In the autumn I took my biennial trip to Australia.  It had been two years since I had seen any of my friends there. I was looking forward to seeing Tom and Christobel again, and to visiting with Jane and her new baby. The trip out was hellacious, and evidence of the abysmal state of the airline industry.  I'll leave it at that.

WEST AUSTRALIA was first on my itinerary.  Tom was on his school holidays, so we spent a good bit of time together, visiting the quokkas on Rottnest Island, going to the Perth Show, birding at Herdsman's Lake, and sampling the gelato offerings of Fremantle. I got to know Rene, Christobel's new partner, quite well, as he is on sabbatical from UWA, where he teaches architecture, and met Max, his daughter, who is quite a sweetheart.  There were two other new additions to the family–Honey, a dog (possibly a dingo) and Sunny, a native viper.

Max, Tom and Honey

My old friend Siobhan had moved to Australia last year; I got to see her again, and meet her husband, Alistair, and their daughters, Flora and Sadie. I drove out to Bridgetown for a few days, where I got to spend time rambling with Chris and David Johnston, although we never did find the kangaroo paws.  I managed to catch Ken and Jenny Grinter just before they moved up to Shark Bay, and had a nice morning's birding and barbecue with them.

Flora and Sadie Malcomsen (with friend Jonathan)

Christobel arranged several interesting excursions for us. We spent one weekend the Wheatfields of WA. One night was spent camping out at the Kulin racetrack near Jilakin Rock (we watched a few races as well), and another at a yabbie farm near Kukerin (where we attended a formal charity dinner dance in a sheep shearing shed).  Both nights were quite cold and windy. We got to see (and climb) Wave Rock and to walk along the Rabbitproof Fence, as well as view the giant ram of Wagin and many flooded salt lakes (due to typhoons last winter).

Rene, Christobel and Tom on Wave Rock

Christobel and Rene had recently bought a hundred acre block of bush near Gingin, an hour and a half's drive north of Freo.  We camped out there as well–the bush was pretty, with kangaroos, wildflowers, and, sadly, kangaroo ticks1.  It was good fun, camp fire and all, lovely breakfast, but those tick bites sure itch. Still. A bit. 

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1. 1.WA kangaroo ticks are not, thankfully, paralysis ticks, but they are very itchy.  And they kept showing up for days after we had left Gingin.  Rene and I suspect they had gotten into the upholstery of the cars.
   

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