Lucy in the sky...

Today my friend Leah and I headed into Freo for some parasailing, and luckily the weather cooperated! Though it was a bit chilly, about 65 degrees, the sun was out and it was a clear, calm day to be on the water. Although our parasailing ride was only about 10-15 minutes, we were on the boat for about an hour and a half. It was the first time I've been on a boat out in the Perth area and that alone would have made for a great trip. We decided to do the tandem parasail as a way to save a little money and have someone to share the experience with.

smooth sailing

lucy in the sky...

We decided to take a disposable camera up with us and grab some shots of the surrounding area, and ourselves of course. We couldn't see quite as far inland into Freo as we thought we would be able to, but the views of the ocean were amazing.

looking out to sea

looking back to Freo

It was a fun little trip, and yet another thing that can get checked off my to-do list! We spent the rest of the day, while waiting for our photos to get developed, at Little Creatures just soaking up the sun and writing postcards. Another great Saturday afternoon in Freo!

Yesterday the CIEE study abroad group headed out to Yanchep National Park for the Aboriginal Experience tour. We were shown some of the native plants and their uses, weapons and how they are made, learned a dance, and got a didgeridoo performance.

The park is on a lake and there is ample room to spread out and have a picnic on the grassy area around the lake. We brought all the supplies to have, what will probably be my last, barbi.

views of the lake

After the barbi we went on a tour of the crystal caves, and seeing as how I love caves, this was probably the highlight of the day for me.

The caves used to have water in them, as most caves do and require water for their formation. But because of the drought-like conditions over the last 20 years, the huge population growth in the Perth area, and just a general increase in water usage....there is no water here. The water issue is a pretty big one here, but there aren't usually such apparent signs of how much of a crisis it is. I don't think I've ever been in a cave where they have had to pump some water in both for the tourists, but also to support an endangered species of amphipod that requires water to live in the cave.

This last set of photos was taken of the same area in the cave, where the roof gets much lower to the ground really quickly. We were only allowed to get so close, but they showed us the view with two different lighting effects. The one on the left uses more energy efficient lighting that also doesn't produce as much heat, and the one on the right is the standard lighting found throughout the rest of the cave.