back in broome, on the way to derby

said goodbye to perth and emmett today. he leaves for europe on sunday on a great adventure! we will miss him! it rained very hard this morning and our ride was rather bumpy to broome, but otherwise uneventful.  got into broome and went for lunch at kool spot. i loved my moroccan salad and jose enjoyed his chicken burger.  drove up to derby and picked up poor little lonely miski. poor thing growled at me when i first got to where she was boarded. she didn't recognize me, which makes me nervous about what happened there.  as soon as she smelled me she went into a fit of excitement.  we took her to the oval for a romp and then gave her the cookies we got her. she is now sleeping peacfully on her soft bed with a full belly and a happy heart.  and yes i am obsessed.  i miss perth and the end of the vacation but i am happy to be home again.  all our perth trip photos here.

wine, beer, chocolate tasting in swan valley

a great last day in perth! i wish it could have lasted longer. we took a tour of swan valley with out and about tours and had a ball.  we went to 5 wineries (pinelli, lancaster, windy creek, sitello's, jarah ridge) and then 1 brewery (elmar's, a german brewery), and 1 chocolate factory (margaret river chocolates)! we got to try 45 different wines and had fabulous cheese platters, chutneys, sausages, a lovely lunch buffet, yummy beer and incredible chocolate.  what a decadent day! and this was jose's first wine tour of course and i think he was rather impressed.  we got some wine and chutney to take back to derby with us.  caught the train home and cleaned up the place, packed quickly for tomorrow and then went out into leederville to meet his friend from the detention centre.  he no longer works up in derby and is in perth full time. it was nice to get to meet one of his colleagues and friends.  claire met up with us and we had a great time until i could no longer keep my eyelids open.   jose has really loved perth and since it is so much like california i think both of us could imagine settling here someday.  we both wished we had at least another week.  can't wait to see miski though!  more photos in the perth 2011 album

street arts festival, markets and beer in fremantle

another fantastic day in beautiful, sunny perth! we grabbed muffins in leederville then caught the train at 10am to freo. wandered down the beautiful, old streets towards the markets, shopping all the way.  i loved the markets, they were full of wonderful things from handmade jewelry, wall decals, produce, cupcakes, food, wood and other crafts, etc. we shopped a little bit in there and jose got some japanese soup.  we also got miski a cute little raincoat and some peanut butter doggy cookies. can't wait to give them to her.  we then found a nice painting outside that we got and wandered around to various street art acts. we watched breakdancers from the USA...not that good though..., chalk art, acrobats, stilt artists, etc.  it was very fun but it was also extremely hot. we walked across the park to little creatures, a local (huge) brewery with legendary beer.  we sat outside overlooking the port and sampled most of their beer. my favorite was their bright ale - jose's too. i also liked the white rabbit dark ale.  we had bruchetta and then pork chops with apple chutney and potatoes and a beet, pumpkin, feta, walnut salad. it was SO good!  we wandered about a bit after, got cupcakes, and then headed on home. we were exhausted by the time we got back and pretty much just vegged out watching movies and documentaries. more photos in this album

happy easter!

happy easter everyone in the us...a day ahead anyway.  today was more of a day of rest for us which was nice. got up and had a stroll at lake monger across from where we're staying. it is a beautiful lake with lots of wild birds and a lovely walking track. only 3.5k but still a nice walk.  then emmett came by and we walked into leederville and saw some of the shops (very quaint) and had coffee, tea and milkshakes at a place called green & co...although the picture shows what some inspired artist turned the name into :)  see photos here  then i went across the street and had my first frozen yogurt in about 10 months!  it was an american company and it was so nice to have my favorite treat after so long. then we went into subiaco (another suburb) and walked the mostly closed shops there.  but it is a very cute area, much larger than leederville with more cafes, etc.  we went to the markets there again and looked around and ate vietnamese food again (jose's choice).  very yummy but not as good as the day before.  jose found a clothing store he really liked and bought his first hoody ever! looks great on him. then we headed home, relaxed, watched documentaries online, had another lake walk, ate fabulous open faced sandwiches with wine and watched punch drunk love.  a nice day :)

central perth shopping spree

today we took the very nice train to the city centre in search of some fun things to buy.  we walked around the several malls all within a few blocks, found a few good purchases and enjoyed seeing the big buildings.  lots of the stores were too fancy but there were some really nice ones.  after doing a bit of shopping we walked away from the river a ways to go to a very fancy cake/sweet shop...sadly it was closed.  instead we happened upon a crime scene with police everywhere and the street blocked off. apparently there was a man with a gun wandering around. we went around it and ended up eating at a vietnamese place called lodi i think.  this was jose's first experience with vietnamese food and he loved it! we got amazing spring rolls, veal and fried rice and i had an incredible beef dish with vermicelli noodles. it was heavenly.  walked by the police barrier again (they apparently ended up shooting the guy in the leg to get him out) and back into the city centre.  i bought some chocolates at a really nice grocery store (akin to gelsons) and then we continued to shop for a bit.  then we went to a little picadilly movie theatre and caught the 4pm show of Rango!  loved it. took the train back home where we ate left overs and watched social networking with emmett's brother's fiance.  many more photos in the Perth 2011 album.

beaches and kings park, good friday

we had an amazing day! it was incredibly hot and beautiful out. started off the morning going to the markets in leederville.  they were incredible. there was so much fresh fruit and veggies, things i haven't seen in forever! there was also an incredibly bread bakery and a french pastry shop.  lots of other shops and eateries too.  we got a few things, and jose got to try his very first asian pear! yum!  then we went to city beach, emmett's hangout.  went swimming in the absolutely frigid, yet incredibly clean, clear water.  i had a lovely swim and jose went swimming in the ocean for the first time ever and had a ball.  then we cleaned up and went to kings park which was beautiful. walked around monuments, the botanical gardens and looked out at views of the city on the swan river.  we saw a kookaburra and rainbow lorikeet.  then drove through the fancy suburbs of perth (very posh, or shmick as they say) and then wandered around cottesloe beach.  had a snafoo with the train, wasn't running that day, and eventually got back to our place around 4pm.  had a shower, nanna nap, and then good friday dinner with emmett and his 3 brothers, and his mom.  food was incredible! his brother cooked it all b/c his chef fiance was really ill.  we had prawn risotto, salad, homemade focaccia bread and then amazing prune brownies with vanilla bean ice cream for dessert (those made from Bourke Street Bakery).  his mom kept pouring me so much wine.  what a great evening!  more photos here Perth 2011