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Published: December 16th 2009
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Day 228 - Karrinyup, Perth
Getting up really early always seems like such a good, simple idea the night before you actually have to do it. When the alarm goes off at 6am it’s an entirely different matter! After a sneaky 5 minute lie in we eventually rolled out from under the warm covers and got ourselves ready.
We psyched ourselves up and then pedalled out of the caravan park. Unfortunately there’s a bit of highway negotiation to do before we find the cycle path but once we’re on it what bliss! It’s not flat by any means, well not to one who doesn’t have padded cycle shorts and is sensitive to hills anyway. There are rules to follow when cycling and the signs are everywhere warning you to slow down and give way to pedestrians and to use your bell when passing. The trouble is that most people using the cycle/walk ways use an ipod so ringing or vocalising a warning is sometimes no good. One of the only times I dinged my bell the poor lady in front jumped about three feet sideways and looked scared to death then regained her composure and walked back in front
of the bike anyway so I gave up after a while and just rode around people, it’s much easier! We’d been warned by Greg & Wendy that the Perth lycra brigade (those who are terribly quick at cycling and wear the tightest of tight shorts) are not particularly friendly so to try to keep out of their way. We didn’t encounter many but Darryl did inadvertently send one chap through the bushes as we came past the army barracks!
We admired the beach at Scarborough where we’d been fishing only last night, it was 100% calmer this morning and there was definitely no sign of an imminent sand blasting.
At City Beach we thought we’d earned ourselves a little breakfast stop so watched a group of Original Bootcamp ladies being put through their paces by a rather fit chap who was making them do squat jumps and then run into the sea and back up the beach. It all looked dreadfully tiring! Just around the corner we found the University Beach Volleyball games making a start in the cooler hours of the morning, it all looked very entertaining but we had had to get on with the job
in hand.
We still had a few km’s to trek before we reached our goal of Cottesloe and it wasn’t ‘all down hill from here’ but it was a very pleasant journey. For the bits where we lost the cycle path we were quite impressed how our noses seemed to head us in the right direction and kept firing us back towards the coast.
And then there it was, Cottesloe beach. Beautiful and even better was the coffee shop conveniently placed just behind it. We spent a relaxed half hour or so just chilling out on the beach and resting our not yet aching limbs. People watching is always a good way of passing the time but this morning’s watch was a bit sad. It’s lovely to see families playing on the beach, we’ve had a beautiful experience of late with the Reeves, Elliotts and Palmas. This morning however, ‘Mum’ was clearly more intent on getting a tan than playing with the little lad sitting close by and digging in the sand. We’re guessing a bit of sand landed on her and she didn’t seem pleased as she dragged him to sit alone further away from her.
Meanie.
Just as we were preparing ourselves for the journey back who should we spot but Greg and Wendy! They were on a bike day today so had ridden to Cottesloe in order to stroll along the beaches and check out the coffee shops! It’s a great place to do that sort of thing. We left them to their wander and headed back on the return journey. For the most part the ride back seems to go more quickly but it doesn’t make it any less hard work and the wind that we planned to be behind us seems to have shifted somewhat!
We enjoyed the coastal views again, wowed at the sprawling houses through Cottesloe and Swanbourne and infact got so carried away that we missed the turning back to the campsite and ended up riding about 4km more than we should have!
Not too worry, there was a first class prize at the end of it all which was in the shape of the warm water in the rather large and comfortable spa! What a great way to stretch out our muscles, perfect!
Our bike riding extravaganza needed to be timed to perfection today
as we had a dinner date with the Elliotts, Amber, Ross and little Lucy. We rid ourselves of any sweatiness with a good cleansing shower then set off towards their home in Banksia Grove a mere 20 minutes up the road.
It’s a beautiful home that Amber & Ross have, very comfy and has a really homely feel to it. We’re instantly relaxed and feel very welcomed as the kids have put a special note to us both on the outside of the front door! “Welcome Darryl and Sarah” and we felt very welcome and enjoyed a lovely evening in lovely company. Dinner was a great hit, cooked by Bel it was the tastiest peri peri chicken we’ve ever had - definitely need to get the recipe to repeat it on our travels! Dessert was a bit of a ‘DIY’ effort as we brought meringue nests and fruit then gave the kids the spray cream and warm chocolate sauce! I think they had a good time! We finished off with a wholesome game of Taboo which pitted the boys against the girls. Nobody realised that Darryl was struggling to read the cards until he started to describe the word
Sunny rather than Bunny, what with that and Amber’s hand gestures it was a very entertaining game!! Thanks for a great night guys, we loved every minute.
Back at camp it was straight to bed for us, we were starting to feel some of the effects from our efforts!!
Dar and Sar
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