Hottest place on the planet!

Christmas morning, phew ... Anna got the Barbie caravan!

Christmas Day at Wendy's house!
Clare, Anna, Wendy and Bea.

Cooling off in our pool on Boxing Day!
Believe it or not, this was 5.59pm!

It's official, Christmas Day was the hottest place on the planet, rocking up to 45 degrees!

We spent the morning opening presents and in the afternoon went to a family member's house for a dip in the pool and food. Although turkey and brussel sprouts were on the menu, it's just not the same eating them in the heat!

Boxing Day was spent at the cinema watching the Bee Movie (with hundreds of people). When it gets hot here, the only place to go is to stay indoors with air conditioning. The rest of the day was spent in our pool, cooling off!

Cold in December ...

It's been drizzly and cold (as in "Perth cold") in December. Everyone has been saying that if we get a cold December then January and February will be HOT! We've been checking out the weather reports and Christmas Day is rumoured to be 38 degrees, so the weather is heating up. They generally get the weather right here, so it looks as though it's going to be a scorcher! Which is good, as we are going around to a family member's house on Christmas Day for a pool party.

Yesterday, Anna and I (with some kids and mums from school) went to see The Nutcracker performed by the Youth WA Ballet at the Perth Playhouse. It was excellent, all the kids were in complete rapture, especially when the dancers came on as fairies with glittery tutus and tiaras. It was a great show.

Nige and some cycling friends went for a ride in the Perth hills. Afterwards, everyone came back to ours for a dip in the pool and a BBQ. It was a great afternoon ...

Graduation Night

Anna's primary school holds an annual event where all of the children perform for their parents and teachers as a thank you for the year. As it's the end of the year and the last time the year 7s will be at school before they move on to high school, they also "graduate".

The dances have been choreographered by an external teaching group called, "EduDance". They have been in school all term teaching the kids of all years dance. It's part of the physical education program.

Anna and her class performed, "Best Years of our Lives".

Anna is in a red shirt, black skirt and leggings at the front of the group on the floor.

School end of year party at the local park

The face painter was fantastic and she managed to do all the kids!

Anna with some of her class mates.

Santa was a bit unconventional, arriving on the back of the ute!

Bye Santa!

Of course, there was copius amounts of alcohol.
Well you have to embrace the Aussie way of life!

Weekend away in Denmark (WA)

Our destination, a five hour drive South.

Great Southern Highway
(Not many traffic lights on here!)

A typical road house.
You don't see much else for about 5 hours driving.

A Road Train
(Pretty much all you see when you travel outside of Perth)

Our accommodation at Elle-Tree Resort
(Fantasic!)

Before we could chill out we had to get rid of our "guest"!
A Huntsman Spider

Yes, we did put the log burner on!

A Tingle Tree in the Valley of the Giants.
These trees are over 400 years old and are some of the biggest trees in the whole world.
They are only found in South West Australia.

The Tree Top Walk in Walpole.
The bridge is 40 metres above ground and gives you a spectacular view of the
forest and surrounding area.

Peaceful Bay at dusk
Denmark

Peaceful Bay at dusk.
(Not many crowds here!) Denmark

"Elephant Rocks" on William Bay
Denmark

The drive down to the beach.
Not much traffic here!