Monday 18 March 2024

Sunday 17th March 2024

Sunday 17th March

SHE SAID:

The three of us headed out after 10am on driving tour around Bunbury. We started at The Cut, & the dolphins put on a show, though at a distance. They did several twisting leaps out of the water for us!

Further around at the Dolphin Discovery Centre the feeding of the dolphins had just finished, but one was still hanging around close to the shore, which was great to see.

Our driving tour continued around to the old jetty, the black & white lighthouse, & along Back & Hollow Beaches down to Dalyellup. We got back to the house in time for lunch.

The afternoon was taken up with moving the van; Geoff wanted to clean it away from the sprinklers, then I did some packing. We heard this morning that the owners here, Mark & Roz are returning THIS Wednesday! Quite a surprise, as it was originally going to be after we had left, then the day we were due to leave the 27th, but now it is the 20th!

Dorte & Gary have very kindly offered for us to stay at their place, so we will head there after handing over on Wednesday.



Turkey Point, across to Bunbury

Kombana Bay & the Aboriginal statue


Sunday drivers!


Mum finds a couple of colourful dolphins
And we see one up close


Lighthouse head Mum

HE SAID:

Mark and Roz's very early return put us in a bit of a spin. We thought we had 11 days, but now we have only a few. We are lucky that we have friends nearby or else this would have been a very expensive time, just before we head off overseas. So, with all our plans out the window Varena has made a bit of an outline of where and what we'll do. 

As it is St Patrick's Day I managed to enjoy a nice Guinness, just as a nod to my Irish ancestors!


Saturday 16th March 2024

Saturday 16th March

SHE SAID:

We had a quiet day around the house. Mum’s body clock is still adjusting to the time here, so doing not much was a good idea.

Knowing she loves smoked salmon we had that with scrambled eggs & a celebratory bottle of bubbles to celebrate her arrival in Oz.



Enjoying the outside life


Here come the bubbles





HE SAID:

I think that Varena and Jan are very happy to be together again. It has been 5 years, because of the Covid pandemic. As usual, Varena catered very well for us.

For some stupid reason the AFL decided to not show any matches in WA today. The push to get everyone on their expensive streaming platforms is obvious, but I'm not sure that it is to the benefit of the game or the fans.

Friday 15th March 2024

 Friday 15th March

SHE SAID:

The day has dawned: Mum’s arrival. It’s been planned for over a year now!

We headed for Perth around 10.30, as we’d arranged to meet Martina & Ric for lunch. We had a few months to catch up on, & lunch went for 2 hours.

Mum’s flight was on time, & we actually followed her plane down the highway. She was wheeled out of customs by Emirates staff, which surprised me, but she was fine. She had asked for staff assistance, which turned out to be a great idea.

She was smiling, chatty & keen to have a walk to the car, despite it still being 30c at 6pm. We were back at Gelorup about 8.15pm.


Mum flying above us on the highway


At the house in Gelorup

HE SAID:

Our two hour trip to Perth was uneventful. We managed a good chin-wag with Ric and Martine over lunch at the Gosnells Hotel before driving through a carwash then having a wander and a coffee in a nearby mall. Our drinks at the café took forever to arrive, perhaps because I had cleared out all our coinage from the car and paid mostly in 5, 10, and 20 cent coins!

Jan's arrival brought a lot of happiness to Varena, and, of course there was lots of chat in the car on our way back to Gelorup. One little incident on the way back to the house occurred about 30km out of Bunbury. There was a huge police traffic operation where they were pulling in nearly all vehicles for breath testing and whatever else. We were fine, as I hadn't been drinking, but Jan had only been in the country for just over 2 hours and she was already having a brush with the law!


Thursday 14 March 2024

Thursday 14th March 2024

Thursday 14th March

SHE SAID:

A busy morning getting the house “ship-shape” ready for Mum’s arrival tomorrow evening. Cleaning & sorting out inside. Mowing, sweeping outside.

We had a quick dash to the Dalyellup shops for a few things & were done by 3pm.

Mum leaves Gatwick at 1.35pm UK time, 9.35pm our time. She has to change at Dubai & leaves @ 2.45am! Yuck, but she is coming business class which will hopefully be easier on her.


 Witchcliffe last Sunday


A customer with a pure Dingo


More photos from Dear Darnell's



HE SAID:

Finishing around the yard took me a while. There was whipper snipping, mowing, sweeping etc, and then the usual afternoon watering. I think Varena is getting quite excited about her Mum's arrival tomorrow.

Despite last week's AFL matches today's match was the start of Round 1. Nonsense!


Wednesday 13th March 2024

Wednesday 13th March

SHE SAID:

I’m in “mum arrival” mode now; she is due on Friday late afternoon in Perth. We are moving bedrooms to give her the good room, so cleaning & re-jigging stuff needs to be done.

Geoff headed for yet another appointment & I had a visit from Dorte, who was in town doing some errands.

After lunch I decided to dye my hair... It now looks like it did when I was about 5 years old! VERY blonde, rather more than I expect. When I saw it, I burst out laughing, & said to Geoff that Mum will not be impressed! Oh well, it won’t last forever!


Mega Blonde!

HE SAID:

Today's appointment was unrelated to my foot, for a change. This one was my routine annual skin check. Unfortunately I have a spot on my back that needs to be cut out, so luckily for me they can fit me in on Monday, otherwise I'd have to wait until we got back from UK in June. I'll end up with some stitches, but hopefully it will have settled down and be pain free for out travels.

Varena's hair is amusing. We were speculating how Varena's Mum will react!




Tuesday 12th March 2024

Tuesday 12th March

SHE SAID:

We headed into town around 9am Geoff had an eye test booked & I went to the hairdressers. I wanted my hair short for the trip so it’s easy to manage. It’s now quite short!

We were back for lunch & quiet afternoon at the house. I did some minor packing & finished my latest book.

The curried sausages for dinner were a hit!



Dear Darnell doors!



HE SAID:

I am really smashing the health-related things at the moment! It has been well over three years since I last had my eyes tested. My glasses are a very mild prescription but as I age I use them for a little more than just reading in bed in the evenings. So, I booked in at SpecSavers, as they were the only ones with a suitable appointment time, and was rather surprised that they give you a free hearing test to start the appointment. My guess is that they want to sell you hearing aids. I had no objection to a free test and came out with normal hearing. But this now means that I can't blame my hearing when I don't hear what Varena says -  she'll know I was just not listening. Anyway, my glasses prescription has changed slightly so I'll get a couple of pairs of glasses that are covered by our health insurance, so no additional expense to me.


Monday 11 March 2024

Monday 11th March 2024

Monday 11th March

SHE SAID:

We did some minor things in preparation for Mum’s arrival on Friday, but the main cleaning & tidying we will do on Thursday.

I had a few photos to sort from the smoke & helicopter drama of Saturday, & yesterday’s trip to Witchcliffe. I have plenty of photos for the Blog for the coming week now!




HE SAID:

We had the pest controller come back today due to ants returning to the kitchen. Hopefully they stay away this time.

I managed to waste an hour or so in the morning trying to change my mobile phone provider from Telstra to Boost. I followed the instructions but it wouldn't work, so I messaged them. They then spent ages trying to convince me to get a SIM mailed out, but I wanted an eSIM, just like their website and app said, otherwise I'd have to remain with Telstra for an extra month as my billing date will pass while I wait for the SIM in the post. Anyway, instead of fudging around I went out, bought a $2 Boost SIM, then tried to activate it online through the app. This failed too. So I contacted Boost again, spent another hour in the afternoon going over the situation, and ended up with me just having to wait until I see that my Telstra service is inactive! Then I still need to contact Boost to finalise it all! Not a good start with my new service provider!


Sunday 10th March 2024

Sunday 10th March

SHE SAID:

We headed down to Dorte & Gary in Yelverton then hopped in their car, continuing on to Witchcliffe. They had suggested we check out the Dear Darnell’s Cafe, which was very eclectic. It appears to have been built & filled with other people’s “junk”. It made for plenty of photos!

We had lunch & a couple of drinks there, the afternoon just disappeared. Dorte & Gary were up for an ice cream at a little van stop in the main street, so we wandered there afterwards.

Back at their place for a cuppa (for me) & beer (for him), before we scooted back to Gelorup in time for me to Skype with Mum. Out final Skype before she arrives on Friday!

PS We saw smoke as we drove down the highway, but assumed it was just smoldering from yesterday, but on our return, it had drifted into Gelorup & the house quite stinky for the evening!






HE SAID:

Feeling much better we headed south for the day. Dear Darnell's was a visual surprise, and Varena had an urge to photograph everything. Gary and I had a little bet on who would take the most photos, and it turned out to be a tie with Dorte and Varena on 98 photos each!


Saturday 9th March 2024 (update)

Saturday 9th March (PS...) 

We had a noisy & for a short time, worrisome, afternoon when we started to get lots of helicopter noise above the house. 

Turns out there was a fire across the Bussell Highway roughly 4km away, but it seemed a lot closer. The helicopters were getting water from the dam at the quarry in front of the house then flying directly over us to the fire. 

It was heading from south to north & never crossed the highway, so we weren’t in any danger. We think that it was stopped before the southern end of Dalyellup, but it was a close call. 

Geoff found a news report online that it was possibly deliberately started; there were 3 fires today, on a cool, wind-free day. It does seem suspicious!


First sight of the fire & then about 90 minutes later


Almost scenes from the war movie "Apocalypse Now"


Large helicopter water bombers appeared in the late afternoon. 
Hot spots on the fire map, we were to the right of the yellow line.


HE SAID:

Once we worked out how far away the fire was, and the direction it was travelling, we felt a little more settled. Being in a strange house after months of no rain means that if a fire comes we leave. No point staying. We were never considering leaving this time, but it did have me doing some thinking about what we need to do if the fire jumped the highway.


Saturday 9 March 2024

Saturday 9th March 2024

Saturday 9th March

SHE SAID:

I am getting into “Mum arrival” mode now. It’s less than a week till she gets here.

First up was the cleaning of the inside of the car; it wasn't that bad as it isn’t orchid season. Next, starting to sort out menus, stuff that we won’t need in the house, & places to go whilst Mum is here.

I finished my GPS points yesterday afternoon, the hard drives need another back-up now. Busy bee...LOL!


Ring-necked Parrot & possibly a young red-capped Parrot
 Both enjoying the Garden sprinklers


Hay bale art in random fields

HE SAID:

After watching a few hours of cricket on my computer this morning I started to feel rather crap. It was as if I was getting vertigo. So, I'll probably go and get my eyes checked next week, just in case my eyes were the cause. I'm getting old!

Friday 8th March 2024

 Friday 8th March

SHE SAID:

I got the last of the orchid pin drops added onto the map today. I’m glad that’s done.

FINALLY, my new driver's licence has arrived. The pathetic Australian Post Office didn’t get the mail redirection sorted out properly over 2 months ago, so it went to Andrea & Scott’s place. Luckily Andrea was back in Perth last week & forwarded to this address! But still it took almost 2 weeks to get here from Perth! B***** useless.

We also got the tour vouchers for our Italian trip emailed today. It’s all coming together now!


Overcast skies at Dunsborough


Point Piquet

HE SAID:

I did some more of the never ending mowing today. There is a fair bit of it to do but I have only been doing about half of it each time, staggering the job so that I am not as much of a sweaty mess afterwards.


Thursday 7 March 2024

Thursday 7th March 2024

Thursday 7th March

SHE SAID:

For a change we had brunch in town. Well, actually overlooking the Back Beach with glorious views of the Indian Ocean. It’s another warm to hot cloudless day again.

After that we headed into town for a few things & got back to the house after 1pm.

The rest of the afternoon was taken up with the Victorian GPS points!



Back Beach Café




HE SAID:

Brunch today was actually my idea for a change. I wanted to go into town and look at some shoes that were recommended by the podiatrist, and as Varena hadn't been out much lately I thought we could go out together. The beachside fare was the usual menu, with several bacon and egg variations. We both enjoyed the views and food, then headed off to the shoe shop. I tried on about 6 pairs before settling on one. We also made stops at Bunnings, a chemist, and Varena had her watch battery replaced.

The AFL season starts this evening, though for some stupid reason they are calling it Round 0, with Round 1 next week!



Wednesday 6th March 2024

Wednesday 6th March

SHE SAID:

With Geoff off out with appointments again this morning I got on with the getting the orchid GPSs onto the map. I am maybe ¾ of the way through Victoria now. Victoria is the 2nd biggest file after WA, which is, thankfully, up to date.

The day warmed up to 33C, and it was nice to sit outside after watering the plants for an hour or so around 6pm.



But wait...there's more...



Getting photo bombed making 
a silly face!

HE SAID:

With a quick doctor's appointment and a trip to the shops being my outing for the day I had another easy afternoon.

Tuesday 5th March 2024

Tuesday 5th March

SHE SAID:

It’s 10 days till mum arrives in Australia, time is flying by.

I have a small list of things to get done before she arrives so I’ve started ticking them off. Nothing big, but a couple of things on the computer, sorting out in the van, wrapping gifts for the Japanese mob.

Geoff headed out soon after 1pm for his 3rd podiatrist's appointment; hopefully this time there will be a result! So, it turns out it is probably arthritis; he will probably get some better trainers with more support to, hopefully, ease the discomfort.


More fun art in Dunsborough



HE SAID:

The latest advice from the podiatrist is to see how it goes for a while. So, if needed I will go again after our overseas trip. Otherwise, it may be fine. Who knows?


Monday 4th March 2024

Monday 4th March

SHE SAID:

Nikki & I headed for the Art on the Bay exhibition in Dunsborough. We wandered around in very fine misty rain, but not enough to be annoying. We both took loads of photos.

We headed to Point Piquet for morning tea, then onto Happs Winery, which also has a nice art gallery & pottery area attached. There were a few of the artists around doing their art.

We had a sausage roll at Yallingup & checked out the beach; the clouds had moved on, so the ocean views were back to their usual stunning blues.

It was a nice day out, & not too hot either.


Funky Art on the Bay, Dunsborough




Yallingup Beach

HE SAID:

Last year I went with Varena to the Dunsborough art display, so no need to do it again. Gary Ruxton and his wife Trish called in for a couple of hours in the middle of the day. They are heading to Denmark to see Gary's daughter, and would be passing nearby anyway. It was a chatty time and a good change for me.

Sunday 3 March 2024

Sunday 3rd March 2024

 Sunday 3rd March

SHE SAID:

We are hoping for rain today! 

NO, NOPE, NADA, ZIP.

Well done BOM, you’ve done it again; yep got it SO wrong! 2-20mm was forecast. Well, Mel got a heap in Hyden for the 2nd day in a row. She even got her video on the weather page on Facebook. It also looks like the rain went across the wheatbelt but not here!



Dear Darnell's, Witchcliffe


HE SAID:

The lack of rain was disappointing. It was the only real prospect for getting any water into the house water tank since we arrived in early December. There may be some rain before we leave at the end of March, but the forecast for the next week doesn't show any. My monitoring of the tank has me thinking we'll be fine, but I was hoping for more.

Australia won the first cricket test against NZ before I was out of bed this morning. So, I had to get my sports fix by watching the rugby league, which for very greedy (gambling) reasons is being played in Las Vegas this weekend.


Saturday 2nd March 2024

 Saturday 2nd March

SHE SAID:

A quiet day; it’s another long weekend here, so we stayed in.

I’ve found another “rabbit hole” of stuff to do with my orchid files. I'm putting all the GPS from over east onto Google maps. Another huge job, but I want everything on the map if I can. When I first started this orchid hunting I didn’t take GPS’s so there aren’t as many as over in WA thankfully, as I’d never finish. It should keep me busy for the next week or so!


Witchcliffe Art


HE SAID:

I was surprised when Quinny brought the trailer back well before 9am. We heard the car pass right next to our bedroom window. So, I went out for a chat and see what's what. The trailer is now filled with thick blue rope, the sort of rope that is used at ports. We had a quick chat and while he was there I asked him to tow the other two trailers forward a bit so that I could mow, and perhaps give the grass a chance to improve a bit. I changed my watering routine to the morning today, hoping the expected rain will arrive overnight. We'll see.

Friday 1st March 2024

 Friday 1st March

SHE SAID:

Dorte & Gary headed off before 9am. They are going to Parry’s Beach for 3 nights with their small boat. Their set up is an easy pack up, taking a couple of minutes; having a roof top tent, it’s all pretty basic.

Geoff & I had a quiet day after the late-night birthday party!


Photos from Margaret River





This dude is related to the Wombat

HE SAID:

A mate of Mark's came by fairly early, while Dorte and Gary were still here, to collect one of the three trailers. He is heading to Perth to buy rope, I think. We had no idea what time he was coming, and have no idea when he'll bring it back. It's all sorted with Mark, but the early arrival caught me on the hop.