Adventures living as expats.

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Christmas Down Under 2014

I realized today that its been over a month now since we left for our Christmas trip to Perth and I have yet to update the blog!   I can't seem to stop procrastinating.   Since we weren't able to go home for the Holidays, this trip was all about unwinding and enjoy the things that we used to take for granted in America but rarely get to do now in Jakarta.

We flew into Perth a few days before Christmas and opted to stay just outside of Perth in Fremantle – a smaller town with great food, an outdoor lifestyle, and one of Jeffs favorite Australian breweries, Little Creatures.  Fremantle is a very walkable town with cute shops, great cafes, and beautiful parks and beaches.  
Courtyard outside our AirBnB
Jeff getting his fix of IPA
Cool art in Fremantle
On Christmas day we tried to distract ourselves from missing the family by taking a ferry to Rottnest Island.  We spent the day racing bikes around the island, playing on the beach, and snorkeling in what felt like subzero water for these 2 tropical island inhabitants.    

Can water get any clearer than this?
One of the many beautiful beaches on Rottnest Island
Bathurst lighthouse on Rottnest
Next we headed down towards the famous wine region of Margaret River.  Instead of fighting the Christmas crowds, we stayed at a cute farm outside of a small town called Manjimup – home of the pink lady apple and one of the biggest producers of black truffles.  Wine and truffle tasting was absolutely a highlight of the trip and now we know why people love these these spendy delicacies.  
One of our favorite stops for wine tasting
Based on a recommendation from our AirBnB hosts, we headed south to check out the walk amongst the giant red tingle trees.  Theyve created a series of walking bridges at about 40m up so you can really appreciate just how massive these beautiful trees are.  We were cautioned by the staff initially that only 20 people could be on each section at a time.  I had a bit of a panic halfway through when a large group of non-English speaking tourists (I'll let you guess the nationality) came piling up behind us making little notice of the weight limits.  Jeff thought my overreaction was quite hilarious and continued to tease me for a few days afterwards.


These bridges really start to swing around with people walking on them!
Safely on the ground again under a giant Red Tingle tree
Jeff was pretty pumped when I told him he could change his nickname to "Red Tingle"

The 6 day trip seemed to really fly by, but getting a break from the pollution and traffic of Jakarta is always well worth it.  Next up we're on our way to Middle-earth in February, let the count down begin.  See you there Frodo Baggins!