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Published: February 23rd 2013
Fishing at Sunset
Some late afternoon fishing to enjoy the non-windy weather!I'm not sure when it was decided, but we had booked tickets to Perth for Christmas. We flew over on Christmas day, arriving in time for Christmas lunch with my sister-in-law, her husband and the three little rascals, I mean, kids.
They live in North Cottesloe, within a 10 minute walk to the beach, in a beautiful house. It truly felt like we were on holidays, walking down to the beach often twice a day for a swim. By the end of the week I felt like a beach bum, with a tan and salty blonde-tipped hair. I also felt very fit and motivated to be super healthy. I suppose the week of seeing super fit women running along the sidewalks and men fit from hours of surfing may have inspired me. I think the next spot we will move to will have to be much closer to an ocean beach - the 5 hour drive from Orange to the south coast doesn't cut it.
We spent a couple days exploring Fremantle as well, reminiscing as we wandered down the little side streets full of cute buildings and fun shops. It was a bit odd to reminisce together, as
Walking back along the dunes...
When the car broke down...we had to walk back! we both have fond but separate memories of Fremantle. My memories stem from being a backpacker, before I met Dave, while his were while he was a tour guide for Western Exposure - Freo was his break every month. Still, it was lovely to wander around Freo again.
We met up with friends at the Little Creatures brewery, but unwilling to wait for hours in the long lines, we chose instead to head to the Monk Brewery. We had lovely lunches, but it wasn't as lovely as the prices would have suggested. But, as my friend informed me, this has become the norm in Perth - expensive. Prices had indeed gone up since my last time there, and I found it expensive back in 2007! Maybe Perth won't be on the list of places to move to unless we also get some high-paying mining jobs...
We had also promised a friend who lives south of Greenough (south of Geraldton) that we would visit him the next time we were in Western Australia. So we borrowed a car and hit the road. We were very appreciative of the luxury vehicle with great air conditioning, because that day was particularly
Bogged in the Sand
We got the 4WD stuck in the sand. We had 2 flat tires. warm. Temperatures on the dashboard read between 40 and 44ºC as we drove north. We were also very appreciative of the luxury seats - we had forgotten about the distances in Western Australia! The drive took twice as long as we thought - oops! Towns and cities in WA are very isolated. I loved it as a backpacker, and part of me still loves the isolation - so easy to escape the hustle and bustle! Our friend is certainly living that lifestyle. He rents a "donga", or a container converted into accommodation, out in the sand dunes near Greenough. It's simple and certainly isolated, but it's beautiful.
Greenough is the town south of Geraldton where the tour buses might stop to take a photo of the famous leaning tree. It is certainly windy - all the trees grow at an angle from the constant winds. Kite surfing is thus very popular in Geraldton as well. New wind farms in the area take advantage of the coastal winds. We drove by the famous tree, but a group of British backpackers were there, goofing off for ages. So we continued onwards and stopped at the visitor's information centre, where I had
Doors in Freo
One of the doors in Fremantle a fantastic chicken pot pie and a real American-style milkshake. You know - a milkshake made with real ice cream and served in the milkshake glass with the remaining milkshake served to you in the metal container...none of this milk with sugary syrup stuff that gets labeled a 'milkshake' in most parts of Australia. Tummy full and refreshed from the satisfying milkshake, we drove by the windy tree again to see if we could get a photo. What I should have done is taken a photo of the backpackers goofing off, because they were still there. Or perhaps it was a new group of British backpackers. Either way, no windy tree photo. So I bought a postcard instead.
That evening we were happy it wasn't windy, as we went 4WDing in the sand dunes with our friend to watch sunset at the beach. Afterwards we enjoyed a bbq outside under the stars - which he claimed he doesn't get to do very often because of the wind. That night we slept in our own "guest" donga, located on its own little sand dune, with a view both over the ocean and over the landscape.
The next morning, it
Buildings in Freo
We liked the buildings in Fremantle still wasn't windy, but it was already very hot by 8am, so we decided to go for a swim at the beach. This involved a bit more 4WDing. On our way back, our friend took a wrong turn and realised we were a bit too close to trespassing onto someone else's sand dunes. We decided to turn around, however, the beaten-up Landcruiser had other ideas. It decided it wasn't going anywhere. We took turns digging out the wheels, but it was no use - it had a flat tire. We had to walk the 4km back.
We walked along the beach, because we figured at least we'd be able to cool off a little, rather than hike along sand dunes in full sun. It was quite possibly the longest 4km walk...the sun glaring down on us, the salt water teasing our thirsty throats. The poor dog was getting very thirsty, and simply sat in the cool water from time to time, to let us know he was tired. After what felt like hours, we had to turn inland and head along the sand dunes. The dog ran ahead to lay down in the shade, and would wait until we
West Coast Sunset
South of Geraldton, WA had gone ahead before choosing his next shady spot to trot to. Finally, the donga was in site and we knew we were almost there, but by this point our friend had to carry his poor dog. As soon as we got home, we gave him some water and turned on the air conditioning, and then collapsed ourselves in sweaty heaps on the couch.
Soon the boys decided that they might as well try again to get the vehicle out of the sand, so they filled up water bottles, slapped on the sunscreen, chose the biggest hats they could find, and out they went on the little quad bike with a spare tire. Hours later they returned sans vehicle - it was just too hot on the sand dunes! Unfortunately, we had to leave our friend by this point and return south. He continued for the next few evenings to dig out the vehicle, waiting until the temperatures had dropped below 30°C.
On our way south, I decided it would be better to drive along the coast so that we could break up the drive with stops at various beaches for a swim. We stopped for lunch at Jurien Bay and had a swim, and then continued on, unsure if the road connected to Perth. Back in 2007, traveling between Cervantes and Perth meant either heading inland to the highway, or going along a rough 4WD track via Lancelin. We stopped to ask some locals, because our maps and GPS were outdated (the little Homer Simpson voice on the GPS was convinced there was no road at all!). We decided to test it out despite the unsure advice we had gotten. Soon we discovered a new, smooth highway complete with frequent turn-outs and rest areas, and not a pothole in sight. It shaved precious time off our trip as well, and we arrived back in Perth in time for dinner.
We spent the rest of our time in Perth enjoying swims with the kids, bringing the dog they were dog-sitting to the dog beach, babysitting, and going for lots of walks. Our babysitting experience was everything you could want: brother and sister teasing each other, baby shrieking after falling on her head while her siblings fought, kids not eating their dinner but wanting dessert, baby still wouldn't settle, etc. I found the night entertaining, and we got the kids to bed before the parents came home (never mind the kids settled less than 5 minutes before the parents came home, all that counts is that they were in bed!!).
For New Year's, we went out for drinks and then had a lovely dinner, then decided we were too a) tired, b) bored and c) old to keep partying so we returned home (we had meant to meet up with friends but they had decided the same thing!). Just before midnight, the family returned home, and after putting the kids to bed, we rang in the New Year with champagne and watching fireworks on TV. Happy New Year!!!
And then, sadly, it was the last day of our trip. We finished our trip with more beach swims, and an evening of fish and chips with the family on the beach. And of course, I had to ensure I left a good impression with the kids, so before we left, we had just enough time to create a monster blue volcano in the back yard!
Then we took the red-eye back to Sydney (we discovered why it was called the "red-eye" flight, and we vow: never again, no matter how much money we save!!!), travelled to Jamberoo to pick up our car, slept for a few hours, drove back to Orange, and collapsed into a heap on the bed. Another vacation over. Phew!
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