Half of dipidydoo has headed west – Ian and I have joined my family in a visit to Perth.  The occasion is my aunt Beryl’s 80th birthday.  Also here are my cousins Mark, Jess and Sue, and my other aunt Carol.  We tried to work out when all the cousins were last together in the same place, and it was probably when we were all very young kids.  It’s been unusual for the three families to live in the same state, so while there has been the odd get together over the years, this is the first real family reunion.

We arrived late on Thursday.  In the five or six years since our last trip to WA, the traffic has increased hugely, and it took over an hour to get from the airport to our apartment in North Fremantle.  Perth used to be an easy place to zip around, but now it’s as slow as Melbourne.

We had a birthday lunch yesterday in Cottesloe, in an old fashioned pub which featured a Melbourne tram as its main item of decor.  The weather has been overcast and drizzly, though warm, so apart from a short trip into Fremantle, we haven’t spent much time exploring our surrounds.

On Thursday night the nearby flour mill started operating some piece of machinery that is badly in need of attention, as it emitted a continuous high pitched squeal that woke the whole neighbourhood.  It ran till about 2am – we think they were elevating grain in one of the silos – but why in the middle of the night???  Luckily all was quiet last night and a much better night’s sleep was had by all.