Chilling in Perth: Part II

Our second week in Perth was full of relatives time. On Monday, we saw Andrew's grandfather and step-grandmother for a traditional Sicilian spaghetti meal (making the sauce is a yearly ritual and they serve the spaghetti with a hard-boiled egg and a sausage...AMAZING!). Tuesday night was his grandmother's (where we were staying) along with his aunt, uncle, and cousin. Wednesday night was hosted by his mother's sister and her husband at their lovely waterfront home, and Thursday was taking his other grandmother out to lunch for her birthday. The days we would mostly spend on the boat or around the yacht club, even if it was raining. Andrew is at his happiest when he is tweaking things around on the boat, and I was content to relax on my computer, go for a run to take in the gorgeous scenery, or occasionally go to the gym (for an outrageously expensive guest pass...damn you, expensive suburbs).

On Wednesday afternoon we also took the opportunity to go into the CBD of Perth to do a little shopping and look around, which was quite fun. We visited pretty much the only two tourist attractions, this ferris wheel ride and the Swan Bells Tower, which was corny but kind of fun.


The shopping district was small but bustling and I really enjoyed it. Perth is certainly a growing city, but it is still quite small compared to Sydney. However, it clearly has a magnetic pull, because everyone I know from there wants to go back at some point and all of their extended families live in the various areas around Perth.

On Friday, we went shopping in the morning for groceries for the boat with Andrew's friend Nick and then the three of us went to an island about 20 km away called Rottnest. This island is like the holiday playground of Perth natives, apparently - it's fairly large but there are no cars, so people bike around it. There are various bays all around the island where people moor their boats, and a couple of restaurants and grocery stores on the island. There are native animals there called QUOKKAS who are marsupials that only live on Rottnest...reminded me yet again of how incredibly cool Australia is in general. The boat ride over there was lovely and relaxing and once we got to a bay, we moored there and just enjoyed the beautiful weather throughout the afternoon. (finally, yay!) Andrew's other friend Adam joined us in the early evening and we made a short trip to the general store on the island before going back to the boat, where I cooked dinner! (Cooking dinner in a boat galley is super cool, especially because Andrew's boat has absolutely everything you could need for cooking.) As you can see, the sunsets there are beyond spectacular.


After dinner, I was subjected to one of the more harrowing experiences of my life when I naively got on the little powerboat Adam had brought with him so we could go around to another bay to hang out at the one pub on the island. As someone who has been on a boat a mere handful of times during her life and never one at night, I did not realize how out of my league this was. Armed with nothing but a small flashlight (boats don't have headlights, by the way), the boat began speeding haphazardly over the waves, crashing down after each one and frightening me half to death. (Apparently we went the same speed the next day and I was barely scared at all - when you can't see the waves that are about to hit your boat it's just a little more terrifying.) By the time we finally made it to the pub, I was bedraggled, wet, and more than just a little frazzled. The boys shook their heads over my lack of sea legs as I attempted to dry my clothes and hair in the hand dryer in the bathroom...what a disaster. We had a nice evening nonetheless and Andrew very graciously offered to accompany me on the 45 minute walk home since I had kind of refused to get on the boat again. Although it was chilly and windy, the walk home along the coast of the island was quite magical. Because it was winter, we really were just about the only people there, and it felt like we had an entire deserted island to ourselves. You can see the stars perfectly of course, and that combined with the crashing of the waves and the softness of the sand really makes for an enchanting evening.

The next day, we went around to a different bay that Andrew always used to go to throughout his childhood, and then used the smaller boat on the back of Anastasia (there are two - Ivan and mini Ivan) to go to the shore and explore. We climbed all the way to the top of some rocks and the view was spectacular!


After that, we had some lunch and then got all the gear ready to go scuba diving. Like with boating, these guys have grown up with it, but the only dive I have ever done was almost two years ago. I was more than a little nervous to say the least, but Andrew was wonderful. He helped me get on the gear and get down into the water, but it was up to me to control the panic that I immediately feel upon being forced to actually breathe underwater. I vaguely remembered what it felt like from my dive in the Great Barrier Reef, but it takes so much conscious effort to not think about what could go wrong. We weren't even that deep down, but it still took me a good 10 minutes to finally start to relax and enjoy the beauty of the reef that was just a 20 minute boat ride away from the bay we were moored in. Like I said in my travel blog from Australia, there is something incredibly intimidating about being in this otherworldly depths of the ocean. You are just one of the fish, and anything could happen...you are completely vulnerable. Adam and Nick explored the caves, and later told us they had seen a shark down there, so that was kind of unnerving. (You have to remember, my American friends, that in Australia, people die from shark attacks and other scary poisonous animals like every day. The danger is like EXTREMELY real. Eeep.) But I survived the dive with minimal embarassment and it reinforced my desire to get certified so I can actually know more about what I am doing and not feel so helpless!

We had a spectacular dinner that night (ask me about it via email or in person, I can't post the details here) and a very relaxing day on Sunday, listening to lots of music on the fantastic sound system (Perth also has the BEST radio hits station I have ever heard, with essentially zero commericial breaks...sweet) and hanging out on the back of the boat in the sun. We were so lucky to get such fantastic weather in the middle of winter, and I can only imagine if it were this good in winter how absolutely incredible it would be in summer. White sandy beaches, stunningly blue water, and an atmosphere of peace and tranquility all contribute to make Rottnest a really magical place. I definitely want to go back!


The next day, we flew to Sydney, where we have been for the past week. Being here feels like returning home, and I have been in absolute bliss going to all my favorite places - The Rocks Market, the Opera House, Paddy's Market, the David Jones Food Hall, King Street, and so on. Living and playing house with Andrew is also like a little domestic dream come true for me...but sadly, it can't last forever (at least not right now), and I am due to fly back to the U.S. in just a week. I might post before then, we'll see. I just wanted to post about the rest of Perth before I forgot! Seeing as I am in this incredible city that brings back so many happy memories for me, I am going to stop writing and go out and enjoy it!