Our First Week in Perth,Australia - Our new Home!

Our new house in North Perth

We arrived in Perth on January 12th at about 4:30 p.m. After a few long lines through customs and baggage inspection, we finally walked through the arrival doors and were greeted by Steve, a good friend of the Tippings. It was 40 degrees and when we stepped outside we were hit by a wall of heat that almost took your breath away. Tom says it felt like a guy was following us around with two hairdryers blowing at the "scorch" setting. It didn't take us long to  cram our luggage into Steve's Statesman and we were on our way.

Scarborough Beach - Big Waves!

Daddy and Silka getting ready to Boogie Board on Scarborough Beach

 When we arrived at the house we were welcomed by close friends of the Tippings, Cindee & Chris and their kids, Georgia and Jackson. They were wonderful! They all stayed and had a drink or two with us - Steve is a fountain of information and it was great to get the inside scoop and some history about the city. When they left we all fell into bed exhausted from jet-lag.

The E-Shed Market in Freemantle, south of Perth

How would you like your Ostrich Egg?

Sword swallowing pirate in Freemantle

We spent our first full day doing laundry and unpacking. In the afternoon we headed for the beach - Scarborough Beach. It was beautiful and they just happened to have the Western Australia Beach Volleyball Championships going on in the outdoor Amphitheatre on the beach. The waves were big and intimidating so we didn't do much swimming.

Hangin' out at Mettam's Pools

The next few days we spent touring around different areas and checking out other more kid-friendly beaches which weren't hard to find.
We got a quick glimpse of Freemantle, a town south of Perth, which is really funky. We will be spending more time there.
The kids have spent some time at the neighborhood  playground and have met some of their classmates. There is a cafe right there which is great for Mom and Dad.
Rein has cashed in his "Santa Coupon" and got a skateboard. Silka has yet to decide.
We had Steven Tipping's parents over for dinner last night and they are great people. Silka and Harvey hit it off.