Summer in Ireland

Rod Stewart. The Concert.

When I learned that Rod Stewart was playing in Perth on February 4th, 2012, I knew that was the real reason I was going to Australia, the real reason I was going to Western Australia. Everyone always asks, why Perth? Most of the people I have met who have been to Australia have only been to the eastern side of the country and said that Perth was too far away, yet they generally had a sense of regret in not going. Imagine the size of the United States, and New York, Boston, Miami, Chicago, Dallas, and LA were all along the eastern coast, but there was only San Diego on the west. That's kinda like what Perth is. So I figured, why not start on the west and make my way east. Everyone here think I'm absolutely nuts for wanting to take the train across the outback to go from west to east, but that's such a huge part of the continent....why miss it?? I digress, I DIGRESS! Back to Rod. The real reason I'm in Perth, Western Australia is to see Rod Stewart. There was no denying the fact that I was buying tickets to this concert. Sure, I stalled for a while in buying the tickets as they were so expensive, I wasn't sure if anyone would want to go with me, I wasn't sure where I'd actually be in February, and I wasn't really sure if Rod would still be kickin' it so many months ahead. But, with the eternal thanks and help from Chris and Beth for sponsoring my purchase with my Christmas and Birthday gift, I splurged on the best seats available (with ticket insurance, which I never get, but just in case).

Rod Stewart is one sexy beast.

This night, completely sober with Fun Bobby, may have been the highlight of my entire trip so far. That's hard to beat because I've had a lot of fun and a lot of good nights here. But man oh man does Rod put on a good show. I have to admit, I was a little nervous - how old is he? I kept thinking back to the Justin Timberlake concert with Jess in Boston a couple years ago and how he brought sexy back with those dance moves. Avoiding his ramen noodle hair and looking at his feet could make anyone fall in love with JT. But Rod brought sexy to a whole new level. Sure, U2 is a overly-elaborate concert held together with its classic tunes, I could watch Tina Turner in concert on TV any time it's on, and heck, I even had a great time at N*Sync (or is it 'Nsync? NsYnC*?) , my first ever concert that we were tricked into going - completely covered in bug spray as we thought we were going camping. But Rod Stewart, Perth, February 4th, 2012 was by far the best concert I have ever been to.

 I don't know about old fart Fun Bobby, but I think I was definitely one of the youngest people in the audience. I would even dare to say by even at least 15-20 years. These women were decked out in their leopard print outfits that probably haven't been worn since 1978 when he released his album Blondes Have More Fun (it's true, the Australian sun has turned my hair a funny brassy colour. needs.fixed.asap).

The concert was at nib Stadium which, besides musical concerts, is home to rugby matches. Our seats were on the grass, a bit far back but in the first row of our section. As we sat in anticipation for the start of the show, I commented on how awful a job it must've been to set up all the chairs in the grass, row after row. Two security guards looking quite solemn walked by and Fun Bobby remarked on how terrible a job it must be to be patrolling a Rod Stewart concert - how much trouble could there possibly be? Oh, women will be getting ROWDY over Rod Stewart, I replied. I even have an extra pair of panties in my bag to throw up on stage. (joke. but I did see some flying up on stage). We sat next to this British couple who had seen Rod in concert 30 years ago - I wasn't even alive! The woman got up immediately when the show started and was dancing wildly in the aisle - it was awesome.* But, despite how much fun she and some other people were having rockin out in their old people way, dancing was not allowed. Enter the security guards. Job necessary. Trouble was certainly brewing. One pretty-hippy-looking couple spent more time arguing with the officers about being allowed to dance than probably watching and enjoying the actual show. So the dancers had to keep moving about, always in someone's view, someone always complaining about their freedom of enjoyment, so much so that the husband of the couple next to us said to his wife, "the next time they tell you to move or stop, let me know and I will deal with it." so cute. 

*This will be Mum at the Neil Diamond concert this summer.

Rod came out to Love Train - and the crowd went wild. Decked out in a pink tuxedo, and I swear, Rod Stewart is the only one who could pull that off, he came out with a bang and didn't stop having fun for the entire time. I absolutely love his skinny little legs, his rowdy hair, his laughter ohmygoodness. I don't know where he found them, but the women in his band where gorgeous and could play the saxophone and trumpet and guitar in a little sparkly mini dress and high heels. The whole stage was just sexy. He took off his jacket shortly after, and was only wearing a white button down, skinny pink tie and skinny trousers. Then, half way through the song, an assistant came out and he changed his shoes on stage - to pink loafers. I was dying. I was just waiting for him to strip down to just the pink tie and pink loafers. He changed again to some colorful paisley shirt and at the end of the show he was wearing these fabulous silver trainers - I have to find a pair for myself! I don't know how he gets away with it, but he's the epitome of cool.

I think I had a smile on my face for the entire 2 hours. No wait, I'm pretty positive I did.*

* Think Mum's smile from seeing Neil Diamond at the NYC Thanksgiving Parade - it could not be beat. 

The best thing I liked about the concert, well, there were many, but I loved the fact that the entire ensemble seemed to be having so much fun on stage. The concert wasn't about Rod and touring for money or self-promotion. Everyone that was on stage at least had one solo act where they were showcased and excelled in singing or playing an instrument or dancing - everyone was included and everyone had their part. Rod was happy to go off around the stage dancing and shakin' his bacon while the others shined. Ok, maybe there was one guy who blended into the background ("that's racist") but he too got at least two shining moments of glory and boy did he beam. The two drummers were unbelievable and had a little duo where the lead drummer was going at it, surrounded by this glass orb, wearing a pink handkerchief in the jacket's pocket, and the other guy was just laughing and smiling while going back and forth with each other. It was like they couldn't even try to not be adorable. The background screen always seemed to matched the songs perfectly with lots of swirling colors. Rod joked with the crowds, kicked dozens of footballs (soccer balls) into the crowd, admitted when he missed a tune because he swallowed too much summer wind, showed personal photographs of his family, was not afraid to admit that he was avidly following the Scotland-England rugby game during the concert and keeping up with his favorite Celtics match (You're Celtic, United, but baby I've decided you're the best team I've ever seen) His grandson Alistar, who must've been about eight, or ten, I'm really really bad at guessing ages (but seriously, we were some of the youngest there) wearing a Celtic jersey, came on stage at one point and started dancing and then talked into the microphone - no bother.

The entire time, I was on the edge of my seat, waiting to hear You're In My Heart (if I ever got married or heck found someone who wanted to dance with me this would be part of my wedding) and Sailing. The show ended and although I was too high on a delirious euphoria to think about the fact that it hadn't been played, I consoled myself with the fact that I had it on my iPod to listen to later. But Then. The Encore. and guess what it was. SAILING! I could not have been more keenly captivated.  ohmygoodness.

It was a tremendous night. Everyone in the audience was elated, intoxicated with sexiness, savoring the songs, basking themselves in utter pleasure and exhilaration, singing, swaying, clapping, relishing. But, I really wish Dad was there with me. He would've really gotten a kick out of the concert as well and I can't claim any acknowledgement in my love for Rod without giving credit to my dad. Although I immediately think of Irish pub song CDs, Enya, and of course Garth Brook's The Thunder Rolls blaring appropriately in the truck in Texas, Rod Stewart was always right there in Dad's music collection. Was thinking about you Dad! although you were in Ri Ra at the time, not a bad second best :)

Playlist:

Love Train

Tonight's the Night

Some Guys Have all the Luck

First Cut is the Deepest

It's a Heartache

Baby Jane

Forever Young

Nothing but a heartache

Downtown Train

Have I Told you Lately

I Don't Wanna Talk about It

Oh La La - Wish I knew What I Know Now

Sweeter than Rock n Roll - I know that's not the right song title

Tina Turner's Rolling sung by a fantastic back up singer -> JESS: Tina Turner at a Rod Stewart concert = amazing.

Rhythm of My Heart

Twisting the Night Away

Maggie May

In Your Heart

Hot Legs

D'Ya Think I'm Sexy

Sailing

unknown. too busy clapping and laughing and smiling.

I didn't get the $35 bear.

Although I have the really bad, far away, blurry iPhone photos to recapture the concert's memories, I received a gift that night: a Rod Stewart t-shirt. It was the coolest one of the lot and I got it :) I wouldn't dare spend that much over-priced amount on myself, for a t-shirt, but I wore it the next day around town with the biggest smile on my face, just knowing that everyone around me was incredibly jealous that I was at the concert last night and had the t-shirt to prove it.

I know I said that Rod Stewart may have been the reason that brought me to Perth, but in retrospect, if I had thought about it in a better manner, my sole purpose should have really been to follow the Rod Stewart concert tour around Australia. Seriously, what was I thinking?? 

Why Do People Travel?

I've recently been wondering: what am I doing here. Every now and then, aside from the beach and the summertime weather, the food and drinks and laughs, and the freedom during the day, I get a little time to think, to realize, to put myself in the real time situation, and I wonder: what am I doing? And I have no idea. NO IDEA. Why do people travel? It's like: why do people go to the beach and sunbathe? They're just lying there. Doing nothing. Just absorbing the sun. I've always found that odd, even if I like to do it. What do people absorb when they are traveling? Besides developing a nice tan of clustered freckles, seriously, what am I doing here?

I went to downtown Perth for the first time yesterday. I arrived off the train and got off, looking lost. Did people realize I was lost, I thought to myself. I felt lost. I felt as though I looked lost. I started following the crowds, not knowing what else to do, looking around at city life, and eventually found a tourist information booth where I picked up a map and some local pamplets. I normally don't like to look like a tourist...but why is that? When I was in Dublin last spring, I wasn't living there, but I had a ton of people come up to me and ask me questions and directions - I loved that, I loved feeling like a local. Anyways, I was wondering around Perth, following the map, following my instincts, not really sure what to do with myself. I found the Bell Tower and snapped a picture, covered every inch of North Bridge, maybe twice, felt at home and loving all the British food in London Court, but as I was doing what I thought I should be doing, I thought wouldn't it be nice to have someone to share this with? I'm wandering around the city, checking off the things to see on my list, but am I seeing them because I want to or because I feel that's what I'm supposed to do? Sure, there is an enormous satisfaction in finding your way on your own, stumbling upon little side streets that aren't mentioned in the tourist books, striking up conversations with locals and other wanderers, having the absolute freedom to take a left if everyone else is going right, but would I miss it if I didn't know it was there?

Downtown Perth 

 As I was meandering around the Bell Tower, looking for a photo opp along the river, (like I'm supposed to..?) I came across a booth offering ferry rides to Rottnest Island. It's supposed to be beautiful, white pristene beaches.... - AND there's a place to see PENGUINS - isn't that why I always wanted to come to Australia? yes - so as I was checking out prices, the guy in the booth started talking to me. Immediately, in the back of my head I hear his Irish accent and pick up on it. I start talking, sounding like I'm from a weird part of Donegal - it confuses people. Where are you from he asks. Ummm, I decide to go with America; where are you from? Ireland. Duh, what part? Dublin. Ahh my dad's from Arklow! Strike up a conversation GO. I just love it - I love the conversation, love the interaction, the thrill of meeting new people, especially from Ireland! I dont even know his name, but I feel connected, or maybe just love hearing his accent. He had just arrived the week before as well, over with some friends and I immediately want to be friends with them, want to meet people, want to have that abroad experience that we're searching for - that's why we're here, right?

The Bell Tower

I've been staying in the suburbs, hanging out with myself during the day and starting to miss the interactions and stories that I came here for. Sure, I kinda secretly like playing the semi-house wife making dinner for my rent, but the city life just excited me and I couldn't wait to go back for more. So, no, I have no idea what I'm doing here, what I'm supposed to do, what's expected of me. I enjoyed my first two weeks of "holiday" but now, now I want, I need, something more, but I think I'm intimidated that I don't know what that is or don't know how to get it, especially on my own. I couldn't possibly be more grateful for the hospitality that I've been given, its been unbelievable, and I don't know how to repay the thanks, but I can't expect anything more, can't ask for anything more, and certainly don't want to intrude more than my welcome.* Maybe there could have been something more, there's great potential for it, but there isn't, and I almost want to apologize, almost feel as though it's my fault, although there is nothing I can do about it. So, on to find a job, find out why I'm here. It was easy going across the world to someone that I know. But leaving that, leaving to the unknown, is absolutely terrifying. Like wandering alone, it's nice to have someone to do things with. Leaving might be the scariest thing I've done in my life. Terrifying. I'm not exactly worried as I know it will turn out the way it's supposed to, and everything so far in my life has turned out pretty ok, but I've never been in this position before, never had to put myself out there before. I guess this is why I'm here.



*since writing this post last week, I have been back in the city, met more people, and have been kindly requested to get my shit together. 

A Movie in the Park: As You Wish.

"I love you,' Buttercup said. 'I know this must come as something of a surprise to you, since all I've ever done is scorn you and degrade you and taunt you, but I have loved you for several hours now, and every second, more. I thought an hour ago that I loved you more than any woman has ever loved a man, but a half hour after that I knew that what I felt before was nothing compared to what I felt then. But ten minutes after that, I understood that my previous love was a puddle compared to the high seas before a storm. Your eyes are like that, did you know? Well they are. How many minutes ago was I? Twenty? Had I brought my feelings up to then? It doesn't matter.' Buttercup still could not look at him. The sun was rising behind her now; she could feel the heat on her back, and it gave her courage. 'I love you so much more now than twenty minutes ago that there cannot be comparison. I love you so much more now then when you opened your hovel door, there cannot be comparison. There is no room in my body for anything but you. My arms love you, my ears adore you, my knees shake with blind affection. My mind begs you to ask it something so it can obey. Do you want me to follow you for the rest of your days? I will do that. Do you want me to crawl? I will crawl. I will be quiet for you or sing for you, or if you are hungry, let me bring you food, or if you have thirst and nothing will quench it but Arabian wine, I will go to Araby, even though it is across the world, and bring a bottle back for your lunch. Anything there is that I can do for you, I will do for you; anything there is that I cannot do, I will learn to do. I know I cannot compete with the Countess in skills or wisdom or appeal, and I saw the way she looked at you. And I saw the way you looked at her. But remember, please, that she is old and has other interests, while I am seventeen and for me there is only you. Dearest Westley--I've never called you that before, have I?--Westley, Westley, Westley, Westley, Westley,--darling Westley, adored Westley, sweet perfect Westley, whisper that I have a chance to win your love.' And with that, she dared the bravest thing she'd ever done; she looked right into his eyes."
— William Goldman (The Princess Bride)

Kings Park in Perth, which is larger than Central Park in NYC, hosts Ford Focus Moonlight Cinema during the summer showing different movies - both classic and new - throughout the week. When I read that The Princess Bride was playing one Tuesday night, I insisted that we go. It's BYO food and drink so I made an antipasto picnic bread (recipe below). The Princess Bride. A Movie in the Park. In Australia. On a Summer Night. INCONCEIVABLE!


Vizzini, aka Wallace Shawn, used to dine in 202 in Chelsea Market when I worked at Food Network. He was always a favorite celebrity sighting. 

Antipasto Picnic Bread
1 large round loaf crusty bread
2 onions, sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 eggplant, sliced
½ cup mint leaves
1 zucchini, sliced lengthwise
1 cup arugula
20 oven-roasted tomato halves
½ cup basil
8 oz goat cheese
1 red pepper, sliced into thin strips

Preheat the oven to 200C. Put the eggplant onto a oven dish and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast, turning once, until the eggplants are nicely browned. Put the eggplant in a bowl and layer with basil or dried Italian herbs and balsamic vinegar. Let marinate for about half an hour, changing the layers so that each slice gets soaked in balsamic. When the eggplant is done, add the tomato halves, drizzled with olive oil, a dash of balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper and roast until they have softened. Place onions and oil in a frying pan and heat over medium heat for about 4 minutes then add the red peppers and cook for another 2 minutes, until both have softened and the onions are golden. Leave aside. Heat the pan again and add some olive oil and lightly fry the zucchini until nicely browned on both sides. Lay on a paper towel to remove excess oil.

Cut the top off the top of the bread and scoop out the soft inside leave 1 ½ inch thick crust. To layer, place half the onions, peppers, eggplant, mint, zucchini, arugula, tomatoes, basil, and cheese inside the bread and repeat the layers then replace the top of the bread. serve in wedges.


*The recipe called for store-bought grilled marinated eggplant, grilled eggplant, and roasted peppers, but I used fresh vegetables and did it myself. The bread I bought was a day old, on sale, and the perfect crustiness. I only had room for one layer of vegetables within the loaf, unable to repeat the layers, but I had extra vegetables so bought another bread and filled that.

An Australian Sunset

look at the view, dopey.

table or water?

HA

the sunsets in western australia are supposed to be fantastic, and although this may be the first one, and only one, I've captured, it's pretty impressive and satisfying. The OBH is apparently where all the "cool kids" hang out, so, obviously we were there...HA...lots of laughs and old lady cleavage. 

A Trip to Margaret River.

JD's job took him down to south, first to a mine in the middle of nowhere, and then to some wineries in Margaret River - one of two main wine regions of Western Australia. I wasn't sure what I'd do for a couple days on my own, but no no, I was invited to go too! I was ecstatic to get a chance to see another part of the Western Australia and especially to the wineries, it was like our own little stage, and better yet, partly on the work expense account! Because Thursday was Australia Day, a national holiday, JD booked his meetings in Margaret River the day before so that we could stay the extra day to visit the wineries on his day off. Brill.iant. 

For three hours we drove south, through what looked like the outback, but we were still pretty close to the ocean's coast - relatively. For three hours, I had my eyes intensely on the look out for kangaroo's. Didn't see any, but saw a lot of cattle, dry brush, and the sands changing colours. For three hours, I learned about energy demand response. It was pretty appropriate because it was the main reason for the trip and also because we were on a 7-day high-temperature alert which posed the risk of an electric power grid black out.  I asked a lot of good questions, learned a lot, so go ahead, ask me anything. 

Then for nearly two hours, while I sat in the middle-of-nowhere-mine's company parking lot, I read about Margaret River and it's great wine producers. There are 200 vineyards with 90 wineries that produce some award-winning Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Shiraz and Semillon. So what did I get to do while JD was at work, go to the tastings of course! 

The first winery was Cape Mentelle, but the meeting was at 9am so I sat outside and enjoyed the vineyard views and early morning hustle and bustle of wine work. Then we went to Clairault where I walked in right after a family of three. The guy behind the bar walked us through a couple white wines and then the family left. The woman, who was severely overweight and that doesn't really have anything to do with the story, but was talking about how they were just down from Perth for the weekend and visiting some wineries and going on about some fishing trip where the fishing is left up to the men and she's just like where's the wine, do we have enough wine for the trip?! She clearly liked her wine. Neither the husband nor the daughter tasted any wine. They left because she said she didn't like red wine, she only drank white wine. I was left behind and the bartender was confused on why I wasn't leaving too. Oh, I'm not with them I explained and he let out a big oooooh as though something finally made sense. It was just bizarre that the three of them were going around to all the wineries, tasting only the white wines, not buying anything, while the husband and daughter just tag along and drive her place to place. I didn't buy anything either.

Next we went to Flametree which I didn't like as much, but the woman behind the bar was very chatty and I welcomed the conversation. And the constantly filled glasses with encouraged tastings. 

The cool thing about Margaret River is that it is on the ocean, and the coast is stunningly beautiful. So along the 100 kilometers that run north to south, not only are there wineries, but there's the beach with great surfing, a cute downtown with lots of good restaurants, and vast surrounding areas to explore on bikes or hikes.  I mentioned before how expensive Australia is. We went to the beach to have lunch with a view and found this little hut with a window with a blackboard with a few food options. As a point of reference, I ordered a vegetable ratatouille sandwich and a bottle of water, JD had a chicken club sandwich and a lemonade. All together = $35. The sandwiches although pricey, were satisfingly tasty, but the views were spectacular and made the lunch worthwhile. 

Back to the wineries, we went to Saracen which was a beautiful estate, absolutely handsome. Their wines were award winning and delicious. We then went back to Cape Mentell where we got a private tour of the vats and casks because JD and I started asking questions, UNISG would be so proud, and the guy realized I knew a thing or two about wine as I was helping him explain and elaborate on some wine things to JD. 

Apparently, although we couldn't decipher, in Australian, Arkavaris is actually Ark of Iris, a restaurant we went to per the suggestion of Evan, who I keep wanting to call Will.

The next day was AUSTRALIA DAY. It started with a $21 breakfast sandwich, so instead, I had coffee and a fresh juice of the day. And then a muffin because the article on the wall said it was one of the top 50 things to try before you die. I'm not a big muffin eater, but man, this was seriously a good muffin. Moist, spongey, soft, melted chocolates, bleeding berries, sugary top...is the paper wrapper edible too?

We then went for a swim in the ocean. Ignoring the signs on the beach, or ignoring the self-conscious fat and extremely pale stares that were in my head, I walked straight in. Straight into the strong rip tide. It was fine floating for a while, but I couldn't get out of the water. The waves were crashing and I didn't know how to handle the water. I dove into the waves like I have seen surfers do. But it must've taken me ten minutes to get out of the water, out of breath and completely freaked out. Then I was made aware of the signs saying it's safe to swim in between these signs. And I was on the outside. Lesson learned. 

Back to the wineries. After reading about the area and knowing some of the wine labels, I had a list of places I wanted to visit. First stop: Voyager which is home to Western Australia's tallest flag pole. Yes, it's pretty damn tall. It was an absolutely gorgeous estate, and I was shocked that there wasn't a wedding going on. It would be the perfect setting. 

"But I want to eat so many"

"where's the wedding? Seriously."

Next, we went to Howard Park, which has a couple cheaper labels such as Mad Fish. The bartenders were German and Irish and although they kept mixing up our tasting choices, they were extremely friendly and gave us their tasting chart as I tried to describe the what wine wheel is. 

Wet Hay. Dumb. Complicated. Length. Burnt Rubber. HA. We were so professional.

Sucker for a sale. We bought some wine. 

They suggested lunch at Hay Shed Hill (their other label is Pitchfork) where we dined on pizza and a cheese plate of an Australian blue outside under a tree next to the vineyards. We went inside as we brought in our plates and joined in the tasting where the guy indulged us on a lesson on the different wine bottle shapes and how one meant the wine was from Burgandy and the other meant it was from Bordeaux but now a days it is just an aesthetic choice of the wine maker. 

Eating grapes off the vine. 

Different shapes. Different colours.

Our lunch outside and wine tasting lingered on with a little too much fun that we didn't realize the time and had 15 minutes before the wineries closed. We rushed, running on little to no gas, to Cullen, a biodynamic vineyard I was interested in but no luck and then on to Vasse Felix, another one I wish we had been to. Just means another trip back!!

 We had to head back to Perth anyways, but not without a stop to the beach

spot the goober

 The area behind the sand used to be full of green bush, but there was a massive, dramatic fire that just swept through the area. It was pretty intense. 

still putting out the fire.

 and then another beach called Bunker Bay,

 classic, necessary foot shot.

 and then to the lighthouse.

 Beautiful sunset. Fun trip. I'm very thankful.

View on the way to the lighthouse. Lighthouses are sexy.

It's hard not to go for a run...

when you have this so close by...

unfortunately, only outside of 6am and 6pm is it cool enough to actually not faint from heat exhaustion.

 how much do you want to jump in right now?

 although i could literally sit and stare out into the ocean for hours, it's also a good excuse to take a break from my "run"

love awkwardness.

Why I am OK not being on America's East Coast right now.

Brr....

Oh wait, those aren't the same temperatures! That's in Celcius! 

Although 106 is quite hot, it wasn't so bad. 

I like the heat. 

Friday night was poker night, which meant Irish Car Bombs, grapefruit vodka nips, milkshakey coconut water in a fake coconut, coworkers, tequila shots, mango margaritas, and rides in shopping carts. Yes, that is what poker night means.

 i cannot afford this.

Saturday morning means a float in the Indian Ocean. Literally, we just floated, belly up. It tastes really salty. But it feels so good.

lunch on the beach. we were sitting there, until it got too hot.

Saturday also meant that the Fremantle Markets were open. The market had a variety of different stalls inside from fruit and veg stands, tacos, fresh juice, raw free-from-everything food,

grilled sausages, coffee, teas, spices, local honey, British candy, clothing, Aboriginal art, paintings, and all sorts of oddities.

I had a spiced apple taco which tasted like spiced apple sauce in a tortilla. It wasn't bad, I guess just not what I wanted, or expected, from a taco but the young maker said he invented it because it was so hot outside that people would walk by his stand eating cold, fresh foods and drinks, by-passing the hot tacos so he created the fresh apple taco as a cold treat - which, in that way, it was perfect - but could've been better with a bit more heat than sweet. 

 We stopped by Sail & Anchor, the winner of the best beer venue - obviously - for a beer from their choice of 43 beers on tap. I got the Gold Medal Royal Beer Show 2011 award winning Colonial Pale Ale - obviously - and JD go the Freo Doctor - named after the infamous wind that blows through Fremantle, cooling down the hot Australian summer air.

When ordering a beer, there are different names for the different sizes of glasses and these terms even change throughout Australia. In WA, there's a shetland which looks like a shot glass but who wants a shot of beer? then there's a middy which is a half pint, a pint, and a jug. I've also heard of a schooner. After one beer - obviously - we had to do the complimentary breathylzer test!

After wandering around Fremantle a bit, we came across the old Round House, the oldest building in Western Australia that used to house 8 prisoners at a time, although WA was not a convict state. There was a wedding going on, with pictures being taken around the Round House, and the guard in charge was not too keen on us entering in case they bride and groom wanted pictures inside. However, a long hug - and apparently a much needed one - changed her mind and she was all smiles and full of information about the place. 

This is my fav.

 It's great to be a charmer.