Handbrakes are damn useful

Looking like an elf in the driver seat of an 8-seater car, i breathe a breath of bravery when i started the engine. The last time i had my feet on a clutch was 3 years ago in a ninja-turtle car with a woman on the passenger seat screaming "Jangan laju! (dont speed), too slow too slow... faster"

Clutch on, handbrake off, reverse gear.. i revved..then the van made all sorts of sounds and spasm. So i drove around the suburb until i felt comfortable enough to drive alongside other vehicles. I stalled like a hundred million times! Then made my way to Garden City to do some shopping. Stalled at the junction AGAIN. Went to pick up my uncle, cousins, nieces and nephews from the airport... met a red traffic light, upward slope: definitely not my most favourite place to be. I drove as slow as i could so it'd turn green when i get there but no.. i had to brake. Stalled and rolled backwards. Immediate thought was "pull the bloody handbrake!". Someone should have seen the look on my face.

I will never again drive a manual car.

With so many kids in the house, two 8s, one 11, one 14 - boys and one 16 yo girl, it's a challenge to find a place to go that everyone will be happy with and activities to keep them occupied. So we do it the aussie way. Wow.. look at all these leaves, lets pile 'em up!! Then comes the screams, the hustle for brooms and rakes and the "come seeeee our pile, it's 10 times higher than yours!!"

.Totally impressed.

Managed to persuade the young ones that Point Walter is beautiful at sunset. It's famous for its sandbar that extends 1 km into the river. The kids took off their socks and sneakers and headed for the tip of the sandbar. Grandfather rolled up his pants and ran after them. I thought what-the-heck, if grandfather can do it, so can i...shaked off my heels and braved the freezing waters.

.Sunset at Point Walter.

The kids were well-behaved the 1st day, so we took them to Perth's indoor laser gaming. It's a 1000 square metre combat arena with sniper towers, claymore mines, ramps, and even a real plane. It's super cool, even for me.

Well-behaved didnt last very long.


Andrew, look at those grass! I cant help but wonder what will i see in there... pygmy pipehorse? That and the dead pufferfish totally reminded me of you.