A Day in the Wine Country

Well, I went to LAW Review yesterday, a monthly outing held by the American Women's Club of Perth. I originally didn't sign up for it because it sounded boring (no offense to all my attorney friends!) but then found out it is not a lecture on the local statutes. LAW stands for Lunch And Wine!

My new friend, Veronica, drove me and Allie to the Twisted Vine Vineyards in the Swan Valley. I was supposed to navigate so we took a few wrong turns. You can't expect a Colorado native to know directions with no mountains! : ) We were still the first to arrive since everyone else got a little lost too.

Another small world story. Allie just graduated college in SC and is living with her boyfriend, who is working here. Her best friend from her hometown, New Orleans, is Veronica's friend's daughter so that's how they met. Veronica knows everyone. Her husband works for the Italian embassy so they've lived in New York, New Orleans, Greece, Australia, England, Italy and probably other places she hasn't mentioned yet. She's British but belongs to the club anyway because it's such a fun group of women. Anyway, I digress as usual!

The area reminds me of Tuscany with rolling hills and vineyards everywhere. It seems like there are hundreds of them but there are probably about a hundred. This vineyard is owned by a guy from Christmas Island and his wife. He was a diver who needed to find a new job as I guess diving regularly is very hard on the body. I didn't try any of the wines but the rest of the group seemed to like them.

Then we had lunch and it was simple but good. Our end of the table split a couple of platters - an antipasto platter with cheeses, meats, nuts, dried fruits, crackers and salad and an Asian one with lots of treats like Samosas, prawn toasts, eggrolls, and the like. My favorite thing was moneybags (guess George is rubbing off!), shrimp wrapped with marinated vegetable and rice noodle in a little wonton unit that resembles a money bag.



Here is a photo of the group. Most of these women are married to oil or mining executives and have lived all over the world. A few married Aussies and stayed here instead of living in the US. We also have Linda, our token Canadian - just kidding, eh?

I plan to go back to explore that area and to drag George along next time. It's an easy train ride from here. We stopped for strawberries at a farm on the way home and only made one wrong turn.

And They Say Mexican Jails Are Bad

Well, I've done it now! Here four weeks and already in jail. The cells are smaller than most American closets with four of us sharing the cell. At least I'm in good company with my new mates, Diana and Nancie. Our other roommate is a bit stiff though. His photo shows him in bed where he stays all the time. Minute amounts of light come in from our tiny vent at the top of the cell.

The food is indescribably bad and meager. We get half a loaf of white bread daily and one-half pound of salt meat on Sundays if we behave ourselves. However, we do get a weekly allowance of vinegar to prevent scurvy.

Boy, am I ever sorry I stole that pig but George was complaining so much about the price of groceries here that I couldn't take it anymore!


Seriously, these photos are of the first jail in Western Australia called the Round-house. It opened in January 1831 and was policed by civil servants who had basic quarters on site. The police used it as a lock-up until 1899.

One could be sentenced for mutiny, disobedience, breaking curfew, stealing, being a sick lunatic, consuming alcohol during a church service, or a host of other crimes. Only one person was ever hanged for murder. Sentences usually included public humiliation in the stocks or pillories. Pillories were used for short-term punishment but were much harsher. Prisoner were forced to stand hunched over with their heads and hands in the stocks. Their ears would be nailed to the boards to prevent them from turning their heads when missiles were hurled at them. That would be one solution to our prison overcrowding problems. However, I can tell you it's uncomfortable enough to sit in those stocks for even a few minutes!

Here are our new friends, the volunteers at the Roundhouse. These ladies are a hoot and we had so much fun with them that we didn't complete as much of our historical walking tour as we planned.


Left to right, you see Diana, me, Nancie and our new Aussie friends. Small world - Diana is from Denver and Nancie is a CSU grad who used to live in Loveland!


Above is the view to the city from the Roundhouse and below is the view to the sea from the tops of rampart walls. The walls are about 10 feet thick and made of limestone so prisoners had no hope of escape.


That's it for now! Whatever you do, don't get up the gum tree - that's like being up the creek without a paddle!