Week 33 Bunbury to Busselton

                      Week33

                    Bunbury to Busselton

The trip from Perth to Busselton was uneventful, if you discount the hundreds of motorcycles zipping by. Pink ribbons waved everywhere so guess it was a fundraising rally. We passed through lots of interesting little towns any of which were the perfect place for a few days sojourn.

Bunbury looks to be a similar size as Cairns. If we stayed a few weeks longer we could get to see the Village People, but the price tag per seat was a bit much. The town is like old Cairns, the streets interesting to walk.

Their version of the Esplanade is the town lake, about an hours walk around. Some of it passes through mangroves also so birdspotting is inevitable.

There are other opportunities for walking like the old jetty, shorter than we expected and closed for renovations. Never take the tourist info at its word. Later in the week we checked out the Busselton Jetty - same result - closed for renovations, but this one is busting on a weekend. The place to be.

There is an interesting tower that is the town’s lookout with 360 degrees view of the town and the water views. There is a dolphin centre here too, but we are giving it a miss as monkey Mia may have spoiled us.

This is obviously a tourist destination with most of the town under paid parking, but it is empty. Obviously the season hasn’t started yet. There is a lot of new construction but you wonder who pays for it all. The walk around the lake has lots of exercise stops with stations for fit or silly people.

Brian spotted the Harvey Cheese factory and had to go back for a tasting and buy a few favourites. There were some interesting timber doors and tables here for sale, individually crafted. Sometimes its good to be a long way from home - stops impulse buying.

We then headed toward Collie to look at Wellington National Park and the Dam here. It was built in the 1930’s and undergoing refurbishment to modernize its safety features. The forest is reminiscent of around the Tinaroo Dam, but much drier. There are lots of bike trails and we even saw a rafting group preparing for action.

The week began badly. The handle fell of our coffee pot. Disaster. Brian has been trying to think of how to repair it to avoid buying a new one. If only I had.... going through his brain. On our lake walk this morning we came across some rubbish awaiting collection so Brian emerges with a blind part that has broken along the journey plus a piece of aluminium to solve the coffee pot problem. Keep you posted on the outcome.

We are actually outside of Busselton now, about 10km south              staying at another adventist park, a lot smaller than the last and at an affordable $19 a night. 

We went to have a look at the Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse, walking around to see the frolicking whales. We are right in the season so sightings are almost guaranteed. Take your binoculars.

The walk is peppered with wildflowers, a welcome reminder of why we are here in the first place. We will be returning here, especially when the weather improves.

Brian has an agenda to find the Evans and Tate Winery which won several awards at a recent wine show. Thus we sipped and sampled and gathered a dozen to send home. Tom gets to pick them up and has to save one bottle of Evans and Tate Redbook Cabernet Sauvingnon 2007. There are two, but he is allowed one to check it is OK. By the way, thanks in advance Tom for minding them for us.

On the return we had to stop at Laurance, a destination full of ambience. The lake entrance boasted a diving lady and backed by rose gardens Robyn would love. Inside is art works and glass pieces. There was also a bird bath in memory of Steve Irwin and some interesting dancers inside. You have to pay here for a tasting, but get some olives, olive oil and bread to dip between samplings. We splurged here too and purchased a red and a white to smuggle into the van ( remember we are in a no drink zone for a few more days, but lets keep mum about what happens behind closed doors.)

Thought of Fiona and Andrew here (and Gail and Wal actually) as this would be a perfect venue for a wedding. Absolutely stunning. Bet Andrew is his usual self, but are you getting excited Fiona?

Yallingup is another coastal village in the area, for those with deep pockets. The village is nestled into the mountain side, reminding us of Thredbo, though this has stunning views of the ocean.

Friday found us exploring the Tuart Forest. It was a lovely drive amongst tall forests, but no opportunities for walks were obvious. Thus we ventured on to Donnybrook, a place after my own nature. Actually it is a lovely town that doesn’t live up to its pugilistic reputation. We found that wildflowers are likely to be found on the golf course, so who needs more excuse than that to play an unexpected nine. There were some flowers but the golf was better, even with the changeable warm, cold day we were experiencing. There were a swag of “leghorn cleghorns” playing a bowls tournament, which means, a cake stall. Yummo.

Further down the track Kirrup afforded a suitable cuppa stop. The best part was a local produce shop across the road where we got a swag of fruit and vegetables for less than $10. Cheap as chips, but a lot healthier. His best purchase was some fennel, so Sunday night delight from the chef is going to be a fennel and cheese stuffed sweet potato dish.

At Balingup ( you guessed the trend of WA place names in the south - up appears a lot) we had to ask directions. After turning down the same road three times and rejecting it, we had to ask a local. It was right. You who know us may be scratching your heads and ask why Tom Tom has not given advice. Well, he became overheated while we played golf and wouldn’t respond until he had cooled down, then had laryngitis and couldn’t shout instructions to go back or whatever. At the end of it all, we returned via a wooded, windy drive worth the effort.

We decided on less driving and more exercise as a Saturday treat. We headed back to Bunker Bay and walked the coastal track near Cape Naturaliste again. We were rewarded with whale sightings and a relaxed seal colony relaxing in the sunshine. A great day, especially a picnic by the beach. Brian’s latest lament is that he doesn’t have a wicker picnic basket so it doesn’t meet his ideal of the perfect picnic unloading from a blue freezer bag. Can’t have it all, can we?

Guess many of you will have been dancing this weekend. The nights have been too cold to consider socializing too much in the wee hours. Guess it will be something to look forward to on our homecoming. 

Have a good week, enjoy the sunshine (sorry about the Melbourne connection).

Cheers once again

The Nomads

Week 32 Perth Again

                                                Week 32

                       Rottnest Island

Well, we have begun a new week in a very energetic day. An early rise, 4:30 being overkill, we drove to Freemantle to catch the first ferry of the day to Rottnest. With only one hiccup on the way, we were there in plenty of time to catch the 7:30 ferry. Better to arrive early than have the driver suffer angst.

It is a comfortable half hour journey on the ferry. Admittedly we picked a lovely calm day for our trip so foul weather may make it a bit more uncomfortable. You can arrange bike hire on the ferry. The upside is less hassle when you reach the island. The downside is that it is $1 dearer than on the island ( no biggie) but the type of bike is the same (i.e) no ladies bikes. No good for old ladies struggling to lift their feeble limbs over the bar.

I am very pleased we went for the hire on the island option as I saw a few strugglers. My struggles were with the hills - great going down, but I had lots of walks up the last third of slopes. Wim, and Chris Van Basten would have enjoyed the day. After 5 hours we were a bit hill weary and glad to return the bikes. Brian was much better than me at forging to the top of rises, even the lighthouse and the gun emplacements. There is a lot of interesting history here. For all of you shuddering out there about the thought of a bicycle saddle for five hours, you can walk, catch a hop on hop off bus or take a tour. There is hope for the idle, but we did see people take pictures from inside the bus. Ouch.

There are lots of lizards and skinks and birds. The eagles nest off shore was a beauty which they add to every year. The setting of the beautiful waters, tranquil azure blues and turquoise greens is delightful. We thought of Margaret knowing there were so many perfect spots to snorkel and enjoy the beautiful waters, surprisingly warm to the touch, despite the temperatures being a chilly 10 degrees still at night.

The icon of the island is the Quokka, a type of marsupial kangaroo rat, furry creatures that are very tame indeed if food is offered. Brian got down low and dirty in his attempts to win the attention of the little creatures. It is probably not in their best interests to offer then tidbits, but Brian is unstoppable in his quest to befriend wildlife.

It was almost with relief that we then caught the 2:30 ferry back to Freemantle, leaving just enough time to collect our new Mac computer. After some anxiety, we managed to set up internet connections, deal with photos and start to learn the intricacies of a new operating system. It was thus a long, long day by the time our grateful heads hit the pillow and the snores immediately rumbled.

Tuesday found us seeking out John Forrest National Park where we completed a walk. Wildflowers are not the delight they were further north as the drought is really having an effect. We then went to Whiteman Park where Brian got a fix of old cars and I got some quiet reading time, after buying a couple of pieces of pottery made right there. My favourite is a lounge lizard - I can identify with that.

Wednesday we were caught in a major rain event in Perth. !5 minutes, about 7mm made it on the state news. We visited the mint and had another experience catching the CAT buses, free around the city centre. We also visited the Apple store in Perth, a destination in its own right and a good place to learn the new systems with one on one support.

Later in the week we met up with Bill Fox, Diana's friend from New Zealand, in the area for a big family reunion. We met his brother David who we mistook for Bill at first glance. He promised to give Diana a hug from us and of course our best wishes for her trip to the USofA later in the year. We capped off the day with a visit to Mandurah, the gateway to the south from Perth. This is one of the boat capitals of the west.

Another day found us heading north again to Bindoon. Here we passed the Pearce airbase, Wal's old stamping ground and Bullsbrook. My grandmother's maiden name was Bullbrook so it had a special interest for me. We also explored Gin Gin, the WA namesake of the Qld town where my grandfather grew up. We walked a trail on Blackboy Ridge but it was a bit disconcerting as the trail kept disappearing. Again, no real special wildflowers were there to delight our senses.

So we gathered ourselves for our move from Perth. My one regret was missing out on visiting the one gambling den in WA, but its not Brian's scene so no biggie. Now we are away from temptation and comfortably settled in Bunbury, the beginning of next week's discourse.

Have a good week

The meandering nomads.

Back Home and Back to Perth

                             Week 29-31

             Home and Back To Perth

Well after a long period of anticipation, we found ourselves wedged into Jetstar seats that would not recline, a small price to pay for the joy of finally meeting Kyan, our new Grandson.

We had big time jet lag as the plane arrived at 4 am, so a sleepless night was exacerbated by having to wait for eight hours or so for our daughter Adele. Again, the wait was worth it, and seeing her gooey looks at the new baby were a delight.

So we were rewarded again and again with precious memories to last us through to June 2011 when we will be returning home. Thanks to Carol and Ian for looking after our house and Bertie so well. It was heart-wrenching for us to see him and have to leave again, but he is so obviously healthy and happy that we know he is getting the best until we return.

We spent a lot of the time at appointments, sorting out tax and finances and helping the medical profession pay their tax bills. The end result is that we will both live to see the end of our trip and probably a lot longer.

A lot of our time was spent bed hopping, or really house hopping. Many thanks for the kindness of our good friends who made us comfortable and at home. It was really great to see some of the gang and many apologies to those who we missed out on seeing. Two weeks just flies by so quickly. It is comforting to know everything is just the same, and will be when we return after our temporary escape from reality.

Many thanks to Robyn and Lawrence and to Gail and Wal who shared their home with us, and to Wim and Sandy, Merv and Jenny who shared time with us as well. Hope you get that hot water sorted Jenny. Watch out for Merv on the roads with his new mean machine. Brmm, brmm. Congratulations to Wal for his superb woodwork in the Tourimba wood festival. My favourite was the screen.

It was interesting to discover that everyone seemed to have a pram as we searched for the perfect vehicle for Desiree and Kyan to exercise around their beautiful neighborhood. What a beautiful place at East Palmerston, a lovely serene environment for a serene young man to grow up in. We ended up going for speedy red, goes faster of course. Now it just has to stop raining long enough to take it out for a spin.

Desiree and Thomas are confident young parents who are doing a wonderful job looking after the new treasure in the family. They are very calm and patient and the love in their eyes shine as they look at their precious son. It has made it that much more real to us as grandparents to share time with them, so thanks for allowing us all those cuddles and opportunities to rock.

The other big plus was getting to see Christopher looking so good and getting a quiet cuddle too, though his legs are a bit longer than Kyan’s. Look after yourself Chris, you are doing a great job.

The other bonus of our hiatus from our caravan reality was spending time with Tom and Kathy. Sorry to let you know Tom that our BBQ thermometer worked well, live batteries no less. The disappointment was it just says “I’m done.” not “I’m ready, take me out.” We have yet to test out the bbq steak with the lid closed, but now we know it works. Thanks for the tips.

So now after another few hours with Jetstar, this time in reclining seats, we find ourselves back in Perth, a little dazed by the change.

We are soaking up sunny days and are wrapping up for the chilly nights. In the few days we have been back we have crammed in lots of shopping (let you know important stuff next blog), and lots of walking. We checked the golf course out, strode along about six kms by the Swan River and walked in the John Forrest National Park. Slowly, slowly we are resuming the rhythms of nomadic existence but it is a little like culture shock jumping between two very different worlds.

Take care everyone. Hope all of you travelers out there are enjoying life and all of you homebodies are equally blessed with joy in your everyday lives.

The Nomads have returned.