A Frozen Winter Wonderland

Here in the southern hemisphere we are in the dead of winter.

Here's this week's forecast for Perth. 

It is hardly winter by my definition. I did my shopping in shorts last weekend. But you would never know it by the way the locals dress, geared up in gloves, hats and scarves. It's perfect t-shirt and shorts running weather and people are in running tights, sweats, and hats. Seriously?! Perth-ites don't deal with the cold very well.

That is why it is all the more amusing that this year, in an attempt to embrace winter and all it's "frozen-ness" (yes, I have recently seen Frozen), Perth had an outdoor ice rink.

Set up in Northbridge, in the ampitheater outside the state library (not far from silent disco), is the tiniest ice rink I have seen. It ran from the beginning of July until last Sunday. Complete with skate rentals, it lured all sorts from hockey players to newbies who may have never seen ice before outside of the freezer (it doesn't get below freezing here in chilly Perth).

For eight dollars (or should I say dollas?), you could rent a penguin to keep you on your feet. These were taken advantage of by all sorts. There was the adult woman, with her look of determination saying "I will not fall down and I WILL learn to skate", that spent the entire 45 minutes gripping on and doing laps. Then there was the teenage clown who used it to start a train.

But mostly, as expected, it was used as intended by children who were just the right size. Like this girl, who was starting a moonwalk ice skating trend where she moves her feet and goes nowhere.

With and without penguins, there were lots of people hitting the ice. (Reminds me of that time with Testudo on the ice at Maryland ;)).

This dad took out his daughter with her "training" skates, after which he stuck close to the rail.

The guy on the right in the white jacket was the "cool" kid who brought his own skates and thought he would show off weaving in and out of the 100 people in a 10 by 10 meter space (I just made those numbers up but you get the point).

But my favorite was this little boy. Who I saw fall at least 5 times, but along with his parents (who could have been vying for Parents of the Year), dusted him off, had a laugh and kept on scootin'.

But these talented ladies never fell down, though they also didn't attempt any triple lutzes or break any speed skating records. And Amanda, a fellow Northern hemisphere-ite and Wisconsin-er, got to celebrate her July birthday in the middle of "winter" (followed by a trip to the beach the next day, because after all we are still in Perth).

 

Photoshoot with a borrowed Penguin

No ice skating could be complete without fire and hot chocolate and a little Christmas cheer. And this winter wonderland didn't disappoint. Even if it is July.

It is almost Christmas in July...