I recognize and respect the Traditional custodians and owners of the lands that I travelled through and their connection to the lands, waters and skies. I honor and respect the community elders and …
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I recognize and respect the Traditional custodians and owners of the lands that I travelled through and their connection to the lands, waters and skies. I honor and respect the community elders and their ancestors who survived and cared for their countries.
On December 18, we got up and while Ainsley worked on one of her school finals, Mum, Emily, and I went to the Cape Lavender Tea House. After a little bit, Mum, Dad, Emily, Ainsley, and I headed to Ngilgi Cave. The whole Margaret River region has caves that are unique. Most cave systems come from limestone that has been deposited at the bottom of oceans, but these cave’s limestone comes from it being blown in from shallow sea beds during an ice age. The Ngilgi Cave is especially important to the local aboriginals and has stunning Karst features. After doing a walk-through of this remarkable cave, we met the others in Busselton where we swam for a bit before having dinner at Shelter with ice cream for dessert before going back and packing a little bit.
The next day, the 19th, I woke up and saw two kangaroos on the paths outside of our house. Once everyone was awake, we packed up to head back up north to Perth. Mum rode with us girls, we met up with the others in Fremantle for lunch at a Korean Barbecue place whose waiters were robots. My cold had gotten a lot worse over that day, so I was a little dejected. After lunch everyone split up to their new abodes. We had a quiet evening and picked up food from Mandoon Estate where my parents were staying at.
December 20th, was the day of my cousin’s wedding. My sisters and I went for brunch at New Ritual in Midlands before returning to our rooms and slowly getting ready for the wedding that was being held on the Mandoon Estate. The day of the wedding was very warm, a toasty 97°. The pre-wedding drinks consisted of champagne and lots of water. It was a beautiful ceremony. Afterwards there were canapés and pictures. Including one with all of the Gilmore Clan. The last time that we had all of my cousins together, it was for my mom and uncle’s birthday party in 2008. The food and reception were amazing. There was so much food. And it was really warm, since it was outside, but it was really lovely. We were seated with the other Gilmore cousins. After dinner there was the traditional dancing and more mingling of everyone, catching up with all of the family. Towards the end of the night, as things were wrapping up, they brought out chips and pizza. But since, most of the immediate family was still recovering from a cold, we had an early night.
The next morning, the 21st, my parents were moving their stuff to the cabin that my sisters and I were sharing for a day. To help, Emily and I went over to the Mandoon Estate, where we had to make a call back to the States to receive some heartbreaking news about one of our pets. It put a damper on the rest of the day. We got the parents settled in their new place before returning to the Estate for a “Recovery Lunch” with the family. That afternoon we left my Dad with the family at Mandoon Estate while my Mum, sisters and I headed out to do some shopping in the Swan Valley. The Swan Valley is a beautiful area of the Perth region that has fertile soil which allowed for agriculture to take hold. The Swan Valley is known for its wineries, produce stands, microbreweries, and a couple of distilleries in addition to promoting itself as a tourism hotspot.
Our first stop was to Morish Nuts and Mondo Nougat. These places are well known on the tourist trail. Because it was such a warm day, we decided to stop at the cafe there for some cool drinks. Our next stop was the House of Honey, a shop that specialized in mead, bee trinkets, and all things honey or bee related. We stopped by a shopping center to pick up dinner and some produce before going and picking Dad up and returning to our room.
The next day, we moved locations again, this time to an apartment in Subiaco. Once we moved our stuff, we returned to my aunt and uncle’s where there was a get together for my mum’s old friends and family. We spent most of the afternoon talking and eating snacks and staying out of the sun. It was really warm that day, so all of the snacks were ones that wouldn’t go off. The casual party didn’t end until almost nine o’clock and we were all exhausted and needed rest for our next day.
The 23rd started with meeting several of the cousins at Mosmon Beach with their dogs for an early morning swim. After we returned to our apartment to shower we headed off to Hillarys to meet Jakob, Amanda and Jack. Before we met up with them, we got kebabs at one of the shops there. We met the others at the Aquarium. The Aquarium of Western Australia at Hillarys boasts the longest underwater tunnel. My nephew was fascinated by the sharks and rays. He was too little to reach much in the touch pool, so I got to help him touch the starfish. After the Aquarium we got ice cream from the Milk Barrel before returning to our apartment. Afterwards, we got takeout from Nando’s.
Christmas Eve rolled around but it didn’t really feel like Christmas Eve. While my brother and his family decided to spend the day on Rottnest Island, the rest of us spent the morning shopping for Christmas the next day. After a lunch of meat pies, we headed off to the Museum of Western Australia - Boola Bardip. Boola Bardip means ‘many stories’ in the Whadjuk Nyoongar language, which is the traditional country where the Museum sits. And the Museum tries to emulate. As much as my sisters and I went to the museum two years ago, my parents didn’t and they update exhibits every so often.
We started at the special temporary exhibit Spinifex Peoples. This exhibit showed rarely seen artwork from a people who have lived in their country for over 20,000 years and are still trying to fight for their rights to be acknowledged. The connection with the land and country is a huge part of the Spinifex Peoples way of life and is reflected in their artwork. Some of the paintings are collaborative works with other artists which is a special, spiritual process for those involved and is reflective of their storytelling of the Dreamtime. Dreamtime is the basis of their spiritual beliefs and connects them to their land, their ancestors, and their descendants. The Dreaming is how their understanding of the world is shaped.
After we toured that exhibit we went on to look at the Innovations and Reflections exhibits which showed the inventions and how the culture evolved since Western Australia was colonized by the Europeans. We looked at Otto, a Blue Whale skeleton, before moving on to look at the Wild Life exhibit which showed the richness and variety of Australia’s biodiversity and how it’s evolved over millions of years including impressive fossils of megafauna which used to roam Australia before going extinct several thousand years ago. Once we finished in the Museum store, we headed back to our apartment where we learned that my sister-in-law’s mother took a nasty fall on Rottnest. We met up with the others for dinner at an Indian Restaurant near the hospital that they took her to. At the restaurant, I got into a tickle war with my nephew while his parents were distracted by the accident and the subsequent care. We returned to our apartment where I made my dish to pass for Christmas the next day.
Christmas Day didn’t feel like Christmas. Apart from missing our own traditions, we weren’t staying with anyone, so we missed their traditions. We had a low-key morning before going over to the house where Christmas dinner was being held. We arrived at the Dalkeith house which has enough room for the 50 people that were expected for Christmas. We got there shortly before noon and over the next hour, everybody else trickled in. In a separate cooler trailer, there was drinks, alcoholic and non-alcoholic. There were prawns, oysters, and crayfish as appetizers. Before the main meal we did a ‘Stealing Santa.’ It’s similar to White Elephant and runs by the same rules, but instead of gifts that you don’t want, its ones that you do want. Coming from Wisconsin, we knew that our present to bring had to be something from our home state. Our contributions included, a Wisconsin shaped cheeseboard, a United States jigsaw puzzle, a Packers shirt, a Brewers shirt, and a Bucks shirt. It was a fun event and everybody seemed quite happy with what they received.
Then there was Christmas dinner. It was served buffet style with each family bringing a dish to share in addition to the main meal. So much food that we ate outside on the patio where there was enough space to accommodate everyone. Part of the tradition included popping Christmas Crackers and wearing the funny hats and enjoying the little trinkets. After the main meal, the kids got to open their secret Santa gifts and played in fake snow. We also took a very Midwest tradition to share with our Australian relatives. The first was that we took a bunch of pickle ornaments and explained their meaning and what Santa does. Those with kids really loved the idea. The second was three special cardinal ornaments to share with my mom’s siblings and explained that the cardinal represents those who have passed. After that people trickled off or started playing Jenga and catching up with everyone. We eventually said our own goodbyes and left, knowing that we would need sleep for the next day.
Boxing Day found us dropping Dad off at my aunt and uncle’s to watch the Cricket Test Match. The other four of us headed to the zoo to meet my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew. Some of the cousins with kids also joined us. We started by visiting the little penguins and amphibians before going to the playground area to wait for more cousins. My nephew was okay with the Australian Crows until they got too close to him. After everybody arrived, we wandered through the Australian Bushland part of the zoo and then the Australian Rainforest before lunch. We had lunch at the zoo’s cafe and then took a stroll through their African Savanna. Most of the kids had to leave after lunch for naps. The zoo’s two elephants are being moved soon to a Safari Park in South Australia where they will be two of the founding members of a new herd of 14. My nephew lasted about an hour after lunch before he was fast asleep. After seeing the Cassowaries and Tree Kangaroos we left the zoo and picked up Dad before going over to the house in Dalkeith to have Christmas leftovers for dinner and watched the first half of the Scorchers Cricket Game.
To be continued