2013....so far

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Happy New Year to you all.



We spent Christmas in true Australian style by having drinks and nibbles on the beach and a quick dip in the Indian Ocean, (a very appropriate name given the number of curry shops on the waterfront) then home for an extended barbie: scallops, various hand made sausages (not a 'Walls in sight), ribs and, finally, steak & salad with a glass or two of the local wine. On Boxing day , we had a traditional Christmas dinner of roast and all the trimmings. and even managed to do justice to the cheeseboard, once again washed down with a few more bottles.



At home we usually go to the boxing day races so, hunting around for something similar, we went to Perth's Ascot racecourse for the New Year's Day meet. It was strange watching the racing in shirt and trousers instead of being wrapped up to the nines against a Yorkshire winter. The atmosphere at Ascot was terrific with 9 races to lose money on. The main event, the Perth Cup was won by an outsider (in fact it was not a day for the favourites, only one won). Apart from muggins, whose horses are still running, everyone had at least three winners.(Dave, where were you when I needed you?)







So far we have been living a life of comparative luxury in rented houses then Jon suggested that we try a spot of bush camping so that we could get an idea of how he and Jade fared on their overnight stops during the 5000 km drive from Queensland to Perth via Melbourne, Adelaide and the Nullarbor.





We drove south from Rockingham to a site at a place called Herron Point; the point itself is on the east side of a shallow inlet from the Indian Ocean and according to the website, is teeming with wildlife and is ideal for fishing and crabbing. Turning off State Highway 2 along a single track road that started off as tarmac and, turned about halfway into dirt and gravel, we arrived around mid-day. There is a caretaker on site from November to April and we pulled up at “his” caravan to check-in. “Good-day, mate” is the default greeting in these parts even though the “mate” turned out to be a friendly lady who would not have looked out of place in the cast of “Hair”.



“Follow me and I will show you a good spot to pitch. You have brought plenty of water and anti-mosquito cream, haven't you?



“Err, yes. We were going to put tent up and then nip over to the supermarket for some provisions. By the way, where is the nearest Woolies or IGA?”



It turned out to be Pinjarra, about 12 miles away. Anyway, we were shown a lovely spot about 50 yards from the beach. Having set up camp we were all hot and bothered and set off for town. (WA has had a heatwave for the past week with mid-day temperatures reaching 40 degrees C ,over 100 degrees in old money). Fortunately the forecast for the next few days was for much cooler weather and a stiff breeze. We found Pinjarra, a charming town with one pub by the Murray River where we spent the next two hours sitting in the shade drinking pints of shandy. By the time we had bought provisions and driven back it was late afternoon and much cooler.





With the beach so close out came the fishing rods. It was not to be our lucky day:apart from one small Whiting, which we put back; all we could catch were poisonous Pufferfish which took the bait as soon as it hit the water. It didn't really matter as fishing is a great way to pass the time. Time for supper prepared by Jon – pasta with bacon and mushroom; it's surprising what can be rustled up on a single burner stove. By the time we had finished eating and enjoyed our “sundowners” it was quite dark and we could here the sound of the nocturnal set waking up. Sure enough a few minutes later a bandicoot came over to have a nose and picked up a piece of rigatoni that had fallen out of the saucepan. The little fellow was clearly used to foraging around tents and must have developed quite a palate by now. Once the mozzies started to buzz we decided it was time for bed. I wandered over to what I thought was the lavatory block to “brush my teeth, etc” When I got there the bright lights turned out to be from a very large campervan and the couple sitting outside must have wondered what I wanted before I rapidly changed direction and zipped-up my fly! Only problem was, where is the bog? It was almost pitch dark and I had no light; thankfully I remembered my phone has a very bright screen.



Needless to say we all slept very well, Barbara and I in the tent with the front open (but with a mossie net) to the beach and Jon & Jade snug in the back of his Holden estate car, At 5am, as the sun came up, we had the added bonus of two kangaroos hopping past the tent and one actually stopping to have a nose at us. He was clearly not too keen on the paparazzi as he hopped off as I tried to find the camera. Perhaps it was just as well as I don't think he would have been very pleased if he knew I'd had a Kangaroo burger for lunch yesterday; might have been a relative. By the way the burger was delicious.

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Photos

Christmas Day on Rockingham Beach

Comments

[Chris H]

You sound like you are having a fun time. Can\'t wait to see the photo\'s! x