Camballin camping

went on a short camping trip this weekend with our friends sam and ayesha! poor miski got car sick on the way... we went out to a spot near Looma community and Liveringa station. couldn't cross the "stream" because it was far too squishy to get to the other side. it was a beautiful, breezy, cloudy day so we set up shop for a bit in the afternoon and tried to get some cherrabun (prawn like critters) without success. jose fished a bit and miski and cora bonded by the cars.  after a while we drove around looking for an alternative place to camp. found a good spot by the side of a small hill and set up our tents and gear.  miski LOVES camping!  she drove poor cora to distraction and wreaked havoc for a while but it got her wiggles out. she even learned to swim with cora in a nearby watering hole.  the boys went off to catch our dinner and ayesha and i stayed back to chat and have tea and watch the fort.  they came back with the biggest creatures i've ever seen!  we had cherrabun, steak, and stir-fried noodles/veggies for dinner. yum! add a bit of red wine and some good tunes and we had a lovely, relaxing, beautiful evening out bush.  went to bed and miski slept all night at the foot of my mattress. so cute.  see more photos in the camballin camping trip album

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