We have consistently found that the greatest experience in visiting other countries is the wonderful people we meet and enjoy the areas with. Perth has been no exception to this as we have made friends with a number of great people who have very kindly taken the time to show us the highlights of the area and explain the differences in the social and political culture here. That makes for a truly wonderful experience.

We went to an amazing aquarium the other day. Australia have a huge variety of sea life that is found nowhere else in the world - mainly because they are so isolated. There are so many deadly dangerous snakes, jellyfish and fish here and the Aussies just laugh it off - no worries, mate. There is a type of seahorse that looks more like a floating piece of plastic bag and it is no where else in the world. It was really amazing.

We did rent a car and took a 3 day trip south into the wine and cave region of WA. This area is called Margaret River country. There were so many wineries along the roads we traveled that we could have actually tasted wines 8 hours straight for the whole 3 days. It's our experience that most of these wines are available at Costco at less cost than you can buy them here. So that was an educational trip and Rosie found some wines that she really liked. The next day we went on a cave tour that was amazing. All sorts of fantastic formations that took hundreds or even thousands of year to develop. There are some stands of very large trees there also, not as tall or as big around as a redwood but a close second. We stayed in a small chalet and in the field out the kitchen window we watched a large family group of kangaroos feeding as night fell. The young ones (joeys) run around mama just like a fawn does. This was actually the first time we had seen kangaroos in the wild. We also visited a lighthouse on a cape where the Indian Ocean and the Great Southern Ocean meet.

Today is Christmas Eve; we went for a beach walk first thing and then went swimming in the Indian Ocean. The Southern Ocean is really cold to swim in and the Indian Ocean here is maybe called refreshing, but it was a hot day and the swim was great. There are miles and miles of white sand beaches here. On Christmas Day we have been invited to have a picnic with friends along the Swan River which runs through the city of Perth. We are headed to Melbourne late on Christmas Day to meet with friends we met on our 2006 trip.

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