Happy Birthday to me!

Happy Birthday to me!

I have never been one to really celebrate my birthday, however after spending my last birthday overseas I was struggling more so this year with my impending birthday more than ever. I didn’t want a party, a dinner out was too hard to organise and finding something to do proved to be more of a challenge than expected. In the end I just went for what made me happy. I decided stuff it, I was going to do something that I wanted, and not something that made everyone else happy. It got me thinking about the year before and how happy I was. I was seeing and experiencing new things. It was once I thought about that, that I knew exactly what I wanted to do for my birthday this year. I wanted to explore something new. Thus began the plan of an amazing weekend.

I got my hair done on the Saturday morning before driving home, picking up my brother and sister, grabbing a couple of cameras (and spare batteries) and heading out for a day of exploring my own back yard..... Perth! All that I wanted was to take photos of the city from South Perth at night and be at a beach at sunset. Anything else was to be a bonus. We started first by driving down the coast. The day was clear and the water looked amazing, even from the car. The wind blew through my hair and I laughed at the stories we told on another.

With my brothers help we then ended up at the abandoned mental asylum, which not only showed a once beautiful building with such a tragic history, but also gave me the first views of the city. It is now a construction site and is being renovated.

From there made our way towards Fremantle. As with any time you drive through there, the old style buildings leave me in awe. Give me the old style buildings any day of the week.

Next stop was the abandoned power station. This was simply amazing. I understand now why this is a heritage site. My sister said if only it wasn’t tagged and graffittied, but I think that added to the look and charm of it. The fact that it was right on the edge of a beach gave me a chance to take both photos of the building and of the beach.

I have been to Kings Park many times before, but never have I been to any of the lookouts and I have never before seen the war memorial there. Needless to say I was in awe! I could have spent hours there, just sitting and reflecting. You could see the whole city, South Perth and the river. The fact that there was had been a prescribed burn north of the city that sent smoke across the city which reflected the sun as it set added a whole different feel to the photos.

Our second last stop of the day was South Perth Foreshore. We arrived just after the sun had set so the lighting was a lot darker, but the lights of the city reflected beautifully over the river. We stayed there until I was happy that I had taken enough non blurry photos to be happy and my arm got sore. I wouldn’t have changed a thing though.

The last stop of the day was for dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Having never eaten Mexican out before, it was a new experience and one that I was thankful to do as it fit the whole feel of the day. It was a small gathering of only 5 people, but the laughs we had and the atmosphere were just what I wanted. The food was great and I can’t wait to try it again.

Sunday was a bit of a rainy day, so it was a lot harder to get out and about, not only for the rain, but for the fact that my foot was aching from Friday and Saturday. In the end after spending some time in the garden I decided that I would end up spending the afternoon with my sister, brother and mum cooking for dinner tomorrow night. It rained at one point and that was the best I got with photos.

Today is my actual birthday and considering it is a work day, I have been spoilt. The gifts, the birthday wishes and the flowers. I am feeling very loved!

At the end of the weekend I have come to 2 conclusions.

1. I need a camera like my sister’s, no matter the cost!
2. Happy Birthday to me!

All images shown here were taken by me and are unedited.