Flower Hunting

One of the first things I noticed when I got back to Perth was this stunning red flowered tree, appropriately called the 'Flame Tree'.

With it's skeletal figure bare of leaves, it reminded of the Kimberley Kapoc which also flowers before it bears leaves. I didn't see any in Broome (hence no photos), but they are a regular feature in the rest of the Kimberley.

This is one of my favourite paintings. It is by Broome artist Ingrid Windram. Pictured is the kapoc with its yellow flowers in bloom in front of my favourite tree, the magnificent boab. The yellow of the kapoc stands out against the greens, browns and pindan just as much as it does against the black and white in this painting. http://www.windramart.com.au/ features more of her wonderful work.

Back to Perth...

At Perth airport there is an area of protected bushland right behind my office. A colleague who has worked in native horticulture and I went for a look at plants just on the edge of this area and we were blown away by the number of species we had never seen before. It is the start of the wildflower season which I have heard is quite spectacular. According to Corrick and Fuhrer in ‘Wildflowers of Southern WA’, the South West of WA is home to more than 4000 species of flowering plants, 80% of which grow nowhere else.

However, we have been able to identify a number of the plants we have found:

Cowslip Orchid (Caladenia flava) and Donkey Orchid (Dirius corymbosa)

Cat's paw and Kangaroo paw

C-17

This US Airforce C-17 has been in and out of Perth Airport this week for reasons unknown to me.

landing

Parked (thanks to my 10x optical zoom!)
take off

Broome Airport - unique or strange?

When I first arrived in Broome and walked out of the Arrivals Terminal (if you could call it that) I found the rest of the airport was also like no other I'd ever been to. Low buildings which looked more like houses surrounded the small carpark and palm trees and tropical plants were dotted around.
The airport exhibits what I later learned to be a sort of 'Broome style' of architecture with louver windows, shutters and lots of lattice. Possibly too much lattice.

Upon my departure, I learned that the inside is even stranger. The departures area is below. The main section is pretty much open air with a central lattice roof. There is a fountain in the centre and more tropical plants.

Of course, in true Broome style, there is a souvenir shop - just in case you haven't had enough of them!
The central part would be hell during the wet, so there are airconditioned lounges. If I remember correctly, these featured benches not unlike garden benches! Again, there were louvered windows (very useful when you have aircon), and also open doors.

Between the lounge and the tarmac were beautiful lily ponds and tropical plants

I guess the airport is your final reminder that Broome is a world of it's own!

Storage solution

Good to see I'm not the only one storing stuff on the porch!

art deco perhaps?

Some buildings in West Perth

Playtime

In our new house, Amos and I live with Jen, Selby (Jen's boarder collie), Micky (Jen's agoraphobic fluff-ball cat) and Rocky (Chris' kitten). When Rocky and Selby 'play' things get quite chaotic and funny. Amos just runs around and barks.

headlock

Selby pleading her innocence.

I feel sorry for the cat, but he doesn't seem to mind!!!