Fremantle and Perth

This time, I have a legitimate excuse for why I haven't written in a while. Drew and I just spent the last 17 days on vacation in Australia. It was a great trip, and there will be numerous posts in the future explaining it all in detail. 

The first 5 days of the trip were spent in Perth. Many people were surprised we were going there, as it is not the most popular of cities in Aussie to visit, even amongst Australians. But, my sister Courtney and her family lives there, so it was the first place on our to go list. Perth is known as the gateway to the mining on Australia's west coast, an industry that makes the majority of Australia's wealth and has caused Perth to have one of the highest living costs in the world. The average meal there costs $25. Yikes! 

Courtney and her family live in a nice suburb of Perth called Munster. It reminded me a lot of Colorado. It was very hot and dry, with lots of shrubbery. Bring me a shrubbery! But, they are right near the ocean, so they get nice evening breezes, unlike CO. Look at the blue sky! Loved that. And look at the beautiful, clean water! Loved that. Perth was the only place we visited that was actually warm enough to swim. Every place else was still shaking off its wintery chills. 

The first day we were there, we went to the town of Fremantle, another suburb of Perth, known for being hipster, local, and quaint. Also reminded me of Fort Collins in terms of size and feel. 

The highlight of Fremantle was the market. It was a good size, with delicious food stalls. We sampled some Indian butter chicken pockets, savory salami crepes, and had to be dragged away from the doughnut shop before we ruined our appetite for dinner. They also had a wonderful fruit and veggie section. 

Also in the market was a wood shop that was selling boomerangs! Boomerangs! Only in Australia I guess. 

Fremantle had a lot of old buildings, refurbished for new uses. I always like to see old buildings reused instead of torn down. I can't say the actual city of Perth did as good of a job at that. 

After a few hours in Fremantle, we took the train into Perth itself. Perth didn't feel any bigger than Denver, but I think technically the population is larger. On our way there, we passed a flour plant called Dingo Flour. People have always told us that Trig looks like a dingo. What do you think? 

Perth! This was one of the few older buildings we saw in the city. Government building I think. 

It had the coat of arms carved into it, the kangaroo and the emu. Funny enough, we saw both of these animals in the wild around Perth. Pretty cool! We also ate both of them in a delicious sausage.... 0.o

It seems kids in Perth act similar to kids in the US. Mostly, I was just proud of this picture. I will be a medium rate photographer one day....

For lunch, we ate at one of Jamie Oliver's restaurants, newly opened, which specializes in homemade pasta. We, of course, got pasta, and it was delicious. Truthfully, neither Drew nor I had heard of Jamie Oliver before, but Leah seemed enthusiastic about our experience, and she watches the Food Network like it's her second job, so he must be someone important in the culinary world. Below is the exposed pantry that the dishes were made from. The colors! The Colors!

A pretty old church surrounded by new skyscrapers. There is a similar setup like this in Denver. 

Outside one department store, Drew found the first validation for his Movember mustache. The idea actually originated in Australia, so I was hoping we'd find something like this here. However, I was slightly disappointed in the actual participation from Australian males. I feel like I see more Movember mustaches in CO then we did our whole trip. Maybe it's because CO has a higher percentage of hippies and hipsters who are more likely to have mustaches anyways, who knows.         :{ mustache smiley.

This was an alleyway known for its Christmas decorations and old school feel. It reminded me of a street in Hogsmeade.  It was pretty seeing all the Christmas decorations, but I have to admit, it was weird being in a place where Christmas is associated with sun and beaches instead of snow and coziness. I also had the revelation that the rest of the world starts to decorate for Christmas the day after Halloween. Only in the US do we have to wait for Thanksgiving to go by first. So no more "Christmas is coming earlier and earlier" complaining from anyone who is American. 

The day was capped off with a wonderful dinner with Courtney's family at a restaurant right on the river that runs through Fremantle. I had lamb, and you better believe that Aussies can cook lamb to perfection. 

Drew split the seafood platter with Doug, Courtney's stepdad. It is about half eaten in this picture when we realized we should take a picture of it. Freshest seafood ever. And fish we had never hear of. Like barramundi? Not to be confused with the barracuda.  

Yay Courtney! Miss you already!