AQWA

My very beautiful friend Professor Pants gave us a lovely present before we left (one of many thoughtful, wonderful gifts we received). She listened and decided against any large unwieldy objects and gave us a family voucher to AQWA which is the aquarium here in Perth. Today, we packed food and water and essential items and left Fremantle, heading north to Hilary's boat harbour which is where the aquarium is located.
It was overcast today, which had locals rushing to don woolly jumpers and light their fires but as it turned out, it was the perfect day to be indoors looking at fish.
We saw many wonderful fish including Dory and Nemo ( I wonder if aquarium people love or loathe that movie as little people shout their names excitedly as they spot them both) and some great jellyfish. The best bit would definitely be the moving footway/underwater tunnel that had even the most experienced underwater observers amongst us (S) pointing excitedly at smiley mouthed rays, turtles and of course sharks.

Fremantle Heritage Festival

They do love a festival here and not so long ago there was a heritage festival. Part of the celebrations centred around Athur Grady Day. Who was Arthur and why did he get his own day you ask? Arthur was the first person to ride a motorbike around Australia in 1924 which is particularly impressive when you see how much suspension there was on bikes then (zero) and how horrendously uncomfortable the seats looked.

 In his honour, Kings Square was filled with vintage bikes and cars and one or two Clydesdales and there were vintage buses ferrying people to places like the Maritime museum where a gold coin donation got you in for a looksee.

Back at the square and the Town Hall there were displays of old gramophones and telephones and a group of sartorially splendid Morse Codians just waiting to send a message for you. And funnily enough the weather was glorious.

Visitors

Before we moved one of our friends mentioned they would be over this way for a holiday. Actually she had to mention it a couple of times because my brain was so fried from all the packing.
We didn't hear anything for awhile so I thought they'd come and gone but then we got a message. We arranged to meet up before they boarded their cruise ship the next day.
It was a glorious sunny day and Jack skipped all the way into town. We had hugs, races and shakes and a super quick trip to the beach before it was time for them to go with huge smiles and damp feet.

A couple of wags

Things work differently here. Stopping at pedestrian crossings or wearing a bicycle helmet seem to not be compulsory. Stopping in the middle of a busy roundabout to wave people across the road is common practice (probably why there are so many rear end collisions here).
Kids start school at 5. There's none of this holding them back until they're ready rubbish. As a result when we moved here Jack moved up a year and 6 weeks later sat his naplan exams. Jack seemed to take it in his stride (though we did have some interesting conversations about fractions-sadly he seems to get his mathematical abilities from me).
As a reward for finishing we took the morning off and went to see the 26 storey treehouse (a play based on the Andy Griffith and Terry Denton book). It was hilarious, especially the bit where captain woodenhead the pirate appeared silently beside us and suddenly yelled, 'Yaaaaar!!!' Though Jack thought the fart jokes were funnier.
Afterwards we strolled around Northbridge and had a Ben & Jerrys then Jack went back to school (he wanted too) so he could take part in his school's lapathon.

Street music

The boys love this marimba in Fremantle. It's just near the town hall/library and they always want to stop and play. Most of the time I agree because it has a very forgiving sound.

Mother's Day WA style

Simon suggested that we go to yum cha for Mother's day. Having been somewhat dumpling deprived living in country New South Wales for the last 13 (!) years, I leapt at the chance. A work colleague of S invited us as his family's guests and suggested New Moon in Northbridge.

There was already quite a crowd when we got there, so our host took a number and shooed us away to have a look around. We went to the state library children's area (it has a gate) which had lots of books and groovy furniture and no one telling us to shoosh. We soon got called back and got some annoyed looks as we sauntered past all the hungry people queuing and took our seats. Soon our table was full of baskets and plates full of food. Jack got stuck right in whereas Sam nibbled on a few things unadventurously before ordering the most lurid dessert he could see. Our host was delighted, even when most of it got swooshed around and not consumed. Sucking sago and jelly through a straw is really hard work.

Afterwards Ratty Sam headed home for a nap with S and Jack and I went exploring. We found some great shops and then had a look in the Art Gallery where I saw a beautiful Margaret Preston Painting and this very interesting work by David Shrigley. I believe it's called Stick.

Pontoon

When I was younger and living in Sydney, I was petrified of sharks. Some of this I can blame on Peter Benchley (surely Jaws caused a whole generation of beachgoers to be absolutely petrified of sharks). Maybe part of my phobia was due to visits to the Manly aquarium where the watchful eyes of the grey nurses freaked me out. Little did I know how gentle these creatures actually are. S assures me that if you can get under the water and see sharks they will no longer terrify you (hmmm) and that most attacks are a case of mistaken identity. He would say that though as he was known to get quite close to them when he was diving.
I am aware that I don't want to pass this phobia onto the boys so when we moved here and Simon told me about the pontoon at South beach and how you can swim out then dive off and swim back to shore, I thought that I should have a go. Unfortunately I got about halfway and my brain said no. Crystal clear water, no sharks in sight but I was not able to do it. And now of course it's autumn (though most days you can't tell) and the pontoon has disappeared until Summer. Time enough to psyche myself up to the task or give it up for good.