Catching up with the Cuz's

We had several opportunities to catch up with the Day Family and made good use of their pool! First though it was an evening session at the (new for us) Optus Oval watching the BBL with cricket tragic Adrian! Perth Scorchers were playing the Melbourne Stars on a warm evening.

The game was not a cliff hanger with the Scorchers cruising to victory. We enjoyed the perks of the members stand (thanks Adrian) while catching up and concentrating on the game (or maybe not for some of us...). Despite our normal train line being closed due to scheduled maintenance, we found it very convenient and easy to combine a drive to a different station followed by a short train trip. 

 

 

Next afternoon we ventured to the Day family home catching up with the rest of the family for a swim plus wood fired  pizza. From there we headed back to Kings Park to watch Blueback at the outdoor cinema. It was packed so we missed out on a beanbag. Food was limited too! The actual movie was lovely with excellent cinematography. Filmed in Bremer Bay, a small coastal town east of Albany which we didn't have time to visit - maybe on the next trip?? A nice way to spend the eventing.

Busy Times and Stressful Times

The days that follow Christmas tended to follow a similar pattern - to start the day we headed to South Beach for a swim and morning coffee. First a spot of Boxing Day shopping. Then it was mixture of helping with jobs around the Grandies house with catching up with friends, taking opportunities to see new stuff and doing fun activities plus trying to please the girls thirst for thrift shopping!!

Meanwhile on the 27th Grandad gave us all a huge scare. He woke at his normal time around 4.45 am and got up to make Nana a cup of tea. Anyway after turning the kettle on, he felt a bit funny and decided to go lie down again. However by the time he reach the bedroom he was experiencing serious pain down his left arm. He managed to wake Nana who came to get me. I quickly assessed the situation before calling for an ambulance thinking that Grandad was having a heart attack. The ambulance arrive several minutes later. They assessed Grandad before deciding that he needed to be checked out in hospital.

Fortunately Nana had a heart check up scheduled at 10am for her pace maker repositioning. The appointment was next-door to the hospital Grandad had been taken to. So while Nana was having an echocardiogram, I went searching for Grandad who was still in A&E. The tests conducted revealed no evidence of heart attack but more tests were required to try to figure out what had caused the pain. Grandad was therefore going to be staying in hospital overnight.

So we seesawed between the hospital, home and doing things! 

 Escape Room - The Witches Potion

 Fish n chips at South Beach

Merry Christmas!

 We began Christmas morning by heading off to Cottesloe to meet up with the random assortment of orienteers. A refreshing swim followed by lots of chatting. Back via the coffee shop (we like to support those who are crazy enough to open on Christmas Day).

Lunch prep was required prior to present opening. Ella set the table, a tradition she established a few years ago. 

Mila was certainly getting into the festive spirit! The six of us, gathered in the living room to open presents. With fewer people it was over quickly. Highlights for the girls - Ella clothings, trendy shoes, javelin ball, shoe bag while Katy - puffy (very useful in Perth!), clothes, googles, trendy shoes, shoe bag. 

Lunch was enjoyed outside in the heat. Afterwards we were all full and exhausted and spent the rest of the afternoon recovering!

Christmas Eve

Was spent with a morning Parkrun at South Beach - a tough course with two sections of sand. Followed by a swim and then coffee. From there it was time to tackle the shops again searching for Christmas presents.

We visited the Free Markets and had our a photo of eyes taken! Thanks Annwen for the tip! Apparently the human iris is as individual as a fingerprint. Here are ours...left to right Katy, Nat, Ella and Andy

We meandered through the day trying to satisfy everyones needs and by the end of the day we were done but ready for Christmas!

SW tour - Day 15

We had a deadline to get Polly back to the hire company by 3pm and the additional pressure to actually do some Christmas shopping meant there was not much time to be tourists. We decided to finish our camper van holiday with breakfast at Ashley's workplace and Annwen's favourite cafe in Bunbury.

Parking at Annwen's it was a short stroll into the centre of town. Hugh managed to escape from work and meet us for coffee which was lovely!

We made good time post breakfast, passing by home to grab Mum's car before returning the camper van. The girls were very happy! From there we braved the local mall to scour the shops for last minute Christmas presents. Amazingly we did fairly well but still have a few items to grab tomorrow!

Back at the Grandies place we were introduced to Oscar! A little unusual looking dog with a huge personality and the longest tongue ever seen! The girls fell head over heels for him!

SW Tour - Day 14

Early start today was required to make our time slot at Forest Adventures, a high ropes course in a Tuart forest near Busselton just over an hour's drive away. The temperature was continuing to climb with forecast high in the mid 30's.

After a safety briefing followed by a competency check we were let loose on the courses. With 6 courses on offer, our group chose to start at course 3 the family course. Having 7 people in our gang it was always going to be hard to stick together. It was an interesting course - at one stage we had to ride a bike across a bridge! There were lots of flying foxes.

Ella and Katy were in their element enjoying the experience. Andy was keeping up, I was bringing up the rear. Ashley and Nathan were enjoying themselves and Annwen was having fun too! Personally I found it difficult as my knee wouldn't bend enough to be comfortable to get on the flying foxes.

Ella, Katy and Andy headed off on course 4 high - requiring to climb 18m up a tree using three ladders! Meanwhile Annwen and her kids chose the course 4 low. Both course 4's were entirely flying foxes so I skipped these.

Ella by this stage was pumped and convinced Andy to do course 6 the adrenaline course! A challenging course with a an interesting climb up the tree to the first platform. Katy decided to do course 5 which began with a tall rock climbing wall to reach the first platform. I shadowed her from beneath helping at one point when she was too light to get across on a flying fox type challenge. Meanwhile Annwen and co conquered the course 4 high before calling it a day.

Andy and Ella finished off with course 5. Andy needed saving at one point where he missed holding on to the spiders web and lost his swinging motion.

Everyone was spent by the end. It was roasting hot in the forest. Time to move on to our last campsite at Peppermint Grove Beach. The campground here was lovely - large grassed area under huge gum tress. Lunch and ice creams helped us recover. Still hot and bothered we walked to the beach to cool off. It was both beautiful and refreshing.

Back at the campground Katy loved the big swing, BBQ was cooked for dinner and more time for cards followed by a lovely sunset.

SW Tour - Day 13

A Cape to Cape tour today! After an early morning wander to the coast, we drove to Jewel Cave for the 10.30am tour. Arriving early we were pleased to see a cafe (for the adults) and a gift shop (for the kids) which we could hang out at until the tour began.

Jewel Cave is one of the many caves found along an area known as the Leeuwin Naturaliste Ridge. The wind hole was known about since the 1900's but the caves spectacular contents were not discovered until 1957. It is named after the Jewel Casket in the lower chamber and was opened to the public in 1959.

Jewel Cave is the largest show cave in WA. It has a depth of 42m with three large chambers. After descending several flights of stairs, we emerge into the first chamber which is huge. Warm golden light illuminates the cavern. Karri tree roots spiral from the roof above. We are guided through each section, highlighting various features and explanations of how these are formed while adding interesting historical information about the cave.

There is the impressive 5.4m long stalactite straw, which grows 1cm per year and is the longest stalactite straw in Australia. Plus the cool looking pendulites!

We see cave coral

flowstone creating Karri Forest, bacon rasher and Organ Pipes!

crazy helictites

and so much more...

The tour was very interesting and the cave itself was magical. Definitely well worth the visit.

From the cave, we headed to Prevelley for a bite of lunch. Unfortunately the only cafe in Prevelley had been hit by the Great Potato chip shortage so the lunch menu was limited. Still we all found something to eat and filled in some time by playing cards....

The temperature was on the rise so time for another splash! Annwen suggested Injidup Natural Spa a spot we hadn't been to or heard about. It use to be a local secret until instagram came along and now it has become a tourist hotspot. Another short drive continuing north and we arrived to a busy carpark. 

A rocky trail led us down to the naturally carved inlet. A swim in the spa requires some rock scrambling and patience. Observation from above reveals the spa is created when a wave crashes over the rocks - the water cascades as a tiny trickle or a violent whitewash depending on the size of the wave. Conditions are obviously constantly changing depending on swell and tides.

Like I said it was busy at the spa, people were coming and going, swimming and lounging on the rocks. We picked our way down to the spa and made our way around the edge keeping a close eye on the waterfall! Eventually we found a good sandy standing spot. Andy and Katy braved the conditions and swam out to hide under the waterfall with their backs against the rocks. All was great until a big wave hit sending a large volume of whitewash over the waterfall and knocked Andy off his feet! It was a funny moment to watch as he was tossed head over heels! Katy meanwhile had a good hand hold and manage to cling to the rock!

With no shower facilities back at our campground we decided to visit nearby Yallingup and use the showers at the beach. From there we had enough time to visit the Margaret River Chocolate Company. It was a huge facility with lots of chocolate products, a few jams and preserves plus ice cream. Another bonus was the unlimited free button drops of chocolate. Purchases were made and ice cream enjoyed outside. A nice way to finish the day.