It’s been almost a week since we’ve arrived in Australia, and it has gone by quickly. We have managed to get a lot up on our blog, but there are some things that we haven’t shared yet…

As we mentioned earlier, upon arriving we stayed with Whit’s sixth cousin, James, and his family. We spent two nights at their (lovely) home while recovering from our long flights. The two days we were there were well spent, getting to know the Ride family and experiencing daily life in Perth.

We initially arrived at their home in the evening, stinky and tired from travelling yet grateful for their hospitality. This is when we met the girls - Elizabeth (11), Georgina (8), and Charlotte (5). The following day and evening we got to know them well. We started off by riding along with the girls and their mother Lisa, to school. And we didn’t just drop them off, we got a full-on tour of the school and each of the girl’s classrooms.

Afterwards, Lisa took us to Cottlesloe beach. It was pretty windy that day, but still really beautiful. Then we rode to the market to pick up some things for dinner that night, where our friends Cara and Mike from Texas would be joining us. We also ran a quick errand before returning to the house for coffee.

Before Lisa went to pick the girls up from school, she dropped us at the airport to meet Cara and Mike, as well as our friend Ross. They made arrangements for a hotel that night, where we went to from the hotel so they could shower before dinner. We then rang James who was getting off work and he picked us up from the hotel.

This is where it got crazy. We arrived back at the house and the girls were full of energy. There would be dinner for nine of us - grilled salmon, corn, and sweet potatoes, as well as salad with pears and goat cheese, and sauteed bok choy - yummy! As we prepared dinner, Whit showed the girls some of his magic tricks - who were completely in awe.
—– Claire has fallen asleep mid blog, So I am taking over —–

Having Tank and Cara over was great fun. We don’t get to see them to often and having them around is always a treat, having them around with family in Perth was amazing! Like Claire said the dinner was fantastic as was the company. The girls practiced their magic tricks and tried them on everyone multiple times (as well as on their friends the next few days of school I hear.). The girls were put to bed (although I presume they stayed up practicing card and coin tricks under their covers for a few hours) and the evening conversation was of American and world polotics. Soon Tank couldn’t keep his head up because of his jetlag, so we took them both back to their hotel. Claire and I stayed up with James and Lisa for a little longer that evening, then crashed and had a good long sleep. (We seem to wake up between 6 and 7am every morning, the sun is out quite early.)

The next day Charlotte decided she was to tired to go to school so she stayed home and we made mulberry/lemonade. Charlotte knows all about mulberry bushes and was happy to give me lessons about which mulberries were the best and how to keep your hands clean (which she explained quite well but couldn’t manage to do.) After some tea/ coffee and lunch we were dropped off at our Hotel and began to meet up with some of our teammates. We went out to dinner with Cara and a few of her teammates, ate at the steps of a near by museum then walked back to their Hotel. The evening ended with Claire and I walking 45 min from their Hotel to ours.

This was our first few days in Perth. It has been a ride to say the least, but has been a blast through and through.