Another Clear Night!

 They have been rare of late but last night was clear so the telescope was out.  This time it was The Sculptor Galaxy - around 12 million light years away but visible from the back yard.  It is full of star forming gas and has a number of satellite galaxies around it (not visible here) similar to the local group of galaxies around our Milky Way.

Lesley Comes to Visit

 Claire and Lesley met in Prep Grade at Leitchville Primary School.  They finished primary school in different locations but met up again in Year 7 at Cohuna High School.  They were good friends and spent many weekends at each others houses.  Lesley now lives in Canberra and there have been occasional catchups and phone calls, but Lesley took the opportunity to come and stay for a few days to cover off the missing history.  Luckily, Claire had recovered from her recent illness and could fully enjoy the visit.

Gymea Lily

 The Gymea Lily has been promising to put on a show for a while now.  The flowers are finally open.

Big Boy Toy

 Adam's old (and well worn) mower has annoyed him for the last time.  He is now the proud owner of a new (powerful) zero turn mower that will be able to turn his grass into lawn!

Cooper's Last Day of School

 Cooper had his last day of secondary school on Friday.

In the evening the Year 12 Valedictory Dinner was held at "The Round" theatre complex.

Fremantle

 Fremantle and Perth could not be more different.  It was (and remains) a shipping hub and the real estate was not seen as valuable as Perth and consequently the old buildings remained and are now being preserved.  We stayed in "The Esplanade Hotel", an original that had been extended in the old style,

The city is a wonderful mix of old and new.

For his birthday, we took Murray and Judy to a restaurant that was built over a Surf Club.  We had a magnificent dinner and were able to watch the sun set over the ocean,

Perth

 Brett, Adam and Kate flew back to Melbourne following the birthday meet up.  We planned to be in Perth for a few days seeing the city and Kings Park before travelling to Fremantle (by Ferry) to stay for a few days and see Murray on his actual birthday.

Unfortunately we could not make full use of our time in the west as Claire became very ill and needed recuperation time.  The ferry trip to Fremantle gave us wonderful views of Perth and its setting on the Swan River.

Perth For Murray's Birthday

 We planned a trip to Perth to celebrate Murray's birthday.  It turned out that Adam and Kate had already planned to be in Perth at that time then Brett decided to join us as well.

Murray and Judy decided to host at their place for an afternoon and evening catchup.

Murray was the Chef for the evening.

It was a fantastic opportunity for a family catchup as I had not seen Murray for his birthday since our early 20s.

Lachlan Starts a New Season

 Lachlan has a new team for the next basketball season - new team but old mates.

Introspection

 My father was fond of a quote from the Scottish poet Robbie Burns.  "O, wad some Power the giftie gie us / To see oursels as others see us!"  Chat GPT sees me as a Hermit! I might have to look for a cave.