On Sunday afternoon we drove to the Wildflower Farm. It was disappointing in many ways. It was said to have a restaurant, but they weren’t serving food and we arrived hungry. Fortunately, having our campervan with us, of course, we were able to feed ourselves. The showroom was rather tatty, with lots of offerings of cheap, Chinese made artifacts rather than local handicrafts, as I had hoped. No offence to Chinese manufacturers – these goods had apparently been chosen to be cheap and nasty. Most of our goods are made in China to a very high standard.
We watched a Leyland Brothers made DVD about wildflowers of Western Australia, which was quite good apart from the annoying music chosen. That was our only sight of living wildflowers, we were shown the drying shed and told a little about the process, but did not go out into the fields where the flowers are grown. I’m not sure why and we didn’t ask.
The positve highlight was our hostess’s grand daughter, we think about 10 years of age. She was delightful and able to answer our questions. It was she who set us down with a cup of tea to watch the video whilst we waited for her grandmother to show us around. She was so gentle and charming that it made the visit quite well worthwhile.
We returned to Moora and took up residence in the free RV parking site near the centre of town. We actually chose the same site we have stayed at before due to being next to a garden and quite flat. There was a food van nearby and after Stephen had wandered around for a bit, it seemed the best option for an evening meal. We had steakburgers on brioche style buns. Apart from being slightly sweet the buns are a good choice as they don’t have the stodgy effect of normal buns. We had fruit and yogurt afterwards and I went to bed early, very tired. There was some rain, but not very heavy. I don’t think it would have been as much as the farmers were wanting thought it left puddles in the car park.
Stephen suggested going home via Wannamal for wildflowers and the Bindoon Bakery for pies and pastries for lunch. Both good choices. We stopped at the camping and rest area in Wannamal, which was very good for wildflowers. The little creek was dry, unfortunately.
We didn’t feel our pies were quite up to scratch at the bakery, but we shared a nut tart which was excellent. Stephen bought us some fruit from the adjacent growers market afterwards. The day continued cloudy, with some showers.
On our drive home Google Maps put us on the Tonkin Highway, rather than going through the Swan Valley. It was pretty fast and furious. At one point I was worried that we had a flat tyre, or something wrong with the steering and we stopped to check. The van had been buffeted by winds generated by passing traffic which rebounded off a wall alongside the highway. This highway has a cycle track, but I wouldn’t recommend that section as you could be thrown off a bike I think.
Anyway, it got us home quite quickly – in time for afternoon tea at 3.00 p.m.
I’ve made a list of all the tasks I need to do and assigned them to different days and weeks ahead. I was feeling overwhelmed, but this process always helps to make things feel for manageable. I’m already ticking things off the list and it’s only lunchtime!