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Published: January 16th 2008
Christmas Day at Ros and Waynes
A good way to cool off on a hot afternoon!This update is very overdue, mainly due to us relaxing over the holidays and the warm weather keeping us away from the computer- poor excuses! Sorry it is a bit long - feel free to skip through the detail!
We celebrated Christmas in Bunbury, 2.5 hours south of Perth, at Ros and Wayne’s (Blu’s niece) Had a lovely day there with Ros and Wayne, and their children Matt and Melissa, Matt’s partner Keira and their 3 week old baby River, and Melissa’s husband of about 5 weeks, Ray, plus Blu’s brother Ross and his wife Laurin.(Yes lots of activity in the family recently) Stayed over for Boxing Day which was the hottest WA Boxing Day on record at 44 degrees!
Back in Perth for the New Year, we had some fun exploring some Blu’s old childhood haunts around Perth, looking around for a car and caravan for our big trip, and spending time with family. Up till now we have concentrated on having a real "family" holiday with the kids and put our trip preparations to one side, but we found the caravan we liked just after Xmas and have put a deposit down on it - just need
to find a 4WD to tow it! It's a 17.5 foot off road Jayco Destiny, and has an awning/annexe, shower and toilet, air conditioning, a large fridge, and even a microwave!
Back to our family holiday - its been great - we have done a bit of "sightseeing" but as we have all been to Perth before, our focus has been more on relaxing,going to family get-togethers and exploring a few of the local restaurants. Here’s some highlights to date:
• A couple of trips down to the port of Fremantle - shopping at the markets, the Motor Museum, Little Creatures Brewery, fish and chips at Cicerellos, old town full of history.
• Took a wander around Kings Park followed by a fresh prawn lunch down at Matilda Bay reserve, lovely spot with grass trees and sand - a good combination.
• Saw the New Year in at Gloucester Park - the harness racing track - amazing fireworks display at midnight. Steph went out on the town with her friend Hayley who she met in Edmonton Canada
• Tri Nations Beach Cricket at Scarborough Beach - a 3 way contest between Oz, NZ and England - the teams
Cottesloe Beach
An old favourite - we lived up the road when we first came to Perth in 1975! are made up of "old" national players and it is just a bit of fun - great to see old favourites like Hadlee, Cairns, Nash, Astle, Greatbatch, Morrison etc- we won against Australia, but lost in the final to England with a dropped catch at the end. After the game we tried out the "washing machine" surf at the beach which is quite challenging.
• Attended 2 days of the Hopman Cup, an invitational tennis tournament held at the Burswood Dome (Steph and I enjoyed Day 1 so much we went back for a second day)! We watched US v Czech Rep the 1st day and US v Australia the 2nd day - highlight of both days was Serena Williams - she is an awesome player and a great personality - as was her team-mate Mardy Fish.
• Had a day out in the Swan Valley - played Supa Golf - 9 "fun" holes with large clubs and balls - guess who won and hasn’t let us forget! Steph of course! Visited a nice vineyard and the chocolate factory on the way back.
• Yesterday we had a day on Rottnest Island -20 km from the coast and a fun
but bumpy ride out and back - took the hop on bus around the island stopping at various beaches on the way - clear blue water great for swimming and snorkelling.
• Today Alister and Blu went to see Day 1 of the India/Australia test at the WACA
• Weather - mostly a highlight? Warm and sunny every day, something we Wellingtonians are not used to! Most days temp ranges from 25 to 35, but we have had over 40 on two days so far - too hot! Fortunately it is low humidity. Luckily we have had a pool at most places we have been, and the shopping malls are great on a hot day!
Steph is now back in Auckland and Alister goes home on Friday. We have been house / dog sitting for the past week at Alison and Nicks (another niece) and it has been lovely - huge house on 1 acre with pool and spa - very relaxing! Could get used to this lifestyle! More later.....
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Steph
non-member comment
Mum can't believe you put that photo of me and dad on - its pretty bad!!! haha