On Wednesday morning I went to do some wedding service planning with Claire. Larry and I spent part of the afternoon in downtown Fremantle checking out locations and all - and getting a $50 parking ticket! The Australian dollar is worth less than the US dollar, so it worked out to about $37 after I paid it. Just didn’t see the signs! Later Wednesday afternoon we had a wedding rehearsal at The Roundhouse, where the service will be held. This - also a former prison - is a beautiful location overlooking the harbor. It’s the oldest building in Western Australia. After the rehearsal, Larry and I ate at Little Creatures, a waterfront brewery. It is a huge place, but we found a quiet table and ordered some fries, mussels, and a sardine dish with apples, parsley, and croutons. The fries (too many!) and mussels were good, but the sardine dish was spectacular! A lot of good cooking in this town!
Later that evening I drove over to Claire and Jared’s and met the Celebrant for the wedding. I’m actually the main person for officiating, but I can’t legally do it in Australia. Here they have official folk called Celebrants who a licensed to perform weddings. His name is Doug Booth and he a really nice man. It was fun that all we had planned was in total agreement with what he needs to accomplish. There is very specific language he needs to use for the wedding to be legal. Very interesting. He’s also doing all kinds of things to help it all go smoothly, like bring microphones and sound system and all. Splendid. I think he and I will be a nice team to do the wedding.
Friday, March 11, 2016
Australia 2016 - Back to Fremantle
On Monday we had another leisurely day in Margaret River, not doing much but reading our books and enjoying it all. We did go into town to check about the book. The owner had forgotten about it, but promised to bring it in Tuesday morning. So we put that on our schedule when we headed out on Tuesday.
Tuesday was about cleaning up the house and getting packed up to return to Fremantle. When we left, we went back to the bookshop. The owner had indeed brought the book, but it wasn’t the one we had read. (We had hoped to find The Voyage of Catalpa to give to Powelsons.) But the one he brought was the transcript of the proceedings that followed the prison escape - right up Larry’s alley for interest! And the owner gave it us for free. All in all a successful transaction and we learned more of the history of this part of the world.
On our way out we stopped at Providore, a lovely place to purchase Margaret River provisions. We purchased some. Then we stopped at a nut and cereal farm store and bought some of their own grown macadamia nuts. Our last stop in Margaret River was the Margaret River Dairy. We bought some cheese and delicious Passion Fruit yogurt - my current favorite breakfast item!
We stopped further up the way in Bunbury and their fairly new farmers’ market. It was more like a Whole Foods, but there was a lot of local produce. We were astonished by the size of the lettuces, cabbages, leeks, and celery. Humongous! We had a bite to eat for lunch from their deli and then made our way back to Fremantle.
Our first task back at the flat was to do laundry. No dryers here - everything is hung up on the line. Things dry very quickly in this hot, dry climate. Dinner was back at chez Powelson with local Asian food.
Tuesday was about cleaning up the house and getting packed up to return to Fremantle. When we left, we went back to the bookshop. The owner had indeed brought the book, but it wasn’t the one we had read. (We had hoped to find The Voyage of Catalpa to give to Powelsons.) But the one he brought was the transcript of the proceedings that followed the prison escape - right up Larry’s alley for interest! And the owner gave it us for free. All in all a successful transaction and we learned more of the history of this part of the world.
On our way out we stopped at Providore, a lovely place to purchase Margaret River provisions. We purchased some. Then we stopped at a nut and cereal farm store and bought some of their own grown macadamia nuts. Our last stop in Margaret River was the Margaret River Dairy. We bought some cheese and delicious Passion Fruit yogurt - my current favorite breakfast item!
We stopped further up the way in Bunbury and their fairly new farmers’ market. It was more like a Whole Foods, but there was a lot of local produce. We were astonished by the size of the lettuces, cabbages, leeks, and celery. Humongous! We had a bite to eat for lunch from their deli and then made our way back to Fremantle.
Our first task back at the flat was to do laundry. No dryers here - everything is hung up on the line. Things dry very quickly in this hot, dry climate. Dinner was back at chez Powelson with local Asian food.
Australia 2016 - Margaret River Wine Tasting and Kangaroos!
On Sunday we had a special wedding event. A bus picked up 27 of us to tour three wineries in the region.
We had a very pleasant drive around and went to Watershed, Leeuwin and
Vasse Felix. Watershed had a superb presenter of the wine there. Leeuwin
is one of the oldest wineries in the area. Vasse Felix is the first
one, with the oldest vineyard first planted in 1967. This is a young
terroire that has become very famous, especially for Chardonnay.
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| The group at Watershed Winery |
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| A lizzard at Wastershed. |
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| A Kookaburra at Leeuwin. The Kookaburra is not native to Western Australia - very cute, but a bit of a pest! |
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| The "kids" table at Vasse Felix. |
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| The "adult" table! |
We arrived back at our Margaret River house with wine purchases in tow and rejoicing taste buds!
Australia 2016 - In Margaret River
We then arrived in Margaret River at the house the Powelsons have rented before. The Powelsons have come to Margaret River as a family many times during their visits over the years to see Eileen’s family. The house is big enough for 10 of us, a really nice place where we could all sit outside around a big table and enjoy food, wine, and conversation.
All of our dinners were cooked in, including a first night (Friday) superb barbecued lamb.
Everyone who was part of the Margaret River event came for dinner. It was great to meet more of Jared’s family and Jared and Claire’s friends. At each wedding event over a little over a week more and more people have joined the festivities!
On Saturday Larry and I headed south from Margaret River to see more of this gorgeous area. We drove on Caves Road, so named because below it is a chain of limestone caves. We stopped and toured the Lake Cave - 300 steps down and 300 steps back up! It was an amazingly beautiful place.
From there we continued south towards Augusta. We stopped at Hamelin Bay to see some Manta Rays - supposedly always there! - but they didn’t show up. All the beaches in Western Australia are fabulously beautiful - blue, blue clear water in the Indian Ocean, and a complete coastline of white sand. Amazing.
When we got to Augusta we headed right away to Cape Leewuin, the southernmost point on the Australian continent. When we bought our tickets to enter the lighthouse area, there was a printed sign that said “Lighthouse this way. South Pole, 5435 KM!” The cape is where the Southern Ocean and the Indian Ocean meet. It was a very interesting to visit there and hear about the many stories of survival and loss that are part of its history.
In Augusta we found some spectacular fish and chips in Augusta, and started to make our way north again on the beautiful Caves Road. We stopped to take some pictures of the magnificent Karri forest. These ancient and giant trees are amazing. We had seen them 15 years ago in New Zealand - spelled Kauri there. But the depth of the forests here was particularly lovely.
Before we came here our friend Suzanne Phillips had suggested a book to read - The Voyage of the Catalpa by Peter F. Stevens. It’s a real adventure story about the rescue of six Irish Fenian prisoners from the Fremantle Prison in 1876. (The Historic Fremantle Prison is the location of the wedding reception on Saturday!) Larry read it before we left and I just had about 75 pages left. Just for fun, we’ve been looking for it here, and to that end had stopped in at the Margaret River Bookshop. That turned into a fascinating conversation with the owner whose grandparents had know John Reilly and Father McCabe, two of the people involved in the rescue. He then told us of the rescue of the patrol boat Georgette - one of the British patrol boats which did not catch the Catalpa - and showed us a picture on the shop wall of the house where the rescuers had lived. He told us he had a Catalpa book at his home, and we should stop back. So we put that on our agenda. But, on this day, we went to Red Gate to see if we could find the spot of the Georgette shipwreck. We weren’t successful, but one look at the beach and the bay showed us that it is definitely a likely shipwreck spot!
When we got back to the house Larry and I went on a walk with Wally to see Kangaroos come out in the evening, Very cool! Look closely to see the Joey in its pouch in the second picture.
Everyone who was part of the Margaret River event came for dinner. It was great to meet more of Jared’s family and Jared and Claire’s friends. At each wedding event over a little over a week more and more people have joined the festivities!
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| The banner for Jared and Claire that was put up at each event. |
On Saturday Larry and I headed south from Margaret River to see more of this gorgeous area. We drove on Caves Road, so named because below it is a chain of limestone caves. We stopped and toured the Lake Cave - 300 steps down and 300 steps back up! It was an amazingly beautiful place.
From there we continued south towards Augusta. We stopped at Hamelin Bay to see some Manta Rays - supposedly always there! - but they didn’t show up. All the beaches in Western Australia are fabulously beautiful - blue, blue clear water in the Indian Ocean, and a complete coastline of white sand. Amazing.
When we got to Augusta we headed right away to Cape Leewuin, the southernmost point on the Australian continent. When we bought our tickets to enter the lighthouse area, there was a printed sign that said “Lighthouse this way. South Pole, 5435 KM!” The cape is where the Southern Ocean and the Indian Ocean meet. It was a very interesting to visit there and hear about the many stories of survival and loss that are part of its history.
In Augusta we found some spectacular fish and chips in Augusta, and started to make our way north again on the beautiful Caves Road. We stopped to take some pictures of the magnificent Karri forest. These ancient and giant trees are amazing. We had seen them 15 years ago in New Zealand - spelled Kauri there. But the depth of the forests here was particularly lovely.
Before we came here our friend Suzanne Phillips had suggested a book to read - The Voyage of the Catalpa by Peter F. Stevens. It’s a real adventure story about the rescue of six Irish Fenian prisoners from the Fremantle Prison in 1876. (The Historic Fremantle Prison is the location of the wedding reception on Saturday!) Larry read it before we left and I just had about 75 pages left. Just for fun, we’ve been looking for it here, and to that end had stopped in at the Margaret River Bookshop. That turned into a fascinating conversation with the owner whose grandparents had know John Reilly and Father McCabe, two of the people involved in the rescue. He then told us of the rescue of the patrol boat Georgette - one of the British patrol boats which did not catch the Catalpa - and showed us a picture on the shop wall of the house where the rescuers had lived. He told us he had a Catalpa book at his home, and we should stop back. So we put that on our agenda. But, on this day, we went to Red Gate to see if we could find the spot of the Georgette shipwreck. We weren’t successful, but one look at the beach and the bay showed us that it is definitely a likely shipwreck spot!
When we got back to the house Larry and I went on a walk with Wally to see Kangaroos come out in the evening, Very cool! Look closely to see the Joey in its pouch in the second picture.
Australia 2016 - En Route to Margaret River
There are many events planned for family and friends arriving from all around Australia and the world (well, mostly Seattle) for the wedding. One was a weekend in the Margaret River region of Western Australia. Famous for its wines, the area is a very popular surfing, camping, and hiking area as well. The weekend we were there was also a four-day weekend here - the equivalent of Labor Day in the USA - so we joined everyone else in exploring this grand place.
When we headed for Margaret River we stopped in Busselton to see the famous jetty, longest in the Southern Hemisphere at 2 KM. Things being what they are, we ran into Amy Powelson and her Auntie Jean (Eileen’s sister)!
After Busselton we went out to the Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse, the northern end of the Margaret River region.
After we had explored the lighthouse, Larry asked at the shop where the restrooms were. The clerk, identifying “restrooms” as toilets, gave him directions and then said to his companion, “restrooms?”
When we headed for Margaret River we stopped in Busselton to see the famous jetty, longest in the Southern Hemisphere at 2 KM. Things being what they are, we ran into Amy Powelson and her Auntie Jean (Eileen’s sister)!
After Busselton we went out to the Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse, the northern end of the Margaret River region.
After we had explored the lighthouse, Larry asked at the shop where the restrooms were. The clerk, identifying “restrooms” as toilets, gave him directions and then said to his companion, “restrooms?”
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Australia 2016 - Fremantle Flat
Our friends Wally and Eileen Powelson met us at the gate (a Perth perk!) when we landed. It was great to see them, and the wedding of their youngest daughter, Claire, is the purpose of this travel. They took us to the flat we’ll be in for the next three weeks. It’s a great Air Bnb place they had rented the previous August. It’s in an older part of Fremantle, and has the same cool architecture of the rest of the neighborhood. [insert picture] We got there with a little bit of tour of the Perth/Fremantle city, and it was nice to see this really beautiful city. They left us in the good hands of our Air Bnb host, Zolly, and we set about making ourselves comfortable. It’s a great place!
Wally and Eileen then took us the short distance to the Auto Europe office so we could pick up our rental car. Ironically, it’s exactly the same make, model, and color as the Powelson’s. So we have a regular fleet of white Toyota Camry Altise.
We all (Wally, Eileen and their other two daughters Sarah and Amy) had dinner that evening at a a wonderful restaurant called Limones just two blocks from our flat, so a lovely evening walk. It was superb. We’ll be enjoying the beautiful seafood here all during our stay.
It’s great fun to be with the Powelsons - terrific conversation across the generations, and shared love of food and drink! This will be a great trip.
On Wednesday we got oriented and that evening we had Mosman Park fish and chips with the Powelsons. Yum!
On Thursday Powelsons took many of us to a fabulous resturant called Bib & Tucker on the waterfront. We had small plates to share. The Salt Cod Fritters and Soft Shell Crab Sliders were just delicious. That meal being plenty for the day, Larry and I just shared and apple and some cheese and crackers that evening!
Wally and Eileen then took us the short distance to the Auto Europe office so we could pick up our rental car. Ironically, it’s exactly the same make, model, and color as the Powelson’s. So we have a regular fleet of white Toyota Camry Altise.
We all (Wally, Eileen and their other two daughters Sarah and Amy) had dinner that evening at a a wonderful restaurant called Limones just two blocks from our flat, so a lovely evening walk. It was superb. We’ll be enjoying the beautiful seafood here all during our stay.
It’s great fun to be with the Powelsons - terrific conversation across the generations, and shared love of food and drink! This will be a great trip.
On Wednesday we got oriented and that evening we had Mosman Park fish and chips with the Powelsons. Yum!
On Thursday Powelsons took many of us to a fabulous resturant called Bib & Tucker on the waterfront. We had small plates to share. The Salt Cod Fritters and Soft Shell Crab Sliders were just delicious. That meal being plenty for the day, Larry and I just shared and apple and some cheese and crackers that evening!
Australia 2016 - Getting There
The first big thing is getting here. The three flights - Seattle-LA, LA-Sydney, Sydney-Perth - combined to make 23.5 hours in the air. Larry calculated total travel time at 37 hours. Perth is the most isolated city in the world. We believe it!
The flight to Sydney was in a behemoth Airbus 380 - the world’s biggest passenger plane. It was a remarkably smooth flight, but it sure does hold a lot of people! The accouterments weren’t as good as a Boeing plane, I thought, but I am prejudiced at that point, although the flight attendant whose jump seat was across from our seats independently volunteered the same opinion.
Long travel time and giant planes encourage profound thinking on big topics, and I was helped in this by a New York Times movie review of the Son of Saul. Here’s the link: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/son-of-saul-kierkegaard-and-the-holocaust/. The ideas here are well worth pondering as the objectifying rhetoric of the political campaigns gets even worse. The author writes: There is less of a tendency for modern humans to live thoroughly immersed in life, experiencing it, and more of a tendency of being mostly distracted by its abstractions, by all the ways our culture conceptually frames our existence as individuals, Democrats and Republicans, man and women, one percenters, workers, consumers, and so on. And here, as a result, is the problem: by becoming less subjective, we become more cut off from sources of meaning and value. identifying the naming of categories for persons is certainly true in my (subjective) experience. Our own state of Washington, which used to be a model of good democracy with people from both parties in significant offices in our government, shifted to the totally objective mode when the political parties insisted on a party-dominated primary election. It used to only be caucuses for the purpose of delegates to the state conventions. Now it’s another media draw, although the primary itself is meaningless. It’s another sad commentary on our larger civic problems of isolation and separation, in other words, objectifying one another. So these are the loft thoughts I had as we were carried across the Pacific onto another continent and into another WA (Western Australia).
Another interesting aspect of our flight was that we crossed the International Dateline on February 29. I posed this question to our grandsons on the way to the airport: If we cross the International Dateline on “Leap Day” have we missed it entirely because it only happens once every four years? Or, do we really get the time back when we return to GMT -8 (a.k.a. Pacific Standard - or Daylight it will be - Time) ? They thought that was a good question (they’re 11 and 8) and gave it some serious thought. The conclusion was that we haven’t lost any minutes of our lives, but we’ll certainly have to wait another four years to experience another “Leap Day.”
The flight to Sydney was in a behemoth Airbus 380 - the world’s biggest passenger plane. It was a remarkably smooth flight, but it sure does hold a lot of people! The accouterments weren’t as good as a Boeing plane, I thought, but I am prejudiced at that point, although the flight attendant whose jump seat was across from our seats independently volunteered the same opinion.
Long travel time and giant planes encourage profound thinking on big topics, and I was helped in this by a New York Times movie review of the Son of Saul. Here’s the link: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/son-of-saul-kierkegaard-and-the-holocaust/. The ideas here are well worth pondering as the objectifying rhetoric of the political campaigns gets even worse. The author writes: There is less of a tendency for modern humans to live thoroughly immersed in life, experiencing it, and more of a tendency of being mostly distracted by its abstractions, by all the ways our culture conceptually frames our existence as individuals, Democrats and Republicans, man and women, one percenters, workers, consumers, and so on. And here, as a result, is the problem: by becoming less subjective, we become more cut off from sources of meaning and value. identifying the naming of categories for persons is certainly true in my (subjective) experience. Our own state of Washington, which used to be a model of good democracy with people from both parties in significant offices in our government, shifted to the totally objective mode when the political parties insisted on a party-dominated primary election. It used to only be caucuses for the purpose of delegates to the state conventions. Now it’s another media draw, although the primary itself is meaningless. It’s another sad commentary on our larger civic problems of isolation and separation, in other words, objectifying one another. So these are the loft thoughts I had as we were carried across the Pacific onto another continent and into another WA (Western Australia).
Another interesting aspect of our flight was that we crossed the International Dateline on February 29. I posed this question to our grandsons on the way to the airport: If we cross the International Dateline on “Leap Day” have we missed it entirely because it only happens once every four years? Or, do we really get the time back when we return to GMT -8 (a.k.a. Pacific Standard - or Daylight it will be - Time) ? They thought that was a good question (they’re 11 and 8) and gave it some serious thought. The conclusion was that we haven’t lost any minutes of our lives, but we’ll certainly have to wait another four years to experience another “Leap Day.”
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