Marga and Poppop’s diamond wedding anniversary celebrations on Friday were a joy to behold.

At 11am a stretch limousine arrived in front of Mum and Dad’s house in Henley Beach. Upon seeing the luxury vehicle Marga thought the chauffeur must have gone to the wrong address! 10 of us piled into the back of the custom vehicle for a tour of Glenelg, the Adelaide CBD and West Lakes, where we arrived to the Lakes Resort Hotel for lunch. This was my grandparents’ first ever limo ride after over 80 years of life!

Towards the end of lunch I read out congratulatory letters from all and sundry:
– Federal Opposition Leader Malcom Turnbull
– Prime Minister Kevin Rudd
– South Australian Governor Kevin Scarce
– Member for the Electorate of Grey Rowan Ramsey
– South Australian Premier Mike Rann
– South Australian Opposition Leader Martin Hamilton-Smith
– Governor General Quentin Bryce; and,
– Queen of Australia Elizabeth R

I knew my Mother’s parents were exemplary and popular people but I didn’t know their network extended this far! 🙂

On 9th April 1949 Marjorie (‘Marj’, ‘Marga’) and Edward (‘Ted’, ‘Poppop’) married in South West England. This Easter in Adelaide my maternal grandparents will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary – what an amazing achievement!

At low tide on both Gantheaume Point and Cable Beach there are millions of tiny sand balls arranged in different patterns, often in groups surrounding individual holes.

Two hole-centric sand designs up close 

Multiple patterns from a more distant aspect

The sand artist: tiny, camouflaged crabs. Normally the crabs hid in their holes as I approached to take their photos but I managed to catch the specimen in the picture above.

One of the highlights of a trip to Broome is watching the camel train take tourists along Cable Beach at sunset. I watched this spectacle both evenings with second day proving more scenic:

Camel tracks

Ships of the desert beach. On a clearer day the scene would be even more beautiful.

A closer shot of the guide leading the tourist-laden camels

Sunset coincided with low tide

After an extended QANTAS Link flight via Newman* I eventually landed in Broome this morning for a long weekend R&R; break.

This is my first visit to tropical Australia. Broome is coming towards the end of its wet season and I’ve so far survived one downpour. I was hoping the mangoes were in season (they’re still being sold in Perth) but my hopes were dashed when The Mango Place stallholder at the Saturday courthouse markets told me the season finished 6 weeks before Xmas. At least I got some mango jam.

To escape the rain and see more of the area I have hired a Hyundai Getz. In the next two days I plan to visit Cable Beach at sunset, Matso’s Broome Brewery and the Japanese Cemetery amongst other places.

My accommodation is a dormitory room at Kimberley Klub, a well-endowed hostel. The poolside bar is blairing out greatest hits (was American Pie, now Khe San) and itinerant workers and backpackers (often one and the same thing) are lingering around.

I have almost finished reading the controversial Broomtime non-fiction book by Anne Coombs and Susan Varga. Their part interview, part journal work is almost a decade old but the descriptions of the town and its extremely diverse people are still largely true. A large proportion of locals are of mixed race, containing various degrees of European, Aboriginal, Chinese, Japanese, Malay, and other ethnicities.

I’m looking forward to exploring Broome in the next few days.

*The plane stopped for fuel in isolated Newman as there was a tropical low (one step from a cyclone) in Broome’s vicinity and the captain wanted extra fuel in case the weather extended the journey.

This blog has been silent for a while because I recently moved into a new home in West Leederville!

I now live in a duplex house with Chrystelle and Gary. It is in a wonderful location – close to Leederville Train Station, Lake Monger and Leederville’s cafe strip. The place is also not too far from Subiaco, King’s Park and work in the CBD.

Blogging will remain intermittent until we have the Internet at home. I am writing this from Cafe Villa, the only cafe on the Leederville strip with wireless Internet access.

On 3 December 2008 Natraj, my former Indian flatmate in Mersin, married Sounalya in Bangalore. Don’t you love the traditional dress in the following wedding photo?

If I hadn’t just started working  at a new job I would have gone to the wedding. To make it up, I plan to reunite with Natraj and Dragos in India in 2009.

For New Years Eve Eilish (niece), Breandan (nephew) and myself drove to the seaside village of Port Vincent, Yorke Peninsula (the only leg Australia has to stand on).

Staying in the Tuckerway Hostel, we enjoyed 2 fun days of fishing, swimming, karaoke, Zoom, partying, festivals, fireworks and poker with Dave, Richie and Mel, Kev and Lucy, their children, friends and relatives.

Fishing at both Stansbury and Klein Point was not successful

Guitar Hero superstars

My favourite photo so far of 2009: Eilish on an amusement ride at Port Vincent’s New Years Day Festival

Poker faces belonging to Texas Holdem Poker pros