Perth

Brian and I just got back from a great trip to Perth!  Well, actually, I just got back, Brian is still there!  He goes there quite a bit for work and since this time he needed to be there thru the weekend, I decided it was time I visited Western Australia!

I arrived on Thursday morning and Brian was still busy at work so I rushed to the train station to a suburb of Perth to a little bitty movie theatre to go and see THE HUNGER GAMES!  haha I know that shouldn't have been a priority of mine but I REALLY wanted to see it!  It was sooooo good if you haven't yet :)  Luckily the Perth public transportation is really easy so I did just fine by myself!  I then went straight to the beach in Cottesloe.  I proceeded to lay there for the rest of the day :)  So basically day one of my vacay was a success!

Good morning Perth :)  View from our apartment!

The next morning I woke up super early (they are 3 hours behind us here in Melbourne so I really felt like I was waking up at 9am, not 6 am!)  So I went for a nice little jog to Kings Park which had some GREAT views of the city!

Then I went straight to a cute little town called Fremantle so I could spend a little more time in the sun and I was meeting Brian there for dinner that night!  The water at the beach was really pretty!

As I was lying there with my book, not paying too much attention to the ocean in front of me, I heard a little conversation....  "oh whats that?!"....  "eh, shaaak?"  (that is me trying to spell out the accent-- he was saying SHARK!)  How can some someone be so nonchalant about seeing a SHARK?!  Anyways I popped up and then I saw something big and dark in the water only about 10 feet from the beach!!!  AHHH!  Right before I started freaking out it popped its head out and it was just a seal... and really cute but massive seal!  Apparently in Perth shaaks are quite common.  So common that this guy saw something in the water and immediately thought it was a shark without much thought or concern....  Plus Ive heard the bigger the seals the bigger the sharks-- this one was super big so I am not surprised GREAT WHITES live here!  It's not really fair because the water is really nice :(  Tons of people were swimming so I kept feeling like I was going to see a new scene from Jaws 4 or 5 (I cant remember how many there are!)

Brian met me later that evening in Fremantle where we had a really nice seafood dinner and drinks from the brewery (Little Creatures) and got to enjoy some of this cute beach town... including the beautiful sunset!!

One of the options for dinner was Joes Fish Shack.... it slightly resembles a little joint by the name of Joes Crab Shack :)  Even said Fresh Gulf Seafood on the building... without a "gulf" in sight! haha so strange...

Saturday morning was the start of our first day of vacay together (considering it was the weekend!) so we needed to decide what our plan for the day was... We wanted to go to Rottnest Island, only a ferry ride from where we were staying but Brian said he wanted to go snorkeling there.... only a few months after a guy died in a shark attack snorkeling off the island... so I nixed that idea!  Our new plans were driving down the southern coast.  First stop was a wild dolphin interaction place... but the wild dolphins were not there... they may never come.. who knows... they are wild animals who most likely feel no need to swim up to this location every day :(  oh well... maybe someday!

Next little town was Bussleton where they have the longest wooden jetty in the southern hemisphere... so obviously we had to go there :)  They have a train that takes you down to the end where they have an underwater observatory.  Brian and I decided to walk over a mile to the end and it was really nice.  Lots of kids fishing and jumping off into the bright blue waters!  The dolphins love that area too.... but were not there either....

Then we found a nice beach at Yallingup where we lounged with a bottle of wine and enjoyed the rest of the evening and the sunset.  The waves here are HUGE!  And there were plenty of surfers enjoying them!  We were able to find a hotel to stay the night in the area because we wanted to spend more time in this lovely part of Western Australia!  Here are some pictures of the beach at Yallingup..

our wine in dixie cups/ sunset spot :)

The next morning we went back to the beach to take a few more pictures before heading to Bunker Bay.  I had an afternoon flight and we were 2.5 hours from the airport so unfortunately couldn't spend too much time here...

Brian took lots of pictures of waves so I feel as though I should post one ...  :)

wow cool wave huh ?!  what can I say, my husband loves pictures of waves and sunsets!

Bunker Bay was one of the prettiest beaches I have ever seen!  The sand was white and the water was crystal blue!  We had to hop on in!

And then it was time for me to leave....  we drove back to Perth, I grabbed a few things then to the airport I went :)

Beautiful beach!!!

As I was looking up Bunker Bay (as I usually do when I start typing about a place to make sure I am spelling it right and such) the first thing that popped up was a news article about a man who died in a shark attack in bunker bay this past September.  So thats great... we were swimming in great white, people eating territory.... sorry this whole post is shark-tastic but seriously sharks are all over perth and I am still freaked out by Jaws...

On a lighter note- my in laws will be here FRIDAY!!!  I cannot wait for our first ever visitors in Australia!  It is going to be so much fun to show them around Melbourne, plus, we have some AMAZING trips planned-- the Outback and the Great Barrier Reef :)  CANT WAIT!

a little bit of this and a little bit of that

We havent been too busy in March but thought I would post a few pics from the activities we have been up to...

Drive to the Mornington Peninsula

 It is only an hour and half drive from the city and is really nice.  Lots of Melbournians (not sure if thats what they are called) have vacation homes there.  Beautiful beaches, lots of cute cafes, pretty nice little area.

We had our lunch out on pebble beach... the water is really pretty and much clearer than it is in Melbourne!  People were actually out there snorkeling!!!  It was freezing though so I don't think I will be joining them- Ever.

There was a storm a brewin out in the ocean so our day trip was a bit shorter than planned but we still got to see a lot of the area.  This included the sight of the mysterious disappearance of Australias Prime Minister in 1967.  The leader of the country was at this beach, went for a swim and never came back.  His body was never found.  I am not sure how you lose a Prime Minister but it happened.... Thought you may enjoy that interesting bit of Australian history :)  

We took the convertible and somehow managed to get back without getting rained on... the cloud was following us home but couldn't keep up with Brian's race car style driving!

MEAT-O-PIA

This event, which was a part of the Food and Wine festival, was awesomely meaty :)  We went with a few friends, Lauren, Tim, Geoff and Sherri!  And we ate.   A lot.   And it was meat-tastic haha  We also got drinks so that only added to the fun.  I didn't take any pictures but came home with this very special grease and sauce covered momento....

I personally think they could learn a few tips on how to cook a delicious "Texas style" brisket and corn bread but I'm not complaining :)

Fashion show!

Melbourne is hugely fashionable!  I have realized that I am, in fact, not.  Oh well, I have come to terms with that.  I still wanted to go to a fashion show while they have the Loreal Melbourne Fashion Festival!  It was so super cool, I had my camera phone out like I was some sort of designer haha.  Anyways, I had dinner and drinks with a group of girls, then we walked on over to the show.  We got great seats and the show was really fun!  We then later went to the "after party"  So fun!  Free champagne and canapes= a great time!

Here are a few pictures...

 So fuzzy earmuffs with matching scarf are in.... hmm ok i guess....

 And thats all folks!  We have some plans to visit Perth next weekend and then in 2 weeks my in laws get here!!!  YAY so excited for our first visitors! :)