Here's a quick one from last night. It was one of those "see the shot, grab the camera" moments.
I've recently got a new lens. It's a Canon EOS 50mm/f1.8 so opens right up. Ideal for those slightly duller days. I specifically got it for Glasto, so hoping that it provides some good images.
With it being a fixed focal length it also give much crisper images.

So here's the result. Stopped right down to f/1.8 at 1/50.

Hello, on a wet Saturday!
Having treated myself to some bike shoes and some clipless pedals, I did intend to get out on the bike today. Unfortunately the weather is conspiring against me. The nearest I got was to get all togged up, get the bike out and practice fitting and taking foot out. I'm told that it's often the case that people new to clipless pedals end up falling over, as they can't get their foot out in time. Seems straight forward (famous last words!). Anyway, common sense prevailed and I decided not to get a soaking.

Right photos.
One of the techniques that I've always been a fan of is "colour popping". What this entails is having a black & white image, but just having a selection of it in colour. It takes a decent photo to actually achieve a really good look for this, but I've been practicing on some regular ones...

Before...


After...

I think it really helps in making the subject stand out.

I have also invested in a Wacom graphics tablet. It's taking some getting used to, but even with my feeble attempts I can see how it is much more useful than a mouse.

Right, back to the practicing...

Angry Birds

A quick update from work. Will make a decided effort to bring everything up to date on here now, but in the meantime, grab another photo.
This on is of Downham's bypass, and was taken quite soon after I got the camera. Got to love light trails using a long exposure.
About 18 months on though, I may go and try again knowing a lot more about firstly taking the shot, and secondly, post shot production.

Well, as you might have seen, I've started updating my blog again - at long last!
I've gotten into digital photography in the last year and so I think that this is an ideal opportunity to show off some of my stuff.
Give me a shout if you're on here and like it.

Laters....

240410_0064, originally uploaded by Jack-Attack.

Ely

240410_0063, originally uploaded by Jack-Attack.

The Girl With The Sun In Her Hair

I was a little premature wasn't I?
However, all it took was a gentle prod in the right direction (thanks Gordon).
The scarey thing it that I know that at least one person reads this. Oh the pressure to write womething actually interesting!

Right. Onwards.
Lots been going on and I really don't know what to tell you and what not to.
Here's a scarey thought. B2 went for her first job interview yesterday. She finds out if she's got the job at about 10.30 this morning. I await a text with my fingers crossed.

Today I'm heading across to Naaaaarch (Norwich) we have an afternoon of meeting followed by a pleasant evening of food and fine wine. Tomorrow we will be heading here though.
I've actually organised it and I'm still not totally sure what we're actually doing!
This will be the third time that I've been. It is good fun. I suspect that the weather won't be quite as good as the last time though. I've just checked and it's showers forecast. Eeek!

Easter at the weekend, isn't it? We have been trying to decide what to do. We would like to go out somewhere, but there doesn't seem to be anything on. What's that all about?
Sure, if we wanted to go on an Easter Egg Hunt or some such, that's not a problem. But what about a good old country fair or something? Not a chance. H has said that a Wii tournament might be in order. I suspect she may be right.

Right. That's your lot for now.

TNT

Good morning!

New beginnings and all that.
Time to kickstart this again I think.
Watch this space....

Just Get Yourself High

Maybe it's time for a bit of chat about JOTE.
JOTE? Indeed!
Some of you will know immediately of what I talk, but for those who don't, I shall explain.
Jewel
Of
The
East
AKA - our lovely town, Downham Market.

A bit of background. I've mentioned Facebook on here a few times already. Well the whole JOTE thing spawned from that.
On Facebook, there are groups that people make up on every single subject that you care to mention. Often these are humorous and pretty informal. JOTE was started as an affectionate look at Downham Market and the group has grown..... and grown. Currently, there are about 325 members of the group and this grows at the rate of 1 or 2 every couple of days. I read today that Facebook has 100,000 people join up every day. Pretty amazing that, isn't it.
Anyway, I discovered JOTE fairly early on in it's life and joined up. It was started by a top bloke called Lee Cooper. Fairly soon, we got nattering on and realised that we have quite a bit in common and the same (warped) sense of humour. Unbelievably though in my ten years of living in Downham and using the same watering hole (from here on in to be known as our Spiritual Home) we have never met. This was soon put right a few weeks ago.
So myself and Mr C have become good buddies and I don't think a weekend has gone by, of late, where we haven't shared at least one pint!
But there are other key members too, to name but some, there are the Soehnle brothers. Three great guys, who I knew of before and had a passing nod, but never sat down and chatted with, again since put right. Hayley gets a mention here too as she is a regular at our Annual General Meetings (these seem to occur monthly!). There are quite a few others who should get a mention, but maybe another time, as this is beginning to sound like a who's who of regular drinkers in Downham.

So moving on. I'm typing this on a newly revitalised laptop! Last Sunday morning, H mentioned that she thought that she's broken it. I had a look and the hard drive was making a strange clicking sound and it wouldn't boot up. Ooops.
A bit of diagnostics by me and I declared that it was bust! After a little searching on t'interweb, I found out that this was a not uncommon fault on the first batch of Macbooks. Considering that this is the very first problem that I've had with either Mac, I'm still pretty damn satisfied with Apple products.
Fortunately, it was the laptop though. We have a general move towards keeping all of our stuff on the main machine (that I back up fairly often). So I didn't have to go through a recovery process. All photos and music was on the main machine, and all documents are stored to a web-based area, so nothing to worry about.
I quickly sourced a supplier and chose a 160GB new hard drive (twice as big as the original). It arrived within 4 days and last Friday, I fitted it and was able to reinstall all of the applications we originally had on here. No problems, no issues, nothing lost. Smug? Well, maybe a little.

Smells Like Teen Spirit

A classic track indeed.

Anyway, last weekend saw the first gig in a run. Erasure at the UEA.
We were quite up for this. I'd been speaking to others and they said that the gig was likely to have a fair gay turn out. So this is what we were expecting.
We turned up in good time and joined the back of a queue. On getting in we grabbed a drink and found a good vantage point. More and more people were flocking and and we had the usual bunch of idiots deciding that they had the right to be at the front, so pushed past everyone else.
By the time that the support band came on, it was pretty full. Certainly fuller than the last time I was there for a Rakes gig. Onetwo were the support act, made up of one half of OMD along with the lead singer of Propaganda and a third member. They were pretty good.
Unfortunately, by the end of their set, H was suffering somewhat from the heat and crowdiness of it all, so we headed for some air and some space.
After Erasure came on, the place was even busier. We secured a vantage point where we could see, just about, but were surrounded by idiots. Instead of gay guys having a fun time, it seemed to be predominantly overweight, drunk, middle-aged women, all shouting and generally being brash (maybe I'm getting old!) It put a bit of a damper on things. Even though the boy's performance was good. The night wasn't enjoyable and we left early.

Bring on The Cribs - 7th Oct.

Discopolis

Okay, back to the usual method of blog titles it is.

Firstly a bit of a note to do with what is where.
This place will still be used as my general ramblings and will include photos from various sources. The Jack-Attack homepage has been down-sized for now. Finally, my .Mac pages are where you'll find all our family and personal photos.
Facebook has all the local and fun pic on it.
Clear? Good.

Going back to last weekend...
On 3rd September 1987 I started my first full time job. This has turned out to be my only full time job. A fact I'm quite pleased and proud of. Long may it continue - well, not that long actually. Early retirement and a hefty pension would be nice. I suspect that the sugar industry has some recovery to go through before we reach that point though.
Where was I? Oh yeah, September. Well those of you with a reasonable maths education will appreciate that this means I've been with my current employer for some 20 years.
I decided that this occasion couldn't pass without without some form of celebration.
When I was taken on, it was as part of a group called BS03. There were eighteen of us in total from all twelve factories (only four left now!). After a couple of days at the factory (mine was Bardney near Lincoln), we all got shipped to a residential college called Eaton Hall, near Retford. We then began a course of 40 weeks, going home at weekends. I have to say that these were some of the most enjoyable days of my life. I think I can say the same for the other guys on the course too.

Here's a photo of us back in the day! No prizes for guessing which one's me. Remember that this was the 80's! Seated in the middle are "Uncle Ted" and Pete Whinfield who were our main tutors on the course.



Now is not the time to go on about a lot of the things that occurred during these times, but there are many stories!
Anyway, I took it upon myself to organise a reunion. Not the easiest of tasks as seven of the guys are no longer with the company.
But I managed to get in touch with all but one. Eleven of us got together around lunchtime at Go Ape in Thetford Forest. Much fun was had (photos on Facebook), then in the evening we popped across to Sprowston Manor hotel near Norwich for a few drinks(!) and a nice meal. It was fantastic seeing everyone again and I have never spent so long reminiscing in my life!
Here's a pic of the nine of us at the hotel...

One Week On

Seems a while ago now, and indeed it is. I'm actually typing this offline now, so can't remember what the last bit that I wrote about Australia was. A couple of things that I meant to write about though involved traffic.
I noticed this first in Bordertown, when staying with Kerynn, but on returning to Perth, saw a couple more examples. They have drive through off-licences! Now I'm not sure what the drink driving laws are in Australia, nor how rigorously that they are enforced, but I can't see the idea going down well in the UK.
The second thing that I noticed was lane discipline. When traveling with Kerynn, I asked her what the ruling was. She said that it was pretty much the same as in the UK i.e. keep left apart from overtaking. However it was pretty much free for all in practice. This was certainly borne out from what I saw. The big difference being that no-one seemed to mind too much about being overtaken etc. Maybe it's down to the lesser volume of traffic, but there didn't seem to be the impatience that you get on British roads, and this was both in the city and the rural areas. Obeying the speed limit was also much more evident. The sort of roads that I drove on were pretty clear and straight, yet everyone seemed to pretty much stick to the limit.
Another point, whilst I'm talking about traffic, is pedestrian crossings. There only seems to be one kind, and this is your standard push button type, with the red man to stop, green man to go. Now, in the UK, if we want to cross a road, we will have a look and pretty much cross at the first available opportunity, whether we've pressed the button or not. In Perth, I noticed that almost always, people stand and wait to be given the green light to cross. They don't go if there's a gap, they will stand and wait. Fascinating stuff for a people-watcher like me.
I'm sure other observations will be thrown in as I think of them.

What else to talk about?

Facebook? Specifically The Jewel Of The East. I'm not going to go into too much detail, but for those who don't know, Facebook is a social networking site on the internet. It facilitates building a group of your friends and interacting online. "Jewel Of The East" is a group that has arisen from there. It is led by a marvelous chap (I have to say that as he has been known to read this blog). Anyway, it's all good fun. We even had a pub crawl last Sunday involving a good handful of the folk from the group. Much fun to be had. Photos are on my Facebook profile (link on the left of this page).

My week off has been spent doing exactly what I planned - not a lot. Much rest and relaxation interspersed with a bit of cycling, running and walking.

I'm still not relishing the thought of a return to work on Monday, mind!

Oz - Wednesday Morning

So I am now sat on a bus heading Westwards (ish) towards Adelaide. What's that all about?

Well, Monday evening came round and I was planning what I still had left that I wanted to do. Not a huge amount to be honest. I was sat in my hotel room on the internet and got chatting to Kerynn. Who she? Well, Kerynn is someone that I first met on the internet, on a forum, about 18 months ago. She lives in Australia and in about July last year, she visited the UK for about three weeks and stayed with us for a weekend of that time. Her birthday is on the same days as mine albeit 2 years earlier (which I take great pleasure in reminding her).
Anyway, like I said we got chatting (mainly because she's online at at the same time as me, being in the same country). We were both saying that it was a shame that we didn't organise a visit what with me being in Australia.
Well, whilst chatting, I dived onto the Quantas website. Even at this sort notice, it was still do-able. 30 mins later, I had tickets booked. I've got to admit that my geographical knowledge of Australia isn't the best and I wasn't totally sure where Adelaide was in relation to Perth. The answer is rather a long way!
I got up at 4am yesterday morning (Wednesday) and got a taxi to the airport. I expected it to be fairly quiet, but it was pretty busy. Sill, 6.10 and I was on the plane. A spot of breakfast, a jump of 1.5 hours across the time zones and I set down in Adelaide at about 11am.
Kerynn lives in a place called Bordertown. I'd offer a link, but being on the coach, I don't have internet access. It's quite a small town, but most importantly, it's still 3 hours from Adelaide. Good old Kerynn had got up early and driven all the way to pick me up. So, we hit the road (Australian term) and set off back to her place. After 30 mins or so, we had totally cleared the city. The roads are all good, quite straight and very quiet! After a short while, I offered to give Kerynn a break from driving. This is the sort of thing that cruise control is made for. I only had to let up on the rare occasion that we caught a lorry up. Other than that it was 110 km/h all the way (68 mph). Taking it above that is a bit risky, as although the roads are so quiet, the police are pretty hot and speeding. My guess is that they get bored and so relish the opportunity to stop someone.

Okay, I chose against typing whilst riding, so two hours have past since I started this and we've just stopped for a 10min break en route.

Erm, yeah, back to Adelaide. We got to Kerynn's place at Bordertown at about 2.30pm local time. Like I said, it's a fairly simple town. Quite small and very much depends on the main freeway passing through it. All the places there are single storey and Kerynn lives in a nice house with her three boys, Jake (17), Dillon (10 I think), Jamie (6) and finally Ryan (can't remember). Ryan wasn't there though as he was poorly and was still at his dad's from the weekend, about 50km away.
So we had a quick look round the town and I then spend the next couple of hours thinking up all my best jokes, riddles and tricks to keep the younger boys entertained.
Kerynn was the perfect host and we headed out to the local bar for dinner. I need only say that the food is as good in the South as it is in the West. The steak was magnificent. We also had a dozen oysters. I admitted to never having had them before, so we had some Kilpatrick style - topped with chopped bacon, worcester sauce and grilled. I shall certainly be having them in the future, they were very tasty.
Ooops time to go again. See you in a while - I've got to get back to the in-coach movie now!

[Quick Edit - it's now just gone 11pm, but gonna add a couple of pics from Bordertown]

Firstly, Kerynn and Dillon


Now, the cheeky monkey, Jamie



I'm back and I'm now in Adelaide airport, it's 15:20. The coach got into the City at about 14:15. My flight is not until 19:55, but I caught a taxi to the airport in the hope that I could get an earlier flight. Unfortunately, I have now found out that although there is a flight at 16:45, AND there are free seats on it, I cannot bump onto it due to me buying a cheap ticket for the later flight. If I want to do so, I get no refund on my later ticket and the new fare is over $300. Hell, I've got a good back and my laptop (with wireless). It ain't worth that money to save three hours, is it?

Again, this looks to have turned into a bit of an epic. Who knows though, maybe you like reading my ramblings!

What are my plans from here on in?
Well, I'm going to finish this off, check a few websites and maybe have another beer. There looks to be a good chinese place across the way, so maybe some food is in order. Then I'll try and find a power outlet to charge this up and sit down for a few hours and have a good read.
I get into Perth at about 21:50, so with a cab I should be back at the hotel for 22:30. Grab some supper and bed.
Tomorrow, grab a bus or a taxi back to the airport (terminal 1 this time, not 2). My flight to Hong Kong is at 12:20, arriving at 20:15. four hours there and then the final flight homewards at 23:55, arriving at 05:45 Friday morning. THEN, I'm saving H the hassle of driving down and back, so I'll be making my way on the tube to King's Cross and then getting the best train I can back up to Downham. Phew!

Everyone I talk to can't believe that I've only come to Australia for 10 days, let alone popped across to Adelaide for just over 24 hours (apparently that makes me insane) , but you know, it ain't all that bad. I don't mind traveling so much. I've also got totally used to hanging around in airports. There are worse places for people watching! Not especially looking forward to the long flights back, but I'm resigned to the fact that I wont be able to sleep, so anything else is a bonus!

One thing for sure though - H is coming with me next time!

See later, or tomorrow!

Oz - Monday Afternoon

Well, this morning got off to a poor start. Firstly, I've got to say that I'm sleeping damn well here. More so than I do at home. I typically wake up to some noise or other at 4 something, but then soon drop off not waking again until 8-ish. So much sleep!

Anyway, This morning I woke to rain. Not good. There isn't a lot to do here when it's raining. I've done the shops etc and I'm afraid that the art galleries don't really inspire me.
Well, I planned to chill in my room until maybe 11.30, then head down to the lounge and read (whilst people watching of course) until maybe 12.30, then pop to the bar a few doors down to grab a couple of beers and a bite to eat before returning to some of the same.

I duly carried out the first part of my plan. It got round to about 11.50 and I noticed that it was getting decidedly brighter outside. Back up to my room to deposit my book and grab my jacket. I headed out.
Within seconds, literally, it was drizzling. Never mind, I'm out now. I headed for the nearest Red Cat bus stop (note - I wrongly reported it as Central Area Transport, that should have been Transit). As it was a weekday, they are much more frequent, so only 3 minutes to wait this time.
I jumped off somewhere near the shopping mall. Sure enough, the clouds had parted, I removed my jacket and wished that I had brought my sunglasses.
I wandered about for a bit and my head started to absorb where everything was. I think that some people do this better than others. No doubt someone can explain why, but some people are much better at sussing out directions, landmarks and the like to form a map in their head, whereas others have no idea whatsoever. I like to think I fall into the former. Indeed, I pride myself on being able to navigate myself around Center Parcs (Elveden) pretty much blindfold. Jealous aren't you? I can tell. Anyway, I digress.

Erm, yes. Onto the mall. My plan was still to have a wander around the shops for about an hour or so and then have a slow walk back calling at the aforementioned bar on the way home.
So I wandered. I was pretty sure I had got the hang of the little arcades both under and over ground. I decided to dive into a particular food hall (underground), expecting it to be full of greengrocers and the like. After about 100 meters, it opened up into a huge space. I had to stop and take it all in. What was in front of me was a massive diamond space full of tables. These were bordered by every single possible food outlet that you could imagine!
You know me, I'm a real "foodie". To see Indian next to Thai next to Cantonese next to Mexican next to Sandwiches next to Chinese next to Italian next to Burgers.... well, you get the idea. I had to wander round the whole place about three times to take it all in. Of course, the idea at calling off at the bar on the way back to the hotel was long since shelved. Choices, people, choices!!!
I dwelled, not for long, on taking some photos and decided that I would look like some sort of idiot, but it will stay in my head for future reference.
So after a few circuits I descended upon a particular Chinese spot. BBQ Combo Soup looked good (well, it did on the pic). At this point I must declare my utter surprise at which outlets were the busiest. Bearing in mind there was everything you could wish for on offer, the queues were at... Hungry Jacks (Burger place) and Subway (Sandwich Bar). Unbelievable! Still, I got served straight away. My server picked up a bowl. Now I will make a point of not exaggerating. It was about 200mm diameter and 150mm depth, seriously! She chucked loads of noodles and beansprouts in with a handful of pak choi. This was followed by a huge helping of clear soup. On top was placed liberal helpings of pork, and I mean liberal. Finally topped with a mound of chopped spring onion.
The cost of this? $9 or £3.75. Absolutely unbelievable.
I had a spoon, fork and chopsticks to tackle it all with. Being the professional that I am, the fork was cast aside and I practiced my chopstick skills and used the spoon for the soup.
Needless to say, there was plenty left, but I was stuffed.

So that was lunch!

Afterwards I had wander, took in a lovely phonecall from H and generally chilled.

I felt like a sitdown and a read, so headed to a bookstore. I gave the magazine rack a fair hearing, but a lot of them were UK/Euro issue and so overpriced (£8) and last months editions. I searched the biogs, but most were Aus orientated. Eventually my eye was taken by the true crimes section. Again, a lot of the books were Aus centered and so not strictly relevant. However I did notice the (Jeffrey) Archer prison book. Now I have this thing about Archer. He's one of those blokes that I want to dislike. Indeed when I see him on TV or interviews in the press, I no doubt end up cursing him. But I've always been taken with his novels. I decided to give this book a go (although there are 2 further books). So, I went into it with a slightly cynical head on, especially as I now have some insider knowledge of the prison service.
Damn you Archer!!! The man has got an amazing talent for writing. It is an absolute pleasure to read. I started it at a coffee bar in town and set off back to the hotel, pausing at that aforementioned bar to have another couple of chapters. It's really rather good you know.

So, the day improved weather wise, and I had a nice relaxing day. It's now 6.45 and I'm relaxing with a nice glass of red.
Sorry if I've gone on a little in this last entry!

Oz - Sunday Afternoon

Back in the hotel after a bit of an excursion North.

First glimpse of slightly worse weather today. Not bad, considering it's still winter.
After getting sorted here - making my own breakfast in my own kitchen! I headed out at about 11. A bit of rain in the air and for the first time since last Tuesday I had to stick a jacket on.
Up until now, to get around the city, I've been walking everywhere. I don't really mind walking - even when I've got a big rucksack on my back. However, what with the rain I decided to try out this bus service that they run in the city.

CAT - Central Area Transport. This is essentially three closed loops that operate in the city - the Red Cat, The Yellow Cat and The Blue Cat. Between them, the three circuits cover most of the central city. The roads that aren't covered are but a short walk from the nearest CAT stop. Also, the loops cross over, so you can jump from one to the other. At each stop, is a little display which tells you how long until the next bus. They just go round and round, no timetable. So basically, you just head to your nearest stop check the time and see whether it's worth waiting or walk a little. This morning as it was raining, I waited the 12 minutes for the next bus.
The best part about it? It's totally and utterly free! You just hop on and off as many times as you like.

So onto the train. As I mentioned in the last post, this is ridiculously easy too. Select your destination, punch in the number next to it. It then tells you the cost (in my case $3.40), look up the platform and away you go.
The stations and trains are incredibly clean too. I think it's a combination of the whole culture and the policing. There are a lot of "transit guards" about. They're not imposing though, they do seem as they're there to help.
I was heading towards the Aquarium. I followed the instructions on the brochure. When I got off the train, I checked the bus stop and realised that the service was reduced quite a lot on a Sunday. I asked one of the staff and they gave me full directions in the best way to get to the place without incurring any extra cost.

So onto the Aquarium. Now for some reason, I am drawn to these. I don't know what it is, I just am. But when I get there, they're all pretty much the same, aren't they? Just fish in big tanks. Today's was no exception. I think the possible highloght of the visit was lunch - red snapper in beer batter and chips, for less than a fiver. Really nice it was too.

Tomorrow's plan is to head to the zoo in South Perth. Let's see if the weather holds.

Oz - Sunday Morning

So, yesterday.

Well, I had a leisurely stroll up to the train station, pausing for a roll on the way. Even though I'm getting used to it, the quality and price of food here still makes me smile.

The train system from Perth is very simple. Basically, there are four lines out. These all meet at Perth, so it's just a case of catching the line that your stop is on.
My trip to Fremantle (end of the line) cost me the grand sum of £1.40.

Firstly, I had a bit of a wander. This took me down to the Roundhouse (an old Jail), then to the harbour and eventually back to the town centre where I discovered the markets.
Right outside the entrance to the markets is a large square where buskers take it in turns to perform...



The markets were great and you could sample all sorts of cooked foods mostly with an Asian influence.

I'm a bit of a sucker for buskers, so kept heading back to the square to see the different ones perform.

I took time out to visit the Motor Museum which had a fair selection. I'm sure that Brown snr will appreciate some of the pics that I took, but they'll save for later.

Here is a typical "hold the camera myself" shot, and also one of many bronze statues that are all over the place.

Oz - Saturday Morning

Right, quick catch up for you.

Thursday day time was spent having a leisurely wander into town and firstly grab something to eat. We then wandered around a bit. I did the tourist thing of just meandering around the streets looking at stuff. There was this guy...



I had offered to cook dinner so after much wandering, I headed off to Woolworths, which in Australia is a food store. Food again was relatively cheap compared to the UK. I also bagged a box of wine. I thought that £4 was pretty good for a 3 litre box. I got home and realised it was a 4 litre box!

So that was Thursday, a quiet one.

Yesterday I got up nice and early to have a walk down to the pier to catch a ferry to Rottnest Island. As the links shows, this is a lovely place. No cars allowed, you get round by bike or foot. I was determined to get round the whole island but managed it. To say it's winter here, it was bloody warm on that bike!

The main inhabitants of the island are quokkas..



I took loads of photos on the island, but these will all be on my Mac page when I get back.

Last night I transferred to a lovely hotel near the City centre. I was given the tip by a lovely lady that I met on the way back from the island.
So now I have a big room with an attached kitchen.
Today I will be heading to Freo (Freemantle) where the markets are said to be really good.
I seemed to have done loads already and I've still got 5 days to go! Bring it on!

Oz Thursday

Firstly - The Steak

The place was the called The Llama bar and is a slightly upmarket place in Subiaco, a couple of stops away from Perth centre.

I can normally take or leave steak. For me it really has to be a top quality cut, and cooked well.
Anna's friend arrived at the same time as us and we grabbed a seat at the only table that wasn't reserved. After a quick beer, Jontel went and ordered the steaks. Mine and hers were medium rare in a mushroom sauce, Anna chose rare in bearnaise.
Feast your eyes...




Oh my God, they were simply glorious. Served on creamy mash and the sauce was divine.
The best part? The price!
In the UK, I swear that this sort of thing would be the best part of £25, we paid $9 (£2.75). The same price as a pint!
I might have to go again next Wednesday before I leave.

Today brings shopping and possibly back to King's Park.

Oz Day 3

Well, I've certainly seen some of Perth today!
As mentioned, it was a little cloudy earlier. Fortunately the sun burnt the clouds off. I decided to go for a walking tour out of a book that the wonderful H bought me in preparation for this trip.

I started off from the flat and cut through some of the business area, up a hill and then into the famous King's Park.
I couldn't resist taking lots of shots of the skyline of Perth from the park, but I'll just put a few tasters here. I'll publish all of my pics to my Mac page when I'm done here. For now, feast your eyes on this view...



The park itself is absolutely beautiful. You're constantly looking up in the trees to see the birds that are making such a noise. A lot of these are wild parrots. Unfortunately, as they're against the sky, they only come out as silhouettes, but I will try and get some pics of them next time I go to the park.

I walked the whole length, popped into the university area and then walked back along Swan River.
This structure is called Swan Bells and is named as one of the largest musical instruments in the world.



I kept following the river and then popped onto Heirisson Island, on which there are supposed to be kangeroos. Unfortunately there weren't any there, but I grabbed this view...



If you look at the bottom photo and look at the horizon to the very far left, that is from about where that I took the first photo on here.

I headed back through town, although didn't do too much browsing as that's tomorrow's job!
All in all, I plotted it to be 11.55 miles, so a bit of a leg stretcher.

Food talk - a filled chicken roll near Swan Bells was absolutely huge and only $4.60 (£1.90). I grabbed a smoothie on the way back too. Bloomin' lovely. I have never had them at home, but may well do so from now on.
Ms Carter is taking me out for a steak somewhere tonight and to meet one of her friends from here, so that should be a nice evening.

See you tomorrow.