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Published: January 30th 2011
We have had a first ‘incident’, but fortunately, all is OK. As you can see from the photo to the right, our awning had a bit of an accident. We arrived safely at Bremer Bay day before yesterday, and settled ourselves in very nicely at Jinjinnup, the farm of a friend of mine Leonie McMahon and her partner AntsThomas. We were able to park our caravan alongside their cottage, and I convinced Paul to set up the awning so that, when it rained, as it was apparent that it would, I would not get wet dashing to the cottage for my midnight visit to the bathroom. Anyway, there ensued a big, big storm and suddenly, there was a massive crack (followed by a blood-curdling scream - ed.) and our awning collapsed under the weight of the accumulated water. Fortunately all our belongings which normally would have been taking shelter under the awning were safely tucked inside the cottage. In daylight, on closer inspection, we realised the damage was not as bad as previously thought, and a call to George Day Caravans assured us we would be able to fix it ourselves once we received a special part, which should arrive in
the next couple of days. So we are here for a while longer (thanks Leonie and Ants!) - which is also fortunate, as a cyclone was threatening our path as well (Cyclone Bianca subsequently has, to our relief, dissipated and left us just with more rain).
Anyway, more about Jinjinnup later, I have a fair bit to catch up on - and thanks Paul, for filling in for me while my head was spinning trying to fathom the fact that we found, bought, registered and insured a new car all in the space of one day in Augusta. And then discovering that our friend Gill happened to be coming down to Denmark, where we were headed, and could drive my beloved Volvo back to Perth. Destiny perhaps? However, I do hate to burst Paul’s bubble - I can never see myself in a swag in the middle of the bush (but then, never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined I would be living in a caravan either! - watch this space, I guess…)
We spent a lovely five days with Vicki Stroud and her partner Marty and daughter Hilde, but Paul I think has chatted about
Margaret River. We finally left, armed with a new collection of music recommended us by Marty and Vicki, including music from Aboriginal singer Gurrumul Yunupingu (beautiful, beautiful voice - if you have a chance, google him and have a listen) and headed in convoy towards Denmark. It was quite strange following the caravan, but also very peaceful. Was tempted to suggest we continue travelling in this style!
For the first time in a month it was just us - the Marketos Odyssey was becoming real. We arrived at the caravan park quite late as we decided to have a picnic in Pemberton, an idyllic timber town surrounded by the giant karri trees, the tallest trees in Western Australia. They really are majestic. Three of these trees used to be fire lookouts back in the 1940s and today can be climbed by tourists. We visited the first, the Gloucester Tree, which towers over you at 72m. The boys were very disappointed to learn that they were not allowed to climb the 153 (flimsy looking) spikes spiralling the tree to the top. Paul climbed. We overheard though that another tree was not guarded, so rushed off to visit the Dave Evans
Bicenntenial Tree (I must admit, I was not exactly in favour of this decision but had to go with the flow - I figured in this case, my imagination by not being there would cause me much more stress than being an actual witness to the event!) As it turns out, the Bicenntenial Tree was even taller than the Gloucester Tree, standing a mere 75 metres high. The boys had left their shoes in the Prado, which I was relieved about as I thought, no way would these boys be able to climb the metal rungs to the top without their feet hurting. This was the case for Oliver, who managed to get about 1/3 way to the top. William, however, hurtled his way to the top, no hesitation, no fear, no exhaustion! I made it up to the first platform, shaking. Lucky for William as had I gone up first, his climb would have been vetoed!
We arrived in Denmark at about 8pm, and it was quite challenging setting up camp in the dark with tired children. The caravan park we were in was very large, reasonably full, but eerily quiet for a campsite. But we managed (actually
Paul pretty much did all the work - I tried to keep the kids quiet and occupied!) and we all slept very well. We came up with a solution to William’s poor sleeping habits (admittedly his bunk is very narrow, and low, and Oliver just could not resist hanging his hand down or ‘dropping’ things on to William’s bed which led to much fighting and tears at bedtime, and during the night William would wake up after trying to turn around and bumping his head on Oliver’s bed) by making up a bed for him on the couch. It has worked quite well - much to Paul’s and my relief. Sunday dawned, and it was wet and overcast, which suited us fine, as a quiet family day I think was in order. Gill and Paul joined us for breakfast, and brought some croissants - delicious! - and we made arrangements for her to collect the Volvo and bring it back to my dad. As the rest of the weekend continued to be wet, we took out some videos and introduced the boys to Crocodile Dundee. They found it amusing, and are desperate to try out some newly discovered lines to
their friends back home (e.g. ‘how do ya like ya goanna? Medium or well done?’)
Then followed a lovely relaxed week exploring Denmark, “WA Tidiest Town” winner 1998 with a population of 5,000 (Tidy Town appears to be a much-sought after title for WA’s country towns, to such an extent that if a town can’t claim to be a winner or runner-up, it promotes the fact that it is an entrant into this prestigious competition!). A day was spent just outside Walpole amongst the ancient Tingle trees, massive trees that have a girth of up to 20 metres, the oldest of which are believed to be more than 400 years old. We visited the Valley of the Giants, and walked up a lightweight bridge which crossed the canopy of these beautiful old giants to a height of 40 metres. Despite the sway of the bridge (designed so that visitors could really feel they were in the canopy!) I did succeed in making it to the top!
We walked through the ‘Ancient Empire’, aptly named as many of the plants were believed to have originated 65 million years ago, in a time when Australia was linked to Africa, India,
Antarctica and South America as part of the Gondwana super continent. We contemplated the majesty of the gnarled veteran of Tingle trees, Grandma Tingle, and speculated on what these trees have experienced in their 400 years. We took a drive to visit the oldest living Tingle tree, the Giant Tingle, and I managed to have a very peaceful walk with Quinton holding my hand, quiet in the fear that a dinosaur might peer out of the shrubs, and later, once this fear had subsided, partaking in a spot of birdwatching. A rare treat. Meanwhile, William was taking a break sitting in the car, while Paul and Oliver walked together quite a way behind us. An interesting feature of the Tingle tree is that many of them have hollow trunks. Typically it is a bush fire, along with insects and fungus, that has created the dramatic cavern at the base of these trees, yet amazingly, the trees survive and even continue to grow. Sadly, they also have a very shallow root structure, and the constant tramping of tourists around the base of these trees, and even driving cars in for the obligatory photo, has heralded the early demise of some of
the giants).
We also spent two days at William’s Bay (guess why!). Here we found Green’s Pool, which, on the first day, was calm (though cold) with great snorkelling and fantastic rocks from which to jump off into the waters below. The next day it was an ocean transformed. The waves were huge, pretty violent, and with random big waves. The big swells originated from the Southern Ocean, and apparently had never been seen before. It was quite fantastic. I also went for a walk - and, on turning the corner, found myself totally alone on a stretch of beach that went for miles. I walked for about 45 minutes without seeing another person - just the crashing waves, strong winds and scrub for company. Beautiful.
Paul and I also attempted to start homeschooling in Denmark - I am afraid without much success. It appears that parents to not garner the same amount of respect that teachers do. We have since decided to take a different approach to teaching. The boys, particularly William, ask lots of questions, so we take one of the questions, and study that topic. For example, one day William asked how wee
and poo were made, and so we seized the opportunity to teach them all about the digestive system. Another day they learnt about Gondwana and tectonic plates. We will have to insist on a couple of sessions of disciplined maths and writing per week...we’ll get there. Paul and I are just so not into the spirit of discipline at the moment - we are still caught up in the spirit of adventure!!!
I nearly forgot - on the spur of the moment we popped in to the Dinosaur Park just outside of Walpole. Life-sized replicas of dinosaurs was really interesting, but what was most fascinating were all the birds, in particular a Western Long-Billed Corella which tapped me on my leg and demanded to be patted by rubbing his head like a dog. It was such a lovely experience, but he would not let me stop patting him. As soon as I tried to make a move, he would gently grab my hand with his beak and guide it back to his neck. And then Paul came, and the bird became psychotic! He did not appreciate Paul’s presence and flew at him, with evil evil intent. He attacked him,
biting him savagely, and continued to chase him for a few minutes, until Paul went inside. I am afraid to say I did not come to his rescue, but nearly wet myself laughing. I have not laughed so much in years. We later discovered he was a pet of the owners, named Eddie, and was prone to such attacks, on occasion. Perhaps the highlight of my trip so far????
We could easily have stayed in Denmark indefinitely. The caravan park was great, clean and comfortable, with a giant jumping pillow for the kids to play on, roads for the boys to ride their bikes and scooters, friends to play with, galahs to watch, kangaroos, just a few metres from us in the evenings, rivers and estuaries to explore at our door step, etc etc, but it was time to move on and visit Leonie, who had been expecting us since the first week of January! We left on Friday morning - and experienced a very frustrating morning trying to pack up in rain. Just as Paul was really losing his patience, the rain suddenly cleared, and, instead, it became incredibly hot!
Once packed, we started on our way
to Bremer Bay, and decided to make a stop in Albany. We were originally hoping to visit the whaling museum, but with caravan in tow, navigating our way through the busy metropolis of Albany (with a population of 33,600 it is the sixth largest city in WA, and interestingly, the oldest permanently settled town in the state) proved quite daunting, and we instead stumbled upon the Princess Royal Fortress on Mount Adelaide. This was a boy’s paradise; gun emplacements that the boys could actually manoeuvre and play on, old buildings to explore and a great collection of military memorabilia to study. The Albany port was also the last port of call for troop ships departing Australia in World War I. There was a great view over Albany, including the bay where, back in October 1941, 36 (I think) war ships from Australia and New Zealand congregated to journey in convey to join the Allied forces in their battle against Germany. Surprisingly, the convoy was protected by a Japanese gunner. It must have been an awe-inspiring sight to see all the ships in the bay. Sadly, for thousands of Australians, the port of Albany was the last they would ever see
of their home country.
And now we are in Bremer Bay, sans awning. But I think I have rambled on enough for one blog, and besides, our stay in Jinjinnup is worthy of a dedicated blog! And just to backtrack a bit, on the Sunday before we left Perth, we had lunch with one of Paul’s old school friends, Costa, and his wife Cheryl. Costa is the executive chef at the university club, so you can imagine the food (lamb roast) was rather impressive. It was really nice to meet him and his family (he has three children). They arrived in Perth a few years ago, via Kuwait where they spent a few years, and are loving it here. It was a lovely, restful afternoon. It seems Paul has quite a few schoolmates in Aus - we’ll be catching up with others further east as well.
Will write again soon….
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Claire
non-member comment
Don't worry about school
Hi there I know for sure if you don't formally teach your boys this year they will learn much more than in any classroom. Sounds like you guys are doing a fine job as teachers. Not much has happened in the first 2 weeks of the school year. The Gloucester tree is awesome reminds me of Enid Blyton's Faraway Tree which the kids love soooo much. Navigating the potholes, puddles and flooded roads in Jhb recently reminded me of your Africa trip, Paul- so when you get back please put together a slide show for the kids. Ricky was intrigued, especially as to how you survived Malaria. Something for William to look forward to on his return to SA. Just discovered yesterday my dad is a bit of a coin collector and has some 2000 year old Greek coins. Have fun!