The Season of Goodwill (and stealing)

Days 71 to 81 - Western Australia

Well, what can I say about the cricket at the WACA? We saw the first day, which was undoubtedly the best day from an English point of view. Monty did us proud with 5 wickets and Grevious Bodily Harmison returned to a bit of form with 4 wickets to dismiss the Aussies for 244. Things were going well in our reply until two late wickets saw us at 51-2 at the close. Still, it was a much better day than we'd expected after losing the toss. The Barmy Army were a bit more muted than I'd expected, but about a third of the crowd was English so there was a good atmosphere in the ground. We cooked in the sun all day, although it was probably the coolest day of the lot so we were lucky there - only about 36 degrees! 

Naomi loved every minute and actually wanted to go back for days 2-5 but I had to be firm with her as we had other fish to fry. She is currently responding well to her treatment for cricket addiction. She has self-prescribed retail and spa therapy.  I won't talk about the rest of the test match. It's still too painful.

The following day we headed off down the coast in Sam and Kelly's car (thanks again guys) for an 8 day jaunt down the coast. The first stop was Bunbury, where we stayed in a motel called Fawlty Towers. Almost disappointingly, it was actually very nice. For the record, it overlooked  the sea. There were no wildebeest sweeping majestically across the plain. The manager was German (I think) so I didn't mention the War. No sign of Manuel.

Our next stop was Busselton, which has a 2km wooden pier, with an underwater exploratory at the end to tempt you to walk along it, which we did. We saw an interesting red and white bearded fish during our visit. We pointed him back in the direction of Lapland so hopefully he made it back in time.

We then headed on down to a small town called Dunsborough. I timed it perfectly to have a dodgy stomach as it was our first room in a while with no ensuite. Naomi denies it was anything to do with the chicken curry she cooked the previous night. Must have been a spot of sunstroke! We checked out a few really cool beaches whilst we were there and did a bit of snorkelling (the water was still considerably less than 30 degrees so I mean "we" in the royal sense). Nice beaches are certainly something that WA has plenty of.

Our next stop was Margaret River which has literally hundreds of small wineries scattered around.... and one chocolate factory. We chose the chocolate factory. With free samples on offer, it was never really in doubt. We also checked out the coastal town of Augusta and Jewel Cave - probably the best preserved and most spectacular cave either of us have seen. 

I also tried some bodyboarding at Rivermouth beach, one of the many local surfing beaches. Having watched little kids barely out of nappies surfing the (big) waves with ease I felt pretty confident. That confidence was bashed out of me by the first four waves that hit me as I tried to paddle out - the last three of which I didn't even see as I was still recovering from the pounding  I took from the first one. I eventually did manage to catch a few really good waves but was still left feeling pretty inadequate by the whole experience. Wretching up salt water in front of little kids is not cool....  and neither is almost losing your shorts after getting mashed by a wave and accidentally  'mooning' the sunbathers on the beach! There are no photos of the incident you'll (hopefully) be glad to hear. 

Another traumatic beach experience was had at Hamlin Bay, when Naomi, whilst retrieving a towel from our bag, was "attacked" by a large(ish) spider which decided that her arm looked a comfortable place to rest its weary legs. Sadly, it got squished by a flailing arm, but not before a bloodcurdling scream (Naomi's, not the spider's) echoed around the bay, informing every fly on the beach of our presence. We (and more specifically Naomi's eyeballs, nose, ears and mouth) seemed to be a more attractive  proposition than the seaweed which had been attracting the flies' interest before our arrival. After then having sand blown all over her freshly applied sunscreen by a sudden gust of wind, Naomi reached the conclusion that "You know ... I really don't think I'm a beach kind of person".  I did laugh. And then we left. Quickly.

Our next stop was Pemberton, a small town in the Southern Forest. Population 900. Not much to do there except look at the trees and climb the Gloucester Tree, a 60 metre high Tingle tree. The method of climbing is to scale thin poles which spiral up the side of the tree to a viewing platform at the top. I decided I'd give it a go, although with only thin chicken wire stopping you from falling out sideways and absolutely nothing to stop you from falling straight downwards I wasn't too sure if it seemed like a good idea - especially in the rain - Yes, rain! Frankly, I was amazed that people were allowed to do it without a safety harness and without signing a personal injury/death  waiver. I started off confidently but then made the mistake of stopping about half way up and thinking about what I was doing. I came back down. Slowly. Very slowly. A bit later on I regretted not going to the top but at the time it seemed an obvious decision. (I have of course got several excuses for my cowardice. Did I mention the rain? VERY slippery.

We then went on to Walpole. Population 400. Being short of cash I was delighted to see a bank on the high/only street. My delight was short lived as the bank declared itself to be "Closed" and only open on Wednesdays. It wasn't until later that we realised that it actually WAS Wednesday. This gives you an idea of the size of Walpole and the general sleepy feel to it. We did a treetop walk along a very wobbly canopy at the Valley of the Giants (as in giant Tingle trees) which was good fun. In all the excitement I could barely hear Naomi's knees knocking.    

Our final stop before heading back to Perth was to Albany. Population 22,000 - a relative  metropolis! It rained plenty (quite cold too you'll be pleased to hear back in England), but it dried up long enough to go on a nice walk along the coast and look around the shops. On the way back to Perth we stopped off at Armadale to see my Grandad's sister Lily and her daughter Pat and son-in-law Colin who emigrated out here over 30 years ago. It was nice to introduce ourselves, have a good chat and and stock up on mince pies.

On arriving back in Perth I had a nasty shock when realising that $13000 (about £5000) had been taken from my credit card. After many calls to the bank and a couple of visits to the police station in Perth, the police are now hunting the culprit. I can't say too much but it was the most laughably traceable theft and the police already know his identity.  A pretty stressful experience but  I've been told by the bank that I won't have to pay it back so it's just the inconvenience that has been a pain. I hope the thief chokes on a mince pie... probably on the beach in Barbados...  with my money.

On a happier note we spent today (Christmas Eve) on Rottnest Island which is about 30km off the coast at Perth. We spent the day cycling around the island with Kelly and Sam, stopping at beautiful beach after beautiful beach to sunbathe and snorkel in the sea with the stingrays (and jellyfish - ouch!). A really good day, although we may be standing for Christmas dinner tomorrow after a day back in the saddle! 

Hard to believe it's Christmas tomorrow. It was in the mid 30's today - not quite festive weather. Anyway, I've rambled long enough. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to one and all. We're a bit homesick this evening, but we'll probably forget about that when we're relaxing by the pool tomorrow!