Monkey Mia &Shark Bay

Mary-anne's birthday which was May 24th started of with champagne with our friends in the morning and then we took a drive out to Shell Beach. The entire beach is made up of millions and millions of tiny shells. Later that evening we went for dinner at a local restaurant called Old Pearler and it has the claim to fame of being the world's only shell restaurant. The inside walls are made of blocks of the same shells we saw earlier at the beach.
The next day we got up bright and early and headed to Monkey Mia reserve which is famous for its dolphins. Every morning the dolphins come into the bay to be fed and everyone gathers on the beach to
see them up close and personal. Unfortunately, we missed the feeding so no dolphins were seen by us.
We did however see old man emu walking around but even he seemed a little camera shy.
Bob and a bunch of keen fisherman went deep sea fishing one morning and came home with heaps
of fish. They were especially proud of the huge Red Emperor's that were caught and everyone had
to have their photos taken with them. At the end of the day everyone went home with enough fish to
feed and army and they even got the pleasure of cleaning all the catch themselves. At the moment we
have a freezer full of fish and had some this morning for breakfast! Delicious!!!

Pinnacles

You never know what you're going to see while driving around and these skydivers certainly caught our
attention. Bob tried to talk me into going up but I wouldn't "fall for it". lol!!
Not only is Australia known for its quirky and unusual wildlife but, the landscape itself it forever changing
and evolving. We've passed sand dunes as white as snow only to be astounded by the Pinnacles in Nambung National Park. Rising mysteriously from the dessert sands are thousand of limestone pillars, a landscape in eerie contrast to the surrounding heath. The yellow ochre of the sands, juxtaposed against  the bright blue sky is as an extraordinary sight. We took the 4 km drive through the park stopping along the route for pictures and gaping in wonder at the panoramic view of the Pinnacles Desert.
We are on our way north and will soon be doing some fishing along the coast.

Monks, Music & Mystery

Founded by Dom Rosendo Salvado in 1846 New Norcia is today the home of 16 Benedictine Monks.
Just 132 kms north of Perth is is one of Australia's most important heritage sites.
The architecture has strong Spanish flavor and the buildings have richly decorated interiors, old master works
of art and extravagant furnishings. The museum and art gallery contains a fine collections of paintings by old
Spanish and Italian masters, gifts from the Queen of Spain and a fascinating array of artifacts from the time
New Norcia was an aboriginal mission. In its early days there were about 80 monks living here and they grew and harvested all of their own food including a vineyard. Today, they still produce a range of wines, olive oils and honey and their 100 year old bakery is still producing a wide range of natural breads. Yum
The magnificent New Norcia Hotel was built in 1927 and still offers accommodations for travellers.
The gardens surrounding the monastery are groomed to perfection with an abundance of flowers especially roses which flourish in Western Australia.

Swan Valley

Our tour of Perth took us to the Perth Mint which has been in operation since the early 1900's.
We watched as 200 ounces of pure molten gold was poured to form a gleaming solid gold bar.
After marvelling at Australia's largest display of natural gold nuggets we took a drive through Kings Park.
There are stunning views of the city and harbour below and beautiful botanical gardens.
We did some sight-seeing around the Swan Valley which is rich in history and filled with wonderful wineries.
All Saints Church was erected in the early 1800's and is still in use today.
We spent a day enjoying a "wine cruise" down the Swan River. While on board we sampled various wines
from the area and stopped off at one of the wineries along the river for some more sampling and couldn't resist buying a couple things from their gift shop. We then cruised back up the river before stopping off at
Sandalford Winery for a delicious lunch and of course, more wine! By the time we got back to port in Perth
we were all replete. We will be in Perth for a few more days before starting out journey north.
Will keep you informed on our continuing journey and please let us know what you think of our Blog.
Cheers for now....Bushy Bob & Mary-anne

Perth

Things certainly are interesting here in Perth. The truckers seem to  have a hard time keeping four wheels on the ground. We visited the docks and did some sight-seeing around the city which has a lot of history and beautiful old buildings. They have a section of downtown which reminded us a lot of old Quebec city. Got a little homesick so we drowned our sorrows by going on a "wine cruise" down the Swan River. We got to sample some great wines and had a fantastic lunch at one of the many wineries in the area. Have met up with a fun bunch of folks from Bribie Island Qsld. who love good food and wine as much as we do. They cooked up a feast of Blue Swimmer Crabs one afternoon and we had a great pot luck dinner. Will post some more photos of this amazing city later. Right now we are trying to recover from the smorgasbord we had today.
G'day for now .....Bushy Bob & Mary-anne