Margaret River

The Margaret River region is an area that includes not only the town of Margaret River, but Busselton to the north down to Augusta in the south, and 100kms of gorgeousness  in-between. As most would know, the region is famous for it's wine production, and the vineyards and posh wineries are indeed the main feature of the countryside, along with its beautiful coastline and world renown surf beaches. Not a bad combination, and one that we thought would make a fitting base for celebrating my 40th Birthday Festival.

Much as I love my family and our cozy little home on wheels, my birthday wish was to rent a house for the weekend and share it with some of the wonderful friends we have made on this trip. We had some trouble finding one that we didn't have to sell a kidney to afford, and that would take us for only 2 days, but at the 11th hour, we found a place on the beach at Dunsborough that was able to accommodate two families (us and Melbourne friends, the Brewers) and fitted the bill perfectly.

We thought that we had evolved as a result of our caravan odyssey, that we were no longer bound by the shackles of material luxuries. We had found the secret to happiness and it was open roads and time together. Nup. Seems we still get REALLY excited about chef's kitchens and home theatre systems.

We had a wonderful weekend, concluding with a birthday lunch on the Sunday, where we were joined by our lovely friends the Eisners and the Wheatleys, who, though well on there way towards Esperance, made a huge effort to come back for it. I felt so grateful to them all for being there and helping make the day so memorable. The 10 kids were well entertained by the beach, garden, spa and bike path, leaving us to enjoy a lovely long lunch followed by impromptu disco. John gave a lovely speech/roast, and Trish (Brewer) composed this charming ditty...

ALEXANDRA, ALEX, ALI
BIG OF HEART, SLIGHT OF BELLY

FROM BOWRAL'S BEAUTIFUL
CHIC ABODE
TO PETITE RETREAT
AND OPEN ROAD

URBAN FASHION CAST ASIDE
"KATMANDU" NOW WORN WITH PRIDE
SWEAT AND DUST AND HAYMAN REECE
FLYNETS, FINS AND POLAR FLEECE

PERFUME, WAXING...DISTANT THOUGHTS
DIFFERENT DAY...SAME OLD SHORTS
BUNIONS PROUDLY ON DISPLAY
HIGHLIGHTS FADING...HELLO GREY!

BUT WAIT! IN PERTH
A STYLE REBIRTH!
HIKING MUM RETURNS TO EARTH
AFTER MONTHS IN "OUTBACK MODE"
SUCH WONDERS FOUND AT...COUNTRY ROAD!

SKIPPING THROUGH THE MALLS WITH GLEE
FRENCH CONNECTION! WITCHERY!
PURCHASES MADE (SOME AT RANDOM)
PLASTIC FLASHED WITH WILD ABANDON

UNTIL SUDDENLY, IN HER NEW KIT
WHAT'S THIS? A WOMAN! (WELL, JUST A BIT)*
PAST LAUNDRY LINE
AND DUMP POINT REEK
COMES BIRTHDAY ALI, OH SO CHIC

OF COURSE SHE'S MORE THAN CLOTHES AND STYLE
SHE IS STRENGTH..AND CHEEK...AND ODDBALL GUILE
MOTHER, CARER, JOHN'S BEST FRIEND
40 NO LONGER ROUND THE BEND

BUT WHAT A LIFE, BY ANY MEASURE
ADVENTURES, MEMORIES...FAMILY TREASURE!
SO MUCH HAPPINESS IN THIS PICTURE
40 YEARS, NOW ALL THE RICHER

THANKS TO ONE SMALL LIFE DECISION
TO "CARPE DIEM"! LIVE THE VISION!
TO HIT THE ROAD WITH KIDS IN TOW
AND "MAKE IT UP AS WE GO"

NEW FRIENDS MADE, TOO MUCH GROG
MAJESTIC MOMENTS, TRAVEL BLOG
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, STYLISH AL,
OUR LOVELY FRIEND, OUR CARAVAN PAL.

Trish, as you can see, is rather clever. Thanks Trish! (...I think.)

* a reference to a comment from 4 year old Ivy Brewer, on seeing me in my new dress - "Ali, you look a bit like a woman!" Just a bit, mind you.

Other memorable moments in the Margaret River have been :

-  Experiencing our first drive-in movie at Busselton
- Getting lost in the Yalligup Maze
- Getting lost in the Ngilgi Caves, Yallingup
- Tom, James and John learning to surf at Bunker Bay.
- Sharing in Indi Eisner's 11th birthday trail ride.
- Wine tasting through picturesque vineyards.
- Climbing two lighthouses.
- Climbing to the top of the giant Tingle trees in Walpole

 

Birthday lunch, Dunsborough



Us.

Mother and son birthday bike ride

 



  

Yallingup. Another gorgeous beach.
Another bare bottom.

Yallingup.



Surfing lessons, Bunker Bay



Tom was a natural -
he now has the talent to match his hairstyle.



 

Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse

 



Kite flying, Yallingup

  

Little girl lost.



Long lazy lunch at a Margaret River vineyard.

 

Cape Leeuwin, Augusta

  

Valley of the Giants, treetop walk, Walpole

  


Grace, Tom, Ivy. In a BIG tree.

Georgie. Not being amused by Tom.


 

PS. We have been in Cape le Grand National Park and have just learned of the dreadful fires that have affected Margaret River. Hard to believe we were there only a day earlier. We are thinking of all the people affected.

Perth

We were looking forward to getting to Perth - we had always heard great things and had been meaning to visit for many years. It didn't disappoint - what a wonderful, laid back, clean, liveable city. It is probably the first place on our trip that we could picture ourselves moving to - if only it wasn't so isolated from the rest of Australia. The city had no doubt had a spit and polish to look it's best for CHOGM, which was starting on the day we arrived. Our arrival in Perth was in fact timed to precision to coincide with the Queen's visit, specifically her appearance at a "sausage sizzle" (nothing but the best for Her Mag) where she would meet and greet her loyal Aussie subjects. And as most of you would know, never was there a subject so loyal as Master James Rapp. We excitedly dressed in our very best caravan clothes (the ones with the least stains) and headed off on the train to arrive at the park two and a half hours before Liz and Phil's scheduled arrival, thinking that would guarantee us a spot front row centre, where we could pass on our flowers and cards and invite her back to the van for a cuppa. Little did we know that Perth is filled with royalists even more royal than our right royalist. We had to settle for squeezing into a spot on the side of the road - where we could only witness the royal wave from her slowly passing car. After months of anticipation, it was somewhat of an anti-climax, however James was happy just to be able to say that he had seen her in person, no matter how fleeting, so that was really all that mattered.



Waiting. Waiting. Waiting.

  

At last!  Here She comes....and goes.





The next day we enjoyed a ferry trip down the Swan River to Freemantle where we had the obligatory fish'n'chips, had a fascinating tour of the Freemantle Prison, and saw the famed Australia 2 yacht at the maritime museum.  



Freemantle harbour



The famous winged keel



Freemantle



The hangman's noose. Freemantle Prison

Later in the week we took a side trip to Rottnest Island where we stayed for the night in a villa on the beach. Any break from the confines of the caravan is always cause for excitement, however we were somewhat dismayed to find the arm of the couch in our new digs was decorated with the fruits of a previous guest's very productive nasal cavity cleaning.  Don't blame it on the sunshine, don't blame it on the moonlight, don't blame it on the good times, blame it on the boogies. It was snot pretty, I can assure you.

Needless to say, we didn't spend much time in the villa. We did however, adore our time on the island and had a wonderful time discovering all the beautiful bays and beaches on our bikes (though we badly bruised our bottoms!) We couldn't believe that such a seemingly unspoilt island paradise could exist only half and hour's boat ride from a major city. The kids also loved seeing the quokkas, and made it their mission to feed and name just about every one on the island. There was Doory, Gutsy, Greeter, Sniffy, Gatey, Mangy...and Doc, just to mention a few. The only negative (other than boogie wonderland) was that the flies that we managed to so cleverly evade at the Pinnacles, found us in their millions. We soon realised the only way we were going to enjoy our time was by sporting fly veils, which we wore the minute we stepped outside. It was quite funny when we repeatedly went to eat or drink, forgetting that we were wearing them.

Georgie (in my nightie) feeding Doory outside our villa.

A creature from the deep!



Rottnest



Rottnest

Insect repellent, Rottnest style.

The Basin - Rottnest

We also had the pleasure of catching up with new and old friends. The lovely Stanleys whom we met in Karijini, invited us to spend the afternoon with them at their sailing club and kindly had us over to dinner, during which hairdresser Delia attended to our long neglected hairstyles (John's Darwin mullet was at last rectified and my alarming new grey hairs disguised) We also enjoyed meeting up with long time family friends Janine, Ali and Nicholas Wheeler for a relaxing afternoon in the beautiful Kings Park and another gorgeous home cooked, non-barbequed meal.



Fun at the Sailing Club with Greg and Gen.



Trick or treating eating.

The caravan park we stayed in for the week was certainly the best we had been to thus far. It had all the usual attractions (heated pools, jumping pillows, playgrounds etc) plus a lovely big lake complete with new born ducklings. The kids were delighted with the setup, especially as we met up again with our friends the Eisners and Brewers. Our first night coincided with Halloween, so costumes were improvised and trick or treating joyfully imposed on all the neighboring grey nomads. Many of whom had strangely gone out for the night and left their lights on. Trish Brewer and I were both celebrating birthdays in the same week in November, so we also took the opportunity to spend some time topping up our wardrobes at the shopping nirvana that was Clairmont Quarter. After spending the week seeing Royalty, being invited to dinners, having our hair done and shopping, we left Perth feeling a lot more civilised than when we arrived!

Tom, Grace and their pet ducks at the Karrinyup Caravan Park

Cottesloe Beach

Cottelsoe Beach sunset

The Pinnacles

We enjoyed our few days meander down to Perth, although the weather continued to be ordinary. We had been looking forward to Kalbarri and exploring the nearby National Park, however due to the rain, the roads were closed so we didn't stay long. We poked our nose into the various lookouts and towns down the coast and survived a windy night in Geralton.

Our last stop-over before Perth was Cervantes, and the nearby Pinnacles. We had read somewhere that sunset was a good time to go there, and as it turns out, it was the ONLY time to go there! After later catching up with friends, we learned that their Pinnacles experience was cut short having been chased away (or very nearly, carried away) by billions of flies - which seemed to magically disappear in the late afternoon coolness.  Luckily for us, the flies were gone, the rain held off, and we had the place to ourselves. I had a wonderful time taking photos - which I am going to bore you with shortly, and we all had a challenging game of hide and seek. James even took inspriation from Billy Connolly's memorable Pinnacles visit, and did a nudie streak accross the sand. Good fun was had by all!

A well timed visitor

We hadn't realised how close the Pinnacles were to the coast

Georgie in her "throne".

Rapp children  2 , 3 and 1

Gorgeous Tom (who needs a haircut!)