We've just come back from a wonderful couple of weeks' holiday in Perth. We stayed over at Uncle Paul and Aunty Corrina's (and Uncle Steve popped over for a few visits as well).
Our hosts were fantastic and spoiled us all rotten - it was a rare occasion when we had to get anything for ourselves. Not to mention the fact that they had an awesome pool, in which both kids and adults could be found on pretty much any given day. Needless to say, it was hot and sunny nearly every day as well. Although sleeping in the warm was never really our thing, it was at least a refreshing change from Melbourne's "Wheel of Fortune" summer weather.
About the only friction that occurred during the whole holiday was caused by Alicia's morbid fear of dogs, and no matter how friendly and shy poor Jessie was, she simply could not get Alicia to cut her any slack and just chill out. So, we were forced to come up with other means of enabling the two beings to co-exist relatively peacefully...
As well as enjoying the most excellent hospitality of our hosts, we had quite a few excursions over the two weeks as well. First, we had a day trip out to Adventure World, Perth's slightly less impressive answer to the Gold Coast's Water-oriented theme parks. There were heaps of rides (both dry and wet), the lines weren't
too long, and all in all we had a great day out.
Next up on our busy schedule was Rottness Island, or "Rotto" as they are fond of calling it over here. We stayed on the island for two nights at the Lodge, and while the rooms could be described as "rustic and charming" at best, and "dingy and overpriced" at worst, we nonetheless enjoyed our stay. Besides, one doesn't go to Rotto to spend huge chunks of time indoors. We hired some bikes, and after an initial false start involving Alicia, training wheels and a tantrum, followed by a revised plan of a tag-along carriage, we went cycling! We explored pretty much the whole island over the course of the three days, and found some fantastic beaches. Lucas was an absolute champ on the bike, and his Mum and Dad were very proud of his efforts.
Despite my earlier criticisms, the Lodge did have a couple of redeeming features:
a) Buffet breakfast, including bacon, eggs and mushrooms.
b) A nice pool to relax by at the end of a hard day's cycling.
I suspect that Alicia's favourite, however, would have to be Rottnest's iconic wildlife (and namesake): the quokkas! At least she's not terrified of
all animals...
After recouping for a few days back in Home Base, Mount Hawthorn, we were off for another excursion, this time for four days down in Busselton, near the south-west corner of Australia. More gorgeous beaches, more swimming, more snorkeling - we (once again) had a fantastic time!
For a change of pace, on one of the hotter days, we decided to take refuge down in the nice, cool, Ngilgi cave and check out the quite impressive rock formations.
After that, we were all adventured out, and were happy to get back to Perth and be pampered for one last stretch by Paul and Corrina. This also included a very pleasant evening spent on Cottesloe beach, having a picnic dinner and watching the sun set over the ocean. Magical.
We're back in Melbourne now, and our body clocks have, by and large, reset themselves back to Melbourne time. We all had an absolutely fantastic time over there, and eagerly look forward to going back on a regular basis.
