Dear friends and family of R n R, Had you given up on us or is this your first attempt to see what we are up to "down under"? Just about the time we'd been in Perth long enough to be rested-up in addition to having something to write about, our exchange home lost its internet capability. No doubt it's something one of us did; that situation has gotten us to the library today for our second blog entry so here goes as it means to cover almost a week since our arrival.

Perth is a beautiful city; reminds us of Tampa, Florida due to the pastel glass on many of the larger buildings. It is in the state of Western Australia which is on the Indian Ocean and about 1/3 the size of the U.S. The people are in all sorts of attire due to an immigrant population from all parts of the world. The home at which we are staying for the next 3 weeks is in Kallaroo, about 15 km (10 miles) north of the city. We arrived on Dec. 2 about noon, just in time to walk from our "home" to the beach and back for lunch and a nap. The next day we ventured a bit further to Hillary's Boat Harbor for lunch and a trip to the market for milk, bread, cereal, apples and mince (ground beef). On our second full day here we took the train into town which is the way most commuters travel to work in the city. Once in the CBD (central business district) we took full advantage of the 3 CAT bus lines which are free and hop on/hop off whenever you see something of interest. It's the only way to survey the city for future excursions. We found a pub for lunch where Russ had fish and chips, I had bangers and mash; all washed down with pints of beer - one each thank you!!!! On Saturday we took a long walk to and along "our" beach and then home for lunch and a nap. Four hours later, we woke - realizing we were still catching up from being tired even before we left Montana. On Sunday we took another train trip - as far south (about 60km) of the city as we could - just to see what was there. Yesterday - a beach walk, some shopping and a nap - is there a pattern forming? And today, we were on the beach by 7AM for a two hour stroll, visits with the local surf fishermen, a trip to the library (signed up for internet time in the afternoon), a stop at the store for a tomato and home for a delicious BLT for lunch. For now, Rosie

She needs to mention that I have been learning to drive a manual transmission on the left side as well as remembering to stay on the proper side of the road. The people whose house we are staying in very kindly left us an old car to get around in. We are getting the hang of it. Rosie only has to remind me occasionally to stay on the proper side. For now, Russ