Perth Zoo

South Perth Zoo was our main excursion yesterday. It was about 20 minutes drive from home, and was well worth the money. We spent 3 hours there, but one really needs 4-5 hours. The zoo is large, clean and the animals are in good condition. The holding pens also allow you to get really close, which is great. The kids loved it (as did we).

Below are some photo's of the day, some only showing animals to give you and idea of how close you get. I only had an 17-85mm lens on the camera.

As with all lions you really have to see them up-close to realise just how powerful they are.

A large croc just floating completely moitionless in the display pool (there is an outdoor area too). This was probably the most impressive sight.

I think his name was Jack...

Eugene at the python display.

Probly the cutest thing you will see at the zoo. The Meerkats act and play continuosly. One could probably spend a good 10 minutes just watching them.

The only thing between me and this tiger was a panel of toughened glass. Nice.

A frill-necked lizzard basking under an lamp. It was bigger than I had expected.

Fremantle - The first day

Wow! That sums it up perfectly. Unbelievable weather, beautiful accommodation and a great start. We left Napier on a typical winters morning (cool & wet) and the flights were good apart from little Eugene struggling through what would normally have been bed-time. We arrived in Perth just before 9pm local time, which was 1am in the morning for our body clocks. Despite this Andrew and Rob nearly persuaded me to go for a beer...almost! I did make up for it on Friday arfo though after visiting the lab (Wow again!) in Bibra Lake.

A photo montage of our temporary home - Callan Apartments

My folks at the Napier Airport and the Dash-8 we flew out in the background.

Eugene all-smiles as we fly towards Wellington. The novelty of flying soon wore off, haha!

Just 10 minutes before landing in Melbourne Eugene simply could not stay awake. The trouble began when we had to wake the little man.

Here we've cleared customs (back home, yah!) and are about to check-in for the Perth bound flight (4h15 minutes; similar to the Wellington-Melbourne flight).

Home at last! Andrew and Rob very kindly picked us up and drove us down to Callan Apartment. This is where I was nearly persuaded to go for a beer...

Karin, Eugene & Karla enjoying sunrise on our first morning. The weird thing for us is that the sun rises over the land (being on the West coast) and sets over the sea. Very strange.

A final photo for now - Eugene & Karin with our apartment in the background. By 3pm it had reached a very warm 22 deg.C and Karin and kids went to the beach (yes, really!) while I popped in at work.

PS: Bought a GPS - very cool to just get in and drive like you've lived here your whole life.

Karin farewells her work colleagues

Karin popped-in at her "old" work this morning to say goodbye to all her friends there. The kids went along and Karla snapped most of the photo's. Thanks Karla!

L to R: Karin, Jude, Barbara, Helen & Melissa.

The ladies working in the lab when Karin arrived. Apples everywhere!

~END

Images around home - Second last weekend....

Today we've had glorius sunshine, but the air still had a "bite" to it. I bought some bits in pieces in town this morning, and Karin has just gone back in for some odds-and-ends. Eugene is having is arfo nap, and I quickly snapped some images around home. Next weekend is our last in Napier. Yesterday was my mum's birthday too (she turned 40 :-) )...

Just before "the song"

Ouma getting some help with the candles.

My Dad & Mum posing for a portrait.

The house (far right) and Menin Rd.

The driveway and Karla playing ball.

Family pics - Freezing Weather

The wind is still blowing from the (snow-covered) mountains, so it is freezing cold in Napier. We had people looking at the house today, I've just about sold our last car, so things are moving along.

Today is my mum's birthday too, so I will probably post some photo's a little later.

12 DAYS TO PERTH!

CLICK ANY IMAGE FOR A LARGER VERSION

Film Family Photo's

When last have any of you snapped photo's onto good-'ol film? I took some on the medium format camera using Ilford FP4 (ISO400; grainy) film last week. Here are some scan's reduced to 1024 pixels. I absolutely love it!

 

 

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Rain & swollen rivers

It's been raining here since yesterday, and the forecast is for it to continue until next Wednesday. I snapped some pics out of the car window showing the Tuatekiri River an hour ago. I will try to get some more during the daytime tomorrow. The up-side is that it is much warmer when it's raining.

The last Braai, sunshine and baking with the kids

Time is now starting to fly. Only 16 days left for us in Napier. As a result we are starting to enter the "this is the last time we'll do..." phase of our life in Napier.

On the weekend we had two braai's in preparation of me disassembling the Weber before packing it away. My folks are still on their annual leave, so we've spent a lot of time with them in the last fortnight, which is great. Last night Karin baked three tarts and some date-clusters for the people at her work (she finishes on Thursday). The kids & I helped, and as you can imagine, Eugene could not believe his luck when we allowed him to "play" in the coconut mix. Karla was her usual "big helper" self, but did lead her brother astray everytime we looked away, haha!

CLICK ON ANY IMAGE FOR A LARGER VIEW

My Dad, Mum and Eugene enjoying the warmth and sunshine on Saturday afternoon.

My mum in the Aussie corner....

....and my Dad in the Kiwi corner :-)

Karin and I rolled the clusters, and the kids coated them in coconut. At this stage things were still going (kinda) to plan.

At the end of the job Eugene was fairly well coated in coconut, half of which was thrown on him by his big-sis. Naughty girl!

He loved being allowed to "help" us with the date-clusters. Too cute really!

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YASHIKA Medium Format Camera

After more than a decade of yearning to get a medium-format camera, I finally got my hands on one. It is a Yashika 124 (6cm x 6cm) TLR (twin lens reflex) camera built in 1968. It has a f/3.5 80mm lens (f/2.8 viewing lens) and a super-smooth leaf-shutter. It is amazing how well it still works after all the intervening years, and all that without a battery in-sight! The photo's are ultra-sharp and the detail is mind-blowing. What a great piece of kit and history. I love it. I will post some digital scan's next week.

Click on any picture for a larger 1280x850 image.

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Karla's last day at Taradale Primary

So, Karla's last day at her favorite ever school has come and gone. She was OK at school, but the tears came as soon as we hopped in the car and drove away. She was very emotional right until she went to bed (broke her dad's heart). We will be taking some photo's with all her friends on the 19th, the day the school opens again.

Karla with her teacher, Hannah (or "Mrs. L" as the kids call her).

Click on the picture for a larger version.

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