Rudeness? I can’t be sure.
Today we (meaning the whole gang, plus a very nice family of 4 from Altlanta/Singapore) took a fabulous tour of the highlights of Perth and surrounding areas. It was a wonderful day – even Sally was on her best behaviour.
(note the Australian spelling of behaviour :-)
Ron took us around to all sorts of places, starting with the Caversham Wildlife Park (pronounced: Paaak, think Boston accent) where we got to feed the kangaroos, pet the koalas, held the wombat and heard the kookaburra (among other things). The highlight for Sally was a camel ride – short albeit exciting, as that was a dang tall camel and she was riding high!
Next it was off to an Aboriginal Art centre, where we learned how to throw a boomerang (can I just tell you that I kicked ass? I was the best boomerang thrower out there, apart from our guide Lyall). The centre (which also appeared to be a farm) was run by Lyall, who was a delightfully patient man (with the boomering-throwing, for sure -- I think Andy and Michael accidentally boomeranged his tree more than once). The gift shop was top notch, we bought some goodies and a natural stone that is only found here in Australia: Mookaite. Bought several pieces, and a darling book for Sal-Sal.
Then we headed to the Edgecombe Brothers winery, where we sampled about 6 wines and bought a few bottles (plus the most delicious mandarin oranges I’ve ever tasted). We even got to sample a muscat wine, served with a muscat fortified (brandy) wine over the top. The Chocolate Factory was next – where we took the phrase “sample anything you like” absolutely seriously. Dark chocolate covered crystallized ginger – yum yum yum. Bought some olive tapanade (to go with all the wine) and some onion thyme marmalade (yeah baby!) along with some liquer truffles. Tasty! All of this was in the Swan Valley, a beautiful place named for the Swan River that is shaped exactly like (you guessed it) a swan.
Next it was off to a pottery gallery, where we got to watch the potter make a hunny pot (I’m spelling it that way, because it was shaped exactly like Winnie the Pooh’s “hunny” pot). Sally knew right off the bat what it was – she was so enthralled with watching the potter.
Then we went to Ron (the driver)’s house for a real Australian BBQ. Ron and his mom threw some lamb chops and sausages on the barbie, and we ate rice, salad and some delicious new potatoes. Then we had homemade apple pie a la mode and tea for dessert. Yum!
Ron and his mum were excellent hosts, and we had a lovely time. The family we met was just delightful – Michael (13), Ivy (Michael’s mum), “M” (Ivy’s sister) and Lily (M and Ivy’s mum). They were wonderful conversationalists and very friendly – and they took to Sally as though she was their kin. We just tend to meet the best people, wherever we go! What's interesting is that the tour guide says he *never* gets 2 groups from America at the same time.
The last stop on the trip was a ferry ride across the Swan River – lovely views of downtown Perth.
What a spectacular day!
Oh, I suppose you might be wondering about the title of this post “Rudeness? I can’t be sure.”
Well, while we were at Ron’s for our barbie, I noticed there was no salad dressing for the salad. So I asked Ron, and his response was, “Of course there’s no salad dressing! This is a real Asutralian bar-be-cue, and you get what you get! We’ve got heaps of salad dressing, but I’m not gonna give you any. You didn’t travel all this way to do exactly what you’d do at home, did you? If so, there’s no point in leaving home, is there?”
He also made some comment about how it’s better to taste the flavors of the food, and not the salad dressing. I think he even went so far as to suggest that I shouldn’t let Sally have ranch dressing on her raw veggies.
Hmmm.
Sure, he was smiling while he said all of it, but it kind of left me wondering if it was rude of me to ask for salad dressing. But then, I also thought maybe he was kind of rude to respond so dramatically. I mean really, if this wasn’t a bush meal, right? If you can get fresh lettuce, you can get a bit of lemon juice and olive oil, ay?
Ah, well, no worries. Maybe neither one of us was rude, and it was just a minor blip in an otherwise perfect day.
Tomorrow we’re headed to some food and wine fest at the Perth convention center. Sounds yummy.
(note the Australian spelling of behaviour :-)
Ron took us around to all sorts of places, starting with the Caversham Wildlife Park (pronounced: Paaak, think Boston accent) where we got to feed the kangaroos, pet the koalas, held the wombat and heard the kookaburra (among other things). The highlight for Sally was a camel ride – short albeit exciting, as that was a dang tall camel and she was riding high!
Next it was off to an Aboriginal Art centre, where we learned how to throw a boomerang (can I just tell you that I kicked ass? I was the best boomerang thrower out there, apart from our guide Lyall). The centre (which also appeared to be a farm) was run by Lyall, who was a delightfully patient man (with the boomering-throwing, for sure -- I think Andy and Michael accidentally boomeranged his tree more than once). The gift shop was top notch, we bought some goodies and a natural stone that is only found here in Australia: Mookaite. Bought several pieces, and a darling book for Sal-Sal.
Then we headed to the Edgecombe Brothers winery, where we sampled about 6 wines and bought a few bottles (plus the most delicious mandarin oranges I’ve ever tasted). We even got to sample a muscat wine, served with a muscat fortified (brandy) wine over the top. The Chocolate Factory was next – where we took the phrase “sample anything you like” absolutely seriously. Dark chocolate covered crystallized ginger – yum yum yum. Bought some olive tapanade (to go with all the wine) and some onion thyme marmalade (yeah baby!) along with some liquer truffles. Tasty! All of this was in the Swan Valley, a beautiful place named for the Swan River that is shaped exactly like (you guessed it) a swan.
Next it was off to a pottery gallery, where we got to watch the potter make a hunny pot (I’m spelling it that way, because it was shaped exactly like Winnie the Pooh’s “hunny” pot). Sally knew right off the bat what it was – she was so enthralled with watching the potter.
Then we went to Ron (the driver)’s house for a real Australian BBQ. Ron and his mom threw some lamb chops and sausages on the barbie, and we ate rice, salad and some delicious new potatoes. Then we had homemade apple pie a la mode and tea for dessert. Yum!
Ron and his mum were excellent hosts, and we had a lovely time. The family we met was just delightful – Michael (13), Ivy (Michael’s mum), “M” (Ivy’s sister) and Lily (M and Ivy’s mum). They were wonderful conversationalists and very friendly – and they took to Sally as though she was their kin. We just tend to meet the best people, wherever we go! What's interesting is that the tour guide says he *never* gets 2 groups from America at the same time.
The last stop on the trip was a ferry ride across the Swan River – lovely views of downtown Perth.
What a spectacular day!
Oh, I suppose you might be wondering about the title of this post “Rudeness? I can’t be sure.”
Well, while we were at Ron’s for our barbie, I noticed there was no salad dressing for the salad. So I asked Ron, and his response was, “Of course there’s no salad dressing! This is a real Asutralian bar-be-cue, and you get what you get! We’ve got heaps of salad dressing, but I’m not gonna give you any. You didn’t travel all this way to do exactly what you’d do at home, did you? If so, there’s no point in leaving home, is there?”
He also made some comment about how it’s better to taste the flavors of the food, and not the salad dressing. I think he even went so far as to suggest that I shouldn’t let Sally have ranch dressing on her raw veggies.
Hmmm.
Sure, he was smiling while he said all of it, but it kind of left me wondering if it was rude of me to ask for salad dressing. But then, I also thought maybe he was kind of rude to respond so dramatically. I mean really, if this wasn’t a bush meal, right? If you can get fresh lettuce, you can get a bit of lemon juice and olive oil, ay?
Ah, well, no worries. Maybe neither one of us was rude, and it was just a minor blip in an otherwise perfect day.
Tomorrow we’re headed to some food and wine fest at the Perth convention center. Sounds yummy.
2 Comments:
At 7:01 PM, Amy S. Grant said…
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Folks, this post has been modified -- apparently, I used some Aussie slang that I was later informed was derogatory and insulting. Whoops! MY BAD! The offensive language has since been removed, and a valuable lesson is posted on my other blog at http://tinyurl.com/b5hbe (see post entitled: When in Rome...Learn the Lingo).
At 12:29 AM, wabound said…
Dear Amy Thank you for removing that racist and insulting sentance from your newsletter. You can write whatever you like about me, I have been around too long to let ammitor journism worry me. The world would be a much better place if people like yourself who possibly have the opportunity to influence others could focus on love and friendship rather than money. Let me tell you at your young age so that you don't have to wait till you get to my older age to realise, wealth is a poor substitue for health and I reffer to both physical and mental health. Rather than just turn your back on New Oleans and run to another money grabbing part of the country, don't you think you would have been a better family to have helped some of those less fortunate ones that are still struggling in New Orleans. Well maybe next time your in Perth we can spend a day on the Indian Ocean aboard my beautiful steel ketch "Sommerset" and let nature reflesh your mind and soul, as it does for me so often....till then God bless you and your family and friends........Ron
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