Friday we left Molloy CP and moved on to Walpole. It was a bit sad waving goodbye to the last few guests and staff as we left as we had so much fun in the park and on the river. It’s a beautiful drive to here though so we enjoyed that. We took a detour down a dirt road for 7ks to buy a smoked trout and some veggies from a roadside stall outside Pemberton. The few corrugations caused a jar of olives to tip over and black olive juice to spill all over the bottom of the fridge-the fridge I not long cleaned of mould! We got some nice organic veggies, herbs and apples for our trouble though.
We’ve driven through Walpole once about 4 years ago but never really got off the road to have a good look-the place is beautiful! I also think we were tired and arguing at the time about where we would stay and decided to push onto the bigger town of Manjimup. The park we had been recommended to book into is especially nice-it’s just like a big bush park with heaps of native plants and big private well spaced sites. The ablutions blocks are spotless and there is 3 of them. The park sits up fairly high above the inlet so the views over the inlet are pretty special. Our original plan was to stay 3 nights and move on to Denmark and Albany but it didn’t take much to convince us to stay a further 3 nights. We’ll bypass Denmark and just head straight to Albany for a bit of shopping before we go on to Bremmer Bay for Easter.
Saturday we took the boat off and went fishing. Launching the boat, we got the car bogged to the axles on the beach (in front of every yacht club member in town) and had to have one of the guys bring us a pressure gauge so we could let the tires down and get it out! Not a very good start to our fishing. We had headed out pretty late mostly for a look around, but took our rods along “just in case”. I caught a trevally the moment I put my rod in the water (and ended up catching 3 more around a kilo each). We caught 10 King George whiting legal size (threw the 3 smaller of them back rather than fillet them) 1 35cm bream and a couple of tommy ruff. We released 2 of the trevally and kept the other 2 for bait!
Yesterday we headed out again and caught ourselves 2 bream, 3 whiting and two tommy ruff. Russ asked was measuring one of my whiting and asking (again) what the legal size was. I told him 28cm and he said that was a bit sad as he’d thrown my 29 ½ cm fish back. That’s still a bit small to be bothered filleting!!! We found a secret spot on the other side of the inlet. If we line up a large farm hedge over the centre of the yacht club rooms, then three large stingrays start circling the boat, we are there. We have tried in other spots but haven’t caught a thing!
After fishing and cleaning the fish, we went for a drive to a lookout over the inlets and town then on to the Giant Tingle Tree and Circular Pool. We were the only people out there and the drive through the forest of giant karri and tingles was beautiful. The walk out to the Tingle Tree was beautiful with plants and birds. Tingles are a species of eucalypt that only grow in this corner of WA. They are enormous and early photos of the Giant show cars parked inside the hollow at the base.
Last night we had beautiful fresh fish, salad and chips (bought in town) for a lovely dinner.
This morning we went out fairly early for us and caught enough fish to make ourselves a curry for dinner. We both just had our showers and are now doing a bit of laundry before heading out for a drive to Denmark.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Molloy-more fishing and crabbing
Wednesday 21st was another lovely day in Molloy. We got up early (for us) and said goodbye to Irene and Ron who were off home to Bunbury for their daughter’s engagement party. After they left, we headed up the river for a bit of fishing and crabbing. We came home with one big bream and 4 of those monster crabs. The second bream meant we were able to have a big feed of fresh fish for dinner last night which was lovely.
At 12.30 we came home, cooked our crabs, ate our lunch then headed into town for a bit of shopping-most important was a fishing hat for me as I lost mine in the river on the way home the night before. It sank before we could fish it out!!! We got back from town, picked our crabs and froze the meat, then headed out again to fish in the late afternoon. It wasn’t very successful-I caught 1 legal size bream and Russ a crab. I released the bream when we didn’t catch another. So home for a late dinner of fish, chips and salad, then another crab to deal with. I headed for bed exhausted at about 9.30.
Today is a bit rainy, so it is nice to sit and have a quiet day. Tomorrow we head to Walpole for a week or so.
Daniel (my son) made it to within 250ks of Perth before his car died. Lucky for him his dad could get a trailer and drive out to get him and the car last night! Oh well Dan, you almost made it ;-)
The legal size for crabs is 127mm across the shell; the ones we are catching are around 170mm. Blue swimmer crabs grow to a maximum of 200mm and 1kg, so the crabs in this river really are BIG.
At 12.30 we came home, cooked our crabs, ate our lunch then headed into town for a bit of shopping-most important was a fishing hat for me as I lost mine in the river on the way home the night before. It sank before we could fish it out!!! We got back from town, picked our crabs and froze the meat, then headed out again to fish in the late afternoon. It wasn’t very successful-I caught 1 legal size bream and Russ a crab. I released the bream when we didn’t catch another. So home for a late dinner of fish, chips and salad, then another crab to deal with. I headed for bed exhausted at about 9.30.
Today is a bit rainy, so it is nice to sit and have a quiet day. Tomorrow we head to Walpole for a week or so.
Daniel (my son) made it to within 250ks of Perth before his car died. Lucky for him his dad could get a trailer and drive out to get him and the car last night! Oh well Dan, you almost made it ;-)
The legal size for crabs is 127mm across the shell; the ones we are catching are around 170mm. Blue swimmer crabs grow to a maximum of 200mm and 1kg, so the crabs in this river really are BIG.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
14th weddding anniversary
It’s our 14th wedding anniversary today (Tuesday 20th). We were going to go out for dinner tonight in Augusta, but a $406 repair bill for our boat motor’s bent shaft put a stop to that idea! The shaft was nearly $300 and the labour very little-it just totalled more than we expected. Amazing to think we spent our 13th wedding anniversary in Streaky Bay and were only a month on the road. Today is the end of our 13th/start of our 14th month away.
Russ went off fishing this morning, leaving me at home to tidy the van and do a bit of laundry. I don't do it often so quite enjoyed it. I especially enjoyed being almost the only person in the park for a few hours. He came home with nothing, but we went out again this afternoon and he caught a big bream. I lost a monster crab out of my net and caught a small bream-not a very exciting days fishing. Now we are about to have a couple of anniversary drinks with Ron and Irene next door. Ron is the West Aussie who thinks I am pretty nice "for a Victorian"! They leave tomorrow but will be in Coral Bay when we are there in June, so we will catch up with them again.
Yesterday after we picked the motor up, we went and did a bit of fishing and crabbing. We caught 3 just under-sized bream, so threw them back, and managed to catch 3 monster crabs. There was enough meat in them to freeze half and keep half out for our anniversary dinner tonight. We’ll be having Thai crab and prawn cakes (our favourite way to eat crab).
The park was quite full when we arrived back. There was a huge and extremely noisy group camped near us who fortunately left on Sunday. The mothers sat and drank, the fathers boated and drank and the kids ran wild. At one stage the 4 husbands were out front the park here yelling and carrying on, doing circles in the river until the boat nearly capsized. I almost went and helped them all pack up to leave. Now the park is empty. There are 3 vans, one tent and one couple in the cabins-it’s so peaceful. Last night Russ and I lit a fire and sat out til about 10. We had every person including the new manager stop by for a chat, so it was very pleasant.
The biggest drawback in the park now is the birds-they are quite used to being fed by a number of people. Now those numbers are down, we are inundated by ducks, 28 parrots, magpies and seagulls, all looking for a handout!
I got a message from last night from my son Daniel who had made it as far as Port Pirie on his way to Perth. I’m keen to see him as he’s the only one of the 5 boys we haven’t seen yet since we left.
Russ went off fishing this morning, leaving me at home to tidy the van and do a bit of laundry. I don't do it often so quite enjoyed it. I especially enjoyed being almost the only person in the park for a few hours. He came home with nothing, but we went out again this afternoon and he caught a big bream. I lost a monster crab out of my net and caught a small bream-not a very exciting days fishing. Now we are about to have a couple of anniversary drinks with Ron and Irene next door. Ron is the West Aussie who thinks I am pretty nice "for a Victorian"! They leave tomorrow but will be in Coral Bay when we are there in June, so we will catch up with them again.
Yesterday after we picked the motor up, we went and did a bit of fishing and crabbing. We caught 3 just under-sized bream, so threw them back, and managed to catch 3 monster crabs. There was enough meat in them to freeze half and keep half out for our anniversary dinner tonight. We’ll be having Thai crab and prawn cakes (our favourite way to eat crab).
The park was quite full when we arrived back. There was a huge and extremely noisy group camped near us who fortunately left on Sunday. The mothers sat and drank, the fathers boated and drank and the kids ran wild. At one stage the 4 husbands were out front the park here yelling and carrying on, doing circles in the river until the boat nearly capsized. I almost went and helped them all pack up to leave. Now the park is empty. There are 3 vans, one tent and one couple in the cabins-it’s so peaceful. Last night Russ and I lit a fire and sat out til about 10. We had every person including the new manager stop by for a chat, so it was very pleasant.
The biggest drawback in the park now is the birds-they are quite used to being fed by a number of people. Now those numbers are down, we are inundated by ducks, 28 parrots, magpies and seagulls, all looking for a handout!
I got a message from last night from my son Daniel who had made it as far as Port Pirie on his way to Perth. I’m keen to see him as he’s the only one of the 5 boys we haven’t seen yet since we left.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
3 weeks holiday
It’s March 17th (St Patrick’s Day) and Russ and I are back in the van at Malloy Caravan Park. We’ve had a wonderful 3 weeks away and got back to find the van and boat pretty well just as we left them. The fridge was very mouldy (might have forgotten to leave it on the slightly open latch) and a chair in the boat the same. It was annoying to have our money box and replacement water heater for the van stolen from under our noses whilst packing to leave from Leah, Blair and Todd's. Luckily I had banked the money box before we headed home so we only lost about $10. Cheeky buggers!
It was great to catch up with family and friends in Gippsland, Werribee, Warrnambool and Portland.
On Wednesday 28th (after 5 nights in Perth and Leah's birthday celelbrations) we arrived in Melbourne at 6am then caught the train to my sister Glenda’s in Traralgon. I got to meet Great niece Charlotte for the first time and catch up with Marcus, Fiona and Jacob as well. They all seem to be going along just fine It was also nice to see some rain. We saw a really spectacular storm from Glenda and Pete’s lounge windows. It caused a bit of flooding, but was needed, so I don’t think too many complained. Thanks to BIL Peter for introducing me to Sudoku. I now have a computer version so can feed my new addiction as often as I like with "infinate variations"!
The four of us headed to Yvonne and Paicey’s wedding at Werribee Mansion on the Saturday. We called and had lunch with our Aunty May on the way which was good. Aunty May is the last mum’s 6 brothers and sisters and at 87 is still driving a little and still selling a bit of Avon. She is amazing.
The wedding was fantastic-one of the best I have ever been too. It was in the formal gardens with the reception in the polo pavilion and was relaxed and fun from start to finish. It was lovely staying there and all getting up for breakfast and a tour of the mansion in the morning.
Sunday we went back to Paicey and Yvonne’s in Yarraville where we had some lunch and saw all the presents opened, and then Joy and Hans (bride’s parents) took us back to Geelong for the night and put us on the bus to Warrnambool and Portland on the Monday. We enjoyed a tour of Geelong and lunch out with them on the water front in Geelong before the bus left.
The train from Geelong broke down, so we ended up bussing it to W’bool, then (as we’d missed our connecting bus), we took a town service to Port Fairy. It was the longest trip to Port Fairy I have ever made.
Port Fairy and Ryan and Kirstyn’s B&B (The Merrijig Inn) was a great time. They are working hard but doing really well and it was nice for us to see the business running and meet all the staff. Extra nice to catch up with them too of course. Our room was large and comfortable and we had 3 nights of very beautiful meals in the restaurant-all of which is a real treat for us two tight wads. On night two, Mick, Jill (Kirstyn’s mum) Deb and Pete (from Portland) Ryan, Kirstyn, Russ and I had a really fun night in the restaurant and let all the others do all the work for a change. The food was great and the wine Ryan produced pretty great too! I was shocked when my son Mick ordered the egg and lemon broth with spiced prawns- I have never seen him eat soup since he was old enough to spit it back at me! On the Wednesday we took Kirstyn’s car into Warrnambool for a bit of a poke around, caught up with Janette (our neighbour) at the Vic Hotel and visited some of the people at TAFE. It was good to see everyone, but we think we will leave it a year to visit so they are so pleased to see us again ;-)
Thursday we went on to Deb and Pete’s in Portland. Deb cooked a lovely meal and much talking was done over a few bottles of wine. It was good to see them but a pity to miss Deb’s mum Marg who was holidaying in NZ.
Friday we dropped our stuff at David’s (Next door neighbour) and headed to the Warrnambool hotel for a very long lunch. We had let people know we would be there if they wanted to see us, so it was good to catch up with quite a few. We ended up staying on for dinner which we had with Jo, Graham and David. Another good day. We had two nights with David and really enjoyed a coffee and cake at Fish Sails followed by an extended tour of the town checking out new building going on and changes made in the past year. We visited our house and all seems to be going well there-they are great tenants as far as we are concerned anyway. It was a bit annoying not to be able to open the door under the house due to a faulty lock and check our furniture and the baits and bombs we left. Mick has assured me he will fix it, replacing the whole door if need be. It’s good to have a carpenter in the family.
Sunday we took the bus and train to Melbourne where we spent two nights with our good friend Henry. We tried a new Indian restaurant our on the Sunday for Russell’s 61st birthday. It had only been open 5 nights so we forgave it the slow service because the food was so good. Monday morning we went to Yum Cha for brunch (only my second time so I love it) and for Italian on Monday night.
Tuesday we flew back to Perth arriving just as Leah knocked off work near by. It was lovely to be welcomed home by her and taken home for a family meal of Spaghetti Bog, crusty bread and a lemon cheesecake (for the birthday old boy). Wednesday night they shouted us to our favourite Thai restaurant (Tamarind in City Beach) for our birthdays as we won’t see them for mine. Kurt and Holly came along too, so it was lots of fun and excellent food as usual.
Thursday we drove to Bunbury to spend 2 nights with Brice and Phyllis. That was also lots of fun with Brice taking us to see places we didn’t know existed in the town. The place has really been tidied up since we visited it last about 4 years ago, so I like it a lot more now. On night one, we shared some of our crab meat we had frozen (Russ made crab and prawn cakes) and Brice brought out some of the fish we had caught in May at Denham when we first met him. He has a food saver and the fish was as good to eat as the day we caught it.On night two, Brice produced a home grown leg of lamb for dinner. I hadn’t had lamb for months and this one was especially yummy. We had it with heaps of veg, gravy and it was so good.
And here we are back in Malloy after a pleasant 1 ½ hour drive from Bunbury this morning.
It was great to catch up with family and friends in Gippsland, Werribee, Warrnambool and Portland.
On Wednesday 28th (after 5 nights in Perth and Leah's birthday celelbrations) we arrived in Melbourne at 6am then caught the train to my sister Glenda’s in Traralgon. I got to meet Great niece Charlotte for the first time and catch up with Marcus, Fiona and Jacob as well. They all seem to be going along just fine It was also nice to see some rain. We saw a really spectacular storm from Glenda and Pete’s lounge windows. It caused a bit of flooding, but was needed, so I don’t think too many complained. Thanks to BIL Peter for introducing me to Sudoku. I now have a computer version so can feed my new addiction as often as I like with "infinate variations"!
The four of us headed to Yvonne and Paicey’s wedding at Werribee Mansion on the Saturday. We called and had lunch with our Aunty May on the way which was good. Aunty May is the last mum’s 6 brothers and sisters and at 87 is still driving a little and still selling a bit of Avon. She is amazing.
The wedding was fantastic-one of the best I have ever been too. It was in the formal gardens with the reception in the polo pavilion and was relaxed and fun from start to finish. It was lovely staying there and all getting up for breakfast and a tour of the mansion in the morning.
Sunday we went back to Paicey and Yvonne’s in Yarraville where we had some lunch and saw all the presents opened, and then Joy and Hans (bride’s parents) took us back to Geelong for the night and put us on the bus to Warrnambool and Portland on the Monday. We enjoyed a tour of Geelong and lunch out with them on the water front in Geelong before the bus left.
The train from Geelong broke down, so we ended up bussing it to W’bool, then (as we’d missed our connecting bus), we took a town service to Port Fairy. It was the longest trip to Port Fairy I have ever made.
Port Fairy and Ryan and Kirstyn’s B&B (The Merrijig Inn) was a great time. They are working hard but doing really well and it was nice for us to see the business running and meet all the staff. Extra nice to catch up with them too of course. Our room was large and comfortable and we had 3 nights of very beautiful meals in the restaurant-all of which is a real treat for us two tight wads. On night two, Mick, Jill (Kirstyn’s mum) Deb and Pete (from Portland) Ryan, Kirstyn, Russ and I had a really fun night in the restaurant and let all the others do all the work for a change. The food was great and the wine Ryan produced pretty great too! I was shocked when my son Mick ordered the egg and lemon broth with spiced prawns- I have never seen him eat soup since he was old enough to spit it back at me! On the Wednesday we took Kirstyn’s car into Warrnambool for a bit of a poke around, caught up with Janette (our neighbour) at the Vic Hotel and visited some of the people at TAFE. It was good to see everyone, but we think we will leave it a year to visit so they are so pleased to see us again ;-)
Thursday we went on to Deb and Pete’s in Portland. Deb cooked a lovely meal and much talking was done over a few bottles of wine. It was good to see them but a pity to miss Deb’s mum Marg who was holidaying in NZ.
Friday we dropped our stuff at David’s (Next door neighbour) and headed to the Warrnambool hotel for a very long lunch. We had let people know we would be there if they wanted to see us, so it was good to catch up with quite a few. We ended up staying on for dinner which we had with Jo, Graham and David. Another good day. We had two nights with David and really enjoyed a coffee and cake at Fish Sails followed by an extended tour of the town checking out new building going on and changes made in the past year. We visited our house and all seems to be going well there-they are great tenants as far as we are concerned anyway. It was a bit annoying not to be able to open the door under the house due to a faulty lock and check our furniture and the baits and bombs we left. Mick has assured me he will fix it, replacing the whole door if need be. It’s good to have a carpenter in the family.
Sunday we took the bus and train to Melbourne where we spent two nights with our good friend Henry. We tried a new Indian restaurant our on the Sunday for Russell’s 61st birthday. It had only been open 5 nights so we forgave it the slow service because the food was so good. Monday morning we went to Yum Cha for brunch (only my second time so I love it) and for Italian on Monday night.
Tuesday we flew back to Perth arriving just as Leah knocked off work near by. It was lovely to be welcomed home by her and taken home for a family meal of Spaghetti Bog, crusty bread and a lemon cheesecake (for the birthday old boy). Wednesday night they shouted us to our favourite Thai restaurant (Tamarind in City Beach) for our birthdays as we won’t see them for mine. Kurt and Holly came along too, so it was lots of fun and excellent food as usual.
Thursday we drove to Bunbury to spend 2 nights with Brice and Phyllis. That was also lots of fun with Brice taking us to see places we didn’t know existed in the town. The place has really been tidied up since we visited it last about 4 years ago, so I like it a lot more now. On night one, we shared some of our crab meat we had frozen (Russ made crab and prawn cakes) and Brice brought out some of the fish we had caught in May at Denham when we first met him. He has a food saver and the fish was as good to eat as the day we caught it.On night two, Brice produced a home grown leg of lamb for dinner. I hadn’t had lamb for months and this one was especially yummy. We had it with heaps of veg, gravy and it was so good.
And here we are back in Malloy after a pleasant 1 ½ hour drive from Bunbury this morning.
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