Everyone has arrived safely!

Mum, Bob and Brian arrived at Perth airport safe and sound, if not a little crumpled! Having picked them up, the first thing that we saw when leaving the airport were a group of about 10 kangaroos. We're not sure if the kangaroos are shipped in every night by the tourist board for the new arrivals into Perth, or whether they were really wild ones! Back in the car Anna didn't draw breath when she was speaking to grandma and back at home she got every game out she possesses for them to play with!

The next couple of days were spent taking it easy and familiarising with Perth. At the weekend we went to Hillary's boat harbour and then to visit Bob's niece and family in Butler. Butler is a very new suburb north of the river. There's lots of development and building, but the suburb looks very new, clean and aspirational!

Nige got a chance to try out our new camera and took some photos of Anna underwater in their pool. We decided to get a new camera (shockproof and waterproof) after I dropped it for the tenth time and broke it...

We also went down to Mandurah on Sunday. Mandurah is about a 45 minute drive south from Perth. It's considered the "marine playground" of Western Australia and is noted for its waterways and holiday atmosphere. It's very much a "seaside" town, with protected waters, beaches, fishing and crabbing. We spent a few hours on the beach and had a swim. It's the first time that I've actually been in the sea since being here! Even though we were all wearing factor 30+ sunscreen, we all managed to catch the sun. It really is much stronger here (probably because the huge hole in the ozone layer above us!).

Whilst here, we managed to watch two bush fires starting and taking hold. They really are scary when they start and there's very little you can do to prevent them. As we are in a drough, lots of the lakes have dried up and makes putting them out all the more problematic. Nevertheless, the excellent fire crews soon had them under control.


Nige and Bob managed to get tickets to see the rugby in Subiaco, but I'll let Nige write about that as I'm not even sure who were playing ...


On Monday was Anna's first day back at school, she has gone into pre-primary (full-time). She now wears a uniform, which she's very pleased about. She has 5 weeks of half-days, mixed with full-days before she starts full-time in earnest.

Yesterday mum and Bob had a visit to Rockingham, which is a town about 40 minutes drive south of Perth. They also went into Fremantle.

Rockingham is another seaside resort and has a high concentration of expats. It's a very relaxed place, with sandy beaches, good cafes and a flurry of new building work.

Today, mum is meeting with Bea (I should think a trip to the shops may be in order) and Bob and Brian are going back into Fremantle to visit the prison (no, they haven't done anything wrong. It's the old prison back from when the convicts were bought over) and maritime museum in Fremantle. Should be a good day!