Καλή Παρασκευή.....

I went to see a French movie at Cinema Paradiso in Northbridge yesterday called The Intouchables, if I was a critic I'd give it 11 out of 10 stars for entertainment value and recommend it as a 'must see', it was hilarious! On the way back to the car I stopped to take a few shots of the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of St Constantine & Helen on Parker Street. Back in 1911 the Commonwealth Census numbered the Greek community in WA at 323 males and 12 females, a small group who, finding the conditions hostile and very different from their homeland, took refuge in their religion. This church built in the Byzantine style, after much community fundraising, was consecrated in April 1937 and later proclaimed a cathedral in May 1972. I'm happy to say the Greek community in 2012 is happily flourishing in Perth and all are benefiting from the exchange of culture and traditions. Happy Friday, hope it's a good one, take care.....

Shipwrecked.....

Since way back in 1622 over fourteen hundred vessels have come to grief off the coast of WA. A treacherous coastline for ships not equipped to predict and navigate the reefs and wild weather every trip would have been a major ordeal back then. The wreck of the Centaur (really interesting link with the tragic tale as it unfolded) lies under seven to nine metres of water in the Marmion Marine Park on the south eastern side of Centaur Reef. Aimee and I pass this lookout every time we do the coast walk, but it was only when P and I passed this way on Sunday, with the crazy wild weather that it seemed exactly the right time to take these shots and imagine what it must have been like back in 1874 when the Centaur with it's load of lead ore (that wouldn't have helped) hit the reef and started to sink. Luckily all aboard survived, but I bet they got a lot wetter than I did when taking these shots! Happy Thursday, keep dry and stay safe. p.s. I wonder if the builders of the Centaur made an unwise decision to have a male bust figurehead....just saying!

Perth Arena lll, Eternity Puzzle.....

The first thing that catches the eye when you walk through the doors to the new Perth Arena is a multi faceted mirror installation above head height playing ever changing images. Going up the stairs to the first level it was nice to find a respite from the blue in the warm wood paneled walkway and entering in through gate 20 we started the long climb to the top.....

The arena has a 15,500 person capacity and the design is based on the Eternity Puzzle, reading the blurb I discovered that it has the largest solar panel array in Perth with the ability to generate up to 111kw of power thus giving it a 'low environmental footprint' sounds good to me! The stadium has a retractable roof for events such as the the Hopman Cup (check out who'll be coming to play), and even for the grand opening this Saturday night the Elton John concert is advertised as an 'under the stars' affair, well we'll see about that, it hasn't stopped raining for days, a soggy Elton John would not be a pretty sight haha! We climbed right up to row X and I've got to tell you my 'vertigo' tum did a few lurches on the way down, the angle seemed a tad steep to moi, what do you think! There are many more venues to this arena, which if you are interesting in seeing you can follow the arena link at the beginning. I will say this, when la Tour Eiffel first went up it was and still is to some Parisians, considered an eyesore, the same with the Sydney Opera House, both now world renowned structures, perhaps the new arena will become Perth's iconic landmark. I hope so, many uniquely WA products were used in the features. I hope your week is going to plan, take care and stay safe.....

Perth Arena ll, le grand pineapple.....!

Well from some angles it's more 'grand' than others. From this position above as it stands alone and in relation to the passers-by the 10 metre high Totem created by Perth born artist Geoffrey Drake-Brockman is and does look tres grand, but below with the enormous structure of the arena in the background it proves without doubt that size is relative! I'm very much looking forward to seeing it in the evening when it projects laser beams onto the side of the arena which will be visible from several spots in the city, our very own 'La Tour Eiffel' .. Oh la! la! a little (?) less chic but a lot more funky. The Totem has had a fair amount of negativity since going up, but personally I think it's fun and sits in perfect harmony with the equally 'out there' design of the arena oui!  We're going inside tomorrow, so see you in there, hope your week has started well, take care and stay safe.....

Perth Arena Opening I, the crowds.....

When I posted this shot of the Perth Arena a few weeks back it looked like it was going to be touch and go as to whether it would be ready by opening night next weekend on the 10th November, and although there is still some 'tidying up' to be done it did open this Saturday night for a free concert featuring local bands and yesterday it was part of the 'Open House Perth' weekend, most of which I missed because of all times to get a monster headache it would be this weekend. I was determined to get in at least one of the buildings on the list and despite the foul weather, thousands of Perthites had the same idea. I confess we didn't wait in the queue for the opening at 11am, we sat in Fast Eddy's Cafe and had brunch watching the crowds standing waiting down there on the corner in the rain, made sense to me haha! I'll show you the inside tomorrow, it's really.....blue!!  Hope you've had a fab weekend, will catch up tomorrow, take care. p.s. aren't the jacarandas gorgeous.....!!

Mirror mirror...who's the fairest of them all.....!

If you check out the map of the Perth Zoo you'll see that just before you exit the zoo there's a small lake, which I find impossible to bypass no matter how many times I've been to the zoo. Amongst the other birds and creatures that abide in this watery haven are the Percy Pelicans. I love them, they are weird and wonderful creatures and look twice as nice in their reflections, each time I hope to catch one either landing or taking off, but as yet no luck, next time I might just be patient and actually sit and wait, camera at the  ready! I quite liked this 'Percy and pal' shot below, we could learn a lesson or two about living in harmony oui! If you're 'hanging' with a pal this weekend, enjoy, take care and stay safe.....

Wedding guests and spring showers.....

If you're looking for something a little different for your wedding day you can't go past the Perth Zoo, this has got to be one of the most fun venues that you could find for your special day and if you check out the photo sessions you'll get an idea of what sort of wedding photos you could have to look back on. I caught a glimpse of this wedding being set up as we were leaving the zoo on Sunday, and parked just around the corner in preparation for a quick getaway was the 'Bat Mobile' aka Central Park Limousine's  Chrysler 300C Asanti complete with Lamborghini vertical doors. I must admit half an hour later as we were driving home along the freeway and the rain bucketed down most unexpectedly I did wonder how it was all going back there...ah the joys of spring weather! Did this week fly by as quickly for you, I mean literally ziiiiiiip! Happy Friday, hope it's a good one, take care..p.s. I'm sure you'll agree with me when I say how fantastic it is to have the new CDP back, it's so accessible and easy to use, I can only imagine how much work it has taken to get here, and I really wanted 'those that did' to know just how much we appreciate it, cheers mate and merci beaucoup.....!

I'd be more  than happy to share my wedding photos with these two canoodling pussy cats.....!