Have I mentioned that Western Australia is expensive? Fortunately this does not apply so much to the normal life staples, and let's face it, Woollies and Coles are Woollies and Coles all over Australia (a bit like Maccas really) where the product on the shelves and the prices generally remain one of the constants in a life on the road. But as for dining out, add at least 20+ percent to what you would expect to pay normally in SA....and don't get me started on the price of a good pint in a pub....a few cents change out of $10! (Apologies for this non-aligned para....another of the blog conniptions!)
Fortunately there was no pub within comfortable walking distance of our park at Madeley. This has been useful in blunting the occasional urge to breast a bar and chew the fat with the locals. Amongst other things we have used our six and a half week stay in Perth to pull in our financial horns after our Xmas splurge. The treasurer's January budget spreadsheet has brought significant joy to her life!
But this is not to say we have been total recluses...we have thoroughly enjoyed a number of social bashes over the past few weeks. During my time with the DWLBC Investigation Unit, I had the pleasure of working with one Jim Cook, who has now moved to Perth. Jim and I had some interesting times together and it has been terrific to catch up with him and his lovely wife Annne-marie. At his kind invitation we joined him and a group of friends at an Australia Day celebration on the banks of the Upper Swan at Midland.
And never let it be said that Cooky in not patriotic.....bush hat and an Aussie flag apron no less! The brisk breeze of the early afternoon forced us to move the BBQ off the river banks to the the shelter of this nearby shed, but once the snags and lamb chops (this was a real Aussie BBQ) were sufficiently blackened, we returned to the banks of the river where we had set up camp under some most welcome shade trees (that's Liz in the purple shirt left of shot).
The Upper Swan river hosts a myriad of parks and picnic areas as it winds its way north-west out of the CBD,
but these upper reaches are a far cry from the broad expanses which extend from Perth city to Fremantle. This is actually the stretch of river at which the Avon Descent, that challenging winter dash down the Avon River from Northam (the Avon drains into the Swan) comes to a finish.
We did have a great day and tucked a new area of Perth under our tourist belts. To our real pleasure this was followed by an invitation to make our way across town to the foothills suburb of Forrestfield to again join the Cooks for a Saturday evening BBQ and knees up the following weekend.
Our trip east through the Perth suburbs was significantly aided by the excellent freeway road system which makes travel over considerable urban distances so much quicker here than would be possible in Adelaide. We estimated that our 40 minute journey to Forrestfield would have taken over an hour in our home city.
Aperitifs under the back verandah, at which I was delighted to contribute some of Marshie's famous bacon savouries, set the scene most adequately.
Then mine host was off to the kitchen, carving an excellent piece of roast pork which had been cooking away over coals in the Weber whilst we had been enjoying a pre-dinner drink (or two). In the meantime I took over the BBQ to prepare Liz's marinated chicken (how could anyone knock back roast pork???)
Great food, plenty to drink, excellent company, and the pleasure of relaxing in an garden setting (as opposed to the sandy surrounds of our annex), all combined to result in an evening we enjoyed immensely.
During the course of the evening we hatched a plan to spend some time together in our respective caravans on the south coast when the Cooks take a couple of weeks leave in the latter part of March, a prospect we have embraced with verve.
The only downside to this excellent social gathering was that, in my enthusiastic chomping on the first class crackling which came with the pork, I managed to crack off a substantial part of a rear molar. It had been dicky for a while, but my dentist and I had both been hoping for a bit more from it. Fortuantely I was able to make an appointment at local dental surgery on the following Tuesday where repairs were duly effected. I decided against having a crown made for this one.....that's a job for my man in Adelaide. I find major dental work to be very much a matter of trust, and Ian has never yet let either of us down. Fingers crossed that the filling lasts until we are home again!
Our dizzy Perth social round continued the following Saturday evening. This time we were off to the lovely leafy suburb of Dalkeith where our hosts John Finlay-Jones and his charming spouse Prue Hart opened their door to us. John and I go back many, many years as I explained in one of the Fremantle blogs. Included in JFJ's many talents is a real skill in the kitchen and his wine cellar has been the envy of all who have known him. We approached this evening with real anticipation....and were not disappointed.
The meal was superb, the wines were all we had expected and we yarned for hours. To top it off, JFJ quietly enquired in the latter stages of the evening if I would be interested in joining him in a whisky tasting which was to include a Johnny Walker Blue and several single malts from various parts of Scotland.....does a one legged duck swim in circles?? What a finish!
I remain eternally grateful I had spent the major part of Saturday pulling down our annex and packing away the freezer, Baby Q barby, and all the other bits and pieces it had contained over our Kingsway stay. Although I managed to dutifully join Liz on a morning constitutional around the nearby Kingsway sporting complex (more of this in the next blog...the sports grounds that is!) that was the end of your correspondent's physical activity for a number of hours. I had fought the good fight, but had to eventually admit to being somewhat wounded. A spot of recorded TV seemed to be a jolly good idea for the better part of Sunday.
As the designated driver of the previous evening, Liz was in fine fettle, but to her credit was not disparaging of my somewhat parlous state and I was proud of the fact that I did rouse myself sufficiently in the latter afternoon to clean and roll the awning and complete my share of the preparations for our planned departure the following morning. Mind you, when I found the co-pilot beavering away with bucket and cloth bringing the outside of the van back to glistening cleanliness, my pangs of conscience were overpowering!
Although I've not yet managed to complete our Perth adventures, including our stroll around the historic Swan valley town of Guildford and the expanses of the incredible sporting complex close to the Kingsway park, I though this would be a good time to provide a quick update in relation to our plans for the next couple of months, which have now taken shape.
We left Perth on Monday 10 February (this blog is coming to you from Kojonup, 150 kms north of Albany where we have over-nighted) to spend the next three weeks in Albany from where we plan to explore the 'Great Southern' and all that is on offer between there and Walpole.
We shall be returning to the Perth area on 4 March when we have booked a week at Rockingham with a view to welcoming Stu back to Australia when HMAS Melbourne comes alongside at the nearby Garden Island naval base to refuel and disarm en route to her home base in Sydney. (You may have read recently in the Press that the crew of Melbourne have had some stunning recent success in interdicting two drug carrying dhows in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa, seizing and destroying a total of almost a tonne of pure heroin which had been destined to finance the activities of various terrorist groups....Stu located both boats from the air).
From there it is back to the south coast to spend time loafing about with the Cooks for a couple of weeks before returning, on 29 March, to the Kingsway park. This will be our base for the ensuing week or so whilst we have the damage to the Cruiser repaired, catch up with clubbie mates during the Australian Surf Lifesaving championships at Scarborough beach and again enjoy the company of our Perth friends. From there, at this stage at least pending final confirmation, it will be south again to the Esperance area to join our good Victorian friends Rhonda and John Vogt who by then should have made their way across the Nullarbor and beyond. And from then on.......no idea....other than chasing the warm weather north!
I must say at this point that we are both really glad to be on the road again. We were well and truly over the hoon road noise and somewhat less than inviting surrounds of our Kingsway camp. We really have become gypsies...new horizons beckon....the adventure continues.
The only downside to this excellent social gathering was that, in my enthusiastic chomping on the first class crackling which came with the pork, I managed to crack off a substantial part of a rear molar. It had been dicky for a while, but my dentist and I had both been hoping for a bit more from it. Fortuantely I was able to make an appointment at local dental surgery on the following Tuesday where repairs were duly effected. I decided against having a crown made for this one.....that's a job for my man in Adelaide. I find major dental work to be very much a matter of trust, and Ian has never yet let either of us down. Fingers crossed that the filling lasts until we are home again!
Our dizzy Perth social round continued the following Saturday evening. This time we were off to the lovely leafy suburb of Dalkeith where our hosts John Finlay-Jones and his charming spouse Prue Hart opened their door to us. John and I go back many, many years as I explained in one of the Fremantle blogs. Included in JFJ's many talents is a real skill in the kitchen and his wine cellar has been the envy of all who have known him. We approached this evening with real anticipation....and were not disappointed.
The meal was superb, the wines were all we had expected and we yarned for hours. To top it off, JFJ quietly enquired in the latter stages of the evening if I would be interested in joining him in a whisky tasting which was to include a Johnny Walker Blue and several single malts from various parts of Scotland.....does a one legged duck swim in circles?? What a finish!
I remain eternally grateful I had spent the major part of Saturday pulling down our annex and packing away the freezer, Baby Q barby, and all the other bits and pieces it had contained over our Kingsway stay. Although I managed to dutifully join Liz on a morning constitutional around the nearby Kingsway sporting complex (more of this in the next blog...the sports grounds that is!) that was the end of your correspondent's physical activity for a number of hours. I had fought the good fight, but had to eventually admit to being somewhat wounded. A spot of recorded TV seemed to be a jolly good idea for the better part of Sunday.
As the designated driver of the previous evening, Liz was in fine fettle, but to her credit was not disparaging of my somewhat parlous state and I was proud of the fact that I did rouse myself sufficiently in the latter afternoon to clean and roll the awning and complete my share of the preparations for our planned departure the following morning. Mind you, when I found the co-pilot beavering away with bucket and cloth bringing the outside of the van back to glistening cleanliness, my pangs of conscience were overpowering!
Although I've not yet managed to complete our Perth adventures, including our stroll around the historic Swan valley town of Guildford and the expanses of the incredible sporting complex close to the Kingsway park, I though this would be a good time to provide a quick update in relation to our plans for the next couple of months, which have now taken shape.
We left Perth on Monday 10 February (this blog is coming to you from Kojonup, 150 kms north of Albany where we have over-nighted) to spend the next three weeks in Albany from where we plan to explore the 'Great Southern' and all that is on offer between there and Walpole.
We shall be returning to the Perth area on 4 March when we have booked a week at Rockingham with a view to welcoming Stu back to Australia when HMAS Melbourne comes alongside at the nearby Garden Island naval base to refuel and disarm en route to her home base in Sydney. (You may have read recently in the Press that the crew of Melbourne have had some stunning recent success in interdicting two drug carrying dhows in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa, seizing and destroying a total of almost a tonne of pure heroin which had been destined to finance the activities of various terrorist groups....Stu located both boats from the air).
From there it is back to the south coast to spend time loafing about with the Cooks for a couple of weeks before returning, on 29 March, to the Kingsway park. This will be our base for the ensuing week or so whilst we have the damage to the Cruiser repaired, catch up with clubbie mates during the Australian Surf Lifesaving championships at Scarborough beach and again enjoy the company of our Perth friends. From there, at this stage at least pending final confirmation, it will be south again to the Esperance area to join our good Victorian friends Rhonda and John Vogt who by then should have made their way across the Nullarbor and beyond. And from then on.......no idea....other than chasing the warm weather north!
I must say at this point that we are both really glad to be on the road again. We were well and truly over the hoon road noise and somewhat less than inviting surrounds of our Kingsway camp. We really have become gypsies...new horizons beckon....the adventure continues.
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