kangaroo and koalas

I took a little trip down under for work and it was awesome!

This is Perth. It's gorgeous and it sits around the Swan River. You can actually take a leisurley ferry boat to work (that tells you a little about how they feel about working). This is taken from the "Central Park" of Perth. It's up on the hill and is a large nature resrve with hiking trails and nature in general =)

The city is all outdoor and is full of little specialty shops. I actually passed a map store. Where else would a map store survive? The stores, even the grocery store, close at 5:30 everyday. They stay open "late" on Friday until 8:30. Here's a picture of the "mall." Yes, of course I found the mall. They said they hold votes every so many years to keep the stores open longer and it always fails to pass. They said it's a "culture saving mechanism."But Australia isn't about shopping, it's about being outside and hanging out. Hiking, biking, surfing, rowing. If it's on the water and outside, it's a major pastime. There are miles and miles (duh) o fblue water and white sand beach. The Indian Ocean is freaking freezing, especially in winter) but it's beautiful! The beach is a ten minute subway ride from downtown Perth

I was working all week, but I did manage to have a little fun on the weekend. The first day we took a trip down to Freemantle. This is where all of the original prisoners who came to build the British colonies were housed. I visited the prison here and had quite possible the worst tour guide in the history of the world. He read everything in his script (including the jokes) in complete monotone and then paused where we were supposed to laugh at the "jokes".. didn't work out so well. But I got to see the gallows where they hung 50 people or so. They kept this a working prison until 1994 with no working toilets! Two guys shared a cell and a bucket and they had to take it out in the yard to dump it out. G_ROSSSS. They were in the tiny cells all day and then had to hang out in this concrete square for 13 hours a day. Now THAT's what I call prison! The next day I got to check a bucket list item and pet a kangaroo in Australia. Cheesy, yes. Absoultely necessary- OF COURSE! Here it is- the money shot.

Evidently they scratch all the time, but I was a liiiitle iffy after this. Quick flea check!

We went to a wildlife refuge and got to hang out with a bazillion kangaroos, wallabies (small kangaroos) oalas, kookaburras, and the unexpected favorite.. the wombat.There were probably 50 kangaroos in an area where you can pet and feed them. The funniest thing about them is how they lay, propped up on their elbow. We also visited a local cemetery, kind of creepy yes, to see real "wild" kangaroos. This one had her Joey sticking out head first. This is really rare. Usually you just see a foot or a tail like this... kinda creepy!

You could also actually go in and pet the koalas. I was a little disappointed that I couldn't hug it, but I had to settle. They actually DO move.
And here's the wombat, I mean, really, there's no competition for favorite weird animal.
Now, just listen to the video and guess what it is..

Something exotic right.. no, it's a freaking crow. It looks exactly the same but somehow makes this horrendously annoying noise. And they're EVERYWHERE. If there was one bad thing about Perth (besides the 40 dollar breakfast) it was the freaking crows at 3 am outside my hotel window. I thought it was a wild herd of goats the first night. I asked where the goats were and the hotel staff looked at me like I was nuts.

It was a beautiful trip! Hard work, but lots of fun. I think we will definetly be back!