Cruising Around Perth!

We've been blissfully enjoying Matt & Jen's hospitality for the past four days! It has been great just doing the things we love to do with them in Hood River here in their beautiful home and adopted city of Perth. Today, we completed a 3 hour bike ride around the Swan River and the Perth area. We stopped for lunch and a pint at a place called Little Creatures Brewery. The pints were delicious and nice especially after riding in the sun for so long. Things are quite expensive here. One pint cost $8.00 Australian and it wasn't served in a take home glass!?!

Perth is probably the most livable city I've ever seen. It has a lot of green space in the way of parks, trees, cricket pitches, etc... We walked a bit in King's Park the other day, and it is wonderful. Gorgeous views of the city with paths flanked by wildflowers and calm onlookers. The weather here has been perfect save our first day here when it reminded us why we are happy to be away from the Oregon rain. Apparently, they get about 300 days of sun each year. Most of the money that fuels Perth comes from mining towns up north. When we went for lunch in Swanbourne, it seemed that very few folks were working for a Wednesday. Real estate is off the scale over here, too. There's a lot of people with a lot of money to spend on homes, cars, shopping, etc... They even have home auctions just because they can! Wowie!

We went surfing yesterday morning - with a ton other folks. The water wasn't too cold and the surf wasn't that great, but, it was fantastic to be out in the water again. We played an American Football game on the beach in the afternoon and had dinner at the shop owned by someone Matt works with. The place has specialty burgers and dinner was nice. We came home for movies on the couch. It's good to see that I'm in good company when it comes to falling asleep during movies. Jen and I made it look easy when we both fell asleep about halfway through the film!

On our ride today, we circled most of the city on impecably well-maintained, paved paths. Many folks were out walking, riding, paddling and the like. We also caught a bit of a cricket match and a lawn bowling game (think Bocce on grass with shoes, white long pants and wide brimmed hats). The weather was perfect for a bike ride and we were excited to see the city this way. We had more of a purpose for our trek today as we were supporting my friend Pam's fundraiser. Friends of the Paradee Family pledged to do outdoor hikes, walks, bikes, swims to offer good, positive, helpful energy to them as Pam is heading toward a bone marrow transplant. We're thinking of you, Pam!

We're going to Spring in the Valley tomorrow. It is a showcase of the Swan Valley's Winerys, Brew Pubs, Cheese, Chocolate and other Factories. I can say that it probably won't disappoint! On Monday, we're heading out to Esperance. It is about 9 hours driving to the southeast on the coast. While it will be a bit colder that way, the sun is supposed to shine for at least the next week, so that should make it perfect. We'll keep you posted on our travels.

Many thanks to Matt & Jen for their extreme hospitality during our stay in Perth. It was fantastic to have such wonderfully attentive tour guides! And many thanks for the Morrow/Cook Van Rental Service for making the next leg of our trip Down Under possible!