Two days

At the beginning of the month it was Labour Day here in Western Australia and we had a three day weekend to celebrate. I don’t really think much celebrating of the holiday was done but there were plenty of events on last weekend. We had plans to attend events on Saturday and Sunday.

On Saturday there was an event called Splash on at Hilary’s Boat Harbour and we had plans to have a look-in later in the day. This was mainly an off-shoot of the Fringe Festival and there were lots of performers to watch throughout the weekend. We showed up in the late afternoon and not a lot was happening at that point. We wandered around and I guess we were just at a point between shows. Eventually we settled on getting some food and stopped at a restaurant we’ve never been to. I ordered a fajitas dish and the Scientist ordered a side salad. Our meals arrived about five minutes later, which was a huge red flag. No way fajitas are prepared so quickly so we only presume it was reheated. It tasted okay but it wasn’t really fajitas and was sadly lacking. We checked out the timetable of events while at the restaurant to discover the program we’d wanted to see was in progress. Afterwards not much was happening for a bit and we finally came home. Part of the problem here was our lack of planning and not the events themselves.

We then decided to find a movie on a streaming service to watch. It seems I mostly see tv programs and not too many movies even though we no longer rent dvds either. So watching a film was a good plan. We’d heard that Magic Mike was supposed to be worthy of seeing at various points so we watched that. It was terrible. Not even the supposed eye-candy was worth it and the artsy effects to the film just highlighted the dire state of things. It wasn’t art and there was no real story and it wasn’t believable. So it’s fair to say that Saturday’s entertainment was a bit of a washout.

Sunday our plan was to go to Hyde Park Fair which is near the city. I’ve been to Hyde Park a number of times and it’s a beautiful place with lovely old trees and lots of fauna and flora. We headed out late morning and arrived just around noon. We took a bus from a local shopping center as the parking in the area is almost non-existent. We kind of overshot the stop we needed so got off the bus and caught another one going in the opposite direction and had a more direct route there. Once we arrived we checked in on the local covid tracking app and joined the crowds. Yes, there were crowds although it wasn’t terrible and most people were keeping a respectful distance. The nice thing about this event is there were lots of people but I never felt crammed in like sardines like at some events. The park is quite large and includes a couple of large ponds that have islands in the center where local fauna seem to reside.

We found ourselves taking a slow walk around the park and checking out lots of stalls, including one where I bought some tea. It was all quite relaxed and the variety of stalls was pretty amazing. In recent similar events we’ve taken to collecting new plants and there were some pretty awesome ones here. One stall had homemade blocks that were designed as pot holders. If it weren’t for the fact we had to travel by bus, we might well have bought one. There was also a gin seller giving samples. I tried it out and nearly choked on straight gin but found a mix with tonic a bit easier. I’m not a huge fan of gin but it was nice to try. I didn’t end up buying there either. After getting halfway around the park we found some food trucks selling interesting foods. One was a corn truck, which we saw at another event and I forgot to try out. This time I got a cup full of buttery corn and some topping, maybe chilli flakes or something. There was also a stall run by a Canadian guy selling doughnuts and bagels, some of which were vegan. The bagels were Montreal style which I had actually heard of due to Lego Lover sharing his knowledge at some point in the past. As explained by the owner, they mix the toppings into the bagel instead of being on top of it. Anyway, I bought some bagels for later and a couple of doughnuts too. The bagels were really nice but we didn’t eat them quickly enough a couple ended up going bad. One of the doughnuts was chocolate with icing and wasn’t all that great due to being a bit on the powdery side in texture. Also, it was a bit sweet. There was another spice one that was okay but it didn’t make me want to rush out to have more. I ended up getting lunch from the same stall, which was a bagel sandwich with a veggie patty. It was quite nice but I was kind of disappointed to discover they used veggie patties I can get at the supermarket.

The Scientist and I sat under a big tree to eat and it was just wonderful to sit in the shade and enjoy the sights and sounds of everything going on. There was a water playground a short distance away and kids were having a great time playing in amongst the water that would shoot up from time to time. Afterwards we headed off to some food trucks near the entrance I got one of the best smoothies I’ve ever tasted. The Scientist got a drink of his own which suited his requirement of being not too sweet. And afterwards we headed to the bus stand to go home. But before that we stopped in a little bakery across the road and got some really delicious bread and pastries to take home.

So although Saturday was a bit of a wash in terms of just about everything, Sunday was beautiful in weather, atmosphere, and location. It was lucky we went on Sunday because Monday was quite stormy and the fair ended up being canceled on the holiday.