Yvonne invited me along with her group to a Xmas dinner held at college south of the river. The college has a restaurant management degree and has a small restaurant where the students get training, including the chefs. The benefit is a very good meal for very little money. Yvonne and her friends make reservations once a month.
Since I don't have a car she picked me up at work. She then drove me down to her house south of Perth. She is very proud of her house. It has pool, is high on a hill to catch the ocean breezes in the afternoon. It is a 5 bedroom house and she rents out a couple of the rooms to lodgers. She mentioned that she feels safe because in a few years when global warming raises the ocean to cover Australia her house will be dry. I think she is looking forward to having a beach front house some day, so keep driving them cars people.
When we walked in we were greeted by a naked and wet old man standing in the living room. Yvonne did not seem the least bit surprised and walked on past him to the back of the house to take care of something. She turned on the TV for me as she went by and invited me to watch TV for a while. No explanation or introduction was offered by either of them. The old man walked off somewhere else, so I sat down and started watching on of my favorite shows, the Simpsons.
The Simpsons, by the way, are enormously popular down here. Despite all of the American and local references hidden in the show, the Ozzies really get it.
After about 10 minutes the old man comes back into the living room, still naked and still wet. He seemed upset about something and walked over to the TV and switched it to the news. I protested that I was watching the Simpsons, but this seem to make him angrier. He gruffly told me that the Simpsons were for kids and to turn that crap off. Now I was pissed. I was watching the program, so I switched it back to the Simpsons. He switched it back to the news. I told him that I liked the Simpsons and no, it wasn't for kids. The show has a lot of jokes and material for adults too. He started arguing that I was wrong and that it is simply a bad American TV show. I had to defend the show, so we started getting into a heated argument over the issue.
The thought then struck me. Why on earth am I standing in a stranger's living room arguing the cultural merits of the Simpsons with a naked and wet old man? This is crazy. So I handed him the remote and went outside to walk around the neighborhood.
After about 30 minutes Yvonne came out looking for me. She was ready to leave for dinner. The old man was with her, dressed up this time. He was going too. We drove over the dinner, which was an Xmas dinner complete with paper hats and small fire crackers. My friend Fred was there (Mr. Toilet Paper from the Thanksgiving dinner), so I ended up sitting a table with him and his wife while Yvonne and old man Simpson Hater held hands and ate at a different table.
Ask asked a friend of Yvonne's who was sitting with us about the old man. She said that he was renting a room from her and had just moved in. I pointed out that they were holding hands and that he was walking about the house with no clothes on when we where there earlier. She agreed that was strange behavior for a tenant, and there most be something else going on.
Yvonne never bothered to explain anything to me. They dumped me at the train station after dinner. I have not seen them since.
Saturday, December 29, 2001
Wednesday, December 26, 2001
Boxing Day
Trish told me that boxing day, the holiday on the 26th of December, is an English holiday that was started when the upper classes used to take the day off after Christmas to go watch boxing matches. The lower classes used to have to go back to work. I am going to get a second opinion.
Modern Boxing Day is a party hearty day here in Australia where most people head to the beaches or pool parties with their mates and drink vast quantities of alcohol. This is when the police set up all their DUI roadblocks.
I might head out to Rotto Island to see what is going on there.
Modern Boxing Day is a party hearty day here in Australia where most people head to the beaches or pool parties with their mates and drink vast quantities of alcohol. This is when the police set up all their DUI roadblocks.
I might head out to Rotto Island to see what is going on there.
Road Trip!:
took a road trip this weekend along the coast south of Perth to the city of Albany. I rented a car and just took off Saturday morning. To summarize the scenery is to simply say "Wow!"
Trish offered to loan me some of their camping gear and to pack some food for me. When I got home Friday after work with the rental car I found lined up in the living room three coolers full of food plus everything I need for camping, plus about a dozen guide books and maps. Trish is so damn efficient. There was enough food for two for a week. Salads, sandwiches, breakfast already to eat, fruit, a whole roasted chicken, meatballs, pasta, deserts, and more. Of course there were also plenty of beverages and creature comforts such as dishes, silverware, and napkins. I would eat like a king on this trip. Needless to say, I was only able to eat a fraction of it and brought most of it back. It was very nice of her to go to such much trouble.
I kept as close to the coast as possible. I first headed down to Leeuwin-Naturaliste coast. The hills in the coast are riddled with over 350 caves ranging from small to enormous. I stopped at three of them and took the tours. The caves are spectacular, with many formations found nowhere else on earth. One of them named "Lake Cave" has a beautiful lake far underground that was so clean we were invited to drink from it. Mammoth cave was mind-blowing. You could park a couple of 747s inside of some of the chambers.
This coast is also home to some of the best world-class surfing spots in the world, and the best in Western Australia. I have to agree. I saw plenty of empty beaches with beautiful right-hand breaks going smoothly along for almost a mile.
There is a spot along this coast named "Canal Rocks". It is a strange formation of rocks that have a perfect natural channels of water in them. What was interesting is that there is reef on the south side where the waves would crash over from the ocean spilling their water into a small bay. That water has to go somewhere, right? It pours out this clear wide channel through the rocks, spitting out to the bay on the north side. Now what intrigued me was a second channel in the rocks perpendicular to the primary channel. That water is pushed out the primary cancel so fast that it creates a siphon in this secondary channel, pulling in water from a calm bay to the north.
Seeing this made me of course want to try to ride these rips through the channels. I studied it for a long time but the water was so clear that it was hard to gauge the speed it was moving. By watching the eddies I could tell that it ejected water in to the north bay quit a distance. What I wanted to do was jump into the water in the calm bay, and allow myself to get sucked into the siphon channel, which would dump me into the primary channel and then get ejected out into the north bay. It looked like it would be an awesome ride.
I wished I had a coconut that I could throw in to watch what would happen to it. I did observe that the offshore wind was blowing hard, the same force that drove the waves over the reef powering this whole natural Disneyland ride. I estimated that the rip would push me at least 1/4 to 1/2 a mile out to sea, but then it would an upwind swim back to shore and shelter from the ocean wind and waves. I also noticed that there was no one around for miles. If I miscalculated, or got slammed on a rock, then I would be dead.
So not wanting to be a chapter on the Darwin Awards web site I decided to wait until I had better information and equipment such as a surfboard or kayak. When I mentioned my idea to Trish and Martin after I got back they looked horrified. The told me that many tourists have died there from rouge waves. If a rouge wave hits the Canal Rocks it overflows the system and the water simple slams you into the rocks.
This part of of Australia gets the brunt of rouge waves from the Southern Ocean. The Southern Ocean is the body of water the surrounds the Antarctic south of Australia, Africa, and South America. It has the unique feature of not having any landmass for waves to run into. A wave pushed along by the prevailing winds can travel around the globe building in size for as long as it can sustain itself. I don't have the exact stats, but I recall that sometimes a wave can live for months down there. There is simply nothing to stop it. Sometimes these waves stack up on each other and create monster rogue waves. These are real waves full of real water that can cause as much damage at sea as on a coastline, unlike a Tsunami which is most dangerous in shallow water.
The coast along here can best be described as similar to the central California coast between Pt. Conception and Morro Bay (Pismo).
I ended up at the southwestern point of Australia, the lighthouse at Pt. Leeuwin where the Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean meet. I thought this was pretty awesome until the next day when I went further east towards Albany.
This area of Australia, the Margaret River, is the heart of WA's wine country and forests. I drove hours through empty roads through beautiful forests. I camped out in Pemberton, the heart of the southern forests. The next morning I head to the Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk. There is a grove of giant trees in a valley here. The trees have shallow roots systems, so in order to protect the roots and still allow people to see these magnificent trees they built a catwalk through the treetops. It is about 130 feet off the ground up in the canopy. If you are afraid of heights, you can't do it. The catwalks sway in the wind and bounce around as people move across (not too much) and have grated flooring so you can see below you.
From there I visited the lovely town of Denmark and visited the beaches south of here. The beaches kept getting more and more awesome the further east I drove. The ocean down here is cooler than Perth, more central California style. You need a wetsuit when surfing here. The water itself was a remarkable cobalt blue and so remarkably clear. The beaches where some of the best I have ever seen. Totally empty with cliffs at your back and with perfect sand extended way into water. You could camp out on one of these beaches here for week and have it totally to yourself.
I finally ended up in Albany. Albany and the surrounding area remind me of Monterey and Santa Cruz. The forests and mountains come down to the sea along high cliffs and bluffs with perfect little beaches in coves. Albany is in a perfect natural harbor protected by large hills from the ocean. Albany was the home the Australia's whaling industry, but is now a prime whale watching area.
I've heard that the coast east of here between Albany and the South Australian border is even better. I will have to save that for another trip.
During this trip I took mostly back-roads. Often I would drive for 3 hours and not see another car or another human being. Sometimes the road was not even paved, or if it was, it was only one lane of asphalt. My rental car contract prohibited me from driving after dark outside of the Perth metro area. This is because of the danger of hitting a kangaroo. I had to keep very aware of this danger, especially at sunrise and sunset.
At one point late in the afternoon in the middle of nowhere I came around a corner and saw a strange sight. There in front of me in the middle of the road was a large man in rabbit suit bouncing up and down. "Now that is weird" I though to myself as I braked to avoid running into him. Then I remembered. "You're in Australia, you idiot. Therefore that must be a kangaroo." That is what it was! A roo was confused by my car and was bouncing right and left trying to guess which was was the safest route to avoid getting hit.
Adam told me later that many of the roos are now blind. A disease is attacking them that blinds them. He said it is very sad to watch some poor roo lost in the woods crashing into trees and injuring themselves.
Trish offered to loan me some of their camping gear and to pack some food for me. When I got home Friday after work with the rental car I found lined up in the living room three coolers full of food plus everything I need for camping, plus about a dozen guide books and maps. Trish is so damn efficient. There was enough food for two for a week. Salads, sandwiches, breakfast already to eat, fruit, a whole roasted chicken, meatballs, pasta, deserts, and more. Of course there were also plenty of beverages and creature comforts such as dishes, silverware, and napkins. I would eat like a king on this trip. Needless to say, I was only able to eat a fraction of it and brought most of it back. It was very nice of her to go to such much trouble.
I kept as close to the coast as possible. I first headed down to Leeuwin-Naturaliste coast. The hills in the coast are riddled with over 350 caves ranging from small to enormous. I stopped at three of them and took the tours. The caves are spectacular, with many formations found nowhere else on earth. One of them named "Lake Cave" has a beautiful lake far underground that was so clean we were invited to drink from it. Mammoth cave was mind-blowing. You could park a couple of 747s inside of some of the chambers.
This coast is also home to some of the best world-class surfing spots in the world, and the best in Western Australia. I have to agree. I saw plenty of empty beaches with beautiful right-hand breaks going smoothly along for almost a mile.
There is a spot along this coast named "Canal Rocks". It is a strange formation of rocks that have a perfect natural channels of water in them. What was interesting is that there is reef on the south side where the waves would crash over from the ocean spilling their water into a small bay. That water has to go somewhere, right? It pours out this clear wide channel through the rocks, spitting out to the bay on the north side. Now what intrigued me was a second channel in the rocks perpendicular to the primary channel. That water is pushed out the primary cancel so fast that it creates a siphon in this secondary channel, pulling in water from a calm bay to the north.
Seeing this made me of course want to try to ride these rips through the channels. I studied it for a long time but the water was so clear that it was hard to gauge the speed it was moving. By watching the eddies I could tell that it ejected water in to the north bay quit a distance. What I wanted to do was jump into the water in the calm bay, and allow myself to get sucked into the siphon channel, which would dump me into the primary channel and then get ejected out into the north bay. It looked like it would be an awesome ride.
I wished I had a coconut that I could throw in to watch what would happen to it. I did observe that the offshore wind was blowing hard, the same force that drove the waves over the reef powering this whole natural Disneyland ride. I estimated that the rip would push me at least 1/4 to 1/2 a mile out to sea, but then it would an upwind swim back to shore and shelter from the ocean wind and waves. I also noticed that there was no one around for miles. If I miscalculated, or got slammed on a rock, then I would be dead.
So not wanting to be a chapter on the Darwin Awards web site I decided to wait until I had better information and equipment such as a surfboard or kayak. When I mentioned my idea to Trish and Martin after I got back they looked horrified. The told me that many tourists have died there from rouge waves. If a rouge wave hits the Canal Rocks it overflows the system and the water simple slams you into the rocks.
This part of of Australia gets the brunt of rouge waves from the Southern Ocean. The Southern Ocean is the body of water the surrounds the Antarctic south of Australia, Africa, and South America. It has the unique feature of not having any landmass for waves to run into. A wave pushed along by the prevailing winds can travel around the globe building in size for as long as it can sustain itself. I don't have the exact stats, but I recall that sometimes a wave can live for months down there. There is simply nothing to stop it. Sometimes these waves stack up on each other and create monster rogue waves. These are real waves full of real water that can cause as much damage at sea as on a coastline, unlike a Tsunami which is most dangerous in shallow water.
The coast along here can best be described as similar to the central California coast between Pt. Conception and Morro Bay (Pismo).
I ended up at the southwestern point of Australia, the lighthouse at Pt. Leeuwin where the Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean meet. I thought this was pretty awesome until the next day when I went further east towards Albany.
From there I visited the lovely town of Denmark and visited the beaches south of here. The beaches kept getting more and more awesome the further east I drove. The ocean down here is cooler than Perth, more central California style. You need a wetsuit when surfing here. The water itself was a remarkable cobalt blue and so remarkably clear. The beaches where some of the best I have ever seen. Totally empty with cliffs at your back and with perfect sand extended way into water. You could camp out on one of these beaches here for week and have it totally to yourself.
I finally ended up in Albany. Albany and the surrounding area remind me of Monterey and Santa Cruz. The forests and mountains come down to the sea along high cliffs and bluffs with perfect little beaches in coves. Albany is in a perfect natural harbor protected by large hills from the ocean. Albany was the home the Australia's whaling industry, but is now a prime whale watching area.
I've heard that the coast east of here between Albany and the South Australian border is even better. I will have to save that for another trip.
During this trip I took mostly back-roads. Often I would drive for 3 hours and not see another car or another human being. Sometimes the road was not even paved, or if it was, it was only one lane of asphalt. My rental car contract prohibited me from driving after dark outside of the Perth metro area. This is because of the danger of hitting a kangaroo. I had to keep very aware of this danger, especially at sunrise and sunset.
At one point late in the afternoon in the middle of nowhere I came around a corner and saw a strange sight. There in front of me in the middle of the road was a large man in rabbit suit bouncing up and down. "Now that is weird" I though to myself as I braked to avoid running into him. Then I remembered. "You're in Australia, you idiot. Therefore that must be a kangaroo." That is what it was! A roo was confused by my car and was bouncing right and left trying to guess which was was the safest route to avoid getting hit.
Adam told me later that many of the roos are now blind. A disease is attacking them that blinds them. He said it is very sad to watch some poor roo lost in the woods crashing into trees and injuring themselves.
Driving In Oz:
This weekend was my first experience driving a right hand drive car on the wrong side of the road. Boy was it fun! I didn't kill anyone and even managed to avoid wrecking the car. Those people at Budget Rent-a-Car are so trusting!
I rented a small Hundie (I can't even spell it!), a small Korean disposable car. It took me a day to get the hang of things. The car was a standard, and sometimes when I would go to shift gears I would instead roll down the window. The turn signals and wiper control stalks are reversed, so one slow pass with the wiper blades means I want to turn right, and a faster wiper blade meant I want to turn left. The clutch, brake, and gas pedal are the same as in the US.
The problem is remembering to think through every intersection before and during. You also have to remember to remember. For example, if you know you want to turn left up ahead you have to think it through so that you don't accidentally react automatically. The worst is pulling out of a parking lot. You naturally tend to pull out on the right side of a driveway, and cross over the lane to turn left. If takes a lot of concentration to prevent this. The first major intersection I hit was a double wide divided boulevard. I mistakenly crossed over to turn left. About half way across I noticed the guy behind me had turned left into the wrong lane. Nope. He was right, I was wrong. I slammed on my brakes before I had a head on crash with west-bound traffic.
Also they use roundabouts here instead of stop signs and traffic lights. I really like them. They are very efficient, but can scare the hell out of you if you don't know what you are doing (or more importantly, what the others are doing). At least with a round-about the collisions that do occur tend to be side to side, not head ons.
My weekend road trip was over 1500km (932 miles), so I had a lot of practice. I am going to be taking my drivers license test in a couple of weeks. I'll let you know how it goes.
I rented a small Hundie (I can't even spell it!), a small Korean disposable car. It took me a day to get the hang of things. The car was a standard, and sometimes when I would go to shift gears I would instead roll down the window. The turn signals and wiper control stalks are reversed, so one slow pass with the wiper blades means I want to turn right, and a faster wiper blade meant I want to turn left. The clutch, brake, and gas pedal are the same as in the US.
The problem is remembering to think through every intersection before and during. You also have to remember to remember. For example, if you know you want to turn left up ahead you have to think it through so that you don't accidentally react automatically. The worst is pulling out of a parking lot. You naturally tend to pull out on the right side of a driveway, and cross over the lane to turn left. If takes a lot of concentration to prevent this. The first major intersection I hit was a double wide divided boulevard. I mistakenly crossed over to turn left. About half way across I noticed the guy behind me had turned left into the wrong lane. Nope. He was right, I was wrong. I slammed on my brakes before I had a head on crash with west-bound traffic.
Also they use roundabouts here instead of stop signs and traffic lights. I really like them. They are very efficient, but can scare the hell out of you if you don't know what you are doing (or more importantly, what the others are doing). At least with a round-about the collisions that do occur tend to be side to side, not head ons.
My weekend road trip was over 1500km (932 miles), so I had a lot of practice. I am going to be taking my drivers license test in a couple of weeks. I'll let you know how it goes.
Tuesday, December 25, 2001
Photos:
I took lots of photos of my road trip to Albany and the south coast. I should have them up next week. I have to wait for the film to come back after Xmas.
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