A weekend of waiting for weather to arrive

On Friday all the talk was of Tropical Cyclone Bianca to arrive in the SW on Sunday.

Saturday brought intense humidity and extreme heat. Just perfect conditions for working outside to clear away random crap in preparation for the cyclone.  I was utterly drained at the end of the day.

I spent the entire time wondering if Sunday's (10km qualifier for first-time Rotto solos) swim would be happening.  When a later arrival for the cyclone was forecast, I was all 'right, it will be on'!  Cue a quick supply run - carbo gels, gatorade, seasickness tablets.  And much worrying about how much energy I'd already expended that day.  I needn't have worried - at about 4.30pm the organisers cancelled the race. 

So, of course, on Sunday morning there was no sign of a cyclone, except for the still extreme heat and humidity. Even worse, the ocean looked just fine.

From the archives I

You know how you have all those folders of hundreds of photos that never really see the light of day?  I'm going to liberate some of my favourites.



After rain: at Leith & Chris' wedding in Youngs Siding, April 2010



Perth's very own Spiegeltent

In our Perth Cultural Centre wanderings we spied, at the end of the Urban Orchard, a Spiegeltent being constructed.  Being a little waterlogged, this was the first I'd heard of Fringeworld, a precursor to the fully fledged Fringe Festival in 2012.  Some great shows between the 4th and 26th February, and some might even finish early enough for me!

I first fell in love with a Spiegeltent, and the intact 20s/30s sensibility, at the Edinburgh Festival in the mid-90s.

Source: http://www.spiegeltent.net/

And now Perth has one of its very own! Called 'The Pearl', built in 1905 and toured through Europe for decades.

We watched, for just a moment, the construction process and admired the afternoon light streaming through the stained glass windows.

T's lovely photo of the coloured light

Just to prove...

... that I'm not entirely obsessed with swimming and that I do, in fact, have other interests...  T and I went into the city last Friday to see the Peggy Guggenheim exhibition. Which was small but fabulous and gifted me an extremely surrealist dream that night.  I think this painting was responsible:



Max Ernst 'The Attirement of the Bride'
Source: http://www.fantasyarts.net/



This painting may have also contributed:

Victor Brauner 'The Surrealist'
Source: http://www.terminartors.com/

So we also wandered around the new-ish Urban Orchard outside the Art Gallery, which has transformed a brutalist concrete space into a thriving productive edible garden.  It is all completely open and (surprisingly?) seems not to have been vandalised or damaged.

And the formerly bland concrete water feature nearby, is in the process of becoming a wetland.

Hats off to EPRA! 

The big swim

So I started this blog with a vague idea of chronicling our move from city to country via 6 months in a fancy beachside suburb. 

But right now life is really all about THE SWIM.  In just four weeks I am swimming around 20km from Cottesloe Beach to Rottnest Island...



Source: http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2010/02/20/2825527.htm

Every time I think of it, or I’m asked about it, a [flock?] of little butterflies take flight in my chest.  If it is like this now, what will I be like the day before? Or in the morning?  I won’t be swimming, I’ll be flying thanks to the SWARMS of butterflies.