6/10/12 - 11/10/12

The following week was spent exploring Fremantle and lapping up the wonderful hospitality of Silvio and Bev whom I met at Undara back in June.
They were generous enough to let me stay in their spare room and I was spoilt rotten with Bev cooking some wonderful meals and Silvio servicing Freda! Wow.
On Saturday I met up with a couple of my cousins, David and Tony and we went down to Bunbury for another cousin, Laurie's 60th Birthday.
It was good to be amongst family again and meeting some people for the first time and others whom I hadn't seen for a long time.
On Sunday, Silvio took me for a drive around some of Fremantle and that night Bev cooked up some delicious pork belly.

Get.In.My.Belleh.

On Monday I did an open mic night at Mojo's and David and Tony turned up to be my "rent a crowd".

Tony, Steve, David

I got a good response to my set - it makes such a difference when people are actually listening.
The next day I caught the bus into Fremantle and had a wander about the place.
It has a really nice feel with lots of old buildings, nice wharf area and...stuff.

Ah....old building

Another cool idea is a "public piano" where anyone can just go up and play.

This guy did a commendable rendition of Radiohead's "No Surprises"

That night we went to the Perth Blues Club.

Luke Steele's Dad is the president of the blues club - can you see the resemblance?

Perth Blues Club

The next day I drove into Freo and spent some time at the Art Space which is a really nice area with shady trees...and free wi-fi!
That afternoon I went to the Fremantle Cemetery to see Bon Scott (of AC/DC fame)'s memorial.
When I got there, a couple of blokes were having a beer in Bon's honour (as you do) - apparently this is a normal thing.

Bon didn' take a "Stairway to Heaven" he took the "Highway to Hell" (dad joke)

That night Bev invited one of her nephews over and we had a wonderful baked dinner.

Get.In.My.Belleh. #2

The following night I did another open mic this time at Moondyne Joe's and Bev and Silvio were kind enough to come along and have a listen.

Steve...that's me.

I stayed sober but the camera obviously had a few...

I played ok but Monday night felt better.
Here are a couple of characters you can see at an open mic...

The next day it was time to say goodbye to Bev and Silvio and Fremantle. Many thanks guys for the hospitality, it came at a much needed time for me and I really appreciate it.