The Most Amazing Sunset Ever

We're now in Perth proper, for the what is most easily called a reunion of members of an Internet quilt group to which I belong. We have these gatherings every two years or so; this is the first one held outside North America. There are five of us here--from Illinois, Texas, and Virginia--and three Aussies. A small group, but still formidable.

I did not blog yesterday because of one thing after another. We took a longer than usual excursion, returned to the most amazing sunset ever and, then, after dinner, our hostess and I took off for her monthly patchwork group meeting. One thing after another, all of them worth the time devoted to them.

Our excursion was to Mundaring Weir, some 40 miles in the direction of Perth from Northam. The weir was built in response to the gold rush of the late 19th century. The goldfield towns of Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie, some 500 kilometer(re)s away, needed water, and the plan was to pump it from the reservoir formed by the weir. Crazy, yes? Not to C.Y. O'Connor, the engineer who designed the harbo(u)r in Freemantle. O'Connor committed suicide in 1902 and did not really get to see his water system work. As for the weir, here's what it looks like today. First, the side with the water

and next, the side without. The last time water went over the weir was in 1996.

I do love it when I get a chance to play around with the super-zoom on the Canon I have with me, and Mundearing Weir offered one. You probably can't make it out in this photo,

but up near the top of the far elevation is a structure. We couldn't decide if it was a house or an observation deck. Summoning the power of the zoom, it was easy to see that it was, in fact,

an observation deck. We did some more exploring down to the level of the pumping station and back up to the top. We then lunched at the Mundaring Weir Hotel's cafe where we shared what may well be the best French fries (or chips) that I have ever tasted. The cauliflower and bacon soup wasn't too bad either. We then stopped to look out over the Perth skyline only to find it obscured by the rainstorm it was getting at the time.

When we got back to Northam, I started looking at email until our hostess came in and encouraged me to grab my camera and join her outside. Never, never, EVER have I seen a sunset like this one. It was beautiful no matter what direction you looked. This, to the back and to the right of the house.

This, to the front and right of the house.

Finally, this, to the left of the house.

This was the first time on this trip that I actually somewhat wished I had my Canon DSLR and more control over exposure, etc. Oh well, I can live with the photos I could take.

Now we are in or around Perth for the next three full days, until the husband and I grab the Indian Pacific train on Sunday. I'm expecting those three days to include ogling wombats and echidnas, petting koalas, feeding kangaroos, eating fish and chips, and figuring out if the Aussies and I really are running a half marathon in 2015 and, if so, which one. Life could be worse.