Brookton and beyond

The Brookton Old Time Motor Show is held every 2 years, on 'even' years, and it's a great day out. We of course make it a weekend event, either with the car club or the motor home club. This year we combined the two, camping with the motor home club and joining friends from the car club who came to display their cars.
Brookton is about 200 kms east of Perth and we decided to have a change and to travel a different route to our usual one which skirts around to the east of Perth through the country towns of Gingin, Toodyay, Northam, York and Beverley - we drove south to join the Freeway at its' northern limit and travel south, through Perth city, before heading east and joining the Brookton Highway.
Our first hiccup was that their was no power in the area where we wanted to buy cheap fuel, we had enough to get to Brookton but a top up of discount fuel never goes amiss. We had a good smooth run down the Freeway, it was even smooth running through the usual 'bottlenecks'. These being the city centre area and again where Roe Highway joins the Freeway. Here 4 lanes of the Freeway become 2 and to add to the 'enjoyment' the Roe Highway finishes and joins the Freeway with a constant flow of heavy trucks, so in effect 4 lanes drop down to 1!
Exiting the Freeway we hit our second hiccup - road works. We were stuck in traffic for 25 minutes, our usual route was looking less boring and more inviting by this time. Then we were moving again and soon out on the Brookton Highway heading East from Kelmscott.
 We arrived in Brookton to the sight of a whole crowd of motor homes parked around the perimeter of the show grounds and (after buying some fuel) joined them. The next morning there was an almost unending line of vehicles entering the show grounds but we sat back in comfort and watched them arrive and set up. The weather threatened with a light shower but by the 10.00am, show opening time, the sun had come out and we went off for a wander around the displays.

There was quite an assortment of vehicles, vintage caravans, military vehicles, vintage cars, motorcycles and some Citroens too. As is often the way, the day ended too soon and people and vehicles started to leave. Some car club members were joining us to camp the night and they set up their tent and caravan alongside.

Next day the majority of folks headed home but those inclined could stay an extra night and head off on Monday. We were staying along with only other vans so it was a much quieter Happy Hour in the evening.

Monday morning and we made our usual slow start, heading south around 11.00am. We carried on through the town of Pingelly to the small town of Cuballing. Cuballing is holding a MotorMart and Swapmeet next Sunday and we are going to 'hang around' in the South and go to this event. We went to the Shire Offices to double check that the event was happening and asked if it was okay to camp in the town the night before at the RV rest area. I mentioned that we were thinking of staying out of town at Yornaning Dam but as the event started at 8.00am would prefer to be closer (then we can get up later). The lady at the Shire Offices actually suggested the RV Rest Area because a thunderstorm on Thursday night had brought down trees at Yornaning Dam, one falling onto the toilet building, and the council had now closed the area to campers in case more trees fell on them! With that sorted we continued south, we took time out to wander around Katannning, a thriving country town which was built on the wool trade. Now its economy is reliant on the abattoir on the outskirts of town, the smell from which pervades the whole town. We eventually found the op-shop but weren't tempted by anything. I went into the supermarket to get some fresh milk, and we needed a toilet roll too, I really only needed the one but I always compare unit prices. It was almost half the unit price to buy a pack of 16 than a pack of 2. So I came out with 16 toilet rolls, just as well we have a large storage area.
Then escaping the abattoir aroma we continued south, arriving in Wagin around lunch time.

We stopped and had lunch under the Giant Ram and decided to spend the night in town at the caravan park. We booked in at the Shire Offices and drove around to set up for the night. We were joined a short time later by a couple of caravans and enjoyed watching them park and set up. Motor homes are so much quicker - set the handbrake, connect the power and get the chairs out. We don 't have any trouble reversing, don't have to worry about stabiliser legs, tow hitches or most of the things that occupy caravanners for at least 30 minutes whenever they camp.(It's not quite as much fun as watching the goings on at a boat ramp, but it's pretty good). There was no sign of any more thunderstorms or rain and we sat out until the last rays of sunshine disappeared.

The next morning we were off again, southward to our next stop - Cranbrook. This little town is the 'Gateway to the Stirling Range', but apart from being just that it doesn't have much to offer except one general store, a great op-shop and a nice caravan park. We like it here so we checked into the caravan park for 2 nights, oh and we checked out the op-shop too (got a couple of books).
We also checked out the station, you just have to look at the distance from the platform edge to the track to realise that passenger trains no longer run this line.

The weather was slightly overcast and even tried to rain a couple of times but nothing to speak of.
On our second afternoon there we got neighbours, a small camper van with a young couple and baby. We heard them speaking German so popped across to say G'day. They were from Hamburg and had had a lovely tour of the South West ( a few days had stretched to over a week), they were now heading north. We suggested that they took our route and skirted the City joining the Indian Ocean Drive near us, just south of Lancelin. They could then continue to the Pinnacles and on. They headed off the next morning a couple of hours before us, they had more miles to cover.
We, on the other hand, dawdled down to the town of Mount Barker. I got some fresh bread, a few other items and Michael scoured the second hand book shop. Surprisingly he didn't buy anything, the prices were what we thought was on the high side! We briefly considered the option of staying overnight in town, there is a free overnight area behind the Shire offices, but we thought it would be too noisy in the town centre so drove out of town to head west and across country to join Chester Pass Road which runs north out of Albany.
The road we took ran between the two ranges, the Porongorups and the Stirling Range. It was a very pleasant quiet road through some good arable farm land. We joined Chester Pass Road and turned north, taking a lunch stop to enjoy some great views out over the Stirling Ranges.

The  sun was shining and the roads were quiet so we were happy to continue northwards.

 We checked the map and decide to re visit Lake Grace and stay at the caravan park there. We arrived early afternoon and were told to find a spot and someone would come and take our money later, so we did. We initially chose a spot under some huge trees but on trying to plug into the power box Michael found that two of the neighbouring caravans had each got 2 power cables plugged in - no free power points for us so we moved out onto the open area and set up. Much later, around 7.00pm someone did call for our money - the son of the old lady who runs the park. The last time we stayed she had been in hospital so I enquired after her health, she was in hospital again and that was the reason for the late money collection. We gave our best wishes and hoped that she was out and about soon.

         I went for a wander down the main street and then we enjoyed another glorious WA sunset.

One down side to Lake Grace is the lack of tv coverage - ABC channels only. Luckily for us we mainly watch ABC so we weren't too upset.
Next morning time to move on again and we drove across the top of the salt lakes and onto the small town(?) of Kukerin. We had never driven into town before, and now that we have we have no need to do so again, there's not a lot happening in Kukerin.
We followed the rabbit proof fence north of Kukerin to Dudinin (even smaller than Kukerin) and on to Kulin,
a very friendly (officially RV friendly) place. We called into the tourist office and got some info on 'caravan stickers' depicting the 'Tin Horse Highway'. Kulin's 'edge (every country town has to have something different to attract visitors) is the 'Tin Horses' around the town and district. One particular route into town has lots of these horses and is called 'The Tin Horse Highway'. Some are very inventive - I really should have taken some photos now I come to think of it.  Next time. We sat in the van and had lunch in town before decided to travel further. We headed north to Kondinin, still in WAs 'lake district' - all of which are mostly salt lakes all year round now.

On the way we came across a silo lying in the bush by the roadside.

We had to stop for photos, although it was on a bend and there were double white lines - we had just climbed back into the van when a car came around the bend from the other direction. It was a police car and he looked hard at us and stopped - Michael explained that we were just having a snoop and asked what had happened. He told us that they don't know, it just appeared about 3 weeks ago. No one is owning up to it so we presume it was an illegal movement of an oversize load. Then explaining to us how it was a bad place to stop, on a  bend etc. he wished us a good trip, and we carried on to Kondinin.
What a surprise, you could not get a more different place to Kulin than Kondinin.
Kondinin was grimy and grisly compared to the open, friendly atmosphere of Kulin, we checked out the caravan park and were not impressed. The public toilet block was in the middle of an open area which was the caravan park, not a good idea. We drove on.
We drove east towards Corrigin and stopped at Gorge Rock Reserve for the night.

 We found a nice shady spot and sat out in the late afternoon sun for a while. Another couple, in a caravan, pulled in, set up and then took off for a stroll around the rock. It was still quite warm so we decided to walk the rock in the morning.
It was just the four of us for the night but around 10.00 pm a car drove around the parking area and then drove off. Maybe they were a couple looking for a quite spot for a little 'romance' or maybe they wanted to do burn outs we don't know, but they left us alone. The next morning our caravan neighbours had gone by the time we had breakfast and then it started to rain so we didn't go for that walk over the rock after all.

We had a very pleasant leisurely breakfast and then headed into Corrigin for some fresh bread rolls and the weekend newspapers. We got the local rag but the national paper would not be delivered until Sunday and the shop would be closed on Sunday, so in Corrigin you get the national weekend newspaper on Monday.
That used to be the norm for rural WA but we thought it had improved in 2014. When in Brookton the newsagent there didn't know what I was talking about when I was talking to him a couple of weeks ago and mentioned the old state of affairs. There's only about 90 kms between Corrigin and Brookton but they obviously get deliveries by different couriers.
Sometimes the courier to our local shop has a fit of something and doesn't deliver the national paper either, at one point a few years ago it was so bad and we'd complained so many times and the distributor posted the paper to us. How come the local rubbish rag gets delivered but not the quality paper?
Anyway, time to continue on back towards Cuballing.
We couldn't remember ever being to Yealering so we headed that way. Nice little town, it's little caravan park is right on the lake and looked quite nice, will have to visit and stay sometime. We drove around the houses stopping for a chat with an interesting character who was sitting in his shed. A shed full of 'interesting stuff' (what some would call junk). Then we headed on towards Pingelly but had to detour because of road works/road closure. That detour took us about an extra 30kms on gravel roads but we did see a couple of huge Wedge Tail Eagles sitting in a tree by the side of the road, something we would have missed on the main road.
We eventually got back on the bitumen and drove into Pingelly where we stopped for lunch (those fresh bread rolls from Corrigin - very nice). Then we drove down to Cuballing to check out the arrangements for the Motor Mart in the morning.  Well, they had moved some big rubbish bins onto the oval so they were obviously expecting a crowd. We were driving back to the overnight RV parking spot when we spotted a sign advertising a garage sale - couldn't miss that. We eventually found it, on the edge of town but sadly there was nothing we wanted. Michael got chatting to the guys who lived there and asked about any old Citroens in the area. "No, no Citroens around here, no Renaults either, nothing around here" one man said then continued chatting and asked if we wanted to look under the sheet in the corner. "It's a Renault, if you're interested". He told us the history of the car, including it's many repairs and replacement bonnets that had changed from a Renault 10 to 8 and years later back to 10!! An interesting tale but we weren't interested in the car.
We drove back to the overnight area. The weather was a little grey and there was a slight shower. We were parked opposite the roadhouse so thought we might buy a bag of chips, Michael walked over but came back empty handed. No chips this afternoon. He asked if they'd have chips tomorrow.
 No, no chips tomorrow, in fact they wouldn't have chips until Tuesday! (today is Saturday).

We were pleasantly surprised to find a full range of tv stations so settled down to a full evening's viewing.
We were up nice and early the next morning - 6.45am  it was actually quite cold, and looking out of one window the sky was very dark and stormy but out of the other window the sun was shining. Fortunately the storm was moving away from us and by 7.30 the sun was shining in Cuballing.
At 8.00am we drove around to the oval. Parking was not a problem, there were no crowds. In fact it was quite a sad affair, only about 6 stalls and one of those consisted of just a tractor For Sale.

It did have an interesting sales pitch - a sign saying that it came complete with exhaust, tyres, seat, battery, gearbox and a few other items, but no asking price.
By 8.10 we were back at the overnight area, emptying our tanks and then we got on the road and headed homeward. We drove back through Pingelly, Brookton and then our 'usual' route through Beverley (a morning tea break), York, Northam, Toodyay, Bindoon, Gingin and then home.
We got home around lunch time which gave us the afternoon to unload before getting settled down in front of the telly.
Michael spent the next couple of days cleaning the van, including all the windows inside and out.
 It's two weeks until Easter and our next outing....The Apple Festival in Donnybrook.

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.

Australia Day weekend and a swap meet shower

Finally getting back to the blog - now have to remember what we've been up to for the last 4 weeks.
January 26th is Australia Day, the day we celebrate the white man landing on Sydney's shore and claiming the land for England. Apart from a few'official'celebrations it's basically time for a get together with friends and unfortunately a big excuse for a lot of people across the country to get drunk. We celebrate with the middle option - a get together with friends. The Citroen car club has a tradition of a breakfast get together and this year it was held at the club president's place, he has 5 acres in an outer Perth rural suburb. We went along the evening before and camped on his back lawn to be ready for an early start. The weather was quite a bit warmer than usual - in fact it was hot! so we all spent most of that previous afternoon and evening inside in the airconditioning until it cooled down in the night time. The next day was another hot one and so it was back inside for most of the time. Breakfast was a long casual affair, lots of bacon and eggs cooked outside on the barbecue. The morning melted into the afternoon and before long it was time to consider our next move - where to spend the night.
Ralph and Hanny had come along in their motor home too and their niece, Elizabeth, another Citroenophile, was at the breakfast too, along with her Mum and Dad (Diane and Alan, who also have a motor home, which they store on Elizabeth's farm). There were a few suggestions of where to go but as the afternoon stretched out we decided to just drive about 15kms down the road to Elizabeth's and spend the night there with her family, parked next to Alan and Diane. So that's what we did - setting up for the night under the gum trees, among the chickens.

The intention was to move on the next morning but after some chatting and a few cups of coffee someone noticed that Ralph had a flat tyre - that would explain the slope inside the motor home!

Everyone gallantly left Ralph alone to change the tyre and then we had more coffee, then some lunch and then we ladies challenged the gents to a boules match. After this, ( we ladies lost, narrowly) we again considered where we would be spending the night but Elizabeth kindly invited us to join the family for a barbecue dinner so it was decided, we would spend another night on the farm.

The next morning it was back to work for the family and after a slow start we headed off too, slowly making our way northwards and home via Kwinana Beach for a paddle.

Gary and Petra, our Berlin friends, were over in Perth enjoying the 40 degrees heat. They took off for a few days camping in the bush but found time to come up and stay with us for a couple of days.
We took them on a little sightseeing tour of the northern  beaches, and Petra just loved the sales in KMart - I think she bought about 15 Tshirts.(and went back a couple of days later, before flying home, to get more).

February arrived and the summer heatwave continued, most days the maximum temp is around 36 degrees. If it's less than 34 we don't put the air conditioning on, we open the doors and windows and run fans. Thank goodness for the almost constant sea breeze that we have where we live. At night it drops to 19 or 20 degrees and in the early hours of the morning I have been known to pull up a blanket  (much to Michael's amusement - I sleep near the window and feel the cool breeze.)

The annual Vintage Automobile Swap Meet, in the nearby town of Northam, is our excuse to try and clear some 'stuff' out of the shed. This year, we once again loaded up a trailer and taking the motorhome set off on the Saturday afternoon across country to Northam. We had dinner with friends, Tom and Lois, before heading down to the showgrounds just before 10pm to camp the night in readiness for the morning's sale.
Once again Ralph and Hanny were with us and after a drive around the ground looking for an open gate, we were parked up on the grass. We had a bedtime cuppa before heading off to bed around midnight. We had a rude awakening in the early hours when the sprinklers came on. We weren't parked right next to them but they had a very long wide sweep, spraying our vans with really smelly 'recycled effluent' - ugh! We closed any open windows and tried to get back to sleep for a few short hours. Country folk do not have 'lie ins' - there was movement outside our van around 4.50, and the gates were opened to the first 'sellers' at 5.00am.

We got up then and after breakfast, which shocked the system at that hour, we were out unloading the trailer. It was a hot day, as expected, but the trailer was a little lighter on the way home and I had an extra $180 in my purse.

Since then we had been pottering around the house, actually got around to replacing a couple of broken venetian blinds.
Our next trip away is coming up - a weekend away with another motor home 'chapter'.
Will take the camera and blog later!

Family holiday time

Christmas over, we were off to spend the remainder of the season holiday with Michael's newly discovered cousins in New South Wales. The search for them had begun a few years ago and finally we had all found each other and had met up. A few weeks after arriving home from Europe we had a phone call from cousin Helen inviting us over to meet the next generation and the festive season seemed like a good time for a family gathering.

  We flew over to Sydney on Jetstar, the budget arm of Qantas. Our basic fare included 10kgs carry on baggage each and that's all we were taking. (our return flight with Qantas included 23kgs check-in baggage as well as 7kgs carry on so we were taking a larger, light sports bag with us and going to buy more clothes in the sales). We had flown with Jetstar before and find them perfectly adequate for short haul flights (it's a 4 hour flight to Sydney). There is no in-flight entertainment, unless you take an ipad or rent one onboard, all drinks and food have to be purchased, but there is more leg room than some international carriers we've been on. The staff are very pleasant and we are impressed at how seriously they take the emergency procedures. Each time we have flown with them we have been seated in the row under the life raft storage bin and this meant that we had to be prepared to assist crew with it's launch if required. On our previous flight with them the man on my left wouldn't put his newspaper down to listen to the steward, so the steward stopped the demonstration and explained to this gentleman that if he didn't listen and wasn't prepared to do as required he would be moved to another seat. 10 out of 10 for Jetstar.

We arrived in Sydney a little ahead of schedule, made a quick phone call to Imelda and Ian and having only carry on baggage walked across to the pick up spot. The traffic was quite light, for Sydney, and soon we were in the Northern Beaches, on the deck,with Ian cooking our barbecue dinner.

Sometimes the conversation over dinner had to be halted as the cicadas in the trees around were so loud.

The next day we were all going up to Valentine, just south of Newcastle, on Lake Macquarie to stay with Imelda's sister, Helen. But first we had some shopping to do. Imelda was keen to hit the sales too so we all went down to Warringah Mall, a huge, very busy shopping centre. Imelda had heard on the radio that someone had done research into parking at malls and worked out that you never wait more than 6 minutes for a spot - so we waited and sure enough within 6 minutes someone came out and drove off.

In the Mall we split up for a couple of hours agreeing to meet up later for lunch.

Michael and I bought extra clothes for the holiday, T- shirts, shorts, trousers and undies. We were also pleased to find that the supermarket sold Coopers Birrell non-alcoholic beer. In WA it's still an oddity and has to be bought in liquor stores, in the 'soft drink' or 'mixer' section alongside Coca Cola and lemonade.

We had a very nice curry in the food court and then went back home to collect our bags, have a coffee and then head north.

The journey took about 2 hours so it was around 5.00pm by the time we arrived at Helen's door.

Dinner that night was at 'Jessies' at the Valentine Bowling club. It was busy but not too crowed and the food was good. Helen had reserved a table on the water's edge and we watched the sun set over the lake.

 Everywhere around this area is on the lake and Lake Macquarie is huge. Nowhere could I find out the size of the lake, all I could find out was 'twice the size of Sydney Harbour'. 

The next day was family lunch day, Helen had been cooking for days and we all sat down to a feast. It was a really lovely day. We met some of Helen's children and grandchildren, her youngest son was unable to make it as he lives in Queensland and one grandson is on holiday in Europe. Some of the grandchildren could only stay for a short time as they had work or other parties to go to, but we were pleased to have met them. What a lovely family.

The next day was another shopping day - we all went to Charlestown Square, 'the largest shopping centre in the Hunter Region'. More clothes bargains and other specials too. Lunch was a very nice 'meal deal' at the fish stall - $5 fish and chips with a free soft drink. It tasted good too.

We had a quiet night in, watching the 2013 Edinburgh Military Tattoo on tv. Helen had been on a cruise around the British Isles and had been to the show. 

The next day was New Year's Eve and we all went out to lunch. We took the bus towards Newcastle and got off before the town centre, in Darby Street. Helen chose to take us to 'Monkey, Monkey, Monkey' known as the 3 monkeys. It's one of her favourite eating places. We sat outside in the rear garden, enjoying a leisurely lunch before strolling along Darby Street, which has more eating places than shops. It will be 'jumping' tonight. (we had a coffee at another cafe and the waitress was already tired - she'd started work at 10.00am and was working through to 1.00am, she said  "just kill me now.")

Our celebration dinner was back in Belmont at the 16 Footers Sailing Club. Once again Helen had booked a table with a view over the water. 

We arrived at 7.00pm and  friends of Imelda's joined us, when we joined the queue to order our meal were told that there was a 45 minute wait for the food. Helen was aghast and quickly explained that we had 2 diabetics in our party who needed to eat sooner than that. The staff were very helpful and took the order straight to the kitchen and said that they would  put us at the front of the queue. 25 minutes later our meal arrived. Michael and I had Tempura Flounder and it was one of the nicest meals we've had. Excellent.
After the meal we relaxed in comfy chairs in the coffee shop and talked before heading home at 11.30pm. Michael and I stayed up to 'see in' the New Year, watching the fireworks in Sydney Harbour on tv.

                                                                                   Our New Year 'selfie'

The next day we returned to the 16 footers for a light lunch, wraps and rolls, before doing a little shopping at Bunnings hardware and Aldi supermarket. (we can't wait for Aldi to get to WA ).

No one in the house seemed to know whether the shops would be open, we felt sure that they would be, as they would be in WA but the others thought that as the day was a public holiday the shops would all be closed. So what is all this stuff that we hear in WA about how the rest of the country has 24 hour shopping and WA is backward?!

In the afternoon Ian and Michael helped Helen with a few handyman odd jobs around the house, before a quiet dinner in and an early night.

The next day it was time for Ian and Imelda to return to Sydney so we all went out for lunch before they left. We went to the Caves Beach Resort, and once again were told that there would be a 45 minute wait for food, this time we waited and it was only 30 minutes before our burgers arrived.

 After lunch we farewelled Ian and Imelda then Helen took us on a tour around the area. We drove around the Caves Beach area and then out to Murrays Beach which is not on the ocean, it's on the lake's edge. Currently there is only one road in and out of Murrays Beach which is a heavily timbered settlement. Very pretty but we were all thinking of the fire danger and we all agreed that we wouldn't feel comfortable living there unless we had a boat!

 We stopped at the little cafe in Murrays Beach and had a coffee before heading back through Swansea, which is a very nice older suburb at the lake's entrance. The tide was very high, (there's mention of it being a 100 year tide) and the surrounding mangroves are deep in water.

Another light dinner before another early night.

The next day we drove around the top of the lake over to Toronto, one of the larger settlements on the lake.. 

We had a coffee down by the lake's edge before window shopping.

 We found a very, very good second hand book shop - we put it on the list for a re visit when we're here with the motor home, without the restrictions of weight when flying. We had lunch at a little cafe on the main street before returning home via Warners Bay. We noticed that there was a concert ('music in the podium') on the foreshore every Friday from 6pm to 9pm so decided to return as it was Friday.

We brought chairs and found a spot under a tree not too close to the band, close enough to hear the music and still have a conversation. Leaving Michael with the chairs Helen and I went for fish and chips - another long wait!! this time I think it really was a 45 minute wait. Michael thought it was a case of grand dad dumping. The fish and chips were very good, the music was lovely, the whole evening was just lovely!

The next day was a special day for Helen as it was the Anniversary of her husband, Philip's, death. She was going to spend the day with her daughter and son-in-law, travelling back down to Sydney to visit the grave and have a day together. We took ourselves off into Newcastle, by bus. We stayed on the bus right to the terminus and then walked along Hunter Street.
Hunter street is famous in our eyes for being the subject of the 'Newcastle song' from 1974 (I think), also known as 'Never let a chance go by'. (It seems that it's better remembered by non-australians, Ian is a kiwi and he remembers it but we couldn't find anyone in Sydney or Newcastle who knew it). The song is about 'cruising' Hunter street and hanging around outside the Parthenon milk bar but no one knows where that used to be.
 We walked around the Hunter Street Mall, enjoying the fact that it's a pedestrian street rather than an enclosed shopping centre. We found a huge hobby shop, Frontline Hobbies, with a window display equal to Selfridges in London, Myers in Melbourne or Maceys in New York - lovely puppets depicting children's nursery rhymes.

                                                    Cinderella - Prince Charming at the ball.

We remembered to look up and take note of the architecture of the buildings above the shop fronts. Although Newcastle had an earthquake in the 1990s? there are some lovely old building remaining. In the absence of the Parthenon we went to the Saigon Feast and enjoyed a lovely 'lunch special'. Then we crossed the railway tracks and walked along the refurbished Honeysuckle Wharf area, a lovely spot.

We were going to have a coffee at the 'world renowned establishment' of Harry's cafe de wheels - railway carriage but their coffee machine wasn't working! We crossed back over the railway tracks and got the bus back 'home'. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and settled down in front of the telly at night.

Sunday morning I fancied a stroll around a local market and all the brochures said that the Saltwater Market was on in Swansea, on 1st Sunday of the month so off we set. Well, what the brochures should have said was, 1st Sunday of the month except the first one of the year! No market!
Helen drove us around the streets of Swansea and that was interesting as it is one of the older 'villages' on the lake and has some of the older cottages. We drove out to Coon Island Point, a nice little nature reserve on the tip of a spit of land, and again noticed the high tide level.
In the afternoon we went around to spend a couple of hours with Helen's daughter Desiree and son in law Phil, and then went back to 16 footers for 'Happy Hour' and to meet a couple of Helen's friends, Aileen and John.   John is a native Novocastrian and at last we found someone who remembered Hunter Street in it's heyday and the Parthenon milk bar!
Our last day of our little holiday and Helen drove us up the coast, north of Newcastle.
We drove to into Nelson Bay and then out to the little bays and beaches of Shoal Bay and Fingal Bay. They were all really busy - it was great to see so many families out with canoes, surf boards and general beach games and activities. We were not so active and just drove by, driving back to Nelson Bay for lunch.
As it was hot and sunny and the town was busy we opted for the quiet cool of the 'Diggers Club' and sat relaxing over lunch before heading back south and 'home'.

In the early evening I packed the bags, not using that extra bag after all but filling one of our incoming 'carry on' bags and that will be the checked in bag. (We will buy books!)


Tuesday morning and time to head back to WA. We drove around the lake to Cardiff to catch the train down to Sydney's Central station. It was a slow train journey, the 168 kms taking 2 hrs 25 mins but the seats were comfortable and it was a very interesting and picturesque trip. We passed through Woy Woy, famous for being the home of Spike Milligan's mum. We passed through Gosford, travelling along the lovely harbour. We were awed by some of the houses (cottages) on the opposite edge of the lake, with no road access and presumably no electricity (solar only) they really were 'back to nature'. (The only down side was that the windows of the train were so dirty I couldn't get any decent photos).
We arrived at Central station and decided to have lunch at the cafe there. Not the best idea - expensive and the noodles were lukewarm, the quiche and chips were tepid and the scones were stale. It explained why the queue was so long at Hungry Jacks.

We bought tickets for the train out to the airport ($12.50 each - the trip in from Cardiff had cost us $2.50 each but specifically did not allow exit at the airport).

Helen's return train was every hour and the next one left in 10 minutes so we made our goodbyes and headed to different platforms. The domestic terminal was only 3 stops from Central and the Qantas terminal was extremely quiet. We had ourselves and baggage checked in (check in bag only weighed 10.8kgs) and headed for security. Once again I was selected for a 'wipe down' - the once over and bag check with a swab that is then tested. I thought it was for drugs but it wasn't, it was for explosives! I told the operator that I'd been selected 'at random' in Perth and joked that it must be the floral bag, then I said that the machine is silent when testing, not like on tv, perhaps he should sing whilst it's testing "I think not" was his smiling reply.

We found some really comfortable chairs in the coffee shop and relaxed until time to head to the gate.
Boarding was swift and smooth. The plane wasn't full and we enjoyed enough legroom, and got a meal and complimentary drinks. Inflight entertainment was available too but we chose to read our books. For future trips we will have to check out Jetstar v Qantas weighing up the included extras that Qantas has.
(Because we flew at a peak time the Jetstar tickets cost quite a bit more than Qantas return tickets, had we flown back a day earlier it would have cost $60 more each ticket.)

We landed slightly ahead of schedule but Ralph and Hanny had to drive around the block (No standing in the pick up zone) because we had to wait 20 minutes at the baggage carousel. Then we were outside, into the WA heat, glorious!!!! There's no place like it!!!!

long time no post

The obsession obviously waned, haven't felt like 'posting' for quite a while. In that hiatus we painted the inside of the house, we discovered that we had a leak in the roof of our motor home and Christmas came and went.
The painting was not as bad as we had thought it was going to be, Michael proved to be a dab hand at the roller and I preceded him around the rooms 'cutting in'. We paced ourselves quite well, doing one room at a time, with a couple of days rest in between. We haven't done the outside yet, we have to wait for cooler weather. The bush flies descend on our area in late November and we didn't fancy picking them off wet paint or trying to paint with the dratted creatures crawling over us.  The house looks a lot brighter and we changed the furniture around in a couple of rooms, giving it a more open feel. I actually did some decluttering too, not all the 'junk' (trinkets) have gone back on display.

       The new hall way - hall way and front lounge in the lighter green, our 'gallery wall' in granny smith green.

                                                            Michael does get a little 'splattered' using the roller.


Michael spent ages researching on the net for a solution to the problem of a leak on the van roof.
The problem arose because the van has a flat roof to start with, the weight of the air conditioner on the roof has caused the roof to sag and water puddles around the a/c unit. The seals are not that good and the water runs down into the roof space, finds a gap in the interior ceiling seals and ....drip... drip... drip. Why caravan and motor homes are not 'domed' we don't know, but the problem is the subject of much discussion on camping forums. We considered a rubber paint solution but decided to keep that option in reserve, trying another approach first. Michael took out the a/c unit and rebuilt a wall around it, replaced the seals and siliconed every join that he found. Fingers crossed now. We'll  have to wait to next winter to test it, as we may not get any rain until May or June.
We had our usual very quiet Christmas, a couple of lunches out with friends in the week before but a very lazy day, just the two of us on Christmas Day.That new computer in the office hasn't materialised yet but Michael did get an ipad mini for Christmas, I got a very nice Honda Brush Cutter, for all that work in the garden over winter.

 On Boxing Day we drove down to spend the evening and night with our friends Ralph and Hanny. They very kindly drove us to the airport on 27th for our flight over to Sydney where we were going to spend 10 days with Michael's cousins. One in Sydney's northern beaches area and then up near Newcastle, in the Lake Macquarie area.
That's the next blog.....

Beverley Rally

The weather has been unseasonally wet, one of the wettest September's in Western Australia's history.
We kept our fingers crossed for a fine weekend, and headed off on Thursday morning to the CMCA (Caravan and Motorhome Club of Australia) State Rally in Beverley. The rain appeared to be holding off but as we drove through York, a town just outside Beverley there was a short, sharp shower but this blew away as we carried on into Beverley.

We arrived around 2.00pm and joined the throng. (around 110 vans). We were actually quite late arriving as most people seem to have been loitering around the town waiting for the gates to open at 8.00am. We were happy with our parked spot - at the front of what turned out to be the last line. Nice views all round and no close neighbours.
The Rally was well organised and there was the usual stuff - disc bowls, dog show, some craft workshops, some brand new motorhomes on display. There were also some talks by interesting people on ... fire safety, first aid, cardiac health, 'seniors issues' and there was a fashion show too.

The town of Beverley is quite small but has some lovely architecture, a couple of museums and enough shops to see us through the weekend. The sun came out on Friday morning and although there was a cool breeze, it was nice and sunny during the day, the nights were COLD though.
We, as usual, spent most of our time catching up with old friends.

The geodesic dome, erected in 1965. Designed by American architect Buckminster Fuller, it was thought to be the style of the future - now the petrol station  

The aeronautical museum      

The town hall - built in 1938. Designed by Perth architect W.G.Bennett. Still in use today, in fact all Rally evening events were held here.

                                        The old Court House, built in 1897.
 The style is 'Federation Free Classical and Federation Arts and Crafts'.
It served as the court house until 1980, it is now in use as a fitness centre.

Late on  Sunday afternoon the rain came back and we decided to 'chicken out' and headed off for home, arriving around 7.00pm just after dark.
During the night a storm passed over and we were glad to be tucked up in our bed at home.


We learnt later that we drove into the storm, they only had a light shower in Beverley and then a couple more days of fine weather - oh well.

Now settled back in at home we have had the air conditioner fixed - a blown fuse. The fuse wasn't just blown it was smashed - totally disintegrated, luckily the a/c unit has a built in surge protector so the unit itself was undamaged.  It was some thunder storm they had in July - one of our neighbours has apparently got a large crack in his lounge wall and he has lost most of his electrical equipment, seems like we got off lightly. (I'm glad that I unplugged our tv, computer and other electrical bits before we went on holiday. I didn't unplug the microwave because the plug is awkward to get to). The cost of a new fuse? $100.

 Whilst we were away on holiday we had our olive trees pruned - they were long overdue but we had been away at the right time of year to prune.
Every year a lovely couple from Perth come up to pick the olives that we leave on the trees - they work really hard and strip the trees. We met when I put a notice on the board at work (years ago) saying that anyone who wanted olives could come and help themselves - no charge. This couple were the night cleaners and were the only takers, they have been coming regularly since. They commented that the trees needed pruning and we told them that we would be away in June when it's meant to be done - they offered to do the job for us in exchange for the olives that we let them have every year. We certainly didn't mind and even left the chainsaw and ladder out for them. They did a really good job, the trees are now a manageable size.
The dead branches were piled up and we have now managed to burn them and other dead wood but there is still a bit more to do. Luckily because of the wet weather the burning season has been extended a couple of weeks, we can now prune the WA Peppermint trees that line our driveway and burn the cut branches. That is if it stops raining long enough, we've had a few nice days but have been out doing other garden chores, now the rain has returned.The front areas of grass and the grass around the orchard has been cut and most of the weeds have been pulled up and burnt. It's starting to look as if someone who cares lives here!

When it's raining I haven't just been sitting around reading - I've emptied the office, moved everything out ready to clean and repaint. We are going to have a go at DIY because the stories about painting prices  are scary - for a whole house around $10,000?!! We're starting in the office to practice as most of the walls in there are covered by bookcases, pictures etc as well as rows of car number plates around the top of the walls. We plan to do a room at a time, over summer. Then there's the outside to paint.....

Another reason that I wanted to start with the office is that once it's painted we're getting a new computer - I will get an imac and Michael will get an ipad. We are trying to get a decent internet / telephone package but things are not easy when you live out of the metro area, not every telco can provide a service. We are trying to get away from our $36 month Telstra monthly line rental. The options out there are mind boggling, when we get a new computer we'll have to pick one. Then the jobs will probably have to wait while we play!!!

Until the next 'post' .