We have been back in Denham for 3 days and are really enjoying some warm, windless weather. A lot of you would remember we spent 7 weeks here at various times last year after June, so you can imagine we are really happy to be here. Monday we begin our 16th month on the road and are happy to say we are still loving it.
It was a great feeling to drive into this park on the 16th and be remembered by the staff, nice to have an ensuite site for our stay this time and lovely to recognise Brice's vehicle arriving yesterday afternoon as he begins his 3 month stay. We ar between two couples who have been coming here for many, many years and remember us from last year also. Rather than make us feel like Victorians who just blew in, they are all going out of their way to make us feel welcome.
It had started to get very cold down south and although Perth was quite a bit better than that, we are trying to avoid the cold so it was time to move north. We spent a windy week in Dongara before moving on here, so the 28c days, 14c nights and lack of wind are wonderful! Perth was great though as we had 4 of our 5 boys there in the week we were there. It's very rare to see so many of them at once, so it was certainly a special time for Russ and I. My youngest Dan is over here working in a mine near Leonora and he flew his brother Mick over to see us as Mick leaves for London again next month and who knows when we will see him again.
The day we arrived we got the boat and trailer organised and have had it out fishing twice already. Friday Russ and I headed over to Monkey Mia and although we only came home with a good feed of flathead, it's one of the most beautiful places we ever get to fish so it was a good day. The Gascoyne region is famous for the beautiful red dirt meeting the white sand, meeting the vivid blues of the ocean-it really is spectacular.
Saturday, one of the women from my recipe club arrived on a site near us and she and I spent the day talking while Russell and her husband Chris took the boat out to Eagle Bluff. They came home with a no anchor (the shackle came undone) and a nice feed of black snapper and assorted fish which we enjoyed for dinner last night. After dinner, Brice and Phyllis popped over for an hour, so it was a very nice social night! Today, Russ and Chris are off out to Monkey Mia fishing, and then they head home tomorrow. Chris and Pat are from Perth and because of responsibilities to an elderly mother and autistic son, this is the first holiday longer than 2 days they have taken in 27 years so they are making the best of it.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Monday, May 14, 2007
Dongara
It's been a quiet few days in Dongara. The ensuite part of the park has been pretty quiet but the cabins and powered sites have been booked out most nights. It suprises me as it only costs $27pn for the ensuite and they really are nice.
We've had the boat out 3 times, but it's pretty open out there so we don't venture too far, therefore we haven't seen many fish. I actually think Dongara might be an old aboriginal name for "place with few fish"!! We just seem to catch enough little ones for a bit of bait in our crab pots and then the crabs are a bit scarce too. Russ came home with 4 last night but at least they were a decent size.
The other night we had a pleasant suprise. A large motor home pulled in on the site behind us and asked if we were Jan and Russell Sessions-it was a woman I "know" from the recipe club-Pat, and her husband Chris. We were to catch up with them in Denham, but they left Perth late and decided Dongara was far enough so stopped at the park. It was only after they had been allocated their site (right behind us) that they thought to ask if we were in the park! We had a very fun night getting to know them sitting outside over a few drinks. W'll be seeing them again in Denham in 3 days which is good.
We've had the boat out 3 times, but it's pretty open out there so we don't venture too far, therefore we haven't seen many fish. I actually think Dongara might be an old aboriginal name for "place with few fish"!! We just seem to catch enough little ones for a bit of bait in our crab pots and then the crabs are a bit scarce too. Russ came home with 4 last night but at least they were a decent size.
The other night we had a pleasant suprise. A large motor home pulled in on the site behind us and asked if we were Jan and Russell Sessions-it was a woman I "know" from the recipe club-Pat, and her husband Chris. We were to catch up with them in Denham, but they left Perth late and decided Dongara was far enough so stopped at the park. It was only after they had been allocated their site (right behind us) that they thought to ask if we were in the park! We had a very fun night getting to know them sitting outside over a few drinks. W'll be seeing them again in Denham in 3 days which is good.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Our Week In Perth
Well, we left Perth yesterday after a great week there staying with Blair Leah and Todd. We arrived on Wenesday 2nd and left Wednesday 9th. Dan (my youngest son) has just started work cooking in a mining camp and flies in and out to the camp with the same company as Blair. It was good to be able to pick them together from their planes Thursday night (and the planes were considerate enough to land within wo minutes of each other!) Leah and I picked them up, Russ cooked us a big feed of whiting we had brought with us from Walpole.
Friday Mick arrived-Dan arranged and paid for that as a birthday/mother's day present for me and a birthday present for Mick. It's not very often we have as many of the boys in one place at one time, so it was a wonderful few days for Russ and I.
It's been a busy week though with planes being met and departing (Mick on Tuesday) kids taken out for lunch and brunch, new tyres on the car, a visit to the doctor to have a benign growth cut off my leg, I've moved into the NEXT G with my phone and internet connection, so have had take delivery of them and nut all that stuff out and we had a lot of washing of things that only get washed occasionaly that needed doing before we moved North. It was nice to go out for yum cha on the Sunday morning with all the boys, Leah, nephew Tim, kurt and Holly and my ex Allan. We'd also taken Dan to a cheap Asian restaurant in North Bridge befor Mick arrived, so he asked to go back there with Mick before he left-it serves the best and cheapest duck soup you'd get in Perth I reckon.
We also like to do a big grocery shop when we are in a major town, so that was done on the Tuesday. Without realising it, it was senior's day for a 5% discount, double rewards points and there was huge meat discounts at the super IGA we had decided to visit-honestly it was like Christmas Eve and there was quite a lot of pushing and shoving at the meat counter as the pork came out!
Yesterday (May 9th) after saying our goodbyes, we headed off to Dongara. I felt so sad as we pulled away from the house as this is the first time in 12 months that we haven't left saying "we'll see you in x amount of months". I was quite teary at the thought of not knowing when we will see any of the boys and Leah again! Amazing when I checked the archives of the original blog to find May 9th was the day we drove out of Perth and headed North the year before-Russ reckons it must be a good Leaving Perth Day. It was nice to pull into the parke in Dongara and have the managers say "welcome back" (and no, they weren't at the computer whcih would probably tell them we were returning guests!!) This is the park they suggested we might like to manage next year 9and we have been considering that pretty seriously), but now he (manager Kevin) has bought himself a new Ford 250 truck thingy, that plan has been put back another year. So wwh knows where to for us after Darwin in August now.
Friday Mick arrived-Dan arranged and paid for that as a birthday/mother's day present for me and a birthday present for Mick. It's not very often we have as many of the boys in one place at one time, so it was a wonderful few days for Russ and I.
It's been a busy week though with planes being met and departing (Mick on Tuesday) kids taken out for lunch and brunch, new tyres on the car, a visit to the doctor to have a benign growth cut off my leg, I've moved into the NEXT G with my phone and internet connection, so have had take delivery of them and nut all that stuff out and we had a lot of washing of things that only get washed occasionaly that needed doing before we moved North. It was nice to go out for yum cha on the Sunday morning with all the boys, Leah, nephew Tim, kurt and Holly and my ex Allan. We'd also taken Dan to a cheap Asian restaurant in North Bridge befor Mick arrived, so he asked to go back there with Mick before he left-it serves the best and cheapest duck soup you'd get in Perth I reckon.
We also like to do a big grocery shop when we are in a major town, so that was done on the Tuesday. Without realising it, it was senior's day for a 5% discount, double rewards points and there was huge meat discounts at the super IGA we had decided to visit-honestly it was like Christmas Eve and there was quite a lot of pushing and shoving at the meat counter as the pork came out!
Yesterday (May 9th) after saying our goodbyes, we headed off to Dongara. I felt so sad as we pulled away from the house as this is the first time in 12 months that we haven't left saying "we'll see you in x amount of months". I was quite teary at the thought of not knowing when we will see any of the boys and Leah again! Amazing when I checked the archives of the original blog to find May 9th was the day we drove out of Perth and headed North the year before-Russ reckons it must be a good Leaving Perth Day. It was nice to pull into the parke in Dongara and have the managers say "welcome back" (and no, they weren't at the computer whcih would probably tell them we were returning guests!!) This is the park they suggested we might like to manage next year 9and we have been considering that pretty seriously), but now he (manager Kevin) has bought himself a new Ford 250 truck thingy, that plan has been put back another year. So wwh knows where to for us after Darwin in August now.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Back in Perth
We left Walpole on Monday and went to Bunbury for 2 nights. It poured rain as we started to pack up Sunday night and continued all through the night. Fortunately, that god of caravan parks allowed us a 2 hour window Monday morning to put the boat on the roof, fold the trailer up and finish packing. We had a fine hour or so on the way to Bunbury, then the skies opened up and off it went again. The wost of it was some road works near Donnybrook where we thought we would have to put the car into 4WD to get through. We had a red car and van at the end of that 10ks of road!
Monday and Tuesday night were spent with Brice and Phyllis-mostly trying to keep out of the rain and stay warm. Last noight, the 4 of us went out for Chinese_I really loved my roast duck!
Today we are "home" at Blair Leah and Todd's for a week. Dan is flying infrom the mine tomorrow night and I'll be meeting him at the airport. It's almost 15 months since we saw each other last. We brought Phyllis back with us, and it turns out her house is about 1 kilometre from here!
Right now we are catching up on all our mail and then we'll grab something to cook for Todd and Leah for dinner. I'll also post a few photos to the blog to brighten it up now I have the luxury of the wireless connection here.
Monday and Tuesday night were spent with Brice and Phyllis-mostly trying to keep out of the rain and stay warm. Last noight, the 4 of us went out for Chinese_I really loved my roast duck!
Today we are "home" at Blair Leah and Todd's for a week. Dan is flying infrom the mine tomorrow night and I'll be meeting him at the airport. It's almost 15 months since we saw each other last. We brought Phyllis back with us, and it turns out her house is about 1 kilometre from here!
Right now we are catching up on all our mail and then we'll grab something to cook for Todd and Leah for dinner. I'll also post a few photos to the blog to brighten it up now I have the luxury of the wireless connection here.
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