After a painfully dull Friday of installing stats software and studying some images that weren't producing any results, I headed home happy to have a few days off. Jess picked me up and we headed to her place (my place too as of December!) where I met Sian, Jess' lovely best friend and the girl whose room I'll be moving into when she finishes uni to go travelling. As I fully expected with Jess, their house is adorable and filled with so many gorgeous bits and bobs; I love it with Vickie and John but I'm really looking forward to moving in.
We got the train from Cottesloe to Freo and made the trek out of the centre of town to our first destination: Fremantle Arts Centre. Jess studies fine art at Curtin University and the arts centre holds an annual art exhibition of local artists' prints, the winner getting a whopping $15,000. I've not been to an awful lot of stuff like this in my time, but lots of the work was really pretty and clever and it attracted a huge range of people, with families as well as artsy types attending. I suspect that the reason for the huge cohort of people had something to do with the fact that the event was sponsored by Little Creatures Brewery, the place we ate at a couple of weeks back. Wandering around the gallery accompanied by a couple of free beers was heaven after a long week! The centre has really lovely grounds and it was a warm night, so we took a pew under a tree and soaked up the atmosphere of a live band, fairy lights and the smell of wood fired pizza. There were also loads of cool gifts in the little shop, so I'm going to have to make a return trip before I leave!
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| Jess McK exploring the exhibition |
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| "One's for my friend?" |
Semi-sober, we walked back into town for some grub. Clancy's is a chain of fish pubs (there's also one in Jess' hometown of Dunsborough) and their food is blooming delicious. The three of us shared calamari, chips and scrummy paella with mussels and king prawns, all washed down with a pint of Monteith's sweet cider; probably the nicest cider I've ever had. A far cry from Strongbow and black in the SU! It's a funky little place decorated with fish tanks and a live band started their set just after we finished eating; it was a great atmosphere for knocking back a few more bevs!
Nearby, the Norfolk Hotel was next on the list. It has an outdoor terrace and we snuggled up by a heater in deck chairs with our next tipple. Since coming here, I've not had much chance for girly chats and it was actually nice to hear about boy problems and bitchy girls; it felt just like I was doing a shift at the café or back at Bath! The place was really lively and Friday night celebrations were in full swing when we left to get the train back. Despite being up for a few drinks to bring in the weekend, we were all still knackered from a week at uni and work and needed our beds! The girls set me up a little bed in the living room and I slept like a baby.
This morning, with slightly woolly heads, we had breakfast and a cuppa before heading off to Cottesloe for a walk along the coastline. Granted it was a beautiful day, but the sheer number of people out walking at that time of the morning in comparison to the UK still amazes me. It was like walking down a packed street; more precisely, a street packed with girls wearing their best fancy gym gear as if the path was a catwalk. I bet we looked fab in comparison with our hangovers and baggy t shirts! We probably only covered a couple of miles, but it blew the cobwebs away and served as a wreckie for future runs (yeah, right). In addition to that, we managed to oggle a huge number of hot surfers in the process. Double win!
Sian headed home, leaving me and Jess to grab a coffee at Il Lido, this gorgeous Italian restaurant on the seafront. I only had a grapefruit juice, but their breakfast menu was very tempting; it's on the list of places to try when I move in! A short walk over the hill and we were back at the train station, where Jess left her car last night. She dropped me home on her way to uni to finish up some work and my hungover mood was significantly improved when I walked through the door to find Vickie and Catrina huddled up on the sofa in their dressing gowns feeling the aftermath of their dinner party with friends from Cairo last night. John flew to New Zealand this morning a few days ahead of Vickie joining him on Monday, so Catrina and I will be left to fend for ourselves when they celebrate their daughter's 21st over there. I'm very jealous, especially considering that her party is Harry Potter themed! My agenda for the day mainly consists of watching films in the home cinema and eating junk food before catching up with both my parents and the Burnards (my second family) on Skype this evening. Happy days!
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