Winter in the City With all these journal entries, you must wonder if I ever do any work. Well, I'd love to tell you all about numerical modelling and writing script in MATLAB, but in my opinion tales of my weekend shenanigans are far more interesting than the 9 'til 5....but, just in case you are interested, I have kindly placed a little memoir of my daily commute to walk in photographs. Tally Ho! In my journal of the 31st July 2006, I promised to tell you all about my second shot at sailing. Well, here goes? in a quest to get onto the water, I came across a Yacht Club based in Claremont (CYC). Claremont is the suburb adjacent to Swanbourne, which is where I live. I can walk there in 30 minutes and it backs on to the beautiful Swan River (this is the river that looks a bit like Poole Harbour). In anticipation, I emailed the CYC, and faster than you can say 'Rabbit in a Hat', I received a reply from the Rear Commodore of the sailing club inviting me to join him on his boat and to crew his.... 21ft Hartley. Laugh not, for we entered the Frost Bite Series (racing) last Sunday and came second! Since then, I have been out on the beautiful Swan River for another sail, at the helm this time - it was great and we made it out and back without hitting any other boats or rocks, no capsizing or falling in, so I was pretty chuffed. The crew consists of Dominic, or Dom, the skipper and boat owner, and John, both who are great fun. Dom is an experienced sailor and is providing me with some very professional training. He has even provided me with some advise on which Dinghy I should purchase when I get back to the UK ;o) Always up for a drink after sport, I have entered the realms of the club bar, which often includes a very long chat about the sailing conditions, how the good your boat sailed and tails of the sea? you know, similar to the tales of the fisherman and the golfer. I have met some very nice people from the club and am most thankful to Dom for giving me this opportunity - being on the water makes me very happy. Perth Hills One thing I do love about Perth is that there is just soooooo much to do! So trying, to do them all, this Saturday, Catherine and I took to the Perth Hills. ?Perth Hills offer a glorious mix of pristine natural bush, wildflowers, waterfalls and creeks, towering trees, sensational views, art galleries, vineyards, restaurants and cafes". Catherine very kindly drove us, due to my lack of car and poor public transport, but that was fine as she got to rally drive the fantastic rolling roads and u-bends as we crossed the Darling Range-obviously a great place for it as there were motorbikes everywhere. We started the morning off with brunch at a divine French Cafe superb croissants and a bowl of coffee. Strangely enough, this is part of French culture, whereby you dip the croissants into the coffee and drink the remainder! It is strangely pleasant. After nearly running down a suicidal kangaroo (I should add this is common over here), we rallied over to Mundaring Weir, paid a visit to a very quaint hillside waterfall in the Lesmurdie Falls National Park, bought some locally produced fruit and veg. (fab mandarins), paid a visit to some littl? local shops, and finished our day out walking the gardens of Araluen Botanic Garden (famous for tulips). We had a lovely day. As always, no rest for the wicked and by 7.00pm, we were back on the road to go out for Tim's birthday Mexican meal. Very nice, although we all ate too many nachos! City to Surf 12km Fun Run 2006 Aside the sailing and sightseeing, I have also been filling my time with fitness training. Yep, on the 27th August was the 12km City to Surf Fun Run. I trained nice and slowly, so my knee was back on form and ready to do some running. And by jingo, what a run it was! A beautiful sunny day (and warm day), 26,000 people and a lovely course that finished by the sea. On the way I met a lovely 73 year old lady who used to water ski for Australia! Pretty impressive that she is still running. I finished the run in a time of around 1hr 05mins or 1hr 10mins (official times are released on Thursday)Chuffed! Swimming As well as the running, I have also been making regular trips to the local swimming pool - this is not just any pool, it is a 50m outdoor pool, heated naturally and open nearly all hours. It was pouring with rain one Saturday morning (which is often does in Perth in the Winter), so what a better place to be than in the water- so I took to the pool, swam in the rain and came out feeling completely refreshed. It was great! I have been having a think about the major differences between here and the UK. Aside the weather, when it is not winter here in Perth, it is beautiful sunshine and clear skies. Here is what I have come up with so far: Most words are shortened I was Em, and not Emma, pretty much on arrival. Goodbye is 'se ya' English TV rocks! The shows that do over here are BBC produced shows. A duvet is known as a doona You can bring your own booze to restaurants, nearly everywhere! Off-license = Bottle shop Clear skins are sold at bottle shops -wine for the price of a standard bottle of wine, but comes without a label and can be the good stuff. People are sooooooo friendly Hungry Jacks = Burger King Fashion/Music (about one to two seasons behind the UK) Well, there you have it. Can you believe I have been in Perth for 2 months now! Total travel time is 3 months! With only one more month here, I will making the most of it, before setting off on the 3rd October to make my way North along the WA coastline. I hope you are all well - thanks always for your messages - it is lovely to hear from you. For now, See Ya and love to you all, Em x p.s. I have at last put some much requested photo's of Perth onto the website for you all to see.