Australian Thanksgiving Weekend

On Friday night, Kara, Julie, and I went to Little Creatures, a local brewery and restaurant, for Katie's going away party.  Katie was the senior OT where we work, and is now moving to London.  She has been so helpful teaching us and answering our questions.  Everyone is really going to miss her! 

This Saturday, Julie, Kara, and I hosted the first Australian Thanksgiving.  We spent a couple days preparing the feast- Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, cranberry relish and fluff, and more pumpkin and apple pies.  Toby made the most delicious green bean salad and Jay made some homemade iceceram.  Our friends came over to help finish cooking, watch some American Football (which Toby so nicely downloaded), listen to Christmas music, and watch some cricket (which is a bit more Australian).  Everything turned out surprisingly well- we expected as least a slight disaster trying to cook in our strange oven.  We even ate at the exact time we originally estimated- 2:00pm! We had a wonderful feast and ate until we were way too full!  After eating, we all laid down for a traditional Thanksgiving rest.  We watched A Christmas Story- which none of the Aussies had seen before.  After our rest, we walked to a nearby park and played a little cricket.  It was quite fun, even though I am not the most athletically inclined :)   We were exhausted from the long day of festivities, and stayed in for the rest of the night.

Amy & Kara

Amy & Jay

Kara, Toby, & Julie

Delicious Thanksgiving meal

Julie, Joshua (Ben's bro), & Jill

 

 

 

Ben, Amy, & Toby

Pumpkin & Apple Pie with Jay's homemade icecream!

Amy learning cricket- the sun is playing tricks on my hair!

Jay, Kara, Julie, Jay, & Ben after playing cricket

Sunday morning, we work up early to catch a train to Cottesloe Beach.  We relaxed in the 85 degree weather, watching the waves crash on the shore.  There were lots of people having surfing lessons, competing in races, and dogs trying to swim.  Kara and I went on a long walk on the beach, enjoying the scenic views.  When we returned, Julie pointed out two dolphins swimming ~100 meters off the shore!  They swam very close to people who were snorkeling on the reef.  It was amazing and I wish I would have been out further in the water!  This afternoon, we hung out at home, worked on some reports for work, and went to church.  It was a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! 

Cottesloe Beach

Kayak race on Cottesloe Beach

Enjoying the beach- sandy feet!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Today I was a bit sad not to be home with my wonderful family, however I had a pretty memorable Thanksgiving in Australia.  Unfortunately we did have to work, but it was a good day.  Julie, Kara, and I made homemade pies (apple and pumpkin) to take to work for a Thanksgiving afternoon tea.  We were unable to find canned pumpkin, so we made the pie from real pumpkins!  They turned out quite well and everyone thought they were delicious!

This evening, we bought fish & chips to take to the beach.  We sat on the sand, watches the sunset, drank some vino, and ate our Australian dinner.  The night was beautiful- nice and warm (75 degrees) with a strong sea breeze.  Although I was not at home with everyone I love, I realize I am so thankful to have the opportunity to be here with two amazing friends :)

Amy cutting the pumpkins!

Julie improvising with a wine bottle instead of a rolling pin

Kara putting apples in the pie

The final products- yum!

Amy, Julie, & Kara on Thanksgiving

Sunset on the beach

Julie and Amy with the wine and fish & chips

Freo Friends

This weekend we went out in downtown Fremantle with Ben and some of his friends.  We had a great time hanging out with Ben, Toby, Jay, and Matt.  

Freo Trio- Kara, Amy, & Julie

Jay, Toby, Ben, Julie, Amy, & Kara

Kara, Ben, Julie, & Amy

Toby, Jay, Ben, Amy, Matt, Kara, & Julie 

Fremantle Festival

For the past two weeks, Freo has been having the 105^th annual Fremantle Festival.  The festival had over 70 events- but we only attended a few of them.  Last Sunday we ran in the Port-to-Port Fun Run.  This was the first-annual race to raise money for Redkite, an association providing support for children who have cancer and their families.  Julie and I ran 4K and Kara ran 12K.  It was my first race since highschool cross country :)

Julie & Amy at the Fun Run

This past weekend we attended a street market, a quilt show, the Aboriginal festival, and the street parade to conclude the festival.  There were heaps of people at the parade and quite a fun atmosphere. 

Mechanical Kangaroo at the Parade

Crazy man in the parade

On Sunday evening, we attended David Faulkner’s concert at the Fremantle Art Centre.  He is a famous rock musician from Perth who plays with the Hoodoo Gurus, a popular rock band from the 1980’s.  It was a solo concert- just him rather than the whole band.  He talked a lot about starting his career, the stories behind his songs, and played some of his favorite songs.  It was a small group- with less than 150ish people in the audience, so it felt more intimate.      

David Faulkner singing

David Faulkner

Penguin Island

Last weekend we went to Penguin Island on Saturday.  This is a small island off the coast of Rockingham, which is about 30 minutes south of Freo.  The island is only a 5-minute ferry ride away.  At some points of the year, when tide is low, you can walk there.  We walked around the island, went on a boat tour to see sea lions, watched the penguin feeding, and relaxed on the beach.  It was a beautiful day in the sun.

Amy at Penguin Island

Pelicans

Sea Lion

Lots of sea lions sleeping on the beach

Chubby Little Penguin

Penguin Feeding