Western Australia

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Hi everyone!

Well we have had a mixed bag so far on our WA adventure. My birthday was a crazy day running around doing lots of last minute things to do/buy/organise before flying out last Tuesday week. Thank you to my sister Cathy for giving me a break in the middle of the day for a café lunch. Finally got around to packing, about eleven hours before leaving for the airport.

All was going well getting to the airport until we weighed our bags. Mine was just over 23kgs and Noel’s was just under. There were a few swear words flying around when I insisted that Noel and I rearrange the bags on the floor of the terminal. Noel had forgotten that there was no check in assistant that would say “oh 2 bags at 46 kgs is fine”. The automated bag weighing machine will not allow that. Extra baggage fee averted! The flight was bumpy because of rain on both sides of the country. Noel is usually the one who gets a bit crook on the flights but this time he was fine and I was a bit iffy for most of the flight. Got a taxi to our very nice apartment, went for a walk to shop for supplies and cooked pasta for dinner because we were too exhausted to bother going out anywhere.

On Wednesday we walked the massive one minute to our local bus stop and bought our first pensioner fares to the city $1.40, which lasts for 2 hours on any bus, train or ferry with unlimited changes. WINNING!! We did a Perth Mint tour with Mia the comedian, as our guide. She was very good and the Mint was surprisingly interesting. Would you believe that Noel and I are each worth nearly $9,000,000 each for our weight in gold??? This would be the ONLY time that being fat is worth it. Followed that up with a visit to St Mary’s Cathedral and Elizabeth Quay and stopped at a harbour side open air bar for lunch and drinks. Did a big walk around the city and located the “Redfern” of Perth. The guys kicking off here were the only noise in the whole city, which is super attractive, clean as a whistle and quiet. Not many people or cars around. In fact the most prominent thing in the city is the huge supply of busses going in all directions very regularly. We were impressed. Jumped on the 5 minute ferry to South Perth, where we were staying, and had an expensive drink at a nice restaurant before walking along the foreshore to our home. My feet were very tired.

The rest of the week included:

- A Fremantle day where we did a tour of the gaol – also interesting with lots of information provided by our tour guide, Ian. Visited the Maritime Museum and Noel spotted a water spout while buying our tickets.

- A huge trek all over the city so Noel could buy ONE plug for our DVD set up…because he left the one we already own back on the table at Roselands. Google maps even sent us on a nice little detour and brought us back to the exact same street we had previously been on. By this time my feet and dickie knee were not happy so we caught the free city bus to Kings Park which overlooks the city and Swan River. More walking in the park, which is really very lovely. Did you know that Kings Park is bigger in area than Central Park in New York? Stopped by the WACA so Noel could take a couple of photos and walked (more) to Heiressen Island where the city has a small colony of kangaroos. We spotted only 4.

- Visited Cottesloe beach. It wasn’t that fantastic but did have a nice old pavilion that has been well restored/kept. We dipped our toes in the cold Indian Ocean then met a nice couple from Victoria who are caravanning from Philip Island in Vic all the way up to Darwin and then heading home. They will be away from home over 8 months!! We swapped stories and said our goodbyes noting the possibility that we might meet up on the road somewhere, as we rush up the coast over the next 6 weeks while they continue to meander along.

- Sunday was Mother’s Day and I was feeling very happy that all my “babies” sent me lovely messages wishing me a happy day. We had booked a tour of Optus Stadium. Well you can imagine my eagerness to go on this tour (not) but would you believe it? We were the only 2 on our tour and our guide, Lyndsey, was fabulous! She kept us entertained and all the stats she gave us weren’t boring at all! I was really impressed with Lyndsey and the stadium itself. So nice that the government didn’t skimp on it and it is to be utilised by all the people of WA wherever possible. Finally got to go to an open air rooftop bar called the Aviary, that I had read had great reviews. It was crowded but we managed to find 2 chairs and a table. The music was pumping out. It had a really good vibe. That was until Noel got back from the bar with my “large” wine and his beer. $32 thank you. What the???? The only thing I can think of is the girl has charged me double the price of a small wine which was already expensive at $10 each. Noel nearly had a heart attack but he felt much better after the good looking babes with the short skirts and boobs hanging out came and sat near us.

- Our other adventure was a train and bus to Scarborough Beach. Beautiful sunny day and the water looked so nice. Crystal clear. When we got back to our apartment we ventured down to the riverside to have one last look at the city. Even a couple of black swans came up to us to say “goodbye”.

Perth really is a very attractive city with many parks, lots of street art, big wide streets and pathways and beautiful new buildings blending seamlessly with heritage buildings. The other thing that has struck us is the politeness of everyone. Nearly, without exception, every bus rider thanked the bus driver as they alighted, even if they were getting off in the middle of the city centre.

Noel collected our motorhome on Tuesday. First drama was the Mastercard hold was declined when the company tried to take a $5000 holding deposit. Only thing I can think of is that the bank didn’t know we are in WA so bounced it. I should have told them before we left. Luckily we have another credit card and the deposit went through ok. Phew!! Noel pulls up at the apartment to load the van and he says “It’s soooo big. We should have got a 4 person van.” Let’s see if he still feels that way after being cooped up with “The Mrs” for 6 weeks!!! We didn’t end up getting out of Perth for an hour and a half after a) stopping for groceries, then buying an esky, then getting ice and b) Google maps sending us on ANOTHER random trip. We searched for a Bunnings and Maps sent us BACK to within half a kilometre from our apartment!!! Waste of time yet again. Finally on the road out of Perth and managed to get to Kalgarin just before dark. First night dramas were no power in the power point for the kettle and toaster, the microwave or the air con and no flipping tea towels!!! AND to make matters worse we couldn’t even google how to fix the power or call the motorhome company because Vodaphone doesn’t have reception in the middle of “nowhere”!! Well how dumb were we, when the next morning I suggested Noel check the other power point outside the van only to realise that when we had plugged in, we (that should read I) turned the power off instead of on! Crisis averted but then of course we had not had time to power up the batteries before leaving to go to Lucky Bay in Cape le Grand National Park. Luckily we found a solar panel on top of the van the next day so we were happy that we were storing at least a little bit of power while in the national park. It was pretty funny cooking dinner and playing cards the first night in the park with the barest of lights on.

On the way to the park we stopped to see Wave Rock, It was impressive even though it was a lot shorter in length than I had imagined. It was tall though and really is shaped like a wave. We left Hyden/Wave Rock wearing shorts and t-shirts at 10 am and by the time we stopped at Ravensthorpe for lunch we had jackets and a scarf on. After leaving here we had our next drama. All of a sudden Noel gets a warning sign on the dash saying “ESP disabled – See repairer immediately”. We were driving in no man’s land. There is zero Vodaphone reception. Noel is freaking out that the motorhome is stuffed hundreds of kms from a repairer. He starts driving at 50 kms in a 110 zone so he doesn’t break the van any more. All of a sudden I get 5 mins of reception (thank you angels) and was able to get on to the motorhome company emergency call centre who promptly tells us “no worries…caused by a cross wind and will disappear after a while”. We worked out that the system was disabled after we passed 3 x triple trailer road trains. YEP that will cause a cross wind. PHEW again.

So the national park was excellent even though the weather wasn’t great. Wonderful amenities, recently redone we think. Did a huge walk along Lucky Bay and back followed by a treacherous walk around to Thistle Cove, so treacherous in fact that I refused to go back the same way and made Noel walk along the roads back to camp. Nature really is magical sometimes. At Thistle Cove there is a big rock called “Whistling Rock”. If you stand right in front of it you can hear a really loud noise like the exhaust fans outside a big shopping mall. Walk 2 metres either side of that and it is silent. So bizarre!

Since leaving the park, we visited the Australian Stonehenge on the road to Esperance where we stopped there for morning tea (nothing special here…just a nice town) then drove back to Ravensthorpe for a 1 night layover and finished our drive to Albany yesterday (Saturday). We are staying in a very nice Big 4 caravan park right on the beach. Today we did a hike up a freaking 2.4km track to get to Granite Skywalk on Castle Rock lookout. I was having heart palpitations the whole way and was envisaging a Medivac helicopter ride off the mountain. My knees and calves were killing me too! I decided to sit it out half way up and made Noel go on, but after he left me I pushed on, slowly…very, very slowly with LOTS of breather breaks. I had a little sook about how much I hate hills and stairs and how old and unfit I am, and that made me feel a smidgen better. I finally made it to the top and Noel was so surprised to see me. He was really chuffed that I’d made the effort and he said “Don’t you feel a sense of accomplishment?” and my response was “NO! I feel stuffed!” This afternoon we had a quick drive through Albany and a walk along the beach and boardwalk. I think I will sleep VERY well tonight.

Tomorrow we head off to Denmark only, 64 kms away, after we visit the Whaling Station museum, The Gap and Natural Bridge. Enjoy the photos. Love to all. Margaret

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Comments

[mary]

enjoy each moment
Hi there I am very delighted to read your informative blog. Its great to see such awesome photos and that you are both experiencing a great new adventure together, Lots of high fives Mary x

[olga]

Happy Birthday
Looks amazing xx thanks for sharing.. Miss you xx