HAPPY NEW YEAR.
It's been many weeks since I posted a blog and I apologise to all those who keep asking when is the next update coming!!! It's been hectic and there's been very little time to sort photos or write a diary!!! Christmas, New Year, spending time with family and friends and travelling with Sara, John and the girls...
It's now February and I'm heading eastward ....About 4 weeks from now I'll be almost home!!!
Back to the BLOG...to where I left off....Dec 15...I spent the week with Lyn Lewis, a friend who I first met back in 1979 when I was living in Perth. I parked my van in her driveway, but didn't stay in the van for the week...it was a luxury to sleep in a queen bed and have my own bathroom...Thanks Lyn!!. We spent the week catching up on family, going out for lunches, visiting old haunts, shopping, getting a hair cut etc. etc..
A favourite beach...Trigg Beach...No wonder we spent every summer weekend swimming at this beach when we lived in Perth. We only lived 10 minutes drive away 😃😍
On 22nd Dec I hitched up the van and drove 35kms north to Yanchep National Park to spend Christmas with Sara, John and girls. Fires almost stopped us having Christmas together. The NP was closed for 10 days, but fortunately the campground and surrounding area was untouched and they opened the park to campers a few days before we were due to arrive. It was a very relaxing quiet Christmas. I was with three very excited little girls wanting to get ready for Christmas day😍
The girls decorated a white chocolate mud cake for our Christmas dinner.
They also painted and decorated our Christmas tree table centre ....
....as well as helped make these mini Christmas puddings.
We took a guided tour of the Yanchep Caves, which were quite beautiful.
And walked over to the historic Yanchep Inn, about 5 minutes from our campsite for dinner one night. (We opted out on Christmas day dinner at $100 a head and $60 for children. Would have been amazing I'm sure, but add drinks in and it would have been a very expensive day)
The recent fires had burnt very close to the Inn, but thank goodness it had been saved.
The plan was to have a Christmas Day lunch, but it was such a great beach day we decided to go swimming instead at Yanchep surf beach. That gave us the afternoon to relax in the shade with a champagne or two before sitting down to a yummy early evening roast pork Christmas dinner in the camp kitchen!!!
On Dec 26th we all packed up and I drove to Rockingham (south of Perth) to spend the next 2 weeks with my nephew and family (Janis' son). I parked my van in the backyard of Chris and Ann's and it became the "Annie Flat" for the fortnight!!! Sara, John and the girls moved into a house sit in Kardinya, not far from Fremantle, to mind 2 cats.
We all got together at Chris and Ann's that evening. It was the 18th anniversary of Janis' passing and it was great to be with Chris, Ann and family and drink a toast of remembrance to Janis all together.
The next fortnight was full of family activities and sightseeing trips with both families.
A roller blading session with the girls
Walks and coffee along the Rockingham Beach
A trip to Fremantle to visit the markets, the Batavia Museum and Little Creatures Brewery.
A long day on Rottnest Island in beautiful conditions snorkelling, swimming and sightseeing on a hop on-hop off bus tour. Here's Sara and I at the most western point of Rotto.
Up close and personal to a Quokka...it can smell the food in the cool bag!!!
They are very cute 😍
A full day at Adventure World along with about 20,000 other people. It was holiday season, New Year's Eve and the weather was stunning so we often had to wait in line for rides. The water rides in particular had long waits, but so much fun. You may want to turn the sound down to watch this. There's a few screams happening😂 Sara, John and Chris are on this ride!!! I went on the big swing (Circular wheel in the left background) a little later and it was exhilarating!!!
Taken at midnight NYE at the Rockingham foreshore celebrations..
It's a real wonder we were all able to stay up for midnight 😴 We'd had a huge day at "Adventure World with both families riding the huge waterslides and amusement park rides and were exhausted, but we still made midnight🥂🥂🎉🎉😀😀
A day trip to Mandurah with Chris, Ann, James and Lilly.
A walk over the new Bridge before a game of mini golf
While at Chris and Ann's we worked on a 1000 piece jigsaw, which got finished after I left
On 30th Dec we all started getting concerned about what was happening with the bushfires on the east coast as Bateman's Bay-Broulee, where Jodi, Phill and family live, looked to be in trouble. As it turned out they were under threat and with no power or phone reception they were uncontactable for a few days over the New Year period. It's the first time since leaving Albury last March that I have felt I'd like to be home!!!
The fire NSW App showed their street was burnt, but when we finally got word we found out they were fine although the fires had burnt up to the wooded strip at their back fence. Phew...!!! relief. With Phill being a firey, they were well prepared and in fact helped others in their street stave off embers and spot fires. It caught the attention of the ABC and on 9th January the three children were interviewed on the ABC morning program...And I believe may also be in the next NRMA magazine... 😁
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/am/broulee-teens-defend-local-homes-with-garden-hoses/11854060
On 10th Jan I left Chris and Ann's and drove to Margaret River to meet up with Sara, John and the girls. We parked our vans at Prevally Caravan Park about 10 kms from the Margaret River township and very close to many wonderful wineries and caves. We spent the next 6 days exploring the region from Busselton to Cape Leeuwin.
Dunsborough, Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, Hamelin Bay, Injidup Spa pools, Busselton Jetty, Giants cave, Cowarmup, Yallingup, Canals on the coast, Gracetown and lots of wineries and breweries...
Barnyard Winery, Cape Mentelle, Cherubino, Caves Road Collective, Amelia Park, Burton Creek Brewery & Winery, Cheeky Monkey just to name a few!!!🍷 Sara and I took off one afternoon and did a few of the wineries and I had another day on my own checking out more.
Sara, John and three girls about to jump off the Busselton Jetty together!!!
This was called "Giants Cave" and it was a self guided tour. We were given hard hats and head lamps, which provided the only lights in the cave. At times it was quite challenging with very narrow sections that required us to crawl through crevices and up steep ladders, but lots of fun.
Cowaramup, often called "Cow Town" is dairy country and the gateway to the Margaret River wine region. To encourage tourism the local art community designed and installed throughout the town 42 of these fibreglass friesian cows. They look fabulous.
One day we drove to Augusta and the Leeuwin lighthouse where the Indian ocean meets the Great Southern ocean. We could hardly walk a straight line the wind was so strong.
Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse where the two oceans meet. We were almost blown over with the wind.
Jan 16 we packed up and moved on together to just west of Denmark and parked our vans at a bush caravan park called Boat Harbour. Travelling through to Boat Harbour CP (Parryville) near Denmark we stopped off at Pemberton to climb the Gloucester Tree...
The girls were very keen to climb to the top, but it was quite dangerous and this is as far as they got....about 1/4 of the way. The tree is around 53 metres high and there is no secure fence to support you if you fell. We saw a few adults climb to the top, but there were signs discouraging children from climbing.
The Caravan park was a great bush camp. Lots of space, powered sites, fires pits were allowed (the evenings were cool so that was huge bonus). We visited a fantastic animal farm, did the "Valley of the Giants" tree top walk in the tingle state forest, visited a cheese factory, winery, swam at Greens pool and Elephant Cove, had fun in a large maze that got most stumped to find the end. I found it early, but I think it was just good luck!!!
The farm had a huge assortment of animals, goats, sheep rabbits, guinea pigs, kangaroos, emu's camels, cows, horses, foxes. The girls spent a lot of time with the baby goats and guinea pigs.
Soooo... cute
It's feeding time for the baby kangaroos
Hello...It's my turn...have you got some food for me!!!
Guinea pig feeding
About time this teenager left home...me thinks!!!
Sara and I had a beautiful lunch in Denmark and we also spent lots of time just relaxing with the family. This was one of the best Laksa' I've ever had...I went back a few days later for another one...
The Valley of the Giants tree top walk was a little disconcerting. The walkways consisted of 6 bridge spans of 60 metres each and as you walked they swayed. Of course some people accentuated their walk to make it sway more than it should have!!!
The girls doing a geography lesson on the walk through the Tingle forrest
Thought I'd better gat a photo of me with the "Grandma Tingle" tree.
It got it's name because it's supposed to be weathered and wrinkled like a grandmother....yeah right!! Not all grandmothers are weathered and wrinkled
Walking through a burnt out Tingle tree.
While we were staying at Boathaven CP the girls choreographed a show for us over a couple of days and one evening they performed it. It was so amazing ...👋👋👋👋👋😍
Jan 21 we drove 10km east of Albany and parked our vans at the King River Palms Caravan Park.
I'm going to continue this journey in the next post as this is big enough for one read.
Total Distance travelled to date 27,934 kms
March....764km
April .....1225km
May......3435km
June....2800km
July.....2606km
August....3908km
September.... 4190km
October....3034km
November....1656km
December....898km
January....3418
Hopefully I'll catch up to the current date in the next instalment. Until then...enjoy 😎🥂 Anne