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Published: September 1st 2009
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Limestone Cliffs
North Point Beach, Cape to Cape Track Hi there everyone, hope you are all surviving winter & enjoying some good soul food & of course some reds!
Medical update: on the 29th May Jeff had his hip operation in Perth. Basically they went in with a mini angle grinder and ground off the tear in the hip lining and while they were in there unfortunately found his cartilage coming away from the hip joint. So, they scratched up the bone underneath it in the hope that when scar tissue forms it will help re-stick the loose cartilage. Not the best news really, we were hoping it was just going be the tear to fix. However, the doc thinks that with time it will get stronger & more adhered to the bone…worst case scenario hip replacement (don’t wanna go there as plastic hips only last about 15 years max….could be a few replacements in a lifetime - especially if Jeff lives to be 100 like he hopes!)
So, 3 months in he’s seeing the physio weekly, swimming in the local indoor pool, back at work full time as of last week (at last!) with some restrictions on how much time he’s allowed to spend on his feet.
Off to Ze Ark
Birthday boy heading out for din dins with the missus Leeuwin Estate have been fantastic and try and get him doing a variety of jobs to mix it up a bit so he’s not walking around all day. At the moment they are doing a lot of tractor work spraying, mulching etc so spending the day in an fully climate controlled cabin, listening to your fave CD’s on your comfy hydraulic chair ain’t so bad! Next check up is at the end of Sept, so by then we’ll have a better idea of the long term & whether more work needs to be done…fingers crossed none!
Since we last blogged we have both enjoyed turning another year older (or at least using it as an excuse to crack open a nice botlle!), Tab’s being the big 3.0. No big party this year, but she is planning a 31st for next year so keep the end of June 2010 in mind! Actually, it really does depend where the hell in OZ we are so stay tuned! For Jeff’s big day we went out for a nice feed at local restaurant Ze Arc of Iris & as is his usual birthday style he fell asleep in front of the fire once
Swan Valley Shuttle Gang
Harry (driver), Des & Karin & us enjoyed a brilliant day of tastings we got home! Tab was treated to a wine tour and a decadent lunch at Jeff’s work where we wined & dined the afternoon away in the June sunshine.
In other news, Tab has started a new job as a receptionist at Quest Serviced Apartments in Margs. So as well as her admin job at the retreat one day per week, she’s picked up another 3-4 shifts at Quest. As well as work she has signed up at Tafe to complete a Cellar Door Sales course. It is mainly conducted online & via correspondence but she will soon start work placement as part of the course. At this stage hoping to get into Leeuwin, but if not there are more than 100 other cellar doors to work in so sure it won’t be a problem!
Recently we went on a “minibreak” up to the Swan Valley - a small wine region about 30 mins from Perth. Needless to say the trip included many tastings as well as some amazing food! On one day we jumped on the Swan Valley Shuttle which is a service that will drive you around wherever you want to go all for $30 each!
Back seat tuffies
Off on a leisurely day of wine tasting for bday girl Bargain! It was just us and one other lovely couple from QLD who we fast became pals with, and our driver for the day Harry. Des & Karin, was so great to meet you both, we’ll be sure to keep in touch & let you know when we are on our way to QLD! We all enjoyed a beautiful lunch together at Sitellas (winery & restaurant) and squished in as many tastings as we could to fill up the remainder of the day. As the climate is much hotter up there we were treated to some fantastic hot climate varieties, a nice change from the usual Margaret River ‘staples’. We headed into the Perth Hills region on the second day with stand out cellar being Cosham Wines…if you find one in a bottle shop give it a go! Overall a beaut little holiday and some sunshine well overdue.
Last weekend, with no plans and weather dreary, we headed off again for the weekend to a lovely town called Pemberton - about and hour and a half inland/south from Margs. Funnily enough (or not surprising really) this is also another little wine region we love. So in usual style we
North Point Cliffs
Cape to Cape Track WA tasted and sampled our way through the area & came home with a couple of cases of treats. Here we finally tasted black truffle for the first time at the Wine & Truffle Co near Manjimup. Now, I dunno if you’ve had copious amounts of truffle before, but Tab swears she got high! So we left there after a decadent lunch floating on a rainbow coloured cloud, onto some more tastings of course until she straightened out! They do really tasty pinot over there so looking forward to getting stuck into some this winter. It wasn’t all wine & food, we did manage to go for a few bushwalks & sight seeing. Be warned the Pemberton Tram was a trip into hell! Our lovely tram conductor Brian could talk under water with a mouth full of marbles…the trip went for an hour and a half and he did NOT shut his mouth the whole way. Whoever decided to give him access to the tram microphone & soundsystem was MAD. Several other lucky participants came out with bleeding from the ears too! He meant well……
We are still doing little bits of the Cape to Cape Track when weather permits
Bday girl
A relaxing 4 hour lunch at Leeuwin...what a way to spend your birthday! and a few weeks ago did a beautiful section from Boranup Beach through to North Point. The limestone cliffs on the beach were amazing and blue sky, blue water and sunshine just magic. We went in with Jeff’s new car (Triton) so got to try out the 4-wheel drive for the first time and it went a treat on the sandy beach tracks.
Big congratulations in order to Tab’s cuz Kelly who gave birth to baby boy Ryder on the 30th June (one day too late to share Tab’s birthday…doh!). Congrats also to Tab’s oldies who have finally departed on leg 1 of their “round Australia” trip. You’ve worked hard to earn your retirement so enjoy every bit of it! Can’t wait to meet up somewhere round the country for a spot of camping! Also Jase, well done on the new job buddy, will be great to know you are gracing Australian shores for a change…let us know when you’re in Perth next mate.
We are both hanging out for our trip east in Oct/Nov for 2 weddings! We are planning on this trip incorporating some time in our fave town Echuca and a long-overdue visit to Mildura.
Leeuwin Lad
Yes, you can get into Leeuwin with dreadlocks....maybe that's just coz he's "staff" We land on the 28th Oct and have 3 weeks so look-out everyone, we don’t take catching up lightly! Especially when you have to cram it all into a few weeks! Can’t wait to see everyone, our visits are a bit few and far between these days.
Well, despite these goings on we are just enjoying a bit of winter hibernation. The weather here is really not much different to Melbourne, so it’s been rather cold, wet & windy, but already the days are getting longer so bring on spring (and alas hayfever!). Cheerio till our next blog whenever that may be…..
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