Controlled burns are intentionally started and monitored by fire officials. The idea being to prevent more damaging and uncontrolled burns from occurring and thereby protecting the properties and lives of people. The aborigines have been conducting controlled burns for hundreds of years. It has also been argued that controlled burns have less of an impact upon the natural ecosystems of the region. However, environmentalists are unconvinced and protest the practice. Furthermore, those who feel that controlled burns are not instituted frequently enough put matters into their own hands and start a bush fire to prove a point. This is obviously problematic and a very dangerous game to play. Fortunately the fires have been brought under control and no longer pose a threat to peoples lives or possessions.
One of our favourite spots to spend the day is in the suburb of Fremantle. Fremantle is located at the mouth of the Swan River and has vibe and energy of a harbour town. There are many tourist attractions to be seen such as the Fremantle prison, the Shipwrecks Museum, and the Roundhouse. However, on our most recent visit, Steph and I went to browse the shops and markets. There are over 150 different stalls set up in the Fremantle Market, so there were lots of paraphernalia to sift through. An unexpected treat was the street performances outside of the entrance of the markets. All day long street performers or buskers take their turn at entertaining the crowds that flock to the small town tourist destination. During our visit we caught the performance of a rock 'n roll bagpiper and a gymnast/juggler. We enjoyed the performances so much that we recorded a video for our records just before leaving. We've included it here and hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
Despite the talent and skill of the buskers, it does not quite compare to the pure entertainment value that comes from watching Steph squirm at the site of a giant cockroach. Because Steph prefers to keep her distance from these insects, she has unexpectedly discovered an extremely effective and 'clean' way of pest control. She sprays cockroaches with stain remover. The very same stain remover that was entirely useless when it came to removing stains from our couch and my shirts. Without air conditioning in our apartment we often need the windows open to help with air circulation. Consequently, we are visited, albeit rarely, by giant flying Australian cockroaches. In an early blog we documented the length of one of these cockroaches at about the length of a standard playing card. Just the other day, a cocky of about half the size flew through the window and crawled along our living room wall. Steph was a little uneasy, but having dealt with a much larger version of the creature on an earlier occasion, was relatively confident and calm. After the kill, Steph gave a few sprays of stain remover to seal its fate. To my delight, shortly after disposing of the remains, a mammoth sized cockroach followed suit and crawled around our apartment's walls. Steph was a little less successful at keeping a brave face. For me, capturing and ultimately killing the larger variety of cockroach is less of a nuisance, from purely a strategic point of view, than the pesky tiny variety. Anyone can smash a bug with a shoe as it runs along some surface. But when that bug starts to fly, a whole new dimension enters the game. One's hand-eye coordination is truly put to the test. I'd compare it to trying to hit a curve ball in baseball. Michael Jordan couldn't even do that!
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