Mad March days

What a difference a year makes....this time I was in Perth, Western Australia. Long hot days by the beaches staying with my youngest son, who was in his second year there.

It was a wonderful month.While he worked I would go to my favourite beaches...

Cottlesloe

and Coogee..

I would dream, write, watch the waves, watch people and swim. Being able to walk into the water without squealing in shock , without every single part of of my body erupting into goosebumps - the end of an Australian summer is a joy.

I'm on holiday again for a few weeks. Staycationing? Well, that's too grand a term for it.....I'm staying at home....resting and relaxing. Or so I thought.

The first few days the sun shone and it was bright...actually bright, and warm enough to take off my jacket as I worked in the garden.  But March isn't a marvellous month here weatherwise...and the last few days have been grey...with today being particularly misty...more like November.

 Boo and I went for a walk in the nearby countryside dodging the puddles and mud ....

It's hard to believe that these were taken a few hours ago  - at two o'clock in the afternoon.

I couldn't help comparing and contrasting....this month with this time last year. And this time three years ago...when I was also in Western Australia with my daughter

And six years ago when I was with my eldest son too.....

Yes, I'm getting itchy feet....and yes Australia, I'm addicted to you. You're an expensive habit though ....I don't think I'll be seeing you this year .

In the meantime I need to see some sunshine....but I'm not holding my breath this weekend.There's an amber warning for snow,frosts or heavy rain....

Happy Holidays!

Today's track is from a band I managed to see in Freo last year at the Fremantle Arts Centre. I was on my own on a baking hot Sunday afternoon...I saw that the Stillsons were playing in the Courtyard there.
The stage was shaded .the audience moved around to avoid the sun , sitting under
 the trees and drinking ice cold beers to stay cool.

A lovely, laid back afternoon watching them play... vocals and gorgoues guitar work from Justin Bernasconi , Cat Canteri on drums and backing vocals with some beautiful pedal steel guitar from Ben Franz.  This is one of my favourite tracks  of theirs ...

 

 

days when it's not what you think...and being childish

With many things in life, it's location, location, location.....in Australia any house near the water attracts premium prices in estate agents windows. The same goes for venues....if your cafe, bar or restaurant is on the seafront, or by the river, you're quids in.

I'm a country girl, but Perth is a beautiful city, surrounded by water ,with stunning vistas wherever you look.

.

A popular watering hole on the banks of the Swan River is not only in a fantastic location,

 it has a wonderful name

I

I know.....call me childish, but I sniggered uncontrollably when I saw the sign for the first time five years ago. Knowing the Aussie sense of  openness and sense of humour, I thought I had a fair idea of how the bar got its name, which made me laugh even more.

It turns out that how the bar got its name is not what you think though....it's all to do with a cormorant.....allegedly....

One story has it that when the name for the bar was being decided a shag (a type of cormorant) swooped down into the water and emerged with two fish, and someone immediately said "Gee, thats a lucky shag".

So that's one version and it's true that there are alot of shags about even though I didn't manage to photograph one.....but I have evidence. I don't know about lucky shags...they're definitely shitty shags....

 It's a great place for drinks late afternoon , sitting outside....just admiring the view....

The place is filled with both tourists and locals, and those who arrive by boat and moor alongside....

Drinking in the sunshine, the view and a cold beer on a warm Perth afternoon ...what could be nicer?

Perhaps a bottle of wine?

A week later, I was in the bottle shop . I really fancied an ice cold bottle of rose....and I wanted it there and then. Looking along the rows, I saw a few that looked ok, and several that I knew would hit the spot because I recognised the vineyard, the variety of grape etc.

And then I saw one bottle.....I couldn't miss it....the label was so appealing...and so was the branding....I had to buy it....

Have you tried a bonking frog? I know...another really childish moment.It could have tasted like bilge water, but I had to try it. I suppose it's the equivalent of backing a race horse because you like its name. Ignore its form, the going, the jockey....just go for the name.

And that my friends is what I did - and what a lovely earthy merlot it was too.

So I guess I struck lucky....like that shag, or some Australian who got more than a beer at a certain bar....


Today's track is from John Butler Trio...I fell in love with this band and this track on my first trip to Perth and saw them play live two years ago in Fremantle.There's no video but just sit back, relax, listen and enjoy (with or without a glass of bonking frog...)

The Day I Finally Saw Them

If you know me, you know that going to gigs is one of the most pleasurable things in life for me. I can't count the number of bands I've seen over the years ...and I still get that fluttery butterfly sensation in my stomach before each gig, whether I'm working or not.

Sheer excitement mostly - there's nothing like the thrill of seeing old favourites...where you know each word of every song, and they all bring some happy memories.There's the pleasure of discovering new talent -perhaps it's a support act you've not come across before....and then there's the sheer serendipity of being in the right place at the right time to watch a band whose music you love but you've never been able to see before.

That happened on Sunday.I've been meaning to see Bombay Bicycle Club for ages.I love their music...have their albums, but each time they've played near me I haven't been able to go.I've either had something else planned that I can't get out of , or I've been reading the late night news .
So imagine my utter surprise when I found out that Bombay Bicycle Club were playing in Perth ----eleven thousand miles away from home. And I wasn't workingIt was meant to be don't you think?

The boy obviously thought so too....and guess what my Mothering Sunday present was? Yep, tickets to see them at the Astor , a theatre in Mount Lawley.
It's a rather lovely venue in a buzzy part of Perth. So there was me, The boy and Camo( a lovely mad Aussie who turned up at our place for Christmas last year wearing poncho and sombrero -he'd just arrived from South America) .What a night....

One thing's for sure...Bombay Bicycle Club are a tight band.From the moment they appear on stage, we're swept up into song after wellcrafted song.Jack Steadman on  vocals and guitars may be the frontman, but, drummer Suren de Saram excells.He doesn't miss a beat all night and his relentless rhythms make each song oh so much funkier live.

That's not to say that Jack Steadman doesn't shine....he's got a chameleon like voice which adapts so well to each song but he hides behnd his hair for the first few songs before letting rip.  Jamie McColl gives such solid support on guitar too.

The audience loved them....dancing and singing along to each song from the opening "How much sleep can you swallow"to the encore "Shuffle".All in all a life affirming night, and guess what the Boy and I played in the car on the way home?

In fact I've had this track on repeat every day recently. Driving to my favourite beach, with the sun and sea on my left...and smiling....I give you Bombay Bicycle Club and "Lights out, words gone"...

In the meantime I'm off for a road trip (although not on my bike) to Margaret River....home of surfing and wineries - what an award winning combination.

days in paradise

I haven't posted for a while. I've been distracted. Busy and beguiled by life down under.

Yes I'm in Western Australia..I arrived on 5th March ..escaping dull grey skies and cold weather to sun and heat. The first ten days were quite frankly very hot.And when I say hot I' m talking meltingly and swelteringly hot. Don't get me wrong,I'm not complaining ...but 41 degrees celsius every day for over a week is pretty  disconcerting.to say the least.

I'm staying in Freo....Fremantle lies south of Perth. Not far away is the wonderful Cottlesloe Beach ...I.love it -especially North Cott as it's known.

Walk down that path and white sand awaits.....

But I didn't come eleven thousand miles just to see the beaches. I came to see the boy.....who also enjoys being at the beach at anytime...

My youngest son is spending his second year over here , and I can understand why he love it so much. The weather, the chilled atmosphere, and after  a day at work, an hour or so on the beach for a quick swim  is the perfect start to the evening.




I'm on holiday...but the boy isn't so I'm also spending quite a bit of time here on the beaches by myself.....without him or the crowds.....just a few birds. and me....





 
 
 




Further up the beach at Grant Street, it's even quieter.There's something quite different about sitting on a deserted beach. Just the cry of the birds,the relentless crash of the waves on the sand, and really having the space and time to really look at what's in front of me.

And when it gets too hot, A  solitary swim in a warm sea.....

But  yesterday morning, I had company.....

 

 

What did you do yesterday?

Today's track is something we 've got on repeat in the car....and we singalong to...ou est le swimming pool and Dance the way I feel...