Sunday, May 13

I will start out by saying Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful mother :) I wish I could be home to celebrate. Anyway, Friday night two of my American friends were celebrating their 21st birthdays so we went to their flats and then into the city. 21st birthdays are a big deal in Australia and usually Aussies will have big parties with their family and friends to celebrate. It kind of symbolises becoming an adult here. Saturday evening Kerryn and I took the train into the city and walked around downtown Perth. In Northbridge, a close suburb of Perth, they had an outside movie theatre showing the movie The Goonies. We decided to get kebabs and sit on bean bags there to watch the movie. It was really nice weather and very relaxing. Today Kerryn, my flatmate Emma and I headed to Swan Valley which is about half an hour out of the city. The Swan Valley is located along the Swan River and is known for its vineyards and wineries. We first stopped at a chocolate factory where they had free samples and we could watch them make the chocolate. After that we stopped in a winery for wine and cheese tasting. We also got to walk around the and look at the vines. Then, we headed to a place that had honey samples and an area where you could watch the bees. Next, we headed to the WA Reptile Park. We got to hold lizards and snakes. The guy placed the snakes on our shoulders and then we just let it do whatever it wanted. After a while I wasn't scared and was able to move the snake around. It even slithered up my face and licked my nose! We also got to see dingos, kangaroos, crocodiles and peacocks. There is plenty to do in the Swan Valley that we couldn't do all today so we might head back to do more tours.