Adventures around the City

Last week as I walked through the park on my way to my play date with Saxon I spotted a large number of a particular type of spider. The strangest thing I've found is that they live very communally.

There were a couple of bunnies too that made me quite happy.

 

 Those spiders by the way are everywhere. They pick spots in peoples front gardens so that I'm always on guard for fear of walking into part of the web. This is a common way to spot them. It was about 2.5" to 3" big.

On Saturday Tom and I went around the corner to celebrate a friends birthday. While we sat outside I noticed a growing number of lorikeets next door. A plate of honey was brought out for them and within moments we were surrounded by colour.

After the initial chaos, two got very bossy and kicked the rest off the table just so one could eat. Then no one was willing to try to eat. 

I moved the plate over and after about an hour the lorikeets figured out how to get to it again. It was really lovely having them around and chatting amongst themselves.  I really wish there was a deck off my apartment now. I would totally set up a little lorikeet paradise.

I've also started an art project using embroidery. I found three canvases that were covered in some upholstery fabric a few weeks ago and came up with the idea of embroidering some sea creatures into the design. This one is a jellyfish that I'm hoping will look translucent when I'm finished. 

On this piece of fabric I'm going to put three jellies in total. The one I'm working on now is in the lower right. I drew these particular ones from pictures I took in at the aquarium. I'm really happy that I can use my own photos for my work.

On Sunday Tom and I went to Cogee beach. I've been wanting to do this for a while because the bus that goes straight to the beach has a stop directly in front of the apartment. Sweet! The beach was fantastic, there was a park that was full of people playing cricket, rugby and when we left drums (they drew a huge crowd). The beach was full but not packed and to Tom's delight there were waves! The water was probably around 25º, a beautiful green and if I didn't jump some of the waves would have gone about 2 ft over my head. There was even a natural water pool for people who wanted a more relaxing dip. I had a pretty funny experience when it dawned on me that wading into the water and jumping in the waves was just like playing in the indoor waves pools at home. I realized for the first time that those artificial waves were meant to simulate this beach experience. Clearly I come from a land of cold lakes and rivers. Another aspect that I found hilarious was that Tom totally loves body surfing, and a it turns out so does every other man in Oz. It wouldn't matter how tough looking or stylish they were, waves would revert them back to grinning boys immediately. Every time Tom jumped into a wave to body surf and I'd turn to watch him zoom off I notice mostly only women still in the water. Then a second later a line of mens heads would pop up by the shore all shaking the water out off their eyes before running back to catch the next wave. It was very funny. I have no picture however because I didn't want to worry about my camera getting sand in it or being borrowed with out my permission. I am hoping to get back to Cogee very soon though.