Perth Christmas Light Tour

Last week Jason and I decided to do a drive around Perth visiting some of the best Christmas lights. We have been trying to make sure we do lots of things and not just go home and sit in front of the television after work... its not that hard actually as the Aussie TV is some of the worst I have ever seen and really there is nothing on at all to make us want to watch! However we do probably use more internet as a result.

Anyway we went for a drive up the Coast to check out the lights. It took a bit longer to get dark that what we originally anticipated so we went to the beach to watch a sunset to try and pass some time...

Here we are at the beach:

Here is the sunset that we got to experience while waiting to see the Christmas lights.As we were driving further north after our sunset stop I took a photo from the car as the sky was still looking just beautiful.

Our first stop on our Christmas lights tour was a whole street of Christmas lights. Every single house was decorated! This street was raising money for Guide Dogs and they should have been making a killing with the amount of people that were here!!
Here's a shot of one of the houses as we drove past :-)
My camera was really running out of battery so we only got a few shots that night... annoying! The next shots were from a house raising money for the Children's Hospital. They even had their own radio station, and the Christmas lights were synced with music. It was pretty cool... we went back and visited this place again to show some workmates on another night!




Anyway...that was our Christmas lights tour.... well as much of it that we could capture on the camera anyway. It was nice to get out and about after work and see a bit more of Perth.

A review of 2008

Although 2008 has not ended yet, I thought that it was timely to sit down and review our 2008. It has been a massive year for us with some major achievements and changes to our lives. Here are the significant things that have happened in mine and Jason's lives month by month...

1. January: Jacinda- Tauranga Half 30 - 34 Age Group Champion, 9th place overall including pro women. Jason- bought his very first Motorbike: a Kawasaki KLX320
2. February: Jason- swum the length of Lake Taupo (Taupo Foreshore to Little Waihi in Turangi) in 12 hours 38 minutes. Jacinda- got a new bike froma sponsor.
3. March: Jason and his Dad- built a 30 metre retaining wall up our garden path (I helped by buying copious amounts of coke, beer and baking scones). Jacinda- Qualified for the World Champs after a less than perfect build up (viruses, strep throat and impaling my arm on a tree requiring stiches)
4. April: A very quiet month for both of us... I concentrated on preparing for the World Championships and Jason on recovering mentally from his swim (still)...
5. May: Jacinda- Won the 2008 Rarotonga International Triathlon. Both: We became an Aunt and Uncle for the third time to little Hudson Hayek.
6. June: Jacinda- came 10th at the Standard Distance World Triathlon Championships in Vancouver Canada for the 30 - 34 Age Group. Both- Toured Canada including Vancouver, banff, Lake Louise, and Calgary.
7. July: Jacinda- Started a new hobby... buying a Canon 450d Camera.
8. August: Both- we celebrated out 4th year wedding anniversary... hard to believe that much time has passed already.
9. September: Jason- Officially became a godfather to Lawrence and Nicci's beautiful son James. Both- Rented our house out, packed up our whole house mid september, left New Zealand on the last day of September and ticked the new migrant box as we arrived in Australia.
10. October: Both- Arrived in Perth Australia on the first day of October, both starting new jobs. jacinda at the WA Independent Market Operator (http://www.imowa.com.au/) and Jason at Yambay (http://www.yambay.com/). We found a new place to live in Perth.
11. November: Jacinda- Returned to NZ for the first time for Megan and Tony's wedding. Both- We bought a new car- life in Perth got a little easier after that. PLUS our furniture arrived from NZ!!! Finally.
12. December: Both- finally got our Medicare and WA Drivers Licences sorted, bought a bike for Jason to commute on and celebrated our first Christmas by ourselves.

So looking back on 2008 we realise how far we have come, and what we have achieved. We couldn't have done this without the support of all our family, friends and each other.

2009 looks to be just as busy (although we won't be shifting countries during 2009 I can promise you that!).

A very Merry Christmas to you all and best wishes for the New Year.

Busselton and Ironman WA

Jason and I went to Busselton to meet up with some NZ friends, watch a bit of Ironman Western Australia and do some sightseeing. Busselton is about 3 hours from Perth and is essentially at the top of the Margaret River Wine Region.

Busselton is a beautiful seaside town. One of the key feaures is the massively long jetty... its about 2km long which makes it perfect for swimming around for Ironman.

Ironman day starts early for all... competitors and spectators alike. We arrived at the jetty around 5.55am. Look how beautiful it was with the calm sea and the beautiful sun making the sky a pretty colour.

While we were walking to the start line the pros started their long swim. It was 15 minutes between the pro start and the age group start so we had a bit of time to take some more photos and get a good spot on the Jetty.

It was sucha beautiful morning, here is a shot of the sun rise reflecting in the windows!
And the sun rising itself...
At about 6.15am the age group competitors were off... i must admit to having a slight pang of jealousy not racing! This is a good sign I think!
Arghhhh the sight of a triathlon swim... it can inspire fear in some competitors... I love it! The awesome thing about watching was seeing where the current pulled competitiors... so if I ever (thats a big if) do Ironman WA I know where abouts I should be swimming.
Here's a little more biffo in the swim...
After the swim had been going for a while jason adn I treated ourselves to a nice brunch looking out over the swim course.... there were swimmers spread out for mailes!
Here is a shot of the eventual women's pro winner- Gina Fergusson from NZ. She came in under 9 hours! An awesome effort and inspirational performance.
Here's Matt Illingworth, ex Brit, ex Wellingtonian, now Perth resident on his way to smashing the bike course record!
Here's Matt again... looking very fast!
This shot is designed to show you how hot it was... check out the heat rising from the road surface! I felt quite sorry for those racing as the day wore ona nd got hotter and hotter!

All in all we had a great day and it was nice to get down and see another iconic Ironman race! Well worth the trip and the sun burn that we suffered :-)

Cape Leeuwin

On our trip down south Jason and I made sure that we made it all the way down to Augusta and Cape Leeuwin. The Cape Leeuwin lighthouse is on the most South Western part of Australia and it is where the Indian and the Southern Oceans meet. Two of my favourite shots of the day are below... just showing the beautiful colours that we had down that way:


This was a little further round from the Cape but the colours were just stunning and I am glad that our camera did it justice.
Ok... so back to our day trip. We started out in Busselton early Saturday morning and made our way to the Margaret River Wine region. We stopped in for brunch at Providore (http://www.providore.com.au/). Here we were treated to a stunning array of fine food, it was really hard to pick what we wanted to eat it looked so good. Whats more is they had a number of totally yummy samples to try from breads, olive oils, dukkah, dips, cheeses, jams, sauces and chutneys to name a few. Mmmmm a great way to start the day.

After that we headed of to the Yahava KoffeeWorks for Jason and picked up some great coffee and chocolate coated coffee beans which were meant to be a treat but only lasted for the rest of the trip :-)

From here we decided to do a drive down to Augusta and I am really pleased that we did. It was STUNNING down there, just a truly beautiful place to be honest. On the trip down here we were treated with some of the most spectacular coastlines blending in with the lovely National Park (way nicer than normal Aussie bushland). In fact in places I swear we could have been in NZ!

Down at the lighthouse we were greeted with some great rock formations and wildflowers.

The lighthouse was pretty awesome as well.... apparently it is one of the tallest in the Southern Hemisphere. We didn't pay the $12 entry fee to go inside it though and in hindsight I wish we did. Especially as we drove up the Coast and saw more of the stunning scenery.

The rocks, bush, water and sky all combined to make some stunning vistas...

Finally... one of us. Its been a while sine we have done our signature shot. I spend more time behind the camera these days!

The clouds in the sky were doing amazing things and they looked great with the rock formations.

Here is a closer shot of the lighthouse from outside the barricade... we were not allowed any closer as we didn't pay to get in :-(
From here we drove a little further up the coast and utilised our 4 wheel drive on the car... I was a bit nervous but Jason had it under control and we got to visit an amazing secluded bay!













It was just amazing down there I really can't describe how beautiful I thought that it was... The water was so clear and it was so nice, warm & sheltered. We even had a little swim.



Here's another shot just showing you the clearness of the water...

A photo inspired by one I saw of Natalie and Deano's holiday shots in Mooloolaba, a great idea for a photo.

Here's Jason refreshing himself in the swim...

Now for the meaty 4 X 4 shots from our off rd experience.... not. I was totally scared adn it doesn't even look like it was that much at all!!!


A long range shot of the lighthouse... I can imagine that you could get some spectacular shots if there were some waves off the cape.

The last few shots are from bays further round the coast demonstrating the the beauty did carry on.

Lake Cave

Last weekend Jason and I headed down south for a trip to watch Ironman Western Australia, catch up with some friends and do some sightseeing. We drove to Busselton on Friday night after work, it took us about 3 hours. Unfortunately I wasn't feeling well as I had picked up a cold during the week. It doesn't feel right having a cold in such a warm climate :-)

On the Saturday we decided to drive down through the Margaret River Wine region, carry in down to Augusta and Cape Leeuwin and then back up to Cape Naturaliste. On the way back up there are a number of Caves (on the appropriately named Caves Rd). There are three main caves to visit, Jewel Cave, Lake Cave and Mammoth Cave. Mammoth Cave is a self guided visit whereas the other two are guided tours. We decided to visit Lake Cave, its $19 for one cave or $45 for all three. We didn't really have time to do all three though so figured we would come back down and do the others another time.

Lake Cave is a stunning place of timeless beauty. The lake inside (which is rapidly disappearing) acts as a mirror of infinite reflections of the crystal formations which is truly magical.

The journey into the cave starts with a descent into the huge cavern... you head down 350 stairs to begin the journey, here is a shot of the group descending.

As we head down the stairs you can see the massive ancient Karri trees (some more than 20 stories high and 500 years old).

Halfway down our tour guide joined us and told explained the history, geology, hydrology and ecology of the cave.

Once the initial talk is over we head into the cave itself. The steps are really steep and in you aren't careful you will smash your head against rocks...



Once inside the cave we are treated to some amazing sights. The clear water is incredibly still and reflects the delicate crystalline formations. Continual drips of water ride down the stalactites and echo in the massive cave.




One of the most renowned features of the cave is the "suspended table" formations. The table is a massive column of calcite weighing in excess of 5 tonnes that seems to hang precariously from the ceiling, defying gravity and hovering just a few cm from the lake itself.


We were in the cave for a while and near the end of the tour we got to touch a sample of the calcite crystal... it was amazingly heavy!!! After that we were treated to a light shiow which highlighted various bits of the cave and then it was lights out... not sure how the discoverers would have been able to see anything back in 1867!

These are just some of the steps that we had to climb back up at the end of our tour! We are both fit but they were hard work!!!

All in all a great tour though and as the company is non profit (all tour money goes back into the cave upkeep) it was well worth the entry fee.

Christmas

This year will be our first Christmas without any family around us! So we bought a really nice fiber optic tree and some decorations recently to brighten up our lounge, here are a few pictures of our tree and the presents that we already have under it...

Here is a shot of the tree taken at night so you can see the fibre optics! A bit blurred sorry as I didn't use the tripod.

On Christmas Eve Jason and I are heading to a workmates place for dinner with her family and on Christmas day we are heading off to a nice lunch at the Matilda Bay Restaurant: http://www.matbay.com.au/

Our menu for the day sounds really yummy:

STARTER

Taste Plate:
Crab, pea & preserved lemon arancini;
Seafood terrine, poached prawn, dill mousse;
Slow roasted pork belly, cucumber dicon pickle;
Quail & spring onion wrap with pineapple confit

ENTRÉE

Western Australian Crayfish Pan fried with newburg crust and classic coleslaw

Courgette, Persian fetta tarte tatin, Wild leaves, chargrilled field mushrooms & parilla pesto

MAIN COURSE

Fillet of Red Emperor with scallop & sweet pea croquette, creamed spinach lagastine butter

28 day aged black Angus fi llet of beef grilled with Wagyu beef cheek ravioli, potato crumble, Chanterelle mushroom glaze

Chicken & turkey roullard with pumpkin and maple loaf, cranberry syrup & a herb roti. Mixed greens, red flame grape tomatoes, honey roasted pecans, dried cranberries & a champagne vinaigrette

DESSERTS

Double chocolate fondant, cherry ripe gelato & milk chocolate honey comb crunch

Home made Christmas pudding with brandy butter, white Christmas shards

Tahitian lime tart, passionfruit vanilla slice, lemon meringue parfait

COFFEE, TEA & FRUIT MINCE PIES

YUMMMMMMMMMOOOOOO... watch this space for photos and how good our lunch was. The best thing is we won't have to do any dishes either!!!!