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Published: April 28th 2006
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Wicked Brewery
Graeme with his chilli beer Day 20 - Saturday 22 April
Margaret River
Today was a chill morning. This afternoon we went to Mammoth Cave which is a limestone cave that you take a tour through. You have these MP3’s that you put around your neck and take a self guided tour through the cave. Very dark and cold. Other than this I spent my time in an internet café and Graeme and the kids went to the pub (because as usual it was raining). Everybody congregates around the camping shed at tea time to cook their tea and have a drink. It is a great atmosphere talking to everybody from young and old and loads of stories to listen to.
Day 21 - Sunday 23 April
Margaret River
We got up early this morning and had bacon and eggs. We were on the road for our day trip around Busselton (the longest pier at 1800 metres). You have to pay to walk on the pier so we did the big long walk. The have an observatory at the end but it was booked out solid until mid afternoon so we didn’t hang around. We then drove to Yallingup where we found a “Wicked Brewery”
Taunton Farm - Margaret River
Kiera feeding Kara the camel. where they brew all these different beers ie. Chilli beer, passionfruit beer, chocolate beer. Graeme of course had to try the chilli beer and his comment was ”hot but no flavour”. We also visited “Canal Rocks” that Chris O’Malley recommended and this was fabulous. They were catching salmon but Graeme didn’t have any bait but tried a lure but all they got was wet as it rained once again. Duane collected sea snails and they were his pets for the day. By the way the new name according to Kiera for an emu is a “gooster”. We don’t know where she got it from but we have a running competition to see who is first to spot a gooster. Bootleg Brewery was the next call and it was packed for a Sunday afternoon. The day came out sunny and Graeme bought his famous “raging bull” beer. He has been waiting six years since we last came here. We then visited “Woody Nook” winery which is another winery that we visited back six years ago and it is amazing how the place has grown. It had a nice restaurant come café and we enjoyed lunch with scones, jam and cream. Scrumptious!!
Perth
The spa!! Then we visited the cheese factories - I love Margaret River cheese. I bought some camembert to crumb and deep fry. Graeme has seen the first Williams fridge since he has left Melbourne. An eighteen year old Diamond still fitted with it’s original Hermetique compressor. This was going to be our last night at Margaret River so we once again enjoyed in front of the fire.
Day 22 - Monday 24 April
Margaret River to Perth
Left at 8am today so we could get to Perth at lunchtime. There was no stopping except for the usual toilet stops. We are staying at Karrinyup Waters Caravan Park for the next three nights. We put up the annexe and hit the shops for some supplies. We found a place similar to “Southland” so we were grateful. Myer’s, David Jones, Big W, Woolworths(same as Safeway). We haven’t seen that since Melbourne. They have a nice solar heated pool and a 35 degree spa which the kids and Graeme enjoyed.
Day 23 - Tuesday 25 April (Anzac Day)
Perth
Still raining - does it ever stop in this state. So much for sun!!!!! The annexe is soaked. It just keeps coming in
under the floor. Don’t you hate these days in a caravan. Not much to do except write the blog and do some school work with Duane. Duane is learning about games and toys this Unit. He is learning about old fashioned toys. His Maths work is involving fractions which he does really easy. Graeme will be watching the footy today Essendon V Collingwood which is televised live here on TV. I just can’t wait for the rain to stop. Everytime the sun comes out (which is hardly ever) we jump for joy and comment how long this will last. Graeme and I have to laugh because we will cry otherwise as everything is just getting wet. Went in the spa tonight and meet a French couple who are touring around Australia. It was still raining on our head whilst we were in it. Just beautiful.
Day 24 - Wednesday 26 April 28
Perth
Today I catched up with Baker Petrolite in Perth and went out to lunch. Thanks Chris, Artermis and Yvonne for the company. Very nice lunch. Graeme spent the day with the kids and caught with all his messages. Organized his new satellite card as previous connection
has failed for us. It has dried up a little bit today and we are trying to get the wind through the annexe to dry it off. Kids went in the spa again and absolutely loved it.
Day 25 - Thursday 27 April 2005
Perth to Jurien Bay
Finally the sun is out and we are so happy. The annexe has dried out and we were able to pack up without any rain. We drove to Jurien Bay today. Arrived here about 1.30pm. Booked in for the night. Quite expensive in the caravan park considering the conditions - $31.00 for the night but the Jumping Pillow was the attraction for the kids and guess what a site positioned right across from it. No use asking the kids for help to unpack as they were already on it. Graeme went and jumped for a little while and felt dizzy. His lunch nearly came up. We went for a drive to the Pinnacles (Nambung National Park). Wow spectacular!!! Look at the pictures. We played a bit of hide and seek amongst these amazing limestone formations.
Day 26 - Friday 28 April
Jurien Bay
We drove to Greenhead today were they
bring in the lobsters. We saw a boat come in and watched it unload. There was about 6 crates of lobsters which weighed about 30 kgs each. They were still alive and kicking. They last 24 hours in these crates before they die. They pick them up from the jetty and drive them to Lehman which is about 20 kms then a truck picks them up and takes them to Geraldton for export. We could have bought one but we are trying to find a pot that is big enough to cook it. Tomorrow that is our priority to find a pot and to have a nice lobster dinner. Yummo! Even Duane wants to try it. Tomorrow we are heading off to Dongara (which is another lobster town). We also drove to the Stockman Gully Caves which is in a national park that is only accessible to 4WD. There were no directions so we had to ask a truck driver on the side of the road. We drove down a 6 km sandy/rocky/narrow/car scraping track that was the wrong track. We later found out that we turned down one too early. So we had to go down another 6 km
Jumping Pillow - Jurien Bay
Oh how the kids love this!!! track that was in the same condition. We finally arrived at the caves. There was no tour guide and you had to take your own torches. I made the kids put their runners on incase. Off we went, was it dark and quiet, no one around us. Very scary really. Duane wanted to go back all the time but we encouraged him through. It was pitch black but what an experience. If ever you come out this way make sure you do this. It was fantastic. Kiera kept saying to Duane “don’t worry the bats won’t hurt you.” On the way home we saw a gooster (emu) on the road. We took some video and followed it by car but we were frightened that it was going to run in front of the car and damage it so we let it wander off into the bush. It was amazing how it just kept running in a straight line and on the road. It had plenty of bushland to go into but didn’t seem to want to. We were travelling about 40 kms per hour behind it.
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Karen Maher
non-member comment
Hi to you all. Really enjoying the photos and hearing about your adventures (although a little envious). Keep them coming. Happy travelling.