Monday 31st July 2023

Monday 31^st July

SHE SAID:

I had a final solo dash around a few places I had still wanted to check out; most were return visits, with varying amounts of success. The flowering Red Beaks were a nice surprise in the Gibson burn. Also, the Blue Beards, Donkeys & single Wispy Spider at the final stop were the icing on the cake.

Geoff & I had dinner with my orchid hunter mate, Kathy, at Nannygai on the Hill in Castletown. The fish we had is called Nannygai, & is a beautiful fish which we all enjoyed, but the price for basically fish, chips & a salad was way OTT at $45 per person. 

Nice to try this place the once but we won’t be back!

Leschenaultia 

South Coast Donkey
Red Beak

Wispy Spider
Reaching Spider

HE SAID:

The Ashes took a shock turn for the worse this evening. The poms requested a replacement ball late yesterday as the old ball had hit Khawaja's helmet and was out of shape. Fair enough. But the umpires selected a ball that looked new, shiny, and still had the manufacturers writing on it. The old ball was well-worn, dull, and doing nothing out on the pitch. This new ball swung, bounced, seamed and was totally different, giving the bowlers a huge advantage, which they exploited, of course. We lost all our wickets, and the test, to that replacement ball. I think there is now an investigation underway as to how this ball-selection by the umpires was undertaken.

Rant time:

Nannygai - Esperance July 2023

When we came to Esperance for our Warden Rd house-sit in late 2020 we noticed a new restaurant being constructed on Goldfields Road, so we thought we'd try it sometime. The signage said that the place was called Nannygai – a variety of fish – but the fencing around the site didn't look like the grand opening would be any time soon.

Our subsequent Esperance house-sit, as caretakers at Esperance Coastal Retreat, kept us in town until late April 2022, but the restaurant had still not opened. Our stay in Esperance lasted around 18 months, and every time we drove past Nannygai we would look to see what little progress had been made on the place.

Kylie and Ean from the retreat asked us back to Espy to look after their house and dog while they travelled north in June 2023. We arrived back in late June and Nannygai had recently opened. Cool! We made our plans, but weather, and Varena's orchid hunting, kept us from getting out to try Nannygai until the evening before our departure from Espy on 1^st August.

Before heading there for dinner we could not find any information on licensing, so we took along a bottle of red in case they were BYO. And it turns out that they were. But with a corkage fee. Bastards! Put it on the web site! Anyway, we turned up and the place looks like a new take-away burger joint/chippy with about 10 tables for dining-in customers in front of the kitchen and the bain-maries, and some glass-doored drinks fridges there as well, so nothing flash at all.

So, why then is the fish and chips $45! I could not believe it! Robbery! The fish was nice, but the rest of the meal was just chips and salad, nothing interesting or special. Friggin' $45 for fish and chips! Varena also tried the tiramisu for dessert, as she has fond memories of it from her time in Italy, but it had very little flavour. It was actually dull. Another fail.

So, it seems that the great expense for dinner got us some nice fish at triple the usual price.

Not a place to go back to. Not a place to recommend to others. Disappointment.