Good Friday was mostly a sit down and talk day, in two halves. In the morning Ber and I went out to locate the two girls from Leitrim who should have made contact with the Shamrock long ago. After a short time we found the correct house in Nollamara owned by an Irish lad and his family. A very long chinwag ensued, during which we two "interlopers" basically drank all his Good Friday stock of beer and coffee (thanks Niall) and could only offer in return an invitation to come to the National Hotel in Fremantle on Sunday evening. Otherwise the sitting down and talking was mostly al fresco out in the Hamersley back garden.

On Saturday we all went into town on the train. Now this "metro" is among the best I've seen to encourage people to leave their cars at the suburban stations. It's very good at time keeping and it runs down the centre of the motorway so that if there's a traffic jam the motorists cannot avoid watching the train go sailing by with no hold up at all. The consequent contrast in "effective" speed of movement and comfort can't be ignored.

We had sneakily arranged to meet up with Aaron and little Brendan at the pub some time before our spousal reunion. This passed some more pleasant time, even for the little man who was fascinated by a disappearing trick I found I could do with the "see through" sidewalk tables (no I didn't make them disappear!). I also found it quite interesting to watch the street life go by, parked as we were just about on a busy intersection with no shortage of passing humanity on foot, in cars and on buses. It's strange that no matter where you go in the world certain habits seem to be almost universal e.g. drivers picking their noses when waiting at traffic lights!

Afterwards the full tribe reunited at a large food hall where we partook of some nourishment. I decided on something Chinese, not realising beforehand that Hoa was helping out her Mam that day. After introducing me, the mother wouldn't hear of me paying and that's how I managed free grub for the day as well as the free music lessons and a lot of free refreshments. It's no wonder this Perth place was "agreeing with me".

Easter Sunday evening had the usual Freo music gig by the Mollies, as enjoyable as always, and the Nollamara gang did turn up with a few others in tow. It was all good craic. Later a  late nite back at the ranch ensued, seeing there was no work on the morrow.

We took ourselves down to Sorrento/Hillarys on Monday to have a decco at Underwater World, an impressive experience with first off various cleverly lit fishy display units set in the walls alongside explanation charts. A little further into the interior we stepped onto a moving floorway which placed us inside a glass tube/tunnel composed totally of "see through" glass and running right through an "under the sea" scene floating and shimmering all around. It was a bit like being in a submarine, without the bleeps. There were fishes of all shapes and sizes going fast and slow above and below and literally all around us in this "virtual" Davy Jones Locker. The sharks (some quick and smallish and others almost languid and huge but thankfully well fed - at least they didn't appear to be too interested in nibbling at their neighbours) particularly drew the attention especially when they silently seemed to appear from nowhere (or should that be somewhere?) over and behind our heads. They sure do sport some set of molars which I'm sure wouldn't be anywhere as amenable to "up close" scrutiny in the real "drink". All in all it was an exciting and "moving" experience. Incidentally you could step off the floor track onto a stationary ledge at any time if you wanted to dally longer with any of inhabitants.

Back outside the "monsters of the deep" arena, there was what they call a "touch pool" where you could reach in and tickle some of the tamer variety of species, thereby providing punters with some "hands on interactivity" so to speak. Some of this modern jargon can be very descriptive sometimes.

Behind the indoor action was an outdoor arena consisting of a walled off section of the sea used as a dolphin sanctuary. Here we had a good hour's display of dolphins behaving as dolphins naturally do, accompanied by a running commentary. It wasn't one of those "tricks" set ups (which didn't have a high appreciation rating from the Rangers) and it was all the better for it. Animals "doing their own thing" generally tend to be far more interesting to observe and ultimately hold long term interest better over the longer term. It was an interesting introduction to the native behaviour of these beautiful creatures, especially as we were planning to "go walkabout" again on the morrow up north as far as Monkey Mia.