Back to Perth

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Saturday 26th July...

Not a great night. Gav's sore throat resulted in awful snoring. I ended up in bed with Jack again. Woke up 6.40am to Joe calling 'Jack'. Jack asked Joe if he wanted him to get him out of his sleeping bag, which Jack usually obliges, but got distracted so I did it. Gav slept till 8, but he does feel a lot better today.

This morning we went to Heathcote Park, to a fantastic Pirate Ship playground (which cost about £1m to build). Jack was SO excited when he saw it, he could hardly contain himself. His eyes were alight with the fun to be had. The kids ran amok for ages. We admired the beautiful setting of this park on the banks of the Swan River with views to the skyscrapers of the City, a Pelican flying low to the water, and Dolphins frollicking in the distance. How ideallic. We spent almost as much time on the Pirate ship as the kids, following Joe climbing steps, along walkways, down ramps and slides. Jack was in his element clambering up netting, sliding down poles, jumping from here to there. It was a maze of superbly built decks and a pirates fantasy. Jack actually cried when it was time to go and wanted to camp here!

Home for lunch. Then about 3pm, we headed for Freo as we locals call it! or Fremantle as its formally known. Walked through the covered markets and found the Amano ice-cream shop. I ran an errand and returned to find an ice-cream massacre had occurred. Boys were so cold afterwards that they both ended up wearing my top, which provided great entertainment for us and everyone else - I should have put a hat out for collections!

Back home for front yard playtime and then tea, usual evening palava before crashing out.

Sunday 27th July...

This time Gav went into sleep with Jack in the night, so I slept much better. And he feels much improved, a good dose of Aspalgin and Betadine Sore Throat Gargle has done the trick. It was raining today. Men folk stayed at home with kids, whilst Mums escaped to Harbour City shopping outlet. Fi did well in the purchasing stakes. I bought gifts and warm clothes for the kids. Still it was good to get away from the kids, I mean get out in the fresh air. Came home to Dads lounging on sofa's drinking tea & watching sport, door closed to kids upstairs playing - Hmmmm.

In the afternoon, the weather was sunny and warmer so we headed to a little sandy beach. Jack was off, kicking crocs as he went, pulling shirt off and throwing himself wholesale into beach life. Think he would be quite happy to be an Aussie living the lifestyle. We all messed about in the sand and sea for over an hour. Again, the setting was stunning, with huge hillside houses enjoying the views of the calm waters ebbing around the waterside location.

The usual evening hoo-ha followed, but got kids down by 7pm in time to enjoy to the full our Weber BBQ Sunday Roast Lamb. It was already our last night in Perth. The first week of our Australia Tour over and time to say goodbye to our friends already. We've had a great time here and its been wonderful catching up but always sad to say goodbye.

Our flight was at 7.35am and we were aiming to leave about 5.30am in order to allow for getting lost and dropping the car off before checking in.

So managed to pack up our bags again, and get to bed by 10.40pm after writing up diary. Eddie their Cat must have known we were going as he was purring away on our bed, getting the most love and affection he could before we left. He was quite noisy but not as bad as the snoring so managed to get to sleep...

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