realized that for the last 10 minutes he had been talking about SHIPS.... oh my ... talk about lost in translation.... I'm still learning Australian

I hit up City Beach for a bit and met up with Matt after he finished work. Then spent the afternoon getting tossed around by giant waves. Now I'm paying the price as salt water keeps coming out of my nose whenever I lean over.....

or is it clear blood????

Oh yah ..... Australian Idol winner was Natalie .... the show went on way too long, and I just looked it up on the internet, and then went to bed ....

From Jim Vandemeer to Marty Havlat

If you get that you are either a) my brother , b) very clever , c) have spent the last few years suffering!

Did someone say .... Jelly Fish???

Well today [actually very late last night] started off with quite the shock ..... literally. As I was putting my digital cameras in to get charged up. I had an issue with the Aussie/North American converter. The issue resulted in a 220Volt shock up my arm. It definately wakes you up. The tip of one my finger nails actually turned black. Try going to sleep after that!!!! I'm still waiting for my superpowers.....

Fortunately, I survived, and had already decided to take Tuesday off work. The plan: Go to AQWA (Aquarium of Western Australia) up north in Hillarys. Who with: My favourite person .... ME! How am I getting there: With Jacques (my bike). How long a distance: 20km. How long will it take me: Very long as I kept stopping at every single beach because they just kept getting more and more spectacular. The bike ride was breathtaking, and life-changing! I'm not entirely sure why I decided to start working here. I think I should just quit and do that bike ride every day for the next 10 months! (at least when it's Mid 20's outside).

I made it to Hillarys and AQWA and had a great time. Having a shark swim over you and be only centimeters away is surreal. It was also neat to see some of the many poisonous underwater creatures. Memo to self: "Don't Touch ANYTHING!!!"

On the way home, I decided to spend a couple hours at City Beach. I did a little walking, a lot of Lying, and there was some major enjoying!!! I got a little tuckered out from all the relaxing on the beach. Headed home. Ordered a pizza, and opened a couple letters [Thanks Matt/Valentina [also currently watching CSI Miami :) literally!], Laura/JP [can't believe they stole my recipe for jonchos .... although, there was no mention of layering], Gramps), as they all arrived today!!! What are the odds?

Photos from the Day:

The Bike Ride to Hillarys

AQWA

City Beach

Walking to the water at City Beach