A trip down memory lane

All of us have times occassionlly when we get the opportunity to revisit something from the past. For us it happened on a day trip whilst we were still based at Gracetown. We went on longer drive to down the the south eastern most point of Australia to the quaint little town of Augusta. Here we took in a visit to a few places that we had visited shortly after we were married with our good friends, Henry & Liz, when we all came to Perth for a youth camp. Yes kids, we were young once and did spur of the moment things too! After camp we hired a campervan together with Henry & Liz and took a week or so to visit some places together. The Augusta Lighthouse and the water wheel were 2 such places.

Something new we did on this day trip was that we took a tour of the Lakes Caves nearby. We had visited a cave or 2 with Henry & Liz all those years ago but I doubt it was the Lakes Caves. We chose the Lakes Cave today as it was the only one with water in the caves at this time of the year. It was a lovely day all up and Bob and I thoroughly enjoyed rehashing our youth days. Oh to be young again!...but then I would have to start all over again... nah... this is a good time of life to be living... I just wish my body was as young as my mind!

Just a early taste of the tall Karri tree forests

Food and wine heaven: the Margaret River Area

We headed towards Margaret River region via the lighthouse at Dunsborough, where we also took a short trail walk. We stayed at Gracetown Caravan Park which is only 12km from Margaret River itself and just 4km from the beach. Being the long weekend coming up, we took it when we found it was available. The areas is so dry, even though there is water in the river, it is not flowing into the ocean as we discovered in one of our drives.

Another day was spent touring the food places such as the cheese factory, the chocolate factory and a nut factory and checking out various local beaches such as the one at Yallingup as pictured above. On yet another day we did a tour of 3 wineries that specialize in fortified wines since both Bob and I prefer Port to regular wines.

On our way out of the Margaret River region we just had to stop at Blackwood Meadery. We had tasted Mead some 25 years ago and loved it. It is so hard to come across a bottle. Of course at these places we just had to buy some of the produce... we just couldn’t resist it. All through our holiday I love to note different birds and flowers that I may not have seen before. Sometimes one of us is lucky enough to get a decent photo. Above is a photo of a  beautiful White eyed Honeyeater feeding on a colourful & I guess yummy grevillea.

Busselton

We stayed at Amblin Caravan Park, which is right on the beach. It is a small park, about 8km from town. We went into town for groceries and some sightseeing. The weather is hot here too and far too hot to walk the famous 1.8 long jetty at this time. We came back another day.

On day 2 we went for a drive via Donnybrook, which has this amazing public playground for kids. It is the biggest and best one I have seen full stop. We stop here for lunch under a lovely shady tree, sitting on the grass as it was much cooler there. We had planned to stop at a waterfall (which was dry) but there was no shade and the heat reflected back off the exposed rocks so we moved on. We had a marvellous couple of hours catching up with fellow caravaners, Kathy & John at a delightful cafe/quilting shop that was thankfully fully air conditioned, where surpruse, surprise I didn't buy anything, though I was sorely tempted!. On the Sunday I tried my luck at the local markets, but unfortunately did not sell much stuff this time. I think it was too ot for casual strolling and being tempted by all the marvellous crafts and items available for sale. Other regular market stall holders report it being a very slow day.

We had a lazy afternoon finishing off with a sunset walk along the wharf/jetty where we took some marvellous photos.

Bunbury

We spent 4 days at Bunbury in a caravan park just across the road from a beautiful sandy Koombana Beach. We took a day trip around the place, but other than beaches there is not a lot around here. We had a BBQ by the beach one evening and invited the caravan neighbours to join us and then went swimming in the bay.

I was hoping to see and swim with the dolphins we saw in the same bay the evening before whilst walking but it was not to be. Still it was lovely to cap the day with a night swim and with new friends.

By the way the camp ground is just behind the big tall building in this photo, right between the 2 bodies of water. You can just see the beach on the left. The next photo below shows it more close up with the water channel in the foreground. In the background you can see the mounds of sand that has been mined ready for shipping out. The  beach photo above is the Koombana Beach at sunset where we swam

Camp Wattle Grove & an Explosion Box Craft

 
After our lovely stay in Cardup, we went back towards Perth to do our first job with MMM (Mobile Maintenance Ministry) at a quiet Christian campsite called Camp Wattle Grove formerly known as Keswick Campsite. We were wonderfully welcomed by Don & Jody & their 4 kids. Don is one of the caretakers here. Being a well treed campsite there are lots of beautiful bird life. Seeing the red tailed Black Cockatoos is a daily delight.

Jody insisted on making our lunches every day and they also had us over for dinner twice in that week. Bob was to assist another carpenter there for a week in replacing 9 old wooden windows with larger aluminium windows in one of the demountables that are used for camp accommodation, plus the relining etc that is needed to finish off the job. The job was made all the more difficult due to the extreme heat with some days recording 39 degrees Celsius in the shade. That is well over the 100 degrees in the old Fahrenheit gauge. Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of the job but I do have one of the Robbiebago camped on site where you can see how we are surrounded by lots of trees and the much appreciated shade they cast is very welcome.

Eventually after a few days “off” I was sucked into assisting with the caulking around the windows even though I had no previous experience. I surprised myself in that I actually liked caulking. It is quick & easy once you have a decent flow going on the gun.

More crafting time

Earlier in the week when I had more ‘me’ time, I planted myself right next the air con and made a new Explosion Box. This time I made it a photo album style with 3 layers for a baby with lots of animals as decorations. Here is one picture. I hope you like it. If you want to see more or find out more details then please go to my craft blog and take a gander. By the way, this box is for sale  if you like it or would like a custom order, just send me an email. I will be taking all my boxes to the Bunswick markets this weekend. Wish me luck???!

The Invasion of the birds

Michelle at the beach at Rockingham

Windsurfers at Safety Bay (Rockingham)

Whilst based at Cardup (southern tip of Armadale/Perth) we went for a day trip and visited the coastal areas of Rockingham down to Mandurah

One of 2 streetscape sculptures at Mundurah

The beach at Mundurah

Then we headed back inland finishing off with a fantastic afternoon tea in the park at the Serpentine Dam shared with dozens of rather tame birds especially the Twenty Eight Parrots. They would go as far as pinch the food from your mouth.

At first they were timid but soon they were quiet comfortable with us and made themselves at home which I guess they really are – we are the ones invading and visiting their home!

The Adventure continues

Well here we are back in Western Australia at last after a 3 months break. We loved it so much that we couldn’t just leave & rush home for Bob’s big 60 and Christmas soon after, so we left the Robbiebago in Perth at some very hospitable people (thanks Donna & Colin), we borrowed a couple of suitcases, (thanks Nikki & Alison) and flew home so that we could come back in February and continue on with our journey. And so here we are again. We took 3 days to check everything out and attend church just one more time and to thank our marvellous hosts.

We attended a fantastic fireworks show celebrating the Chinese New Year. We forgot to take a camera with us and so we took some wonderful photos with Bob's new phhone, but I can't figure out how to down load the photos... oh well another learning curve coming up.

2 days later we took to the road and moved just 50km south to meet and stay with another family, John and Patricia, who have graciously allowed us to camp on their property. I have met some large families but this is the largest, they have 11 truly delightful kids who are still all living at home. We met them all except the eldest who is a nurse, at a BBQ dinner they invited us to last night along with another couple who are also camping on their property. We plan to stay here for a week and attend church with them on Sunday before moving on. We have a job lined up at a campsite for MMM (Mobile Maintenance Ministry) for next week!