Down Under with my Aussie Family

What a joy it is to be here with Richard visiting his twin brother Damian and his family who emigrated four years ago.  We've been hearing about the ups and downs of starting a new life here, but they've done well and now have their own spacious house in the hills above Perth. 

The house is on a slope and faces East (very Feng Shui) with 5 bedrooms, one each for the four kids, and 2 bathrooms. Sandra's Mum has the West end of the house; her own living room/ kitchenette, bedroom, bathroom and loo, where we're housed. There are three communal rooms for the family, one of which is dedicated to music with piano, drum kit and recording mixer computer. They all play instruments and Rachel has a good singing voice. What talent! My grandchildren are great and don't seem to be contaminated by the usual teenage angst, frustrations and rebelliousness, but then they have wonderful parents and what's more, the best Dad I've ever seen.  Maybe he's compensating for the lack of a good father in his life, but whatever, he's doing great! 

Jonathan at 20 is the eldest; the spitting image of his Mum, while Samuel, 18, is the clone of his Dad. Rachel at 15 has just graduated from High School and Phoebe is 10.  They are all so talented and more importantly, have every opportunity to show what they can do.  They do appear to be the perfect family; a somewhere between the Waltons, Osmonds and The Partridge family. Maybe when we leave they'll all breathe a sigh of relief and revert to their normal selves!! (Just kidding.) 

Yesterday they took us to an animal sanctuary to see Koala bears, (that are not native to this part of the continent) fallow deer (not sure if they're native at all) and wallabies. We didn't see any kangas as they'd be asleep in the heat of the midday sun that only crazy tourists go out in. We fed parrots and cockatoos in cages, all vying for our attention with cries of "hello"and "how yer doing?" while we fed them popcorn. (Not sweetened, you'll be glad to know.) Poor birds. Contrary to popular kids books, Koalas are not affectionate or sociable. According to their keeper, all they do is sleep and eat, seeming not even to notice each other and even sitting on each others heads. Not much grey matter there. 

Early this morning Rich went off with Damian and the older ones to go surfing, leaving Sandra, Phoebe and I to take it more leisurely. I helped Sandra water all the plants in pots on the patios and their one little patch of grass before we left for the beach. It took about 40 minutes to reach the Secret Harbour beach and there was no view of the sea until we were actually there. Then... WOW... miles of perfect sand and crystal blue sea with white crested waves to satisfy young surfers.  We had a great time frolicking in the sea although I couldn't help recalling that a middle aged Bank manager was eaten by a Great White just a few weeks ago while snorkeling with his son. (But not at this location.)

Most of all I was struck by the clean orderliness of everywhere; no litter, no broken glass, no hawkers, no beggars, in fact nothing to disturb the innocent pleasures of these British/ European settlers. Place names like Welshpool and Bunbury are familiar, although there are some aboriginal names in the roads.

Where are the original inhabitants anyway? I've seen no sign of any so far.  There are three aboriginal families in the local congregation but they don't live here in this white suburb. I get a slightly disturbed feeling thinking that not so long ago these house plots and back gardens were roamed freely by local tribes. 

As it was so hot this afternoon we all went to an indoor climbing wall, where Rich showed them how to do it! They were all doing pretty well!

So here are a few pics of our time here so far!