Sunday, 10 November, 2013

On Monday, Dad finished up his teaching and he was happy to be done since he had been full-on for eight days straight.  He was very pleased with how the course went - he also got some really nice comments about his teaching style, which he really appreciated.  After each course, the students are asked to fill out a questionnaire about all aspects of the course.  They can just fill in E, VG, G, etc., but they can also write in comments.  Dad's boss read the comments and talked to some of the guys on the course afterwards and  told Dad that he (Dad) is creating quite a reputation for himself to live up to. :-)

On Tuesday, our friends, Rosalea and Rob drove us to Fremantle which is south of Perth - our friends, Robyn and Geoff had told us that it was a lovely city to visit.  We spent such a nice day with Rosalea and Rob - pictures below.

On the way to Fremantle

 On the way to Fremantle 

Cottesloe Beach

Cottesloe Beach

Where we ate lunch - their sign said "WA's Number 1 Fish and Chips" - Dad said the fish was excellent

View from the table where we ate lunch

In Fremantle

Above and below: some of the beautiful architecture in Fremantle

'The Round House' - a former prison

I was put on trial on 2.4.1832 for 'larceny of a looking glass' (I stole a mirror).  My sentence was 14 days imprisonment and 5 dozen lashes in front of the jail on 7.4.1832 at 12 o'clock

 Our friends, Rob and Rosalea

On the way back from Fremantle

 Dad and I in front of the Perth skyline

At Hillarys Boat Harbour where we ate supper - Dad and I had some delicious ribs - yummy!

Great fun for the kids at Hilllarys Boat Harbour


On Wednesday, Rosalea and Rob picked us up again and took us to King's Park and Botanic Gardens - another beautiful day - more pics below.

Kangaroo statues on a street in Perth

Dad and I in front of the State war Memorial

Picnicking at Kings Park and Botanic Gardens

Above and below: scenes from the park and in the park

Thursday was our looooooooooooong day of travel.  It's a five hour flight from Perth to Brisbane.  Then, we had to wait for five hours in Brisbane before we could catch our flight to HB.  It was nice to be home (if only for a little while).  Since we only had a couple of days home before heading back to Brisbane (where we are now), Dad and I ran around on Friday doing errands and keeping appointments.  Then, we relaxed at night - we had Robyn and Geoff over for dinner - a wonderful evening of food and friendship. :-)  On Saturday, I was able to attend the Relief Society Christmas activity at church and it was such a lovely afternoon.  I love these kind of activities because it gives us time to spend with our 'sisters' - it was so much fun talking with each other for a couple of hours. :-)

I got some sad news this week - my Aunt Beth and my Auntie Norma both messaged me to let me know that my Aunt Janet had passed away.  It was such a shock - I had just spent a day with her and Aunt Beth a few weeks ago.  Aunt Janet had a mild heart attack and then a major stroke - she was in the hospital at the time of the stroke and she was gone within a day.  Her funeral will be in Brisbane on Wednesday, so I  am grateful that we are down here at the moment.  I am also grateful to have the gospel in my life which teaches that there is a life after this one and that Aunt Janet is with her family (including Poppy).

Sunday, 3 November, 2013

The week has flown by again - that saying 'time flies when you're having fun' really does apply to us, I think. :-)

Dad is quite enjoying teaching this group of students - he says that they are so keen and ask lots of questions.  He really likes that - it makes his teaching much more interesting.  On Thursday, another employee of QAC (Queensland Aerospace College), Munir, joined us here in Perth.  Dad taught the group the theory stuff behind the airplane and Friday to Sunday was the practical hands-on part of the course and so, both Dad and Munir did that part.  Munir worked mainly in the cockpit and you can't fit any more than six guys in there at one time (and even that is really squishing it) and Dad took the rest of the guys and did tasks on the rest of the airplane.  The course will finish tomorrow (Monday) - Dad will ask each of the guys a question about the airplane just to make sure that they are able to apply the things which they have learned on the course.  Then, there's a couple of hours of paperwork to complete before they are done.  Dad has had to work eight days straight and he is quite tired, so he will enjoy being able to relax at the end of it.

While he was working, I mostly just relaxed in our condo.  On Monday, Dad and I walked to the casino (about 15 minutes away) to check it out.  It's quite a big complex with a really fancy hotel which even has a theatre attached to it - they are playing 'South Pacific' beginning next week - I was really hoping that it was playing this coming week while we are still here, but no luck.  Dad and I did see this musical when we were in London, but that was years ago.  We didn't actually go inside the casino itself, but there sure were a lot of people on the premises.

They have a pool here at the condo complex and I was looking forward to using it on Tuesday, but when I went down and put my foot in, it was freezing.  I asked the guy who takes care of things in the complex what the temp of the pool was (he was working on it) and he said 21C - no wonder the water was so cold.  He told me that things would be better by the weekend as the heating would be on by then.  So, Dad went on the internet and found out where the local pool was and  I swam there on Tuesday and Thursday.  On Tuesday, there were swimming lessons going on in the part of the pool which is 25 metres long, so I had to swim in the lanes which are 50 metres long.  I can tell you that it's much harder swimming 50 metres at a time compared to 25 metres!  On Saturday, the pool here at the complex was open and heated and so I was able to do my swimming routine in there.  It's shorter than 25 metres, but still long enough to get a good swim in.

On Wednesday, Dad and I went for a walk to a park across the road from the casino.  While on our walk, we saw a turtle (with the longest neck I have ever seen on a turtle - kind of looked like a snake), a huge pelican and some ducks.  We also came into contact with the Perth flies which are very annoying.  While we were walking, we did the 'Aussie salute' many times.  What is the 'Aussie salute', you ask?  The definition found in Wikipedia is "the waving of one's hand in front of the face at regular intervals in order to prevent bush flies from landing on it, or entering one's nose or mouth."  They are very persistent flies, I can tell you, and we have been told that they aren't even at their worst yet.  Ugh - there's no way I would want to live here!

On Friday, I went for a walk by the river (about a 25 minute walk from the condo) and it is such a beautiful place - I wanted to take some pictures of it to show you, but Dad needed the camera to take some pictures of the airplane - I will try to get some pics of the park before we leave.  I walked along a path beside the river where ducks and swans were swimming.  The park has a playground, lots of benches, picnic tables, barbecues and trees.  The day was warm and sunny with a slight breeze, so it was a perfect time to go for a long  walk and I enjoyed being outside in nature.  

Dad worked yesterday and today and so our friends, Rob and Rosalea (who used to live in HB) invited me to spend the weekend with them.  They picked me up on Saturday just before lunch and we began our tour drive. We made four stops before lunch: a chocolate factory (with taste testings), a grape juice farm (with taste testings), a nougat store (with taste testing) and another chocolate factory (with taste testing).  Do you see a pattern here? :-)  So, after our morning snacks, we headed to a place called 'Hillarys Boat Harbour' - what a beautiful place!  Here's the write-up on the internet about it: "Since opening in 1988, Hillarys Boat Harbour has been a premier recreational destination for Perth locals and visitors.  In addition to  boat pens, the Harbour offers a wide range of restaurants, attractions, activities, shops, and services catering to fishermen, boaters, beach goers, tourists and local residents."  There were some cute shops there which we had a sticky beak in as well.

Before church, Rosalea and I made home-made scones and put the ingredients for a lamb stew in the slow cooker.  Dad came for dinner and we enjoyed delicious  food and good conversations with our friends.  We are looking forward to spending Tuesday and Wednesday with them seeing some more sights of Perth and surrounding areas.  This time I will have the camera with me and I will take some pics to put on the blog next Sunday.