Perth: The Wild, Wild, West of Australia

Perth. A city on the West Coast of Australia. Sits pleasantly on the Swan river, oh and it's also known for a little place called Margaret River. Oh yeah, that's right - WINE REGION: Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Shiraz, Merlot, Chenin Blanc and Verdehlo! Woot! (We made two days of it, tasting our way through wineries, and even one brewery. Ending our night with a bottle of wine at the Margaret River, a beautiful beach known for its surfing. Amazing.)

We stayed with some friends who recently moved out to Perth from Sydney and they were able to show us around a bit. First they took us to Fiori, basically the coffee mecca out in Perth. A small warehouse filled with freshly ground beans. Bag and bags of freshly packed grounds. What kind of coffee do you want? "How do I decide?" Just stick your head in this bucket of freshly roasted beans and take a whiff! Just being in the warehouse wakes you up, the smell is so intense you feel like your drinking a cup of coffee with every breathe. Amazing.

Next we got to see downtown Perth and the surrounding area. Beautiful views of the swan river from the city. The area around Perth is decidedly into its beer. In Fremantle we went to Mad Monk Brewery one day, and Little Creatures Brewery the next. For a girl who's decidedly more "wine" than "beer," even I was impressed.

And no trip to Fremantle is complete without a trip to the Subiaco, Australia's home of Aussie Rules Football, also home to the Freo Dockers. We rode up thinking it wouldnt be hard to get a last minute ticket, were we ever wrong - the stadium was beyond packed. We were able to get "restricked view" seats, with a pilar right in the middle of our view, but somehow leaning around the pilar to see the game seemed okay because the energy of the place was so amazing. And of course the Dockos won, great day to be at the Subi!

We took a ferry out to Rottnest Island, where we biked around the island for a day, saw Quokkas (an animal you can only see on Rottnest), saw the old military bases, and relaxed with a cocktail before we headed back into Perth.

To top off our 10 days in Perth - the Redbull Air Races. Pilots from around the world competing over Swan River through Red Bull's Air Race Track. We packed a picnic and hit the shore to watch some amazing practice rounds, all the excitement without the crowds, its great to be on vacation when other people are at work!

With my fill of wine, coffee and planes, I left Perth in preparation for a three day layover back in Sydney before I left for New Zealand!

Easter Weekend: Crescent Head Camping

Camping at Crescent Head: tents, the ocean, singing by the camp fire, Smores and oh yeah, fire twirling - of course.

Every year a group of friends (about 25 people) head out to Crescent Head for Easter weekend camping. It's about 5 hours outside of Sydney and sits inland only enough to barely hear the waves of the ocean crashing late at night.

Our site was set up right along the river that feeds into the ocean, so we had the calm all around us. The weekend was lazy (as any good camping weekend should be.) During the day we would hang around BBQing and drinking wine/beer, then head down to the ocean for a nice swim.

At night we would gather at the beach for a rousing game of Cricket, my first attempt!

There were a few firsts that I was happy to see: My first Kangaroo spotting while camping (they were drinking from the river right by our camp), my first game of beach Cricket, and oh yes... my personal favorite: my first leech. Thats right, I got bitten (or sucked) by a leech!! Right in between the toes! I wasnt the only one either a few of us, some got it worse than others from wearing sandles near the edge of the river - where apparently they like to hang out.

At night we would sit around the camp fire, chatting, singing to the guitar, watching a friend twirl some fire (see video) and finally, Smores! Though this may not seem all that exciting to Americans, Smores are something that have never been experienced in Australia. For one, there are no Graham Crackers and no Hersheys and two, marshmallows are not the same. So I took the remaining Smore rations I had brought back from home in Dec, and introduced the Australians to a good old fashion Smore!

Not shockingly, they were a big hit!