I woke up early to get ready for my first attempt at surfing. That's right, I'm going to SURF. Or at least try not to drown... remember, this is Australia so both are equally difficult. I had no idea who this girl was that I was heading to see, but my life revolves around meeting new people so I was excited!
I drove to SavHannah's house (without driving on the "American" side of the road once!) and met the Crabtree family. The family is actually from Texas originally, but are here in Australia so that Ken, SavHannah's dad, can work in the oil industry. They've been here a few years, and have a little over a year left before being moved elsewhere. When I came in to the house, I was immediately offered breakfast and wait for it... sweet tea. Oh delicious sugary goodness, how I've missed thee.
After discussing the plan for the day, we grabbed the boards and walked to the beach. I quickly learned that my arms are half an inch too short to carry a surf board comfortably. Oh, the hazards of being little! Eventually we made it to the waters edge, and SavHannah gave me a quick briefing on how to surf. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't great and neither were the waves. I was able to ride a few waves in on my belly, but they were never long or strong enough for me to attempt to stand. At least now I have some practice under my belt!
We got cleaned up and waited for SavHannah's friend Tyler to come meet us so he could go to Fremantle with us. Fremantle is a little coastal town with some awesome weekend markets, and everyone agreed that it was somewhere I needed to see while in Secret Harbour (Shanes town).
We drove out to Fremantle and what I thought was going to be some sort of farmers market turned out to be an enormous set up of vendors. Part was outside, but most was actually in what appeared to be 2 giant warehouses. I guess once the end of the weekend rolls around, they can just shut it all up and await the next weekend!
I met a girl named Jacinta on my trip around Ireland last November, and she lives in Perth. Lucky for me, she has completed her trip around the world and is home. She invited me to an Australian Rules Football game: the Fremantle Dockers vs the Gold Coast Suns. Since Fremantle is on the way to Perth, I followed SavHannah to the train station nearest to Shanes house and left the car there. That way, I was able to catch the train from Fremantle to the game, but then come all the way back towards the house afterward. I got off the train in Perth and as I was calling Jacinta, the bottom of the clouds above me fell out. I'm talking hurricane style! The wind and rain came out of nowhere and it went down hill fast. Jacinta and I made it to the arena as the rain started to die down a bit. We got inside and as we were waiting to sit down, a football smacked me straight in the face. Jacinta said of all the games she's been to, she's never seen that happen. Apparently I attract all kinds of odd events!
Finally, we decided that being wet just was not working for us and we left the game and headed to a local pub to watch the game there. We stayed until halftime but due to the rain, I think everyone had the same idea. There was nowhere to sit, and standing was getting annoying.
We drove to a tapas restaurant where Jacinta went a lot growing up. Apparently a tapas restaurant serves teeny tiny dishes at the cost of enormous ones. I was quite taken aback at the prices! They were the cost of a normal entrée, except we shared 4 and were still hungry. We continued on to "Little Caesars" (not the same as the US chain!). They only have a few stores in the greater Perth area and I can tell that it will just take off over the next few years. The entire place was absolutely packed and the line out the door. Most pizza places have some desserts, but this place thrived on them. We ordered an AMAZING cinnamon apple pizza with 2 huge scoops of vanilla ice cream on the top of it. I'll just let the photo do the justice ok? Trust me.
By this point, we were actually pretty close to the main Perth train station so Jacinta dropped me off their and we said our "cya later's". It was absolutely amazing to meet someone in Ireland, and then hang out with them in Australia. That's why I travel. My friends and "family" are all over the world. Anywhere I go, I can call on someone! Next up, maybe Jacinta will go on a road trip in my tiny house...or maybe we will go to Iceland together. Who knows where, but it's only a matter of when.
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