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.

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.

Steam Shoes and Knickers

On Thursday night we got talking to a nice couple-Bernie and Leanne from Perth. They have not long bought their van (in Melbourne to save paying stamp duty) and are pretty new to caravanning like us. They custom built their van and suggested we go look at their battery set up for free camping the following morning. It looks simple and was added after the van was built, so it seems a pretty good choice for us. Anyhow, I noticed the car next door had Traralgon on its number plates and a Yepoon Hash House Harriers sticker on the back. (I met Russell through HHH).

Ross and Joy (Steam Shoes and Knickers) have been to many Latrobe Valley and Warrnambool HHH runs, we remember them from the Balls Up at Dallas Brooks Hall and a good friend of theirs went out with a good friend of ours. We spent a lovely couple of hours with them reminiscing last night and were a bit sad to find out they would be moving on today. Hopefully we will catch up in Perth although they are not too fond of cities and may move on fairly quickly.

Bottle Brush on the Bibulum Track


Yesterday, we took the car into town for its 30,000 km service (poor thing looks more like 300,000), then walked home along the Bibulum track (part of a 1000 km track that snakes from Albany to Perth). It was a lovely 3k walk through town, then over little creeks, through groves of tea tree and past quite a few wild flowers.

The Tinny Waiting to go Fishing


We’d launched the boat before taking the car into town, so headed out and did a bit of fishing. We moved around for a couple of hours not catching anything, so I finally said to Russ it was time to go home-I was a bit bored. I said we should cast our lines out one more time then go. I thought I had caught an octopus at first, but I pulled in the biggest bream I have ever seen personally. He was 41cm. Legal size is 25 and we only keep the ones over 30. He made the other 4 we caught look like babies. We had him for dinner last night and gave Ross and Joy the other fillets.
Big Bream, Bad Hair Day


It’s Saturday now and Russ is in paying for the car service. We offered to go get cash for them yesterday, but they said “no, just drop in and pay with your key card tomorrow morning”. I couldn’t believe they could do business like that-I would be standing by the eftpos machine (with my hand out waiting) when dealing with strangers passing through. They really only had our word that we are here until Monday. Russ said we must look honest, but I’m sure jail is full of people who “look” honest.

Still in Walpole

Amongst the Tingles

Another few days have slipped by in Walpole. It certainly is a relaxing time here! The weather has been getting cooler still-we had the heater on for a while last night and I got a blanket out to watch TV. There has often been rain through the nights and the days are still clearing to sunny but cooler. Our original plan was to stay a week, but we quickly extended that to two. The park is pretty empty and the fish are plentiful so it seems a good reason to hang around.

Mandalay Beach

Last week we drove out to Deep River and on to Mandalay beach (very beautiful)so it was great to see it from a different perspective. We also took another trip to the Giant Tingle tree with our camera this time!
In the Giant Tingle Tree


Russ promised me a fish smoker for my birthday and we finally bought it at the supermarket here. We tried to make do with our wok, but it was a waste of time. We've been having a great time with the real thing and it gives us more ways to use that seeminly endless supply of fish we have.
Down at the Boat Ramp

We have been limiting our fishing time as we are catching too many! Yesterday we headed out with our lunch at 11.30 and came back in at 2.30 having caught 10 King George whiting (averaging 33cm), a good sized trevally and salmon. Russ filleted them all and our neighbours (a couple from Shepparton) scored themselves 6 beautiful whiting fillets for their dinner.
The Fish


We kept the trevally and salmon to smoke as they are almost the best fish we’ve been catching to do that with. I phoned Brice yesterday and suggested he needn’t think of defrosting anything for me to cook us Monday night as we’ll have plenty of fish with us that won’t fit in our tiny freezer. And Blair, Leah, Todd and Daniel can expect a few meals of fish and crab while we are there! When we were smoking our last lot of fish, a kookaburra flashed through the caravan awning within 30cm of me and stole a raw (but spicily rubbed) fish fillet off the rack waiting to go into the smoker! I found too, that when we were near the BBQ using the smoker, they swooped even closer. I think it is to scare people so they’ll step back and the birds can have a go at meat on the barbie. They really are very bold and quite aggressive!
Coming in Before a Storm on Nornalup Inlet


Today we did a couple of loads of washing early in the hope of getting them dry on the line. After we’d done that, we packed a lunch (fresh rolls made with our own home smoked chicken and avocado) and went for a drive to Mt. Clare where we ate our lunch before walking to the summit. That sounds more strenuous than it actually was. It was a 2.4km round trip, gently uphill all the way to the top, but downhill all the way back to the car! The walk through the tingle and karri trees was pretty and peaceful and at the summit, we were rewarded with beautiful views across the Deep river valley to the coast at Mandalay Beach.
On the Summit of Mt Clare

I had some great news today. We met a couple (James and Beth) when we were in Coral Bay last year. They got as far as Broome on their travels but I had an idea they were moving on at the end of June. I got an e-mail today to say they'd be there when we arrive on 7th of July. We were only to stay a week, but I called and extended that to a second week when I heard the news as I'm sure we will be able to fill in two weeks with them there for a bit of company occasionally!

Tomorrow we are taking the car in to be serviced, so will walk the 2 ½ ks home from the mechanics. That walk takes you round the inlet and it’s very pretty at the moment with lots of orange bottle brush in flower.

Walpole the Second Time

We ended up spending just over two weeks in Bremer Bay and really enjoying it. Like I said it’s small and quite isolated, but it has a nice feel to it and plenty of fish!

Now we are back in Walpole where we’ve booked for a week. We feet like we’ve gone far enough east and don’t need to go back to Esperance as we’ve been there twice before. Walpole is a lovely little town; quiet, but slightly better off than Bremer Bay for groceries, price of fuel and a few cafes.

The day before leaving Bremer Bay, we caught a big blue swimmer crab in a fishing line (we had no idea there was crabs in the estuary) and after a chat with our neighbour John, found out they are just starting to run. That and the fact they are catching prawns by the mouth of the river made me want to stay another week. That night, we had a very loud and spectacular thunder storm with 40mls of rain. It’s always louder in the van, but it was pretty amazing. We reckon we have seen about 8 days of rain since we left home (not including Bangkok in the rainy season). 15 months ago, so we always enjoy it.

It was really windy travelling here on Monday-mostly a head wind, so we used heaps of fuel. It’s just on 300ks, but it took us 6 hours including a stop to shop and lunch in Albany. I was so excited to shop in a big supermarket after Bremer Bay and the prices seemed so cheap after the little supermarket we’ve been forced to shop at. We met some locals on our last night. They moved to Bremer from Barwon Heads for 2 years work at the Abalone farm and have now been there 7. They shop once a month in Albany and if a friend is shopping in the mean time, phone through an order and someone else collects it for them. It was nice to see that the rain we had over Easter has started to green things up. It was so dry when we drove into Bremer Bay two weeks before and although it is only painted on, the new grass made it look so much better on the way out. There are a lot of wattles and some gums and hakeas in flower too so it all looked good.

Yesterday we had a day out fishing in the estuary here. I keep trying to remember to take my camera as it’s one of the prettiest places we have ever been fishing on. The water is really shallow (mostly under two metres) and bright blue and green, it’s crystal clear and full of fish and stingrays (some as big as table tops).
Finally Took the Camera

Week 2 Begins in Bremer Bay

The Largest Site We've Had on the Trip


Today we begin week two at Bremer Bay. It’s been a quiet time for us with Easter and all. Easter has brought lots of campers to the park so there is always a queue for the toilets and showers which is something we are not used to. Also lots of feral children wandering later at night and lots of them have motorbikes and four wheel bikes that they ride out of the park to the dunes.

We did a bit of fishing before the hordes arrived, but even that becomes more difficult in the busier times as long queues form to go in and out of the water at the boat ramps. Most of our time has been spent reading and doing puzzles tho Russ has fished a couple of times off the rocks and once managed to catch us a big, beautiful breaksea cod which was delicious. We’ve also had a good look around the town-it has 4 lookouts at various high points that give really amazing views over the river and bays. The town has one wind turbine on top of one of the lookouts and it was pretty amazing to be able to park the car RIGHT under the blades. Those things are enormous!

Another thing we've had a bit of fun with was making ourselves a smoker we were happy with! They are available from hardware and camping stores for very little cost, but we can't afford the space for more gadgets. We decided our big Scanpan wok might do the trick. Anyhow, first attempt we brined the fish and used the wok with a foil lid on our electic hotplate with so so results. The second time, we rubbed a salt, sugar pepper mix on the fish, put the wok on the BBQ flame and used the BBQ hotplate as a lid. This gave us a much better result. We are smoking herrings over mesquite chips and will keep trying until we get it right.
A First Attempt at Smoking

It’s actually raining quite heavily this morning (Easter Monday) and has been for 24 hours, so we are feeling the cold a bit and looking forward to another day spent indoors! I hate to be a sook, but it’s nice to see some of the campers heading home. Although it’s still school holidays, I’d guess the park will be a quieter by lunch time. The toilets will appreciate that-they have been having a hard time keeping up with the crowds and aren’t flushing properly now.

Bremer Bay and Point Anne

Monday, we had a sleep in then a lazy morning and early lunch of soup (which I’ve been dreaming about), then went fishing. We looked at putting the boat into the bay but decided it was a bit rough so decided to go back to the river instead. Neither of us was too keen as the river at Molloy was a bit sad, but this one was great. It’s shallow around the boat ramp for about a kilometer any way you leave it and we didn’t want to go too far so we ended up anchoring in about 1 metre of water. Just as we were about to give up and move from our first spot, it went nuts. We were pulling in fish after fish. Most were undersize, but Russ caught 4 good size bream, I caught 1 bream, 2 snapper and 1 whiting we could bring home.


Royal Hakea Fitzgerald NP
Today we woke to a beautiful morning so decided to take a picnic out to Point Anne (about 60ks away on a gravel road). It would have been a perfect day for fishing, but you can only eat (or freeze) so much fish and it really is nicer to eat it as you catch it. Russ made a smoked trout pate and we took the makings of really yummy sandwiches (smoked lamb pastrami, avocado etc). We couldn’t leave though until the fresh bread arrived in town at 11 am!


The Road in to Point Anne

Point Anne is in the Fitzgerald National Park and is very remote and spectacular. There are a few small mountains rising off the plains and several more further along the coast towards Esperance. The water is very blue and the sand hills very white. The sky was very blue and was criss crossed with jet trails heading to and from Melbourne and Perth. It looked a bit like the skies over London.

Point Anne

The woman that runs this park said FNP wasn’t really worth the visit as it is dry with the drought (she forgot to mention burned out by bushfires too in much of it) but arriving at Point Anne and Mary’s Inlet is worth the drive. On the way home we went via Quaalup Homestead then back into town the short way over a 4WD track and across the river mouth back into Bremer Bay. What a great day out!

Walpole, Albany, Bremer Bay

Don and Judith left front, Joan back left and Brian on the back right

We ended up spending a full week in Walpole and could have happily have spent another one. It was one of the nicest parks we’ve stayed in and once again we were a bit sad to leave. Still, it’s good to leave feeling like that rather than vowing never to return!

After leaving Walpole, we went to Albany where we’d arranged to meet our friends Don and Judith. By the time we got there, they’d met the neighbours Brian and Joan from Taree NSW and the 6 of us had a great time. We met Don and Judith in Streaky Bay last year, and they have just come from there again. This is their first trip to WA and so far they are having a wonderful time-they’ll be away from home for 10 months this trip. I think we’ll be able to catch up with them again further up north or even in Darwin towards the end of July.

Yesterday after a visit to the best farmers market we’ve been to so far, I spent a nice couple of hours showing Don how to set up the blog he wanted to start, then in the evening the 6 of us went out for Japanese. It was the first time for the other 4 (eating Japanese) and luckily everyone enjoyed it a lot.

Russ and I arrived in Bremer Bay about 1.15 today. Bremer Bay is about 180ks east of Albany and about 350 west of Esperance. About 5 years ago, we drove our car over to Perth and called in here to eat our lunch and have a look. It’s somewhere I have always wanted to come back to. Now with 2 weeks here, we can see if it was really such a good idea. The park is nice (with a pizza restaurant lots of travellers have recommended to us) and our site is very big and reasonably private (which will be good over Easter). We are right by the pool, but I don’t think I (or anyone else) will be wanting to use it as the days are getting much colder.

Walpole

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.

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.

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.

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.

Leah's Birthday Weekend

We’ve had a lovely weekend with Todd, Blair and Leah-it was great to be here for Leah’s birthday celebrations. On Friday we arrived back from Malloy and went with them and about 15 others for a really fun night at the Oxford Pub in Leederville. It was a warm night and we were lucky to sit outside in the courtyard where there was a bit of a breeze. The food and company was great!


Saturday we went over to Midland Market for lunch, a few veg and a couple of big pot plants for Leah’s birthday. We managed to find two beautiful ones that will suit a couple of pots she has already. Saturday night, all of them went out and Russ and I had a nice quiet night home alone.

Sunday we went with Blair and Leah to visit Leah’s parents John and Christine in Mandurah. It was really hot, but we all enjoyed a family BBQ for Leah and her BIL Tim’s birthdays, before coming home for a swim. The only down side of things was I tripped coming out the back door in Mandurah, fell over a fan and into a garden bed. Luckily I missed the table edge on the way down! And no, I hadn’t had a drink! My leg is feeling very sore right now.

Right now it’s Monday morning and Russ and I are sitting listening to a huge amount of thunder with very little rain. I just hope we get the rain to clear a bit of the humidity. I just saw a big flash of lightening too.

1st anniversary

Monday we took Brice’s boat up the river for a picnic. We travelled as far as you can go to a campground just passed the Alexander Bridge on the Blackwood River, where we tied up and had a nice lunch of fresh salad rolls and fruit.


It’s a beautiful boat to travel in and I felt a bit like royalty cruising at 8 knots past all the little tinnies out fishing. It was fun to get into the ski zone where we could open it up and speed!

We had a BBQ dinner with Brice and Phyllis to finish off a wonderful day. I was very touched when Brice said how glad he is he invited us over for a drink the night we arrived in Denham back in May last year! This makes me think of another funny thing one of our neighbours said on Sunday night when we were having a casserole tea with them. He said in all seriousness that we were the friendliest Victorians he had ever met-that some of them are very snobby or grumpy and rude, but we are OK!!!!!

Yesterday we went out in the ocean (“ocean’s” actually because when we went behind one of the islands, we crossed from the Pacific into the Indian!) looking for fish. All we caught was 6 small sand whiting and 2 tommy ruff (or herring if you are from WA). Still it was a nice day, although a bit rough for Phyllis who got quite icky so we came home about an hour earlier than planned. I used to think I got sea sick, but seem to have grown out of it which is good. Last night we ate venison steaks for dinner with mash and veg. It was good, and good to have a night at home alone. We opened ourselves a very nice bottle of wine to celebrate our 1st anniversary–it was 1 year yesterday we headed off from Warrnambool on our trip.

Today is a day of rest for us; we are doing our laundry and house work. Tonight we‘re having curry with Phyllis and Brice (Phyllis is Indian so her pork Vindaloo should be good). I’m making a chicken one.

This time in a week we’ll be in Traralgon and I have to say I’m looking forward to it a lot.

The Festival of the Pig

Last night was the annual Festival of the Pig! It’s a pig on the spit organized by a group of people in the park every year that we were lucky enough to get a guernsey to. It was $10 a head and I took along a salad for Russ, Brice and myself to be shared with everyone. There were 45 people and some really wonderful salads to go with our very delicious pig. After our delicious pig, there were some very nice desserts too. And after all that, there was a bit of joke telling, singing, and our neighbour Bob played his electric mandolin which was really good! I was pretty impressed that he actually made the mandolin himself too as it was beautiful. It was a fantastic night that I’ll always remember this lovely park for.

On the way home from the Festival, some of our neighbours were still up chatting around their fire, so we spent an hour with them before heading to bed. They will be in Denham in May when we are there, so we have made arrangements to catch up up there.

Today, we rose very late and sat and had a cuppa with Brice before heading out crabbing in our boat. It was all going very nicely until we hit a log and damaged our motor. It will have to go into the marine place here for repairs in the morning which is a bit of a bummer as I had my heart set on a few more crabs. We caught ourselves 3 big beauties and planned to make chilli crab with them (which we did and it was fantastic).

When we got home from crabbing, yet another neighbour invited us over for a casserole tea, saying we didn’t need to bring a dish as they’d given us such short notice. Not to worry, we just took our chilli crabs and rice that we had planned to eat anyway. The people who ate crabs and chilli loved them and I got asked for the recipe, so they must have been OK.

Brice’s Indian lady friend Phyllis arrived today to spend a few weeks with him, so we are looking forward to a curry night with here before we head back to Perth on Friday. This has been a really enjoyable place to stay!

Malloy and Crab Pots

Feeding the Neighbours

We are having a wonderful time at Malloy. The weather has been great-not too hot and good for sleeping at night. The wind can get up a bit, but we find places out of it to fish and crab. Not many fish in our part of the river though, but we did catch a nice feed of whiting closer to the mouth the other day. There are crabs up this end and although we never catch many, they are a good size so that makes up for it.

The other day when we went down to the river mouth, we noticed a crab pot that looked to have been abandoned. No one ever puts out one pot. On the way home we pulled it up and saw it had the remains of a fish head long eaten, but threw it back. Two days later it was still there so we rescued it (pinched is not a nice word!). Yesterday we took it crabbing and lost it when its rope came undone (that’s what you get for “rescuing” something). Today we went crabbing in almost the same spot and caught it again! Talk about a saga.

Brice arrived yesterday-he’d been down in Perth having tests so his boat and caravan were already here. He had dinner with us last night. For entrée we had 3 huge crabs and then lamb chops in onion gravy, mash and veg. It was all pretty yummy and the crabs really were so big they were enough.

He thinks we’ll get a fish out in the ocean tomorrow which will be good, and he said we should pack a picnic and take his big boat up the river as far as we can go which would be fun.

There are also lots of other nice people in the park. Many are here together and have been coming for a gazillion years, but they are friendly and have invited us over for drinks before dinner whenever they are sitting outside. Everyone has a small boat (except Brice and the odd other person) so all are keen to talk fishing and fishing locations. It’s one of the better parks we’ve been in so far.

Russ and I will have been on the road 1 year on Tuesday 20th, it certainly has been a wonderful year.

Malloy and Crabs!

The park in Busselton “looked nice” but it was really scary. It was full of old people who all looked the same-they all drove sedans that they covered at night, about 1/3rd of them rode push bikes and many called each other “mum and dad”. The park put on water aerobics every morning (so it was a rush to get to the showers before it finished) and boot scooting once a week and as a special treat last night, they had a brass band on the common for all to enjoy! I was pleased to get out of there before I was brainwashed into joining the festivities! As we were leaving this morning, our neighbours raced out to ask if we had been their neighbours in Denham in May which, as it turns out, we were. We’ll also be meeting them there again this May

We had to drive about 90ks to Malloy (through Margaret River), so arrived here bright and early and are now well set up. Malloy is near Augusta which is where the Indian and Pacific Oceans meet. We’ve been there before a few years ago, but it was lovely to go out there for a drive this afternoon.

The park is lovely-a bit sandy, there is duck and kangaroo poo everywhere (the ducks circle the vans like Indians around the wagons) , but we are only 70 metres from the beautiful Blackwood river (and the park’s boat ramp) where the park manager tells us we’ll be able to catch black bream, whiting and blue swimmer crabs so big we’ll only need two each for a feed. I nearly wet myself with excitement when she said that.

This park is small and not particularly full right now. Everyone drives a 4WD and has a boat so we think it should be good fun for 2 weeks. Did I mention there are BIG crabs to be had? Of course it will be good. Our friend Brice (from Denham with the big boat) is here, but has had to go back into Perth for a few days for some more treatment for his bone cancer. He and his daughter should be back Tuesday. The park manager has kindly agreed to store the caravan and boat for us when we fly home for Yvonne and Paicey’s wedding which is great-the boat doesn’t have to go back on top of the car now for about 6 weeks.

There is no TV reception here, so I guess all those books we bought at garage sales and op shops are about to come in handy, I can also see us playing a bit of scrabble and Canasta too.

Busselton

We ended up staying an extra night in Nannup and leaving today-Wednesday. On Monday we went for another drive to Donnybrook and along the way bought ourselves a heap of tomatoes, nectarines and plums on the side of the road. Yesterday we went out to the local recyclers and got ourselves some jars and turned the tomatoes and nectarines into a couple of chutneys. Over the past few days we had bought a nice lime and date chutney ($12.95) and a beetroot and cranberry one ($6.95) and figured we could make ourselves a year’s supply for the price of those two. Funny too, when I read the ingredients of the beetroot and cranberry one, there was no cranberries listed! At least we know what we put in ours.

Today we tidied the house, said goodbye to the chooks, frogs and baby magpies and headed into Busselton where we’ll stay for 2 nights.

This is the first time we’ve been in a park since the end of October. It’s a big full one with nice amenities, friendly people and a beautiful pool that we swam in for a couple of hours this afternoon.

Still in Nannup

It’s Monday 5th and we are still in Nannup-we are heading to Busselton tomorrow for 3 nights, then on to Malloy for 2 weeks. The caravan park there has been kind enough to bring our booking forward so we can be in and out two days earlier. That means we can be back in Perth in time for a days sailing on the Leeuwin and for Leah’s birthday.

Nannup has been great. Christine and John arrived down Friday night (early, while we were out touring around) and it was really nice to have their company for two nights. We cooked the rack of venison for Christine’s birthday, and had stewed nectarines fresh from the tree for dessert. John cooked a great BBQ Saturday night, then we had BBQed bacon, eggs, sausages, homegrown tomatoes etc for Brunch on Sunday. Very delicious.

There were 2 couples staying in the house two doors up, so we went and had drinks with them Saturday night. One of the couples is friends with the house owners and has been doing a bit of electrical work on an extension there in return for a bit of use of the place. They invited Russ and I up again last night after John and Christine headed home too, so it has been a lot of fun. We went for a drive to Bridgetown which is a very pretty little place with not much open on a Sunday which is a bit of a shame. It seems the smaller places are a bit keener to cater to tourists and Sunday drivers. There was nothing in the way of interesting foodie things either (not at all like the other two drives) so all we came home with was 3 very nice bottles of wine from a tiny vineyard we visited.

It was a much cooler day yesterday and perfect for sleeping last night. I think I had the best sleep I’ve had in a month! Today we are just having a quiet day before we move on tomorrow.

Nannup

Yesterday (Wednesday) we made a few sandwiches and headed to Pemberton about 80ks away. Along the way we visited a waterfall (not much water at the moment) then stopped at an avocado farm (9 avocados for $2) and an organic food stall (beautiful chillies and kaffir lime leaves) then on to the bicentennial tree for lunch and a photo opportunity of Russ climbing the tree.


After lunch we stopped at the Pemberton wine centre and bought a couple of really nice local wines (a yummy Riesling and a verdelo) then stopped at a trout farm where we bought a smoked trout for dinner Friday night. We had a look around Pemberton, then drove on to Manjimup where we did a bit of shopping in Coles, then went to the local op shop and bought ourselves 9 books ($1.50 in total) and a wine glass (expensive at $1.00).

At home again, we cooked ourselves a delicious green curry including our chillies and kaffir lime leaves. Yum.

Historic Waterwheel Near Margaret River


Today we went to Margaret River, driving through the lovely forests and past lots of vineyards. It’s been about 6 years since we were here last and not a lot seems to have changed in that time. After a drive down to the mouth of the river, we had a walk around town, bought some Turkish bread for our lunch and some lovely local veggies (beautiful sweet cherry tomatoes, basil, cucumbers etc etc). We ate our lunch in a pretty park outside town-only problem was about 10 very cheeky ducks expected a share of my sandwich. I don’t think so duckies!!!

Margaret River Mouth


The venison farm was just as good as last time we visited-they make the best salami I have ever eaten. We also bought a rack of venison to roast for Christine’s birthday dinner tomorrow night, steaks, sausages, pastrami, prosciutto, cabana and pate. Then we went to an olive farm for a tasting (bought some lovely chutney and olive tapenade). We came home through Busselton, arriving here about 4.30. It was another great day out.

Hot, hot hot in WA

We moved out of the flat as planned on Friday 26th. It wasn’t a good plan though as it was so hot we couldn’t believe it. I think we drank about 5 litres of water in the three hours it took to do it. Afterwards we went back to B, L & T’s and spent the rest of the day in the pool (only coming out to cook dinner for our Aussie Day celebrations After entrée and mains we walked up to Mt Lawley and watched Skyworks over the city and Swan River with about 400 other locals. It was pretty spectacular, but still hot (about 38c by then), so we came home, got in the pool and finally had our dessert watching the Skyworks replay at 11pm.

Saturday and Sunday hovered around the 40c mark again, Monday cooled to about 35 and today it is probably 40c again.

Todd Leah and Blair off to Their Party!


Saturday night everyone went out to a 40th birthday party so Chris and Carly had diner with us. Russ cooked quail and we polished off the leftover salads from Friday night then we had ice cream, fresh fruit and Leah’s homegrown passionfruit. We also did a lot of swimming. Sunday was again spent in the pool.

Monday we got the car, boat and van ready to travel (pretty much a full days job with all of them needing a good clean and tidy up and a few minor repairs to the water pump and tank of the van. I don’t think vans like just sitting around.

Today (Tuesday) we have driven to Nannup (about 60ks east of Busselton) to spend a few days at Leah’s parents holiday house there. It’s a beautiful spot, but it’s very hot and smoky today. Still it was a really nice drive and it feels so good to be back out in the country. We stopped in Harvey on the way for a counter lunch in a beautiful old pub (had Harvey Beef steak sandwiches) and passed lots of foodie places on the way we’ll pop back and visit in the next day or so. Tonight we’ll sit outside and BBQ some turkey sausages and have a salad-it’s too hot to think about much more than that.

3 more sleeps in the flat.....

Thursday was spent with Leah doing our laundry. It’s nice over there using the wireless Internet and watching Food TV on the big screen! After we’d washed and dried all our dirty stuff, we headed to Ganeesh, and Indian grocery store close by. We bought a heap of stuff for $14 (spices, curry mixes poppadums etc), it’s clean and orderly and cheap!

Friday we woke and sat watching TV wondering what to do for the day. An ad came on for Midland markets, so problem solved. It’s a fair drive out there, but it got us out seeing other suburbs and the fruit and veg we bought was probably the best we’ve got in the whole 3 months we have been here.

Friday night Leah cooked us a yummy dinner and we stayed over in the van. It’s silly to drive home after even a drink when we have a very comfy bed of our own sitting there! Saturday morning we got up and did a round of the Garage sales and a church fete, stocking up on books, magazines jam and pickles.

Sunday was a quiet day. Russ walked to Freo, but I stayed home as I wasn’t feeling too well. Sunday night we gave in and had a drink before dinner with landlord Ramesh and his Korean Harem. There’s not much choice when they are sitting right outside our front door.

Monday was the start of our last week in Perth, so we did a bit of running around (post office, hardware, battery world) then visited Leah and put a few things in the van. I wanted to try Nando’s chicken before we left so off to there for a late lunch. When we got home, the neighbour came over and made herself known to us. She had shot an arrow over the back fence and needed to retrieve it! We had to promise not to tell Ramesh she practices archery in the backyard aiming at the flat’s kitchen window. It’s the first time she’s missed. Anyhow, we ended up over there having a glass of wine before dinner with them and I’m sure she and I would have been good friends. It’s sad to meet her in our last week.

A busy week

Our look around Perth was good-we went to Harbour City (an outlet shopping centre) in West Perth and bought ourselves some new clothes and shoes which always entertains me! Dinner with Allan was good too-he brought me over some recent photos of Daniel when he visited him on Hamilton Island.

Now we see the end in sight, we are rushing to do a few things we had planned while here. Friday we went to the aquarium at Hilary’s Boat Harbour. It was expensive, very fishy smelling but still ok as we saw quite a few of the fish we’ve caught up north and been unable to identify.

Saturday we did a few garage sales and came away with 14 books, a fishing knife (Victrinox) for me, and a crab pot, so we were pretty pleased. The two of us a huge readers, so garage sales and op shops are an essential source of cheap books.

Saturday night we gave in and had a BBQ with our lunatic loser of a landlord. He really is a tosser. He is the biggest know it all, know nothing, I have ever met! And I’m serious about that.

On Sunday, we slept late, had brunch, and then went over to Blair, Leah and Todd’s for a day of swimming followed by a BBQ with them and Chris and Carly. What a difference it makes to spend the day with pleasant intelligent people (as opposed to our landlord!).

Monday we took our caravan for a service and a few minor repairs, Tuesday we picked it up and returned it to the kids place. Tuesday night the two of us went to Latasha’s Place in Leederville for an Indian meal. I’d give it high marks for value for money, but pretty low ones for service and somewhere in the middle for the food. In other words, it was OK!

Today (Wednesday, we have been over to Freo on the train for a day at the Maritime Museum there. It was fantastic-must have been, it took us 5 ½ hours to see all we did! Included in that was a 1 ¼ hour tour of the Submarine Ovens. It was great and made even better by a former crewman from QLD (who had served 7 years on it) taking the tour too. He was really entertaining and pointed out lots of things the guide didn’t. I especially loved seeing Australia II on display along with lots of memorabilia from it.

Tomorrow is laundry day, so we’ll spend it doing that and swimming.

Perth

Only 2 ½ weeks left here in the flat. My sister is always worrying we will fall in love with Perth and never leave, but you know what, I am looking forward to being back on the road, seeing new places and meeting new people. We have really enjoyed our time here (although I don’t much like our old woman of a landlord!) and I’ll always remember it as a wonderful time, but let’s get going!

The past couple of weeks have been really good fun. We’ve managed to take the boat out a couple more times on the Swan (not that there are any decent fish in it). The fun of it is more just fishing in the middle of the city and seeing all the different spots from the river.

On December 30th, we (about 40 of us) had a picnic/BBQ and cricket in the park to farewell Ange and Graham who are off to Sydney to live and work. They hired a spot in the park, so we had a playground for the kids, a key to the toilets, plenty of shade and space to play cricket and botche.

We had a great NYE over at Blair, Leah and Todd’s. About a dozen of us had a very relaxed dinner by the pool and it was possibly one of the nicest NYE’s I’ve put in. New Year’s Day, Leah Russ and I packed a picnic of leftovers and took it to the 20/20 match at the WACA. It’s the first major cricket match that Leah and I have ever been to, so we both really enjoyed it.

Saturday night we went over to Curt and Holly's for a BBQ. They bought a really nice unit in Yokine and it was the first time we had visited it. Tim (Russ's NZ nephew) came along and a cousin of Curt's who has just arrived from Warrnambool. There can't be many people left there now! Tim does a bit of work with Curt at the bookbinder's but it looks as though he has a job out in the mines now which is good.

Early this week we got new tyres for the Navarra which pleases me. I hate dodgy tyres on a car. The price didn’t please me, but these are guaranteed to last 60,000 ks (which should nearly see us home!). Next week, the van goes in for a service.

Leah is in between jobs at the moment, so she has cooked us a couple of lovely dinners over the last two weeks. She was a bit run down as she finished work, so it’s nice to see her enjoying her home, pool and garden for a change.

Today we are off by train for a look around West Perth, then tonight we have my ex husband coming over for dinner.

Merry Christmas

Russ and I hope all of you who read this have had a wonderful Christmas and we wish you all the best for 2007. Our WA Christmas was great-lots of good food wine and fun and did enjoy my first ever Christmas celebrated outside Victoria!


Blair, Leah, Todd, Russell and I provided lunch (seafood, ham and salads) for 12, then dinner for another 4 plus a few drop-ins for drinks later on. Dinner was more traditional with turkey, pork, beef, leftover salads, roast veg and several sweets. The guests kept us supplied with nice drinks. As you can imagine, lots of fun was had shopping and cooking for the day as well. The kid’s house is a great place for entertaining with the beautiful pool out back and their huge table and many chairs. It was a pretty warm day so the pool really got used and enjoyed.
Carly Morrfield

I have lots of photos of the day so will post some soon. We had Russ’s NZ nephew with us and it was nice to hear from Daniel, Mick and Ryan and Kirstyn. Mick is leaving Whistler on January 5th, so will be home in Warrnambool when we get there.


Tim from NZ


Leah's parents Christine and John

Boxing Day was spent very quietly-we came home and I slept for 3 hours! We had stayed over in our van on the two previous nights. Today we went over and collected a few of our things we’d forgotten, ate the last of the turkey and had several swims. Leah was home as she is in between jobs with 4 ½ weeks off before she starts the next. It looks like the weather will stay hot until New Year’s Eve, so I think more swimming will be in order for us. The plan NYE is to spend it quietly at Blair, Leah and Todd’s with a very few others.

WACA!!!!

Saturday we had our first shifts at the WACA. Russ got moved into the members bar and loved it.
Russ is at work today. I lasted one day and quit. It was awful-dirty, disorganized and not looking like it would get any better. I had no idea what I was doing as a supervisor and my staff (when I finally got some) had no idea either-what a recipe for disaster that was. I had faulty equipment, no stocks of some things ….the list just goes on and on. Russ on the other hand is really enjoying it. Night before last he worked in the player’s bar which impressed him a lot. He got to serve Ian Botham, Denis Lillie and Kim Hughes amongst others. If I had my time over, I’d have asked for corporate bar work too!

Yesterday he had a day off, so we lazed around then went and picked our NZ nephew Tim and his mate Sam up and brought them over to see their cousins and Leah. They have plans to live and work over here for a while which is great as we've never spent much time with Tim. They are loving Perth already (lots of hot girls apparently!) and just need some work for things to we perfect I think. They are living in Mosman Park which is on our train line about 4 stops away so nice and handy to us. We organised a BBQ and salads for dinner and all enjoyed another of those lovely perth evenings sitting outside by the pool.

Today I am over here again doing my laundry and waiting for a delivery of bedroom furniture for Todd. Tomorrow, Leah and I are off to do a bit of shopping. We want to get as much done for Christmas as we can.

We're coming home!

Another week’s gone by in a flash. I did my supervisor training (and Responsible serving of alcohol!) at the WACA last Friday and worked there for a day Tuesday doing set up. Russ worked Monday and Tuesday doing the same. We were both to work today but they are ahead of schedule with set up, so we weren’t needed. I work next on Saturday and Sunday at an England v WA game, then again on Tuesday for a 20/20 night match. Then The Ashes begin a couple of days later.

Last Friday we went over and had a drink with Leah after work, then stayed on until Blair flew in and had Thai take aways sitting outside beside the pool. It’s a nice life style here. Saturday we ran them to various Christmas dos and picked them up from the races when they couldn’t get a taxi-it’s nice just to be here to do the family sort of stuff.

Todd turned 28 yesterday, so 11 of us went to Chutney Mary’s (an Indian restaurant in Subiaco) to celebrate. It was a really fun night with really good food. Chutney Mary’s is on the really busy corner of Hay and Rokeby Sts right in the centre of Subi and our table was on the footpath right at the traffic lights. Dame Edna was playing at the theatre opposite. A very interesting place to sit, eat and watch the world go by!

Also yesterday we got word from the bride to expect an invite to a family wedding in March. I hope she meant it because we’ve booked our flights and will be gate crashing otherwise. Our plan is to arrive in Melbourne, catch a train to Traralgon, then go to the wedding in Werribee with my sister Glenda and BIL Peter on the Saturday. On Monday we will head to Port Fairy to spend a few days with Ryan and Kirstyn, then maybe go down to Portland for a night (Deb), come back and spend a couple of nights in Warrnambool, back to Melbourne then Perth the following day. We’ll be home for 2 weeks and hope to catch up with as many of you as we can.

Mick tells us he will be home in January-that’s 12 months he’s been gone. I think after a trip up to see Daniel on Hamilton Is. he will head to WA to work. There’s heaps of well paid work out in the mines and in construction and right now I think that’s what he desperately needs.

Today we planned to go fishing, but we have slightly unpredictable tummies after all that Indian food last night (probably the goat I reckon!) so have decided to write our Christmas cards, shop and do a bit of banking instead. We’ll probably fish tomorrow instead.

Trip to the Stirling Ranges

We both got pretty good jobs at the WACA-Russ in treasury (so handling all the money that comes in from the food and beverage outlets) and I got to head a small team of people who will help out any of the outlets that get into trouble-not enough food prepped, staff chucking fits etc. I have a training day this Friday with the outlet supervisors although I’m not one of them.

Saturday we had dinner with Todd, Blair, Leah, Chris and Carly. Leah and I had a big shopping morning (mainly new clothes for Leah) then got the stuff for a roast. The boys cooked it on the BBQ and we ate outside which was nice. Chris and Carly bought along a lovely apple pie, strawberries and cream that they’d bought that day at the East Perth organic market.


Sunday we got up and headed down south to the Stirling Ranges for a few days (2 nights). We found a fully equipped cabin for $49 pn in the Cranbrook caravan park, so spent two very comfortable nights there. I have to admit it was pretty hot out in the ranges and the wild flowers had never come to much, but we visited some great wineries to make up for that! On the way home yesterday (Tuesday) we went through some great little out back towns stopping for a counter lunch somewhere in a big old country pub. Non Aussies might like to know we saw heaps and heaps of emus (including very young chicks), two goannas very close up, nearly killed a kangaroo and her joey on the road and saw lots of birds-mainly parrots and cockatoos. We got home round 6ish last night, made ourselves pizza for dinner then went to bed. We were woken about 1.30 by the loudest, heaviest rain I have heard in ages. It's rained on and off for 12 hours since and it's wonderful


Today we are over doing our laundry, will cook Todd and Leah dinner then head home. We’ve just been shopping, and we bought Leah’s dog a lovely bone (split with plenty of marrow and meat on it). He looked at it, then finally picked it up and wandered up and own and up and down and up and down ….before finally burying it and sitting on it. Devi would have scoffed it by then.

When we first took the flat, I wondered how we would amuse ourselves for 12 weeks without the chance to go fishing as often as we do. It's easy and we are really enjoying it. And, we are already 3 1/2 weeks into the 12 and the days are flying!

WACA

Russ and I have both managed to get jobs with the caterers who have the WACA contract. We'll both be working at the Ashes in December, but they haven't decided exactly what we'll be doing! I think Russ will probably be dispensing beverages in the corporate side of things. I"m not so sure about me. We had our interviews Monday night and tomorrow night is induction. It seems like there is lots of work to be had at the ground with smaller cricket matches, functions and stock takes, so the time in Perth will fly I think.

Sunday we went for a lovely lunch at wagamama in Subiaco. It was a 15 minute walk there for us which is nice. We met with some people grom Recipezaar-the recipe club I have belonged to for 5 years. Three were strangers, and we caught up again with Terese who we had met a few times in Melbourne. She met, married and moved over here about 18 months ago. It was great to see her and wonderful to meet the other three. The food was pretty good too. Here's a photo of the six of us.



Tuesday (yesterday) we caught the train to Fremantle. It was a beautiful day, so we had a really good walk around, did a little bit of shopping, sat out in the Mall to eat our lunch, then went to the Maritime museum. A really good day!

Week 2 in Perth

Our second week in Perth has flown.
Monday we spent doing our laundry at BL&T’s, followed by a bit of shopping.
Tuesday, we went back over there for a swim which was wonderful. The two of us had a BBQ for dinner here at the flat, and Russell potted us up some more herbs.
Wednesday, we caught a morning train into the city (6 minutes) and wandered around Forrest Close shopping centre then walked over to Northbridge for lunch. We came home and made a couple of salads, then took them over to BL&T’s and had a swim before they got home. Todd has had a mate over from Melbourne (for the Red Bull Air Race) so we had Kurt and Holly over and had a BBQ dinner (sitting outside in the lovely warm evening).
Thursday, we went over and house sat while we waited for a serviceman to come fix the reticulation system. After he’d been, we drove to O’Connor near Fremantle where we finally got the lights for our boat trailer (only a week late!).
Friday we took the boat out on the Swan River and did a bit of fishing. There were lots of fish to be had, but only 1 was legal size. Lucky for him, because we only ever keep our fish if we have enough for a feed and one small (but legal) bream is not enough for the two of us! We only went a couple of ks on the river so we have heaps and heaps of exploring to do. It was great to pass all the beautiful homes, gardens, see the construction going on and it was really entertaining to watch a school down at the river having dragon boat races for the day. When we got home, I got a message to say I’ve been short listed for some cooking work at the WACA whilst The Ashes are on. I go for my interview Monday night over at the ground so wish me luck. Last night I watered the garden and I noticed our herbs are really taking off-it must be the lovely weather.
Today we are off to the races at Ascot and tomorrow we have lunch in Subiaco with a few of the people from my Internet recipe club. We are going to Wagamama, an Asian (mostly Japanese) restaurant.

Our first week in Perth

It's been a lovely first week. We have really enjoyed living where we do as it really is so central.
Through the week, we took the boat trailer's lights over to O'Connor to be repaired-I was more excited in the butcher/fish/game shop over the road and came home with a bag of duck marylands, quail and king prawns.
Thursday Russ cooked dinner for all of us over at BL&T's. He made really nice crab stuffed chicken breasts that he wrapped in prosicutto and served with hollondaise sauce over. Yum.
Friday night we came over for drinks with Chris and Carly (both formerly from Warrnambool) and Russ cooked us a few barbied sausages, chops and a lovely fresh coleslaw.
Saturday Russ and I visited a couple of church fetes and bought ourselves a vaccuum cleaner ($25) a lot of books, pickles, jams and chutnies, and a 20c wine glass. Leah had planned a "girls night in and pool party" but the weather was a bit against us swimming. We still sat outside though and had a really fun night w2hile the "boys" went around to Luke's (Luke is from Portland) and played poker. The girls were still partying when they got home from their poker game! Lucky Russ and I have a caravan in the yard for sleepovers!
Sunday we had a leisurely breakfast, then headed to Subiaco markets to get our fruit and veg for the week (or most of it). It's so cheap and only about a 10 minute walk from the flat. We also grabbed a few pots, some potting mix and herbs to grow while we are in the flat-Russ planted them this morning.
The flat is really quite comfortable and even better now we have bedside lights and a vaccuum cleaner.

Back in Perth

3 nights in Guilderton was more than enough! The place was crowded come Friday night with heaps of families from Perth there for the weekend. It was windy as anything and we got rain and a couple of pretty good thunderstorms to boot. We took the boat up the Moore River the two days we were there and although the fish were all too small to keep, it was fun.



It’s a really beautiful river with lots of birdlife, kangaroos down eating in the late afternoon and big beautiful paperbark trees lining the edges and growing in the water. The few hours we spent on the river got us out of the wind and away from all the feral kids running around the park.



I wasn’t particularly sad to leave yesterday and drive the 90ks into Perth and to our flat. We unpacked quickly, and then brought the van around to its home for the next 12 weeks at Blair, Leah and Todd’s. Leah’s parents John and Christine came down from Mandurah, so we stayed and had a lovely BBQ for dinner last night.

Today we are over here again cleaning the van and doing many loads of washing. It’s about 30c here today, so it’s drying almost as we hang the next load out.

Dongara to Guilderton

Thursday November 2nd we left Dongara and drove to Guilderton where we’ll stay for 3 nights before heading into Perth. Dongara was one of the best parks we have stayed in and I was sad to leave this morning. We booked another week on our way up north next year as we left. The managers Kev and Jeanette and staff of the small park work very hard to make it a clean, safe, fun place to stay and I’m sure they get lots of repeat business because of that. It comes highly recommended if you are ever passing through, but I think you would need to book as it is small.

Our long term neighbours Don and Shirley were fun, and we met lots of nice couples just moving through. We especially liked an English couple we met at drinks last night. They came to Aus with no real plan, bought an old ford complete with camping gear and off they went. They seem to be having the time of their lives.

We managed to catch and cook a number of crabs that are now safely in the freezer and waiting to get to Perth but the only fish we caught of any size was my flat head.



Last night the park managers put an interesting proposition to us-they’d like us to come back in 16 months and manage the park for them for a year. It’s tempting to say the least, so watch this space……

Now we’re in Guilderton (after a very pretty drive past lots of shrubs in flower), but we seem to have no TV reception, the wind is blowing a gale, the internet won’t work, Russ just scraped heaps of skin off his toes, a neighbour had to help us park the van (very rare we can’t do it) and it was MY idea to come here. Not happy Jan!

Crabs in Dongara

It’s Sunday and we’re still in Dongara. What a great little place it’s turned out to be! We originally booked for 3 nights, then booked another 3, then this morning, another 3. There are crabs in the harbour (a short walk away) which is the main reason for us extending and our freezer is slowly filling with crab meat to take back to Perth to turn into things for Blair Leah and Todd. There isn’t much in the way of fish in there, but I did get a nice flat head yesterday-he’s going on the barbie tonight.

Dongara is a bit windy and we haven’t had a day we could put the boat in, but it’s a nice park. We have good neighbours Shirley and Don, and although he is just over 80 and she somewhere near, they are very active and lots of fun. It was a surprise to find out Don was over 70 let alone 80! Wednesday the park put on nibbles and this morning a pancake breakfast. It’s a good chance to meet lots of other travellers and hear their tales.

Coleseam National Park


We both really enjoyed a trip out to Coalseam National park about 60ks out of town. They discovered coal there over 100 years ago so hence the name! It's got small gorges, camping and picnic areas and a very pretty dry river bed with fossilised shells along the mud banks. We followed a thunderstorm out there, and copped just enough rain to wash a bit of the red dust of the car and boat and enough lightening to have me wondering if aluminium boats attracted lightening!



Another enjoyable day was spent driving up South Beach, follwed by a lunch and a bit of fishing. We finally gave in though to the wind and tiny fish taking our bait and went back to the jetty to have the same thing happen!

South Beach Dongara

Dongara

I haven’t been a very enthusiastic blogger since we got back from Europe, so I thought I better get it up to date. I haven’t been enthusiastic because we were staying in parks and towns we’d stayed in before and apart from more wind and drier conditions, not much had changed.

We really enjoyed our few days in Kalbarri-especially fishing out along the beautiful river, but left Saturday and went to Geraldton (another park we’ve stayed in). Brice is staying there while he carts wheat for a couple of months so it was great to catch up with him-sad to see the state of his health though. In a good year, he has 13 trucks there, this year he has only one so you can imagine there is not much wheat around. The farmers with any wheat are going to get good prices, and the price of bread will rise.

Tuesday we drove less than 70kms to Dongara and plan to stay here 4 nights. This is a new town and park for us at last and it makes a nice change. The park is small and friendly and has absolute waterfront (which would be nice if the wind would stop blowing!). We are about 500 metres from the boat ramp but it doesn’t look like the boat will be going in at this stage. The boat harbour has a big wall which Russ fished off last night and caught lots of (undersized) fish. Tonight the park puts on free nibbles at the BBQs-we have to BYO drinks. I like parks that do that for their visitors and wish more would.

This is a really pretty town and after a drive round yesterday, we both felt it was one of the first places we’ve come to that we could consider moving to. We probably couldn’t afford to, but it’s nice to dream.

October 18th Denham to Kalbarri

Yesterday, (October 18th) we left Denham and drove south 350ks to Kalbarri. It’s a lovely place we’ve been to before, but that bloody wind is blowing even harder than it was in Denham. Russ wasn't too keen to come via here as the fishing's not too hot in our tinny but I like the place.

We hadn’t actually towed the van any distance for 12 weeks (apart from to and from storage) so it felt a bit strange to have it behind us again. I drove until lunch time (I usually do because I get sleepy in the afternoon) and Russ after that. I was busy admiring the huge grevillias either side of the road when we nearly hit an emu. They are really stupid birds, almost as stupid as the hundreds of pheasants we almost killed in England, but a heap bigger.

After we set up, we went and did some shopping then some 4wding in search of a fishing spot we’d been told about. It was all going really well until I said we’d come one particular way and we hadn’t and we ended ups slightly stuck in some extremely soft, thick sand-Russ was Not Happy Jan! anyway, a bit of air out of the tires and we were on our way again.

The good bit of the road


When we got home, a guy was trying to pop his pop-up up but it wouldn’t work-the winder was broken. He ended up just standing there looking very pissed off, having a beer before booking into a cabin. They towed the van away to be repaired this morning.

Today we went back out to River Road (no trouble at all this time) and had a lovely day fishing off the bank for bream and mulloway. We only got two of each, but that is more than enough for our dinner tonight. It was beautiful out there. We were 6km up river from town and we didn’t see another person all day. We saw lots of groups of emus coming down to a small beach opposite us where they would just sit for a while before wandering off. I reckon we saw ten different groups. We also saw kangaroos and many different birds-ducks, swans, pelicans, gulls, terns, herons, sea eagles etc and the emus. And we lost no gear, found a nice rod holder and $2 so a good day all round.

Our week in Denham October 4th to 11th

We’ve been back in Denham a week today, and I have to say it’s a very different place from the last time we were here. It’s school holidays now and the majority of people here are in tents or pop tops and have children with them. There are a few tinnies and a few boats a bit bigger than our tinny, but no serious fisherpeople like Brice. It gets too windy to get out in the bigger boats and is really starting to get warm-round 30c most days.

Because of the wind, we have been fishing off the beach near Monkey Mia twice. I have never caught anything doing that so I was pretty happy to catch a couple of nice sized yellow fin bream and we caught quite a few whiting both times (some of them very good sized) and Russ caught a flat head. Our two fishing sessions got us 3 feeds.



Yesterday the wind dropped and we were finally able to put the boat in at a place Russ and Todd had been to-Eagle Bluff. They found a channel with fast moving water and were able to bring us home a couple of nice pink snapper from there. Yesterday we found the channel, moved off it then couldn’t find it again! We caught about 50 undersized pinkies which was lots of fun but were just about to give up and go back to the butcher for something for dinner when Russ caught us a nice 54cm pinky. A fish that size is more than enough for the two of us so we ate him cooked on the BBQ last night with chips and salad and the rest of him is being made into fish cakes for dinner tonight.



It’s been pretty quiet socially here, so it was nice to have our neighbours stop by for a drink and a chat after dinner. They are really funny, friendly couple from Perth but left today as Gill’s deputy principal died (52yo woman) and is being buried tomorrow. Gill is a year younger than me, has had 7 children, 5 grandchildren and only retired 3 years ago from the Perth to Rottnest swim-something she’s done many times. It was quite a late night for us last night so today is just going to be a quiet one. There are a few clouds to ruin the beautiful big blue sky too.

I did forget to mention we had a really nice day out driving 100ks back towards the highway and into Hamelin Pool where we saw the stromatalites (thought to be the oldest living organisms on earth) and the old telegraph station. On our way home we called into a few of the bays, inlets, caravan park and camping grounds along the road to Denham. The stromatalites don't do much, but it was a nice day out once again.

A lot of stomatalites not doing much

Back in Denham October 4th to 18th

We arrived safely back in Denham yesterday. It was a really windy drive, so we were happy not to be towing the van. We stayed in a self contained unit in Geraldton and did a big grocery shop to bring on with us-between those groceries and all the toiletries we bought in Bangkok, we won’t need to shop for a very long time!

Perth was great. Blair, Todd and Leah’s new home is so nice and we were very comfortable for the week we spent there before leaving on Tuesday. It was wonderful just to relax after the long flights, then to shop and cook after so long. We both had haircuts-I have at last found a hairdresser I like and she is only about 2 minutes from the house. Saturday we had a Grand Final/ house warming party which was a lot of fun. Leah and I were probably the only ones cheering West Coast on, and I was only cheering because Sydney won the year before and I thought they should share!

We got the van and boat out of storage yesterday. Leaving them here was an excellent solution for almost no cost, but the van was full of dust and ants. It took a long while to clean it, put those groceries away and get the fridge down to something reasonable to put the cold stuff in. We also had trouble with the gas-one of the park managers just came up and had a go and decided it was the regulator. After he left, Russ the bush mechanic hit it with a shifter and now it works just fine. It’s a good thing we have the electric hot plates though or we would have been eating at one of Denham’s delightful restaurants (not).

I’m feeling a bit down after our very enjoyable holiday-I miss my sister Glenda, neighbour Janette and Kirstyn as I know they would have all been interested to see the photos and here our travel tales. Glenda has visited all those places we went so it would be good to have her to talk to. It’s also funny to look over the way and not see Brice and his big boat sitting there; the caravan park is a lot quieter now. The real serious fishing people have gone as it gets too windy from now on. We should get in a few days though as the weather is on the improve for the next few days (wind wise that is). It’s about 30c right now and lovely. So much pleasanter than hot humid smelly Bangkok at about the same temperature and the sky is so blue!