Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Because it was Australia Day weekend, we decided to do something in support of the country we reside in: go to a baseball game. Of course I'm joking. Baseball is completely un-Australian. The cricket rules as the bat and ball sport here. But there is a professional baseball league, and the Perth Heat had their last few games of the season at home. I'm no baseball fan, but I enjoy the 1 or 2 games a year for the atmosphere. Plus, I considered it part of my "research".

A baseball game is incomplete without the signing of the national anthem. How else do they know it's time to "Play ball!"? But since the Australian national anthem (that whole Advance Australia Fair thing, remember from last entry? ;)) is usually only reserved for grand final sporting events, we were ready to do without. But the Perth Heat did not disappoint. Not only did we have the anthem, but we had someone singing it live. I must say, it did feel strange to stand up and not hear, "O Say can you see".

However, they did fill the rest of the gaps with extra "American" music. It's one of the first times I've hear Big and Rich's "Save a Horse" in public in Australia and one fan did a very enthusiastic rendition of the YMCA. We even sang "Take me out to the ball game" during the 7th inning stretch. And by "we" I really mean Kyla, Amanda and I and the two other people paying attention.

I think those other people standing are just getting another beer.

There were suprisingly more people than we all expected. Yes, it was a smaller stadium and fewer people than a Gamecock, two time national champions, college team, but this IS Australia!

 The game was a bit slow, and I think Perth ended up losing to the Adelaide Bite.

And they did well in all things American baseball. We had hotdogs and beer.What else could you want? Well they didn't have peanuts, let alone boiled ones...

 

And they had mascots. Three of them. And they raced around the bases (the Hot Dawg tripped Flash the Baseball in quite a dirty dog move).

 

We did get a reminder how not big baseball is in Australia when we tried to take the bus home. This city has an entire train stop for the Perth Showgrounds (where the fair is once a year), and special buses from the city to the horse races. However, when trying to get less than 10k from the baseball stadium back to the city at 9:30 pm on a Friday night, good luck! Turns out the buses stop running. Amanda and I had a lovely 5k summer evening stroll to the "main" road to catch the last 212 bus back into the city. But that's just part of the adventure.

Advance Australia Fair

Australians all let us rejoice,
For we are young and free;
We’ve golden soil and wealth for toil;
Our home is girt by sea;
Our land abounds in nature’s gifts
Of beauty rich and rare;
In history’s page, let every stage
Advance Australia Fair.

In joyful strains then let us sing,
Advance Australia Fair.

Beneath our radiant Southern Cross
We’ll toil with hearts and hands;
To make this Commonwealth of ours
Renowned of all the lands;
For those who’ve come across the seas
We’ve boundless plains to share;
With courage let us all combine
To Advance Australia Fair.

In joyful strains then let us sing,
Advance Australia Fair.

Happy Australia Day! 

This IS the life!

You had Martin Luther King Day weekend in the Polar Vortex last weekend, and we had Australia Day weekend this weekend. Australia Day commemorates the landing of the British ships in Sydney Cove in 1788. It's a day of all things Aussie: swimming, barbecues, beer and fireworks.It's a day of Australian Pride, and Australians sure are full of pride.

But January 26th is also a day of invasion for the Aboriginals. Thus in the park next the blue, white and red of Australia Day was the black, yellow and red of Survival Day.

 Traditional Aboriginal Dance

It's also a day when citizenship is conferred. I literally ran into a citizenship ceremony in the morning. I decided to be ceremonious and stopped to watch them raise the flag, play the Australian national anthem, and watch the jets flyover (Don't worry Mom, I'm not planning on becoming a citizen...yet). Even with the strong patriotism, Australia day does serve as a reminder and welcome to immigrants and foreigners (or maybe that part just speaks to me as a fish out of water). As I was running around the river, people were already setting up tents to guarantee their place in the action (and the few places under the shade of a tree).

The dedicated masses staking out their territory on the north foreshore.

 Luckily, my apartment is prime location for the festivities which included a circus, aerial shows, and even a polo match.

This would make you tihnk there may be cowboys around ;), but nope, it was a polo game in the middle of the park.

 

One of the many flyovers of the day.

We enjoyed the airshow from the comfort of my balcony where we could see just enough of the river and the jets racing by. We also partook in Australian cuisine including kangaroo burgers, meat pies, Tim Tams and Lamingtons (coconut dessert cake things).

All of this was in preparation for the 30th annual Skyworks Firework display. Now I was raised on world famous Grucci fireworks. As a result, I became a bit of a fireworks snob. I'll never forget the first "regular" fireworks I saw in Cody, Wyoming on the 4th of July. Sitting there watching the 10 minute show, with one firework at a time, I remember thinking, "So this is what the rest of the world thinks is a firework show." Saying I was a bit disappointed would be an understatement. So when I heard that Perth's Skyworks was a "big" firework show, I didn't get my expectations up.

We walked down to the foreshore about 15 minutes to the start. Despite people setting up and camping out since 8am, we were able to find a patch of cement just one row of people from the river. Talk about front row action. Instead of the Grucci's 3 barges setting off the rockets, there were 8 cannons in the river to launch the TNT. Plus lasers and water fountains (which were probably both unnecessary but bonus points to Perth for creativity). Being on the backside of the southerly wind, the north shore of the river, where we were, did get a bit of "salty river juice" from the fountains and you could hear the mass moan when the fountains turned on. I like to consider it part of the live action.

With low expectations, I was mightily impressed. The show lasted 30 minutes and choreographed to music (even if we couldn't hear it so well we did hear the drone of the bagpipes for the finale). I'm sure that my eyes reflected the magical light illuminating the night.

 

I was impressed. It was a celebration that would make any Australian proud. 

Even two with American passports.

Vacation Ain't Over Yet

Because we weren't quite ready for the holiday to be over, we decided to go away to Perth's own little island destination: Rottnest. It's only a 20 minute ferry ride from Fremantle. 

 Our chariot awaits!

I was expecting and Aussie version of my New England oasis Block Island. A place for the beach, outdoor showers, happy hour with fresh clams and twisted teas, games of celebrity, nights at the Yellow Kitten, and bike rides to the library on rainy days. Well it turns out there isn't a library on Rottnest, because there's not really a town. There's a settlement. No one really lives on the island. It is purely a vacation destination. And I like it that way.

It seems like the best way to get to Rottnest is on your own yacht. I'll start working on that...

Rottnest was named by Dutch sailors. Rottnest, meaning rat's nest. But it's not rats that live on the island. It's quokkas! Quokkas are kangaroo rats that are only found on islands in Western Australia. Given my past history with rats and love of animals, you know they were the reason I went to Rottnest ;). They've become people-loving scroungers and came right up to our table, searching through Emma's backpack. They even have special gates in the stores to keep them out.

But quokkas aren't the only wildlife in the settlement. There are also peacocks!

We rented bikes (no one has cars there) to get around and spent the day riding from beach to beach, snorkeling, sunbathing and reading.

 

After spending the morning on the beaches, we headed back to the settlement for lunch. In my beach-going mood, I was feeling a salad, some fruit, a sandwich... Kyla and Emma insisted that on Rottnest, we HAD to get...meat pies...? Apparently it's an Australian thing. I mean they have them in Perth, but it doesn't scream beach food to me. Doesn't seem like my idea of beach food, but when in Rome...

BTW It was delicious! And next time I may even pair it with a spearmint milk :)

In the afternoon, we were going to head out to Parker Point near the west end, but halfway there, we decided to use our time more wisely and spend it on the beach of course! We ended up at Porpoise Bay, and were the only ones on the beach. Again, beautiful beach and where are all the people? I"m beginning to think I may be missing something...

We ended the day with ice cream and jam doughnuts (because apparently that is something else you HAVE to have at Rottnest).

I couldn't agree more...

 

Doing Time

The first week that I was wandering around Perth, I stumbled into the Info Center in hopes of finding a map. There was an American couple talking to the visitor staff, seeking advice on what to do with two days in Perth. Top suggestion: go to the Freemantle Prison. Four months later, I finally made it there. 

The prison was built by convicts in 1850 and remained open until 1991. How fun would it be to be shipped out of Europe, to the world of unknown Australia, where you then had to build YOUR OWN PRISON that you would then be trapped in?

 

 The day I went, it was quite busy so I had to wait an hour for the next available tour. They had some little museum rooms with the typical prison museum stuff. Old uniforms, stories of escapes, description of a day in the life of a prisoner.

 

I only went on the Doing Time tour and didn't go on the torchlight or Great Escapes tour (I'm saving those for when I go back with all my visitors :)). But we did learn about the last big escape attempt on January 4th, 1988, when they set fire to the entire roof. It took $1.8 million dollars to fix, and three years later, the prison closed. With the amount of revenue from tours and events, I'd say it was money well spent.

 

They have restored some cells to what they would have looked like at different time periods from the convict days until the 20th century. They didn't change too much. I couldn't imagin being a prisoner here as recently as the year my brother was born!

 

Like many minorities, there was an unequal representation of Aboriginals in the prison. Lucky prisoners got to use their art skills they were being taught to brighten their cells a bit.

I was surprised that the prison had such a nice chapel. People still rent it out for weddings. Seems a little morbid to me, but as out tourguide cheekily retorted, "It's appropriate. Marriage is a life sentence afterall." There was a balcony where the Anglican women from the women's block would get to come for service which always caused quite the ruckus. The Catholic women stayed in the women's block for Mass. Needless to say they had a lot of converters.

It seemed appropriate to me to have the 10 commandments front and center in a prison.

"You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or ass, or anything that belongs to your neighbor". 

The warden took a little liberty and changed the 6th commandment from "thou shall not kill" to "thou shall not murder", given the number of hangings that were at the prison.

 

After an hour of playing tourist, I was ready to play local and finished my day trip with my book and gelato on Cappuccino strip.