Elise was my fellow South Carolinian friend in Dubai, and she moved to Cape Town just as I moved to Perth. Jealous! In Cape Town, Elise joined a new church and made some good South African friends. One of the girls said her whole family had moved to Perth... and 2 minutes away from my office. Achilles and Jacqui soon called me up, and they made it clear that they wanted to be my surrogate family over here. We celebrated Australia Day at the Foreshore on Swan River, have gone for picnics and farmer's market runs, and sat around on weekends watching black and white movies. Their family is loving and brilliant, and they recognize the beauty in simple living. I have met very very few South Africans that did not impress me.
I had a day off from work for Labor Day (First Monday in MARCH- guess that matches up seasonally above the equator), and we took the day to explore Caversham Wildlife Park, just 25 minutes east of the city.
At Caversham, we saw tons of wildlife native to Australia and Tasmania. There were wallabies, "possums" that did not look anything like South Carolina possums, wombats, tasmanian devils, dingos, lizards, brilliantly colored parrots and cockatoos (it is a little strange seeing cockatoos flying around parks and never having known a cage), and of course, kangaroos and koalas.
These kangaroos weren't afraid of anything, they were just lazy!
Wallaby!
Petting Koalas
They just sleep... but not always in comfortable-looking positions apparently
Camels here too! Apparently they export them to the Middle East!
There was also a petting zoo portion of the park, where you could pet guinea pigs, deer, and rabbits among other farm animals. Here, I learned that there are no hamsters in Australia.
Now this is the Australia we think of!
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