Moving on through Mandurah, Bunbury and Collie

 

Friday 20^th September

We left the Caravan Park this morning to head south. The weather is still crappy with no immediate plans to improve!

We went to Karrinyup Shopping Centre to gather final supplies (and to get me a banana, creamed cheese and honey bagel – yummo!!!) and then we set off for Mandurah. The sun was valiantly trying to shine and Helen (that’s our GPS) took us on the cook’s tour of Perth suburbs (so as to avoid the City central) until we emerged at Fremantle. Immediately upon our arrival it started raining. Why does Freo hate us? We skirted Fremantle and drove through to Mandurah.

Mandurah is very much a seaside holiday town. We walked along the boardwalk and had a bit of a look around and headed off towards Bunbury.

We camped at  John Tognela Rest Area (W) The ‘W’ stands for Wikicamps – a web site that list free spots. This is our first free camp for ages and it was incredibly busy with people stopping all night to wee. But we were the only ones camping. We both felt a bit uneasy but it was all OK.

Saturday 21^st September

This morning we headed into Bunbury, gathered maps and instructions and headed off past the giant chess game and up to the beach front.

 

The wind was still gale force as we headed up to the light house and lookout.

 

 

 

Then we came down into town, found a convenient little coffee house and indulged ourselves in muffins and scones before more grocery shopping and restocking of the wine cellar.

 

 

As we drove off towards Collie, there was much banging and crashing as another of our bowls suicided from the top cupboard, exploding into a thousand pieces all over Indie’s floor. Fortunately the other three bowls which plummeted to earth with it, escaped unscathed but we also lost two plastic bowls as well. It would appear that we had not prepared Indie for the road as well as we thought we had after our two week break!

We continued bravely on, through Collie and parked up at (175) Stockton Lake Recreation Area – West Entrance. The lake was formed when the disused open cut mine filled up with water. The incessant noise across the lake from the Motor Cross Championships being held here over this Queens Birthday Holiday long weekend have not made it the most pleasant of stops but on a fine, warm, windless, quiet day it would be fabulous.

 

 

 

The sound of the motor bikes finally ceased about 5.00pm; it was replaced by the doof, doof, doof of rock music which continued well into the night. Oh joy! Finally, after several hours of fierce competition between the sounds of music and howling winds and rain, I fell asleep.

Sunday 22^nd September

This morning did not bring much joy weather wise so we decided to up stakes and flee to relative comfort, by backtracking to Collie, and partaking of a McDonalds breakfast.

 

 

It seems we just escaped in time as we later heard that Collie had some localised flooding a couple of days later.

From Maccas we did another bit of a drive by of the township, stopping briefly to look at the trains and digger at the local Info Centre (which was of course closed because they don’t expect visitors on Sundays!!!)

 

 

 

Finally, we headed off to the town of Wagin by way of a huge open cut mine. It was quite one of the largest we have seen so far.(The photo only shows a tiny bit of it.)

 

Don’t be fooled by the blue skies. They only ever last a few minutes at a time!!!!

 

 

Perth

Friday 6^th September

Today we drove into Perth and booked into Karrinyup Waters Resort. ($220.50 per week).

 And then we did nothing!!! We sat in the sun beside the little lake and watched the ducks.

 

Saturday 7^th September

We ventured off to Karrinyup Shopping Centre  this morning (after it had stopped raining). Clutching our timetable firmly in our hands, we set of on a Public Transport adventure (which turned out to be a positive experience for a change!).

On arrival at the centre, I espied this shop window and promptly sent the following email to all and sundry:

Before you go to the polls today:

Move over Rudd the Dudd......Rack off Mista Rabbit

There’s a new kid on the block

 

So vote early and vote often!!!!!!!

I know Ronnie and I have lol.

Sunday 8^th September

Now that we have moved off the wild flower trail, I was confronted by a wild animal as I was walking through the caravan park this morning.

 

Later, Ronnie and I set off on a walking expedition to Gwelup Shops (just over 1.5km away). It is quite sunny today but the wind is still very cold. Definitely jumper weather

Monday 9^th September

Today we are venturing much further afield…..all the way to Perth. Again the weather is peculiar. Too hot with a jumper, too cold without. The public transport is fabulous. We caught the bus to Sterling Station and the train to Perth.

When we arrived in Perth, we went straight to the GPO (Cheryee had sent us mail to collect there). When we enquired we were told “Oh yes; people are always told to address it to us but you have to collect it at the other Post Office three blocks away”.  And so we were dispatched to the appropriate Post Office and collected our mail without further incident.

Later we decided to take a trip to Kings Park. All the buses within the CBD are free.

The views across the Swan River to Perth were really stunning.

 

We followed the yellow brick road, through the tree top walk and over the glass bridge (overlooking the old brewery) and down to the Water Garden.

 

 

And then on past the Fountain.

 

Finally we came back to the War Memorial.

 

The 50^th Kings Park Festival is on at present and there is a lot of public art in the Gardens at the moment.

 

 

My favourite was the Yarn Bombing of the little truck and the boulder

 

 

 

 

My new phone has a dual photo function that lets you take a photo of yourself inside the background photo. It puts you inside a ‘postage stamp’ so it looks like a Post Card.  

(Just had to try it out!!!)

The last piece of Public Art was this Ute filled with gorgeous wild flowers. (Celebrating 50 years of The Kings Park Festival and the EH Holden Ute).

 

 

Utes seem to be a bit of a trend. Friends Annette and Guy saw some ‘arty’ ones in a paddock in outback NSW recently.

 

Then it was back to the city for Ronnie to buy some new T Shirts with his Birthday voucher from Myer. I must say, Perth is one of the loveliest cities I have seen. It is absolutely beautiful with its River running through it. I had no idea the Swan River was so big. And the city is very clean and doesn’t have that petrol fume smell. It also has a nice vibe. It is not rushed.

After our big day out, it was time to wend our weary way home.  

 

Tuesday 10^th September

This morning, the weather had returned to rubbish. It was overcast and showery. But, not to be put off, we grabbed our brollies and headed off to Karrinyup Shopping Centre to grab a few groceries and finally get my charms put on my bracelet. I was also looking forward to a  Cinnamon and raisin muffin with creamed cheese, banana

and honey (a delicacy I discovered on a previous trip to the Centre

 

Ronnie was looking particularly handsome in his new birthday T-shirt.  

 

 

When we arrived at the shops, I dropped off my bracelet, only to be told that the jeweller was not in but they expected him back shortly and it would definitely be done then. I did stress that the charms need to be attached the right way round, citing the fact that on two previous occasions, at two other jewellers, in two other States they had to be redone because they had been attached back to front. I was suitably reassured that all would be well and Ronnie and I headed for the food court.

Here, after she took my order and I waited several minutes, the girl returned and apologised saying they had run out of bananas. I then sulked over a cup of coffee and shared some of Ron’s lunch.

We then received a call from the jewellers to tell me my bracelet was ready. And not one, not two but ALL THREE charms were on the wrong way round. The jeweller then kindly said he would fix it. How magnanimous!!!! Then they charged me $30.00. When I told the girl that I had been told the links were $7.00 each she assured me that that did not include fitting. What did she think? I wanted them to take away?

 

Good news though, Ronnie bought smoked salmon and creamed cheese for our sundowners. Not that the sun had really been up but at least it had stopped raining.

Just as I went to step outside, there was the little bunny again and this time he had brought a friend! They are so cute. (And I am ignoring all the negatives about them being pests etc) After my horrid day, they were a delight, as was my smoked salmon!!!!!!

 

Wednesday 11^th September

Today was icky again. We stayed in and did as little as possible.

It was incredibly windy and there had even been a mini tornado that hit south Perth in the wee small hours with winds up to 100 kilometres per hour. 

The level of the lake is up, but I don’t think it’s time to start building an Ark just yet although the weather forecast is not looking too good.

Thursday 12^th September

And still the weather gods are against us. Even the ducks have moved to higher ground i.e. outside our door!!

 

 

Speaking of doors; ours fell off! I kid you not; Ron opened our screen door this morning and it fell off. So now, we will have to venture out in the elements to find a hardware store and undertake running repairs!!  But not today!!!!

We spent the rest of the day indoors and watched TV, cleaned the fridge, rearranged the pantry and watched a DVD. Suddenly, there was a deep throated roaring sound.

I don’t know if you have seen the news but about 1,000 members of The Rebels Motorcycle Club have ridden from NSW to Perth in the last few days. And guess where they are staying? Yep!!!! Their headquarters are in Osborne Park (which it seems is rather close by) and since they can’t all fit there, about 100 are camped three sites up from us!

 

 

Friday 13^th September

Well, we were not all murdered in our beds; in fact, we did not hear a peep out of them at all. Quiet as little mice they were.

Buoyed on by the patch of blue sky directly above Indie, we decided to risk the weather and go to Hillarys Boat Harbour.

 

 

 

 In spite of it being Friday the 13^th, the weather did hold and we had a lovely day. Hillarys is a tourist precinct and marina with lots of lovely coffee, souvenir shops and eateries. We had coffee and muffins and walked along the beach front. I didn’t need the brolly, just thought it made a good prop!!

 

 

When we got home, Ronnie mended our screen door. God bless Tec Screws!!!!! And all is well with the world!

 

In spite of, or possibly because of, the inclement weather we have decided to stay on another week. ($239.50 to give us a total of $460.00 which works out to the discount rate of 14 days at $35.00 (instead of $38.00) less $30.00 because we joined the Top Tourist Club.)

 

Saturday 14^th September

We decided to go for a day out to Fremantle and check out the famous Freo Markets in spite of the ominous looking weather.

We took advantage of the fabulous public transport system and caught the train.

 

Immediately upon arrival in Fremantle, the heavens opened and the temperature plummeted and the wind began to howl.

 

 

Undeterred, we boarded the free Blue Cat bus which for some inexplicable reason is painted orange and set off to the markets.

 

The markets were quite fun. There is a huge fresh produce section with beautiful fruit and veg. There are really interesting food stalls and of course the general markets as well.

 

 

We saw a lady sitting eating strange purple looking things and, being quite intrigued as to what they were, I went over (much to Ronnie’s embarrassment) and asked what they were. Turns out they were Sweet Potato Crisps and she insisted that I taste some. Needless to say we came home with a large packet. They are fabulously tasty and really great with dips.

After our look around the markets we decided to head back home; it was so cold and wet and miserable. We caught the train back to Stirling Station only to be confronted with the demoralising prospect of having to wait over 40 minutes for a connecting bus. I had not factored in the Saturday timetable!!!! We were on the verge of perishing from exposure when our bus arrived and brought us safely back to our dry, warm Indie.

Sunday 15^th September

Today was pretty much a repeat performance of Wednesday with us hunkered down inside keeping warm and dry.

Monday 16^th September

After much discussion, we have decided to give Fremantle a second chance. The city itself looked like it would be lovely on a better day with lots of lovely walks along the waterfront and beaut cafes. This time we are taking a Captain Cook Cruise so we get to see both Perth and Fremantle from the river.

After arriving in Perth, we walked through the city to Barrack Street Wharf.

 

The Bell Tower was looking particularly striking against the lovely, cloudless blue sky as we boarded ‘James Stirling’ for our trip to Fremantle.

 

 

My first priority was to order a flat white coffee and a blueberry muffin, a perfect start to the day.

 

 

Perth’s skyline did look lovely in the sunshine.

 

 

 

The Swan River was a bit brown, probably from everything being washed in with the rains.

We cruised past Kings Park with its War Memorial and the glass bridge behind the Old Brewery.

 

Further along we passed this huge mansion with two storey guest house and gate house keepers residence, indoor swimming pool and bowling alley, not to mention home theatre etc. It sold recently for fifty six million dollars!!!!!!

 

We continued on, under these two very low bridges and got our first views of the Port of Fremantle.

 

We left the wharf and headed out on the Red Cat bus (also orange) to the Arts Centre. When we arrived, we found that the exhibition had finished on Sunday and there was only the gift shop and the building itself to view. The building was originally a Lunatic Asylum and was quite beautiful. By now however, the weather had turned with a vengeance to wind and rain and freezing temperatures. As we waited for the Red Cat we could see the birds being pushed backwards by the wind.

 

 

 

Freemantle’s architecture is quite stunning and many of the old building facades have been retained and incorporated into new ones and indeed many of the old original buildings remain as well.

But again, the weather gods are against us so we drag our cold, wet, bedraggled bodies into a fish and chip café on the waterfront. Ronnie had a garlic prawn roll and I had fish chowder served in a cob loaf. Yummo!!!!

 

 

 

From there, we wandered over to the Shipwreck Gallery, a maritime museum dedicated to the Dutch ships wrecked along the Western Australian coast line. It was a truly magnificent museum with incredible displays.

Finally we went back to the wharf for the return trip to Perth. The heavens opened and despite the fact that our return trip included complimentary wine tastings, we were too miserable to really enjoy it (and the wine wasn’t that crash hot anyway!

 

The rain did not let up at all and the view of Perth as we approached the dock was very different to the view we had when we left this morning!

 

 

We were very happy to arrive home, have lovely hot showers and snuggle up with the heater on (yet again). I still stand by my original comment that Perth and Fremantle are absolutely gorgeous and would be even better in good weather.

Tuesday 17^th September

Today is yet again a stay at home day and we are getting ready to move on on Friday.

Wednesday 18^th September

Today we are taking Indie out. Ron wants to go to Caravan Land. It is a Caravan dealership that gets rave reviews on various forums and Ron wants to check out some gadgets that we might need as well. As it turned out, it was not quite what we hoped and we came away with a new sink plug and two straps for the gas bottles.

We also ended up at Cannington and did some grocery shopping.

Finally we drove home through Perth’s peak hour traffic and realised why we had always travelled by public transport previously. Actually, it was not that bad, considering that it was raining (again!!!) and the city was fairly easy to negotiate. It was certainly easier than other Capital Cities.

Thursday 19^th September

Today was a day of getting everything ready (including diaries and blogs) for our departure tomorrow morning. We are heading south. Although the weather forecast is still rain and wind and cold we have to strike Spring weather soon.