A belated Happy New Year to everyone. My first post of the year is linked to Becky’s Geometric January. I have been tracking this little guy’s progress since Christmas Eve. Now, I’m in a dilemma about what to do.
Day One
Golden Orb Silk Weaver
I had visitors due from the UK and thought it would be interesting for them to see. These spiders are not venomous and are reluctant to bite. I was searching for geometric photos for Becky and loved the shape of the web designs.
“The next time you see a spider web, please, pause and look a little closer. You’ll be seeing one of the most high-performance materials known to man.“ Cheryl Hayashi
He was doing a pretty good job of catching all the other insects too.
Everyday the web grew larger and he caught more insects.
A spider is slow, but its web catches the fastest flies. ~ Matshona Dhliwayo
Day 18
Christmas has been and gone and we’re now preparing for Halloween.
My dear hubby is of the voice of Live and Let Live, whereas I am “enough is enough”. So that is my dilemma. The spider has provided much entertainment and has certainly earned his keep. Any suggestions?
A funfilled week was had last week, starting with Bank Holiday Monday and a trip to the zoo. As you can imagine it was packed, but Elena holds a zoo pass so you need only spend a few hours each time.
We were lucky enough to see a Tree Kangaroo with her baby, who just happened to stick his head out for a photo. Also a sausage tree in bloom!
On Wednesday I spent a lovely morning at the beach viewing the sculptures which I’ve already posted about.
With the weather getting cooler in the mornings I’ve been able to go for a walk around Lake Claremont.
Which direction shall I go?We need rain!
“There are plenty of difficult obstacles in your path. Don’t allow yourself to become one of them”– Ralph Marston
Vivid green grass blowing in the breeze“We know we are on the right path. Our journey is not finished, but we have come a long way.” Muhammadu Buhari
It wasn’t that long at all, just a 40 minute circuit around the lake!
Sunday afternoon we had a drive out to one of our favourite wineries in Bickley Valley. We had a table on the terrace overlooking the vineyards and shared a bottle of wine and a charcuterie board.
Next Postcard will be from Seminyak, Bali for a short break!
Linking to CWWC (Cee’s Challenge on Which Way) and Sunday Stills (This week Terri is asking for Green).
This week for Cee’s Which Way challenge the topic is animals. Making sure the way (road/track/path) is the main feature.
Chiang Mai, ThailandNo horsepower here 😆Slow and Steady Wins the Race!“I don’t know if I’m coming or going”“Keep going, we’re not there yet”The Escape Goats – they get blamed for everything
I came upon a new challenge today while reading Becky’s post – all about nature from Denzil Nature. Nature’s eyes are always on us! This week’s nature photo challenge is to capture the beauty of nature’s eyes. Eye wonder if eye’m up to the challenge.
Where words are restrained, the eyes often talk a great deal – Samuel Richardson
“An animal’s eyes have the power to speak a great language” Martin Buber
This week for the Lens-Artist Challenge, Tina from Travels and Trifles has asked us to post any photos that have not been posted this year. Just two rules, they must be from this year and not have been posted before. The first rule is easy but the second.. I’m hoping I haven’t posted them, but who knows.
I have been photographing doors every time I see a good one, but have not got round to posting them for Dan on his weekly challenge Dan’s Doors. Sadly the door is closed now but you know what they say:
“When one door closes, another one opens”
~ Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn’t know you left open ~ John Barrymore
_autotoneA turtle from Bali and an English squirrel
Plant lined walls in Hong Kong
♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️
The iconic Langkawi Eagle, a symbol of the island.
A big thanks to everyone who hosts challenges, it’s a wonderful way to post photos and words. Best of all though is the interaction between the fantastic bloggers on WordPress. I have made many friendships over the last few years and love chatting with you all.
Enjoying an early champagne with my son’s lovely girlfriend while out shopping yesterday. There was a free pop up Tattinger Champagne bar! Just a donation to the food bank. We weren’t going to pass up a free champagne.
Here’s hoping you all have a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year.
Today I took a trip to the zoo with my daughter and the munchkins, I haven’t been to Perth Zoo for about 15 years.
I thought it would be a good chance to join Jude with the Lens Artists challenge – textures. Sure enough there were plenty of opportunities. All kinds of wood, fur, shells, sand and leaves. Also as it involved walking, something for Becky’s Walking Squares.
On arrival Elena hired a small wagon for Lachie and Rose, once they are in it’s hard to get them out to walk, especially Lachie!
We had chosen a fantastic day weather wise, not too hot and a cool breeze blowing through the trees. Also not busy at all with a few families with small children and some school trips.
Textures of all kindsRosie only has to see my phone and she says cheese! A beautiful poser
More textures of smooth and rough
Textures is not something I’ve ever considered before, but since reading Jude’s post I’m now seeing them everywhere and appreciating them more.
This was a compromise after being told they couldn’t buy yet another toy or animal in the gift shop. Christmas will soon be here with many more presents on the way.
We did see most of the animals out and about in their enclosures, elephants, giraffes, rhinos, zebras and many more but I have so many of these photos and everyone knows what they look like!
Off we go walking together to see what is up ahead.
Around this time every year we normally take a short break “down south” as they say here. I booked last minute and definitely after the school holidays. Our first stop was going to be Pemberton, the Karri Valley Resort, Beedelup. Leaving the house at 11 am as planned, a miracle of sorts, we stopped for lunch on the way at St. Aiden’s Winery, in the Ferguson Valley. Deciding on a mixed cheese and meat platter to share was a good choice as it meant I could have a dessert! Rice pudding on the menu is always a winner with me.
The drive to Pemberton from Perth is around 4 hours, with our lunch stop we were looking to arrive at 4.30 pm. As Anthony is always the chauffeur it means I can enjoy the ride, the trouble is any length of time in a car makes me fall asleep. I’m really not much company!
Steel horse sculptureRice Pudding with Coconut crumble and sliced pearA local pinot grigio
Arriving at 4.30 pm as planned we checked into reception and picked up our key. It was a strange set up with the reception being on the other side of the road to the resort. As we drove back onto the road and off to the resort we saw kangaroos, emus and alpacas roaming freely around. We had a wonderful chalet overlooking the lake. There was a restaurant right next to our chalet and we were planning on having dinner there that night.
Views from our chalet
From around the resort
Inside the restaurant
Duck confit with puy lentils and asparagus
The Lakeside Restaurant was huge with plenty of seating. The service was excellent and the food delicious. Anthony asked if the duck was local and our waitress looked quite horrified and said she didn’t think so, “our ducks are too cute” she said.
After a restless night due to the noise from above, we had a fairly early breakfast in the restaurant. I think the children upstairs were jumping off the bed and every time they landed our bed shook! Checking out at 10 am we walked back along the road to have a better look at all the wildlife.
My chauffeur
I took so many photos of this kangaroo, creeping closer and closer. I was slightly worried that he might box my ears but he was quite happy to pose for me.
Alpacas and pigs
This was a great resort for families as there was lots to do for kids. There were designated feeding times for the animals and also an archery range. A playground and small beach and kayaks and canoes to paddle around the lake.
Off to our next destination now – Albany. Stay along for the ride!
Our last day had arrived and I had arranged a hire car or people carrier to be exact so we could all travel together. Of course it had to be the zoo and on Mother’s Day at that. I could tell Anthony wasn’t too excited about it, on the other hand it was all Lachie could talk about.
“We’re all going to the zoo”
I had pre-booked tickets online and when we arrived around 11.30, there was only a few people ahead of us. I didn’t realise the zoo was so large and when I looked at the map I knew we were in for a long day.
Melbourne Zoo is the oldest zoo in Australia, opened in October 1862. It houses more than 320 animal species from Australia and around the world.
The Epic Map
Following the map above it took around four hours to see most of the animals that were not hiding.
Ring tailed lemur
Bamboo forests
The butterfly house was amazing, with so many different species. If you stood still long enough one would be sure to land on you.
Trail of the Elephants
On the Main Trail
Lions and Tigers
Sleeping Tiger!
We watched in awe as this lion slowly approached the window and licked his lips hungrily while looking us straight in the eye!
A tale about the Peccary
As we approached the peccaries the keeper was just finishing off his talk and asked if anyone had any questions. My dear husband asked if they were peccaries and then proceeded to inform the keeper that they were highly prized for their leather hides, being the softest in the world. Indeed he owns a pair of gloves. I should have taken a photo of the keeper’s face as he explained to my husband that we were in a conservation environment and they were not for breeding! Anthony said well I thought you would be interested, said keeper firmly replied “no, I’m definitely not!”. Never one for being able to judge a situation correctly, that is my dear hubby.
Artwork and Murals
It was a wonderful mother’s day and everyone enjoyed it, even Anthony! There is so much to see and do and even after four hours we didn’t get to see everything. There are various food outlets spread around the zoo and many picnic areas. I loved the way it didn’t feel like you were in a zoo and all the animals had room to move about. The zoo is committed to fighting wildlife extinction and is becoming one of the world’s leading zoo based conservation organisations.
When I first arrived in Perth, WA in 2004 and had reason to visit the Claremont Showgrounds, I was amazed at the size of this small enclave of buildings. It seemed like a well kept ghost village. There was a ferris wheel and a chairlift that goes all around the huge perimeter of the showgrounds, mostly unused for 90% of the year, I thought what a colossal waste. Sitting on 32 acres of prime land and home to The Royal Show for a week in October. Since then I believe it has opened up much more to concerts, events and markets. Also it is now home to the Covid Vaccination Clinic.
On the last day of The Royal Show the whole family visited. For me it was only the second time I had been to a show and for Lachie and Rosie their very first.
It wasn’t as busy and crowded as I thought it would be, although there were still small queues for the mini rides for Lachie. It was quite funny really, five adults all standing around waiting for Lachie to hop on a ride and shout and cheer him on while he passed slowly by. After lining up for one ride and getting to the front, he declined to board a truck wanting to wait for the black truck to become vacant, it was worth the wait just to see his face.
Soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying the view
I ended up buying far too many tokens thinking Lachie would want to go on all the rides but he was more interested in the animals.
Peregrine Falcon
At first I thought most of the owls on display were stuffed! They never moved a muscle or blinked an eye.
A wonderful array of animals
With so many animals to see it was hard to choose a favourite. There was baby chick holding, kitten cuddling, pig patting and goat stroking. The queues for the kittens and baby chicks were far too long for a three year old to wait his turn so we had to miss those out.
We walked down side show alley and purchased a show bag for Lachie, Laurence tried his hand at shooting hoops and managed to win a prize for Lachie on the rifle range, what a great shot.
After a few hours of walking around we were all in need of a stiff drink and food. We found a bench outside and enjoyed cocktails, wine, beer and a few tacos. Rosie was getting fractious by now and it was time to leave. The noise levels were well beyond my capacity by now and I needed to get back also for a lie down. But it was a great day out, to be repeated again in another ten years – maybe!
Last week we had a mini midweek break with our good friends and drove from Perth to Porongurup for two nights followed by a night in Yallingup. The drive takes around 4 hours and 30 minutes. On the way down we stopped at a small town called Williams that sits practically on the Albany Highway. We had a bite to eat in the small cafe there and a quick wander through the woodshed after. Of course we felt we ought to buy something to bolster the economy. Hubby bought a very smart Merino wool sweater and for me a Merino cardigan.
As we gradually drove further away from Perth the sky was darkening and we could see heavy rain clouds ahead, the weather was not looking good for our first night.
We also stopped at a winery in Mount Barker to pick up some wine from the cellar door to have with dinner that night. Plataganet Wines is actually named after the English Royal House, although it doesn’t date back that far! Inside there is a fantastic framed Plataganet family tree.
Making sure he likes it
Finally arriving around 4.30pm in Porongurup we checked in and went straight to our cottage. Our friends Cheryl and Vaughan were already there having beat us by at least an hour!
By this time it was very bleak! Cold, wet and windy. There are no restaurants in Porongurup, although there is a bar and restaurant at the place we were staying, Karribank Cottages, but sadly didn’t open until Friday. So a BBQ it was on the verandah of our cottage. We had brought with us all sorts of goodies, plus a few bottles of wine and no-one had to drive anywhere.
Our cottage
Lamb chops and steaks
One of the empties!
The morning after the night before I woke up with a bit of a headache! Then Anthony tells me that he’s forgotten one of his medications, which is ironic as when we left Perth he said “do you remember the last time we went away and I forgot one of my meds and we had to phone the chemist in Perth and find one locally to have the script faxed”. “Well you won’t do that again in a hurry”, I said. Sure enough we did exactly that! We drove to Mount Barker to find a chemist and arrange for the script to be faxed, so while we were waiting we had breakfast and a wander around.
Things didn’t seem to be going plan at all. We couldn’t find any wineries open with a restaurant and it was still raining. So we decided on a drive to Albany and have lunch there then try to get to the Porongurups in the afternoon.
Albany
Albany is the oldest colonial settlement in Western Australia and is home to the old whaling station. A convoy of more than 40 ships, with 30,000 troops and nearly 8000 horses from both Australia and New Zealand, sailed from Albany on November 1 1914. There are so many historical buildings and churches in Albany dating back to the 1800s.
Albany Town Hall
Scots Church – 1892
St. John’s Anglican Church
A few of the churches in Albany
The famous Liberte Restaurant and Bar in Albany. First built in 1909 in a style reminiscent of an English mansion. It has been bought and sold a number of times over the last century and is now a restaurant/bar serving Asian fusion food.
We had lunch at a place called Garrison, no surprise that this was located where the army was stationed up on the hill. It has beautiful views overlooking King George Sound. Here we had a fabulous lunch with great service.
Off to a head start
Views of the Sound
Fried Jerusalem Artichokes with feta cheese
Iberico Pork Pinchos
Seafood Mix Linguine
Duck Confit
Happy to see they didn’t feature Pie of the Day on the menu!
We had a short walk around through the old barracks and buildings.
National Anzec Centre, Source: Wikipedia
Porungurup National Park
One of the reasons for our drive to Porungurup was to walk on the granite skywalk, I really hadn’t done enough research to know this was beyond my capabilities. Firstly we had left it too late to do anything more than just have a look around at ground level and secondly it was at least an hour’s walk and a “scramble over rocks” to get just to the first level. Well at least we had a look around and saw troops of kangaroos.
A little attempt at walking 😂
I was warned not to get closer as you never know with wild kangaroos whether they will take a swipe at you or not!
The photos below are ones I have taken from Pinterest just to show everyone how fantastic it would have been!
Not for the fainthearted or the weak!
Another “stay in the cottage” dinner with more wine that night as there is really nowhere to eat within a reasonable driving distance. We had stopped off at a supermarket on the way back to stock up with cold meats, pate and cheese.
A few photos from around Karribank Cottages
The next day we checked out at 10 am and had breakfast at the very cute Porongurup Tea Rooms just at the bottom of the road and then headed to Pemberton with a stop at Lake Muir and then Manjimup for lunch. At Pemberton we said goodbye to Cheryl and Vaughan and drove onto Yallingup for our overnight stay at Caves Hotel.
Don’t think we’ll be filling up here!
Lake Muir
A ready made frame
Lake Muir
Pemberton
Pemberton, the home of the Gloucester Tree. Something I had never heard of before until Cheryl mentioned it. It is the world’s second tallest fire-lookout tree and stands 58 metres high. There are rungs all the way up if you feel inclined to climb it. At the top there is a steel and aluminium cabin and viewing gallery.
That’s high enough for us, Anthony was inclined to go higher before I ordered him down!
Some of the local residents
And then it was onto Yallingup for our overnight stay at Caves House.
