Cottesloe Beach

We were told that on Christmas day, everybody here goes to the beach. Let that one sink in for a minute. I will be waiting.

...

Okay? So we wanted to fit in and went to the beach as well. This time it was Cottesloe Beach which I visited alone in the past and this time Diana joined in. No more reason to cry! There are two properties that make Cottesloe Beach (at least the south end of it) a preferred destination for a visit.

If you squint your eyes you can see me on the opposite side taking the second photo.

The first one is that a small part of it is protected by a stone wall like a harbor. So even when it is windy (it is always windy) the waves there aren't as big as at other places and the probability that the current will suddenly surprise you, pull you in and feed you to the sharks is much lower. What else do you want?

The second thing is that there are some trees close by. This results in sweet sweet shadows where you can lay down and read a book or have a picnic without offering your body for a slow death to honor the Sun God.

If you squint your eyes you can see me on the opposite side taking the first photo.

So we were there on Christmas day and there were way more people than you can see on the photos. Some of them also had Santa Claus hats on which - again - felt bizzare. By now I visited the beach four times. The second time I went alone, I almost didn't cry. Progress!

Third Base

In the second to last episode of our series, we visited the second appartment we lived in. Time to catch up, since by now we already left the third one and the weblog is trailing behind. We don't want that!

After a pretty old school appartment we went back to a bit of luxury, not necessarily because we looked for luxury but because it was a good mixture of price, location and amenities. Amenities like a hot tub.

Amenities.

The room was in a transition phase. Up until a couple of days ago and for some additional bookings that were made beforehand but lie in the future, it was a bed & breakfast, where often businessmen would book for a day or two. The owner who was a sweet woman a bit on the older side who was even worried for our safety found it increasingly too stressful hosting only for single days and having to prepare meals, so she offered the room for a bit more longer term. We paid per week a bit more than what the price was for a single day previously.

Diana lived in constant fear that the TV is going to fall on her head.

It was as great as it looks. The only problem was, you couldn't open the windows and it was a bit difficult to keep the door to the balcony open. We were advised, it was punishable with a fine to put a laundry rack on the balcony because it apparently destroys the look of the neighborhood. We consoled ourselves with taking a walk in the neighborhood.

Leftover Christmas lights.

The bus stop, the super market and some eateries were very close by. We used the TV to watch Spider-Man. We were happy.

Scarborough Beach

If you are thinking that Scarborough sounds like the final level of a game where you finally get to fight against the big evil boss, then we are thinking the same thing. If not, what's wrong with you? This is the second beach we have visited and I have been there three times. The last time I was alone.

Visit Number 1

We heard there is a latin party every Sunday. We decide to go there earlier to have a swim and also be able to spy on the two hours of introductory lessons in Salsa and Bachata than happen before the party. We take bus. We arrive. The 'sandpit' where the dance takes place looks like an amphitheatre. I change to my swimming trunks under the protection of my towel around my waist. It wasn't sexy. I go swimming while D lays down and relaxes because she was not feeling it.

Here be burgers!

When I went swimming which is not so long ago, I lied. What happened is the wind happened and also the waves and the strong current in the water. I didn't go deep enough to not be able to touch the ground with my feet because I read that the current can easily sweep you away. I was fighting against the waves to be able to stay at the same place until I couldn't feel my legs from exhaustion and then I got out.

After my workout I wanted to reward myself with a meal, so we walked a bit until we surprisingly found a Greek fast food restaurant. Apparently there are many Greeks in other cities like Melbourne but Perth is not as cosmopolitan when compared to these other cities, there are almost no Greeks here, so that's why I used the word 'surprisingly'. I don't know about the other food they are offering there but the calamari was breaded to a point where you could taste nothing but the bread around it and the generous fries. The calamari itself had the form of a string. My cry of dissapointment was so fierce that it went back in time to reach Plato, the first of the Greeks to specialize in preparing calamari.

We went back to watch the Forro lesson (which was done instead of Salsa) and then Bachata. Watching it was less exciting than I expected. Then the wind got windier, D was cold and wanted to go home. I gave her my jacket and told her, we will soon go home to which she replied she is not cold any more wearing the jacket and we can stay as long as I want. But I was cold. So we got ice cream and went home.

Here be human females.

Visit Numero Dos

We wanted to go to the City Beach which sounds less ominous than Scarborough along with a new friend we picked up but we missed the bus and it was the weekend or something? The buses were much less frequent. So we took a bus which arrived at halfway point between Scarborough and City Beach and plan was to walk to City Beach. When we arrived, it was extremely windy (surprise!) and the girls didn't want to walk against the wind for two kilometers. So we picked a place that was protected from the wind to lie down there and I went to fight the waves again. Then I came back. Then I read a couple of chapters of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"

It was time. We had to make a decision about going to the City Beach or Scarborough Beach to get something to eat. The wind was still pushing us to Scarborough so off we went. When we arrived there we got some very very good hamburgers, the best hamburgers (like Trump would say) from a restaurant which I think is a chain but I forgot the name. It was very good. Then we got an ice cream mix but with a better mix than last time, with cookies and Ferrero Rocher and stuff. It was also very very good. Then we went home.

Here be dancers.

Επίσκεψη νούμερο τρία

The first time we went there we didn't stay long enough for the party but I was still curious. So I went there. It had good vibes, nice beach atmosphere and I didn't like the music that much. No ice cream!

Here be sun setting.

Second Base

A couple of things about our first accomodation are known to the regular reader of this weblog, so I won't  go through them again. That's a smart maneuver on my side in order to force you to go back and read the stuff I write especially for you.

I want to let you know what I was going through.
All the time we were apart I thought of you.
You were in my heart.
My love never changed.
I still feel the same.
Especially for you.

Ahem!

While the first appartment was modern. The second one was old but had of course its own charme. The inner courts so to say was a wild garden and there were cats running around which was a big plus for Diana. I wondered if they all belonged to the same person.

There was supposed to be cats here.

The appartment was sub-leased or whatever it is called an owner of an IT-security company who is as exciteable as I'd expect from a typical Australien. There was also a younger Polish guy who considers every free minute he doesn't invest in self-improvement as a waste. He constanty learns playing music, cooking, video editing, French and so on. His intensity scared me a little but I also envy his dedication.

I was told repeatedly and it was written in bold letters in the contract that we are not to make noise like "dancing with high heels" past 8 in the evening because the lady on the floor below us who is also the owner goes for a swim every day at 6 in the morning even in the winter. With the passing of time and after witnessing the ultra creaking bed we were sleeping on, I increasingly suspected that he wasn't worrying about dancing in high heels.

Incredibly creaky

Spending time on the bed in the morning was a treat any way because like the inside of the building, the outside was surrounded by plants.

Bus

I don't remember if I mentioned it before but the Australian government doesn't hate its people like other countries do. In the city centre there is free Wi-Fi on the streets for everyone and there are four buses doing the rounds. They are free to use and they are the "Central Area Transit" or CAT Buses complete with a cat logo.

Totally unrelated: I found a bus from London that lost its way and somehow turned up in Perth. They still gave it a new job.

One thing that bothers me a little is that the drivers don't seem to be able to accelerate with any nuance and they always seem to be surprised by every stop they have to make. At first, it is annoying. Later it is still annoying but slightly less so.

Today was the best! There was a shabby looking / perhaps drunk guy who was criticizing the driver loudly every time he came to a stop or left a stop. He both reprimanded him when he stopped too harshly ...

- Hey driver, did you not see the red light? Stop braking so suddenly I almost fell off my seat!

... and praised him when he accelerated smoother than before ...

- That was much better, driver. I knew you can do it!

He was the best.

Fremantle

Now that we got that behind us, let us talk about Fremantle. The Hood of Legends! The Market of ... I don't know because by the time we found it, it was closed.

We took the bus and it was my first chance of seeing the non-centre part of the city which was interesting because the centre has a lot of skyscrapers and everywhere else everything is flat. No more than two stories high. The thing that I find curious is that the ceilings of their one story houses are very very low. It's one of the things that annoys me in modern German houses compared to Greece but at least the houses in Germany are moderately tall. If you have only story, would it hurt them to make it an additional half a meter higher?

Diana demonstrated her enviable ability to sleep everywhere (also in buses).

Fremantle. I thought I had better pics.

So we read there is shop in the market that sells all different kinds of honey and we were looking for it because Diana had a cold and she read about a wonder-honey with anti-bacterial properties. We found later that there is a market embedded in a big building and did I mention that it was closed?

We found a game arcade instead which had surprisingly new games compared to the one in Northbridge. What is also surprising is that I feel little need to play these games. The one that attracted me the most is the one where you shoot real physical mini-basketballs into baskets. Since the last time I played this, it was in Greece and my efforts were shameful we moved on.

We walked around, were hungry and found a shop that made "premium" sandwhiches. Mine was great, Diana's was the opposite of great. I tried it. Also tried an iced frappé-chocolate mix (great) before leaving for lands unknown. Everything was nice in Fremantle. It looked nice and was nice. I don't know what else I am supposed to say. Look at the photo!

Oh yeah! There was a "Cappuccino Street".

Cannon and asses. That should be the title of a film.

We aimed for the beach and found a cannon. We read that the cannon was used a hundred years ago to help the ships synchronize their clocks. Since Diana spent half a day in Cuba looking at cannons, found it boring and was scared that by looking at this cannon for too long, she might catch the boringness in addition to her cold, we left quickly.

This photo will be worth millions when the artist dies.

We had a long walk along the harbor until we found a beach. Diana slept under a tree and I went swimming. It was a bit underwhelming, additionally because I couldn't get very far in the sea after I promised not to do it. I thought that Diana's worries are unwarranted and they have signs everywhere that warn against snakes in the dunes and if the sea had sharks, they would certainly warn about them as well but I was wrong. Apparently it's not impossible for sharks to appear and they have no warnings. Nice!

Fish n Chips n Fish n Chips n Fish n Chips n Fish

After swimming, I went to look for a place I could shower and indeed found some showers. On the way there, they were preparing two dozens of stands that had food from all of the world. I mean it! There was food from the middle and south of America, Asia, Europe ... there was even an "El Loco Alleman" who sold sausages but neither looked loco, nor alleman. Of course I ate more than I needed to.

Loads of boads!

On the long way back, we went to an old prison that turned to a museum. The main court was already closed but we were able to walk around the front court which had some exhibits. You could also read some stories that confirmed that humans are worse than scum and can do unspeakable things to other fellow humans.

Happy new year!