back to perth

bloome was a great place to kick back and relax. small city with 22km of white sand beach just outside town. we went in the off season when it is too hot and humid for the Auzzies to vacation there. I think everyday was 35 or higher and very very humid. did some wandering around town - they have a Chinatown market area and lots of pearl shops. pearling was the original reason for the town to be established. Did a fair amount of walking/running on the beach and a little swimming. The beach near our hotel went on for about 7km and was probably 500 metres deep. the one afternoon there was us and one other couple in this whole area. kind of a neat feeling.
did the sunset beach camel ride one night, which is a broome tradition. it was great and the sunsets were all amazing.
one day on the beach was lucky enough to see a huge (10' diameter?) manta ray just offshore, I was maybe standing 20' away while he circled back and forth, must have been feeding. way cool!!
most days we tried to get back to the hotel by mid/late afternoon. with that heat nothing felt better than the hotel pool!!
our last day we went to one of the local watering holes where the Goose Club was having a fundraiser. Met some nice people, had a couple of pints and did not win anything in the raffles (just like home).
flight to perth was fine and had a couple of days in perth to wander around and see the sights. Yesterday (Tuesday) met some friends from Edmonton (Gregg & Brenda aka Premmie and G-Spot) and ferried to Rottnest Island (a vaction/wildlfie sanctuary just off the coast) and then back to Fremantle for a "pre-lube" run. Both places were great and the beer and the hashers as always were a lot of fun. Today the rest of the Red Deer gang arrives so should be entertaining.
hope everyone has a great easter - see you soon...

the land down under

sorry to be so long away but internet connections have been all dial up since we left Perth. A brief history:

the driving tour was pretty ambitious for miles. Day 1 was about 6 hours driving to Kalbarri. Nice place. Had a great seafood meal at a really neat outdoor place and did a short hike the next morning on a deep river valley. The picture of Monique at "Nature's Window" is from the hike. From there we drove to Denham, a small resort city near Monkey Mia. We got to spend 2 nights at a great little apartment and spent the free day at Monkey Mia. It was one of the best days of the trip. Saw the wild dolphins in the morning and Monique was picked to feed one. Really neat to stand knee deep in water with 6 or 8 dolphins swimming close (a few feet) by. In the afternoon we saw group sex, Australian style. Basically a gang ('alliance') of males corral a female, chase her and trap her so that the leader can have his way with her. They were dolphins by the way. We had gone on a wildlife sailing trip and saw this, lots of other dolphins, some dugong and turtles. At one point we stopped for a swim (the water was a brisk 30 degrees C.). However, after only a couple of minutes the guide called us all out of the water because he was sure he saw a 3 meter tiger shark nearby. We tried to pursue in the boat but lost him so we stopped for another swim. Not sure that was the smartest idea in the world. In the evening we went on the sunset sail (picture above). It was a converted racing boat and the wind was decent so had a great sail.

Next morning off to Coral Bay, a resort on the Ningaloo reef. Another 2 night stay with a free day that we spent on the beach. I snorkelled most of the morning, it was phenomenal! In the afternoon went for a glass bottom boat ride and saw more fish and coral. No reef sharks though, which were supposed to be quite common.

Then to Karratha for 2 nights. Basically a resource town, lots of mining. Toured around during the free day and had lunch at Moby's Restaurant - best fish and chips in Western Australia (according to the advertising anyway). Spent the late afternoon and evening at the hotel pool with an Aussie fellow which somehow ended up in a lot of beer and wine and maybe a little bourbon.

From there an 850 km drive to Broome. It is beautiful here and sure we will muchly enjoy our 4 days.

Miss you all - see you soon

Randy & Monique

once more to singapore

well it is around midnite and we are back at our favorite late night hangout - Changi Airport. Left Bali just after 8:00 pm and now await our flight to Perth at 1:30 a.m.

all goes well here - I think the 9 days on Bali were the quickest 9 days of my life. Didn't feel like we did much - pretty relaxing.

the picture on the last post, in case you wondered was taken around noon at Bali and I believe the sun was pretty much straight up (not much shadow if you look).

anyway, we are off to Oz and greatly looking forward to it. Hope everyone is well

Randy & Monique

time flies when you are having fun?

it is hard to believe we have been in bali for 8 days but that is what the calendar says and it is time to head on to Oz tomorrow. we have done 3 tours, laid on the beach, hung out by the hotel pool, wandered aimlessly and had a massage. The tours were alright, particularly when driving and seeing the countryside. Each one involved a temple though. Temples are nice but seen one, seen them all kind of sets in. Each tour also involves a "craft" stop where you spend 5 minutes watching someone do something (woodcarve, stone carve, batik paint, etc.) and then far longer than that shopping at their store. Nice stuff but...


we had really hoped to go hashing here but Monday and Thursday we were on tours and therefore planned on doing the Saturday run. Left a message at the phone number on the website to meet the hash bus but did not hear back. Went to the hash bar early Saturday and they said come back in the afternoon, all the hashers would be there. We went, but they weren't. An Aussie at the bar knew one of the hashers so called on cell and it turned out they had made 'alternate travel plans' and therefore no bus and no hash. it was too damned hot to run anyway so we stayed at the bar, drank beer and played pool. Happy birthday to me!!


met lots of Canucks on the tours and at the hotel. Went for dinner one night with a couple from Penticton. it was quite nice. Food choices here are amazing, Indonesian food is a little dull after Thailand but plenty of options to eat Thai, western, Indian, etc.
one of the pictures here I took of my feet on the beach. Anyone notice something unique about this picture that you would never see at home?? Other picture (sorry - it would not downlaod) is from the "Hall of Justice" which we toured. Lots of paintings that relate what will happen to you in the afterlife if you do bad things in your real life. in this one, if you did not nurse your baby then in the afterlife you had a snake breastfeeding for eternity. Passing gas was also a mortal sin so think I am damned..

miss you all, will update from Oz after we arrive.