My First Visitor

     Recently I received an email that stated someone I know would be in Sydney on business. It's an email I've received before, usually with a request added for me to hop over for a visit. I don't get excited about these requests, Perth is as far from Sydney as San Diego is from Boston. But my recent email was different. It was from my older sister Anne--who offered to come to Perth for a visit.  My first visitor!

Anne at King's Park

      She was only going to be in town for four (4) days.  Hmmmm, kind of made it difficult to fit in all four weeks worth of activities I planned along with a few sights she hoped to see.  If we left out all extraneous chat [it's only been nine years since I've seen her last. What's to talk about?]  I figure we could cover about 1% of Western Australia. You know, just the highlights.

'Roo at Yanchep Nat'l Park

     Kev was a good egg. He took a day off work to drive us to the Indian Ocean (EVERY visitor to WA should at least dip their feet into the Indian Ocean  and, if they can manage it, into the Southern Ocean as well)  and ,  quite importantly, through the Swan Valley so Annie and I could winery hop.  Hey, someone had to drive! We saw emu and kangaroo really close up in the bush and  koalas in a protected environment.  This is ticking off a major wildlife box, let me tell you.

Two sisters at the Pinnacles

    Well, all this tippling and animal chasing landed us in prison.  Fremantle Prison, that is.  Convict made in the 1850s and decommissioned in 1991, it's an excellent tour of the housing of..ahem... early settlers.  Can't believe they used slop buckets until the day it closed! We didn't see Fremantle in its entirety.  Both Annie and I are "on island time" except that my island is significantly bigger than hers (she lives in South Korea) and we keep a faster pace in order to cover more ground here in expansive WA.  Annie was more likely to stroll. So the car figured heavily in the plans to.....

    ...the Pinnacles.  Looks like rocks growing out of the ground. A natural phenomenon in some form in lots of countries.  Naturally, WAs are more unique than others so it is a must see.  Also a wander through the magnificent King's Park.

Polish food--smaczne!

     A "must do"  for a Westerner living in Asia when visiting other countries is eat foods you can't get at home.  Pub grub,  real Italian food and, oh my, Polish cuisine at Rembrandt's-Perth's only Polish restaurant.  [why "Rembrandt's"? The expensive artwork was already on the windows and interior when the new tenants moved in and they decided to just keep it.]  We met up with Kev's brother & family, ate too much (naturally) and had a good time.

   A list of all we missed would be extensive. Four days is simply not long enough for a thorough investigation of this area.  But it was a pleasure to host my sister for that time.  And now that we've figured out how to work the air mattress (unfolds to queen size or can stay a single) we are ready to host others.   WHO'S NEXT?!