Normal Life- Sort of

After our holiday trip around SW australia and our great time at Dwellingup we came back to Freo to get into the groove. School started for Margo and Grant on te first of February and they are enjoying their time. They are attending Fremantle Elementary School and it is a short walk from our house.

Margois in the 2nd grade and Grant is in the 1st. They seem to be enjoying themselves quite a bit. There are mandatory swim lessons during school hours for two weeks in February.

Jeri is appreciating the time during school hours to work out, swim, shop and generally get things done in a way that is hard with two young humans around.

I am very happy to landed a great studio space with a fantastic bronze scuptor. The studio is downtown and is directly on the beach. There are several folks working at the studio and everyone has a good time. I couldn't have found a better niche. I am working on a series of bronze sculptures based on the idea of shipwreck. It will be part of an installation exhibition for this april. I don't have the exhibition site nailed down yet but hopefully soon.

I had a run in with one of the worlds most deadly creatures a few weeks ago while divng. No not a shark, it was a blue ringed octopus. Usually when I dive I carry a mesh bag for collecting shells. I had forgotten on this occasion and was collecting nice big shells and holding them in my hand as I did my 45 minute circut of the limestone reef. Fortunately I was wearing gloves because at the end of my dive I was walking down the beach and I felt something move on my glove. It was a blue ringed octopus and his blue rings were pulsing with anger. He had been inside one of the shells and now that I was out of the water he was mad. There was a fisherman nearby and I walked up to him ad asked him if he had ever seen a blue ringed octopus before. He about jumped out of his skin! I flicked the golf ball sized creature into the water and he swam away. Had he bitten my hand while I was in the water I would have been totally paralyzed in a matter of minutes and drowned. Wheew!instead I have a great memory.





The life in the market is still appreciated. We are fully into the rythm of it now. Monday and tuesday are very quiet, Wednesday the chinese restaurants across the way are open and then things keep picking up intil the crescendo of sunday. If you want to get a feel for the town and market take a look at this youtube video by LimeWaveVideo. It is a super introduction to the paradise that is freo.



In the last week of summer holiday we did a few tourist things including visiting the western australia maritime museum. There is a coldwar submarine pulled up on the ways there and we took a tour. Below are some photos.






Jeri had a birthday at the end of January and it was a blast for all of us. Jeri and I went out to dinner while the kids stayed the night with our darling neighbor, Melanee. Jeri took the family out the next day and treated us all to some video games at the local arcade. It was a blast.




Margo loves to get to know the vendors and often makes herself usefull to them. There is a women who sells crystal beaded sculptures near our door and for the past few weekends margo has helped her mind the stall and also to pack up at the end of the day. She has paid margo with a little sculpture each time.

Dwellingup

The last part of our trip was a 10 day stay in a town called Dwellingup. I applied for and recieved an artist residency there so it was time to put down some temporary roots and start to work. The Residency is a house and studio managed by a group of artists. It is right in the middle of the downtown area of dwellingup which is a very small town in the forests south of Perth. It was a quiet life very conducive to relaxationa and artistic contemplation. We finished most days with a swim in the river pools. A great way to unwind and cool down. I brought my snorkle and fins and had a blast diving in the cool lakes. I found 11 pairs of sunglasses 25 feet down although most had been on the bottom too long to be of use. I did find a pair that Jeri thinks are just perfect though...

After a Week of quiet life Jeri and the Kids were itching to get back to their Freo life where thay are more autonomous and have lots to do. I Stayed a few more days in the country.

Now I am looking foor a usable studio and exhibition space. I am getting caught up on the blog and ready to really start work.

road trip in the forests

!

We set out on the road with a vague notion that there are forests worth visiting to the east. At the end of of 200 mile drive we arrived at the famous "tree top walk" in Wallpole. This is a forest of red tingle trees. They can be up to forty feet in circumference at the base! People have been visiting the forest for many years and the soil was getting compacted and the trees were suffering. 10 years ago they built a giant walkway through the tops of the trees that lets you experience the forst and environment from a birds perspective whlie not hurting the soil. It was really worth the stop. The trees dont get as high as some of the giant trees like redwoods as the tops tend to break off after about 200 feet but that doesnt stop the tree from growing thicker and thicker. The bark and outher layers are very strong while the ineer wood gets soft. It is very common to see hollow trees bigger than real teepees inside. Fire is a big part of the ecology so the trees are burned out in the middle but they still grow and grow. Amazing really.

We drove into the town of denmark that night and lucked into finding a little community of cottages where there was a vacancy. After new years is summer high season so we really lucked out! Not only was it a fun place but there were loads of other kids and an onsight playground to boot!

Our big adventure the following day was a trip tp Greenes Pool. we didn't really understand what this was, but everyone said it is a must see... As I said in the last post, most of OZ is granite. In this case there is a beach near the tow of denmark where the giant waves of the southern ocean bash on to the hard rock shore. Very dramatic to be sure. The coolest part is the 3+ acres of protected water inside the granite reef. A perfect and humongus natural swimming pool full fof clean salt water, fish, crabs and other exotic marine life. lots of fun rocks to climb on and from which to jump into the pool.

On our last day on the road trip we stopped in Albany to see the old whaling station. This was the center for whaling vessels and the place where they would bring the whale carcases to process them for sperm whale oil, an important industrial lubricant and fuel for the past several hundred years. The whaling center was very interesting to see. Hard to imagine dissassembling those exotic bohemoths. Nice facilty and worth a visit.

the australian deep south

New years eve in the Kerri Forest

We were invited by new friends to join them and some other families at there beach/ forest home in Hamelin Bay, four hours drive south of Fremantle. It was our first road trip in australia. Hamelin bay area is a fanastically beautiful natural environment of giant Kerri tree forests, huge limestone caves, beaches, islands and coves. Our Hosts Fleur and Richard and their two little people, Harry and Heidi made us feel very welcome and showed us a great time. Their house is in the forest of eucalyptus trees not far from the beach. We stayed in a little canvas hut on the property and other families pitched tents. New years eve was spent solving most of the worlds problems around a kitchen table. With that out of the way in time for the new year we went surfing, swimming and diving at a place called foul bay. One of the most beautiful beaches I have seen. Just the first of many on that trip.

One of the highlights was the GIANT stingrays that come right up to the beach and will eat out of your hand. There were a couple that were 6 feet across. They say they really arent dangerous but it is hard not to think of Steve Erwin when you are standing there. We all petted them and watched with amazement as they swam in water just inches deep.

The following day Fleur and Richard took the whole group south to the town of Augusta to see the Cape Leeuwin lighthouse there. The lighthouse marks the point of land where the Indian ocean stops and the great Southern Ocean starts. It was really cool to see the southern ocean. The lighthouse itself is an awesome sight and we took a tour to the top. The tower is made of limstone block and the walls on the base are at least 4 feet thick. The light has been running since 1895d was only made electric in 1982. This stretch of land seems very lonely and being this far south the weather can be quite treacherous in the winter. many, many ships and sailors have dissapeared without a story or trace in the southern ocean.

The third day we set off to tour a giiant Limestone cave that is open to the public. The whole of SW australia is made up of granite and limestone. thousands of years of water intrusion hollows out the limeston into giant cathedrals underground. In some cases huge tap roots from the monster kerri trees braid down the stalactites into the caves. It is something that is hard to describe but inspiring to see. Here is a photo.

On the fourth day we set off to the east. Hopefully Australians don't know about ben franklins saying regarding fish, guests and 3 days; but I am sure they have a saying similar . We really had a blast and were introduced to people, places, and things that will stay with us us our whole lives. Thanks to the Hill/Schell mob!