Running at State

The Little athletics season culminates with the State Championships at the Perth Stadium.  Meaghan qualified throught that process and even had to go through a round of heats for the 800m final.  She did a great job and ran PBs in both her events.  We celebrated the end of track season (slightly backwards to our thinking) with a trip to the Little Creatures Brewery and food hall in Freo.  My first taste of the imfamous chili mussels and I now have an idea for Westdale Dinner Club.  Liam ate jalapeno peppers on a dare by the waiter and went back for more.  Dessert was organic doughnuts at the market, covered in cinnamon sugar.

The Endless Summer

It was time to partake in another Australian necessity and tackle surfing.  Since it was 35 degrees in the first week of autumn the beach seemed a good call.  We decided on a family lesson at Trigg beach and had a great experience.  We were expecting a long time on the sand, practicing paddling and standing up , but after five minutes our instructor said we were ready for the waves.  A good thing to as the wetsuits were starting to get a little hot.
The kids were both up within two or three waves and Meaghan was to first to take a wave right to the beach.  Diana and Megs caught a wave together.   I was offered a long board after a few turns, not as an homage to the surfing elders, but for more stability; and  finally crested a mammoth three foot wave before the song "Wipeout" played in the distance.
After 90 minutes the kids wanted me to either hire or purchase boards in order  to surf the rest of the afternoon.  I wanted a nap, to rest my lower body injuries and watch the first round of footy. 

We definitely have plans to get more surfing in soon and are travelling to Surfer's Paradise on the East Coast for Easter.

A Wonderful Weekend in Margaret River

We escaped Perth early on Friday afternoon and travelled south to Margaret River to visit another Canadian couple who is on exchange there.  They have an amazing place that is on about 7 acres of property and includes resident possums, kangaroos and skinks (lizard-like creatures).  As we drove in at dusk, we saw kangaroos at the side of the road and as we pulled into their property there was a possum hanging out over one of their windows.  John got the flashlight and we all had a good look at the 'little guy' before he scampered up into the rafters.  In the morning the resident kangaroos came right up to their garden area and Meaghan and Liam threw some bread to them and watched them feed.  Pretty amazing! 

After having a great pancake breakfast we headed out to see some of the sights.  Margaret River is well known for being a surfer's paradise and Saturday didn't disappoint in this regard.  The swells were huge and we were entertained by some awesome surfing and some wicked wipe-outs.  The only downside is that most of the beaches were too rough for swimming or boogie boarding as there were very strong rips which can pull you out.  We then went further south to a place called Hamelin Bay where the rays come in very close to shore.  They are huge and you can actually reach down and touch them although you aren't supposed to.  Meaghan was quick to remind us that it was one of these creatures that killed Steve Irwin (Crocodile Hunter) and that we better watch out!

We had lunch at one of the many breweries in the area and then went to the Margaret River Cheese Company where the kids got some ice cream and we did some cheese tasting.  Between the wineries, the cheese factory, and the chocolate company, Margaret River is the place to go.  Some of the vineyards even have play areas for the kids to keep them entertained while you sip away on the wine.  Back at our friend's place, we had a BBQ dinner and Liam and Meaghan played pool and stalked the kangaroos some more.

On Sunday morning the surf had calmed down somewhat and although it was still pretty rough, we spent the morning body boarding.  Meg and Liam were loving it but I have to say that I was a bit 'on edge' the entire time, worried about the rips.  Luckily, John and Annette have a lot of experience with the ocean and educated Meaghan and Liam about where they should go and let them know if they were starting to stray too far out or too close to the rip-zone.  Wow, what an experience!  We are now going to take a family surf lesson to try out the 'real thing'.

Run and play

It was Labour Day in Australia this past weekend- to celebrate the ending of summer (it dipped below 30*C) with a three day weekend- sound familiar!  On the Saturday and Sunday was the culimnating Athletics meet for the little kids and State qualifying for those 11 and up.  There were over 500 kids competing in our area and there were four sites around the City.  Again, what an amazing turnout for athletics.
Our two had a great time both running and with their friends and Meaghan is off to the State meet in two weeks time.  The kids celebrated with a water balloon fight and a barbeque.

For the holiday, we drove down to Penguin Island, a bird sanctuary in Rockingham.  While the little diver penguins were cool, the highlight was getting up to a sea lion during our snorkelling.  He just lounged on the beach and eventually meandered over to a cave for a snooze.  Next week is our first weekend trip and it is to Margaret River.