Another long weekend arrived, this time it's the 'Labour Day' public holiday. I think that it's not held at the beginning of May, when most countries hold their Labour celebrations, because that would be too close to the June 'Foundation Day' holiday. To add to the confusion the June holiday in the rest of Australia is the 'Queen's Birthday' holiday (her official birthday / coronation) but the WA state's foundation anniversary is in June, we don't miss out though, having another public holiday in October, which we call the Queen's Birthday. Confused? I am, but along with everyone else I'm happy to enjoy a holiday.

We were going to spend the long weekend with a chapter of the motorhome club.
The club is CMCA (Campervan and Motorhome Club of Australia) and the local groups are called 'Chapters' which I think makes them sound like a motorcycle club. The 'South West Wanderers' are mainly based in the Bunbury area so it was a fair distance from home for us. We left home after lunch on Thursday to travel, via the Freeway, south of Perth City. We were heading for a spot near Capel (our weekend destination) and decided to treat ourselves to a stay in a caravan park.
We cut across country when south of Yarloop, to leave the coastal road and join the south west highway just north of Burekup.  The caravan park is in the locality of Waterloo. We had stayed here before and this time noticed a few changes to the reception area. Sadly the previous owner had died but the new owners were very friendly and despite never having heard of CMCA  they gave us a very nice 20% discount rate.
We picked a quiet, level spot at the rear of the park, well away from the noise of the highway, but, we knew from our previous visit, next to to the railway track.(We prefer the occasional train to the constant traffic hum). We were settled in by late afternoon and enjoyed a private 'happy hour' before dinner.

There were a few trains in the night, we both felt that there were more than previously, but we had a good night's sleep. Just before 10am we were on the road south again, bypassing the city centre of Bunbury and heading on down to the little town of Capel.
Our destination was about 12 kms East of Capel, Arden Vale,a B & B Farm stay with facilities for camping. The temperature was already around 30 degrees when we arrived so were pleased to find some shade to park near. The group had the use of the 'bunkhouse' - kitchen and large living area and 2 toilets and a shower, so we sat inside for a while before moving out to the garden and the shade of the trees.
One of the huge trees was an English oak, planted by the current owner's grandfather. The farm has been in the family for generations. Around the house grounds they have a few sheep, chickens and guinea fowl and in the paddocks near our camp area there were some lovely young cattle.

Gradually over the afternoon the vans rolled in, the social circle expanding as more people arrived. By evening there were 15 motorhomes of various sizes, from small vans to a large bus.
The weather can only be described as 'hot' ( Australians called it 'warm!')
The evenings brought a welcome cool spell, with some having to fetch jackets to put on as we were sitting outside. The weekend saw the chapter celebrate it's 19th birthday and the party on Saturday night had an Hawaiian theme. Lots of Leis, frangipanis and colourful shirts.
 Michael never needs an excuse to dress up - and won the prize for 'best dressed male'  (a choc. bar).

Some people had to leave on the Sunday, some on the Monday but about half of us hung on until Tuesday morning, letting those that had to return to Perth and work to clog the highways.
We had a lovely time with the group and would love to join them again for another weekend so we'll keep an eye on the local clubs magazine for events.

We left on Tuesday morning, around 9.00am, backtracking into Capel for some shopping (newspaper, milk, bread) and then back Eastwards to Donnybrook for a wander around town and some more shopping (Op shop in town is very good, got a skirt, a book and a picture frame).
We then drove out to Glen Mervyn Dam on our way to Collie Glen Mervyn Dam is listed in our camping book but the sign said 'Day use only". The road in stopped right on the Dam's shore and was quite steep so was not suitable for an overnight stay anyway. (There is possibly another spot, as upon leaving we spotted another road in but this is closer to the road and quite a small area).

We had  lunch listening to Red Tailed Black Cockatoos in the trees around us and then drove on to Collie.

In Collie we stretched our legs with a walk around town and then headed Eastwards again to Narrogin.
We checked out the caravan park, having heard a couple of good reports, but it didn't appeal. Too much bitumen and too little shade, so we headed on again.
Our camping book listed another dam, Yornaning Dam, about 10kms north of Cuballing, so we gave it a try. What a nice place! Lots of room to park, lots of level ground, lots of shade, a BBQ, a toilet and a children's play area.
There were a couple of fellow campers, but with so much space we could hardly see them and definitely couldn't hear them.

We had a really good night's sleep, enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and a look at the birdlife around the lake before heading northwards, towards home. We stopped in Pingelly, Brookton, Beverley and York, stretching the legs and checking out the Op shops. We stopped in Northam for lunch (and more Op shopping) before arriving home late in the afternoon.
We have about 2 weeks at home before our next trip - back to Brookton for the Old Time Motor Show. A fantastic country show with a distinct motor flavour, this year the special theme will be 100 year celebration of the Anzacs. We are going with a group from the CMCA and will be camped at the showgrounds....
will blog later.