NOW CONQUERING WESTERN AUSTRALIA !
We are now at our last stop on our tour around the world! This is WESTERN AUSTRALIA ! The part of Australia, which has the Indian Ocean and all its whales and sharks as its closest neighbour. We arrived here with the Australian national carrier QANTAS from Melbourne. A flight of "just" 4 hours 15 minutes. A fantastic flight, by the way. We had been promised an Airbus, but we had to live with a Boeing! The crew and the ambience was fantastic. The only other flight we have felt the same "hyggelige" and warm happiness was some years ago with Air France from Paris to Yerevan in Armenia.
This is our third visit to Perth and Western Australia. The first time was in 2011 as the start of a cruise around Australia and New Zealand. The second time was over Christmas - New Year 2014-15 to visit Cecilie and her family right after they moved out here. And the third time is now - for 12 days.
Western Australia was until a few years ago the richest part of the country due to the immense mining industry here. You name a mineral - and they have it! Also the very rare and costly minerals. It pays for lots of activities here, incl. the very prestigeous Curtin University, where Cecilie and Nikos work. The last few years the income to the industry has gone down. But it is on its way up again now.
We were received in the airport by Cecilie and Zoe. A very special and warm welcome in the sense that Zoe started by performing a number of powerful pushes ( armbøjninger ) on the floor in front of us! We should like to be received like that by everybody in the future ! At the same time she handed us a personal drawing with a very warm welcome! What more can you wish for! When we came home - where we saw their lovely new house for the first time - it was very hot. When I could not follow Anna Maria and Zoe up and down the stairs with the same speed as them during their presentation of the house, I said: Look, I am soon 80 and old - I am getting tired! You are NOT, Zoe said. You are only old, when you are a 100. I am 101 today, I replied. Now the joke had according to Zoe gone over the top, so I was in the very charming Zoe-way made aware, that all discussion on the topic was over!
Anna Maria has grown upwards ( and certainly not side-wards !) since we last met in the summer in Denmark. She soon has the hight of Liselotte. She is as always very sporty and energetic. And both girls are in addition to a full day at school very active on a daily basis in swimming lessons, art work (AM), hip-hop dance (Zoe) and karate (AM). So coordinating all that is a sport in itself for the parents!
Saturday was a relax day. Everybody agreed. Also when I - due to the impressive heat wave - declared that I have never in my life felt such a strong interest in visiting the local huge, modern shopping centre Garden City up the road! The cooling from the air condition in the centre had, of course, nothing to do with my interest ! Or as I said: This heat wave is really tough for fat people! And by the way also for me! I got a bit puzzled, when the others started laughing :-)
Sunday we invited everybody on an excursion to an island in the Indian Ocean. It is called ROTTNEST ISLAND. It is just 35 minutes by speed boat from Fremantle. But I can tell you that it was rough sailing. A real roller coaster in the morning. The girls enjoyed it immensely. The rest of us were just grabbing hold of what could stabilize our movements. Good fun. We certainly felt the forces of nature! The island was first discovered by Dutch discoverers in the 17th century. They believed that the special small cat-size animals on the island were rats. That is how the island got its name. But they are not. They are called QUAKKOS. Try to look them up on Google. They are very friendly, especially if you carry food. And they move around like the kangaroos. There were also a lot of black RAVENS on the island - making sounds like a baby. Since my many visits in Greenland in the 1970ies I am always very suspicious against ravens. They steal with all beaks and legs - and still look very innocent! They were so unpopular in Greenland at the time that if you killed one and brought one of its legs to the local council, you received 10 kr. !
Rottnest Island was since the 1840ies used by the British masters here as a prison for male aboriginal prisoners. And they were ordered to build the prison themselves from local material. Many of the nice, yellow houses are still there and now used as shops and holiday homes. In many ways Rottnest Island had the same function and history as Robben Island had in South Africa. Local prison for native prisoners under the control of the British. We also visited Robben Island in 2001 - including the small cell of Nelson Mandela.
The latest couple of days have also been very pleasant - small excursions, including a very interesting one into the SWAN VALLEY yesterday. Wild nature combined with fantastic wineries. Still you feel that you all the time have to watch your step. Nature is full of snakes and other "goodies". Nine out of the ten most poisonous snakes live here. I will do my very best not to step (too much) on one of them!
This is our third visit to Perth and Western Australia. The first time was in 2011 as the start of a cruise around Australia and New Zealand. The second time was over Christmas - New Year 2014-15 to visit Cecilie and her family right after they moved out here. And the third time is now - for 12 days.
Western Australia was until a few years ago the richest part of the country due to the immense mining industry here. You name a mineral - and they have it! Also the very rare and costly minerals. It pays for lots of activities here, incl. the very prestigeous Curtin University, where Cecilie and Nikos work. The last few years the income to the industry has gone down. But it is on its way up again now.
We were received in the airport by Cecilie and Zoe. A very special and warm welcome in the sense that Zoe started by performing a number of powerful pushes ( armbøjninger ) on the floor in front of us! We should like to be received like that by everybody in the future ! At the same time she handed us a personal drawing with a very warm welcome! What more can you wish for! When we came home - where we saw their lovely new house for the first time - it was very hot. When I could not follow Anna Maria and Zoe up and down the stairs with the same speed as them during their presentation of the house, I said: Look, I am soon 80 and old - I am getting tired! You are NOT, Zoe said. You are only old, when you are a 100. I am 101 today, I replied. Now the joke had according to Zoe gone over the top, so I was in the very charming Zoe-way made aware, that all discussion on the topic was over!
Anna Maria has grown upwards ( and certainly not side-wards !) since we last met in the summer in Denmark. She soon has the hight of Liselotte. She is as always very sporty and energetic. And both girls are in addition to a full day at school very active on a daily basis in swimming lessons, art work (AM), hip-hop dance (Zoe) and karate (AM). So coordinating all that is a sport in itself for the parents!
Saturday was a relax day. Everybody agreed. Also when I - due to the impressive heat wave - declared that I have never in my life felt such a strong interest in visiting the local huge, modern shopping centre Garden City up the road! The cooling from the air condition in the centre had, of course, nothing to do with my interest ! Or as I said: This heat wave is really tough for fat people! And by the way also for me! I got a bit puzzled, when the others started laughing :-)
Sunday we invited everybody on an excursion to an island in the Indian Ocean. It is called ROTTNEST ISLAND. It is just 35 minutes by speed boat from Fremantle. But I can tell you that it was rough sailing. A real roller coaster in the morning. The girls enjoyed it immensely. The rest of us were just grabbing hold of what could stabilize our movements. Good fun. We certainly felt the forces of nature! The island was first discovered by Dutch discoverers in the 17th century. They believed that the special small cat-size animals on the island were rats. That is how the island got its name. But they are not. They are called QUAKKOS. Try to look them up on Google. They are very friendly, especially if you carry food. And they move around like the kangaroos. There were also a lot of black RAVENS on the island - making sounds like a baby. Since my many visits in Greenland in the 1970ies I am always very suspicious against ravens. They steal with all beaks and legs - and still look very innocent! They were so unpopular in Greenland at the time that if you killed one and brought one of its legs to the local council, you received 10 kr. !
Rottnest Island was since the 1840ies used by the British masters here as a prison for male aboriginal prisoners. And they were ordered to build the prison themselves from local material. Many of the nice, yellow houses are still there and now used as shops and holiday homes. In many ways Rottnest Island had the same function and history as Robben Island had in South Africa. Local prison for native prisoners under the control of the British. We also visited Robben Island in 2001 - including the small cell of Nelson Mandela.
The latest couple of days have also been very pleasant - small excursions, including a very interesting one into the SWAN VALLEY yesterday. Wild nature combined with fantastic wineries. Still you feel that you all the time have to watch your step. Nature is full of snakes and other "goodies". Nine out of the ten most poisonous snakes live here. I will do my very best not to step (too much) on one of them!
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