Tuesday 30th April, 2024

Just yesterday the Great Central Road from Laverton to Ularu opened again. It had been heavily damaged by rain and closed for the past couple of months. That means that we have the option of travelling there when we leave in the 2nd week of June.

We brought up a map of the whole of Australia on my ipad and put it on the TV screen to consider our options. Later, Stephen found a paper map which will be better for planning.

There is a type of filter that is under recall for the Hilux and we are hoping that the part comes in before we leave. Otherwise, she is all ready to go.

Friday 22nd to Sunday 24th March, 2024

We went to our first Fremantle Songfest last weekend. It is held at St Paul’s Anglican Church, South Fremantle and we have been to the church before a couple of times. It has a beautiful amphitheatre and a very useful hall where choirs can meet to practice, plus lovely gardens.

The parking for the event was reserved, but they had negotiated for attendees to park in an Education Department carpark about a block away. We found this particularly useful as the Sherwood is a bit larger than a car.

We stayed at the Fremantle Village Caravan Park Friday and Saturday nights, driving a few kilometres to the church for the Friday night concert, and for the daily events Saturday and Sunday. Actually, both days we didn’t go there until the afternoon concerts were due to start. Stephen was singing with The Real Sing both afternoons and wanted to be rested and well prepared.

On Friday afternoon we arrived at about at the caravan park at about 4.00 p.m. in time to get settled in, have tea, then head to St Paul’s. Unfortunately Stephen had a fall near the kitchen and damaged his knee. We had a small First Aid Kit from which I managed to bandage him up. He didn’t hurt the knee structually, but took off quite a lot of skin.

On the way to the concert we stopped off to get some more patches, bandages and some Betadine. At that stage we weren’t sure how bad it was, but he went to see his doctor on Monday and had a patch taped on the wound and today when we changed that dressing the wound has still not healed although there was a bit more scabbing. According a a nurse that we consulted at the Songfest (friend, not official nurse) he might have taken off enough layers to get through to the fat underneath. From her description I would say that was the case.

And then we were free to enjoy the evening concert. Stephen hasn’t reported having any pain. If it becomes painful at any stage it is a sign that there is infection and he will go back to the doctor.

As to the concert, we found it a bit stuffy in the church, so went to enjoy the outdoor seating before the second half of the evening. Working Voices (us) sang one song as part of the ‘taster’ concert.

They were serving lunch on Saturday, but Stephen wanted to concentrate on his music, so we had lunch at the caravan park. It was hot in the Sherwood and we used the air conditioning on a low setting. There is very little shade provided in the van section of the caravan park.

The Real Sing were performing in the amphitheatre and I enjoyed the rest of the concert there, whilst Stephen went to a concert in the church. It was quite hot where we were sitting, but I still preferred being outside.

After the concert we tried to find parking down at South Beach to watch the sunset, but as so many other people had the same idea that we only found a parking spot after the sun had set. Still, we were able to enjoy some lovely colour on the clouds.

We then drove back to the parking area and had tea. In the evening on Saturday Bernard Carney sang some songs, then we had a singalong, with live music and the words available on our mobile phones through a technical process that is still quite mysterious to us.

On Sunday morning we left the caravan park at about 9.00 a.m. to find a park up for the morning. We ended up in a new looking parking area at Coogee. It was another sunny day, but with the ocean around us the breeze was cool and it was lovely.

We chatted with another motorhome owner for a bit, and Stephen made a visit to the shopping area where he bought some fresh rolls for lunch.

We had liaised with E, who was coming for the afternoon, and caught up with her when we arrived for the afternoon concert. The start time was later in the day, and I had made sure we had seats in the shade, so it was more enjoyable than Saturday. Stephen had a second concert with The Real Sing, and we both performed with Working Voices in the garden courtyard.

There was an evening service in the amphitheatre. We had discussed whether it would be a religious service and thought it wouldn’t be. However, the church minister is quite traditional, despite being a young woman with a few tattoos. But, it was a lovely feeling, with lots of singing and the special peace songs that people had spent the mornings learning.

We had energy for the drive home and managed to park perfectly in the carport the first time of trying. I say ‘we’ not ‘me’ as it is a joint effort, paricularly as our carport is quite a tight space. I wouldn’t be able to do it on my own.

Last time we arrived home was on an afternoon with our neighbour watching and we had a bad time backing and filling and not really ending up in the best position. Unfortunately we will be driving out again on Monday to have the Hilux serviced and can only hope that we are able to park it nicely again when we get home.

We feel that overall the weekend went rather well, apart from Stephen’s fall.

Tuesday 16th, 2024

Having neglected to write for a few days I now have to remember what we did. Fortunately we have lots of photos.

We stayed two nights in the Donnybrook Caravan Park. On our second day we went to a lookout recommended by someone at the Visitor Centre. It was a little out of town, and very windy indeed, but had a good outlook over a valley.

We took advantage of the solar to cook a meal, which gave us leftovers for the evening as well. I took photos of the view. It was too windy to go for a walk.

The next day we moved to the free RV stay area in the town. We wanted to visit the jigsaw gallery and check out some more of the cafes and managed to fill in the day with wanderings and eating. After our evening walk down to the river we had tea at a Vietnamese cafe. The food was fresh looking and quite tasty, not great, but not awful either.

Yesterday morning I was able to go down to a cafe to pick up coffee and a breakfast wrap to share, one of the advantages of being in the town. Stephen went later to pick up a loaf of bread from the tiny bakery we had seen the day before. He chatted with the baker who is fairly new here from Germany, but has already started this business of baking bread and making preserves to sell. He gathers fallen fruit from the orchards and sources the flour locally.

It was his view that the surrounding area is rather like his part of Germany, but the distances between villages is much greater. His mother lives here, which was the incentive to come to Bridgetown.

The TV stay area is next to a larger carpark, and this filled up with a vintage car show. I wandered around taking photos on my phone.

Then it was time to start moving north. We ended up at Brunswick Junction, which lived up to it’s name with lots of trains and noise, including overnight. Most of the the little towns have an RV stay place, not a caravan park, but cheaper or free. We checked out the Donnybrook one, but for some reason we couldn’t book it and the toilet, shower, laundry block, which looks new, was fenced off. We take it as temporary as other people have stayed here.

Brunswick Junction has three bays at it’s showgrounds, very tricky to find, but some locals were helpful. It is free at this stage, and provides 24hr toilets, water and a dump point. The electricity outlets weren’t locked, but you would have to be a bit mean to take advantage given that we weren’t paying anything.

And yesterday we made our way to Jarrahdale. It’s close to home and has meant we have been able to have one more night in the Sherwood, but will get to choir rehearsal this evening. It’s very busy compared with our first visit here many years ago in the Winnebago. That time, as this, we opted for staying on the concrete hard stand, one of the few places where it’s possible to be level. There were two other RVs on the stand, but they had opted for either edge and we are able to fit in the middle without crowding them.

We had to sit outside after lunch as the sun was making the Sherwood very warm. It was quite cool and pleasant outside. The last vew days we’ve been having meals of cold meat and salad, which saves cooking and is fairly easy to prepare. We’ve had the lovely bread from the bakery to go with the meal.

Before tea we walked out and found the bike trail, which made for a pleasant evening walk. We watched the news, which was making a big deal of the terrible knife attack in Sydney and fairly little of the attack on Israel by Iran.

We’ved booked Friday and Saturday nights at Fremantle Village because we are singing at the Fremantle Songfest on the weekend and don’t want to drive home each evening. We will have Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night at home (but with rehearsals every night for Stephen and two nights for me), plus fitting in a visit from Matt on Wednesday night. He seemed delighted when we spoke with him about it. As we are going away this coming weekend it’s our only chance to catch up in person.

Despite how busy it is here at Jarrahdale we had a peaceful night and I love the smell of being in the bush. Of course, it’s very dry, with little or no rain in the past few months, but the air is moist and I think it helps to make the bush smell good. We had a bit of a nasty smell a little while ago as it was the day for emptying the dump point, but all good now.

A few photos from this morning.

Yesterday we had a leisurely morning before packing up to travel further south to Bridgetown. We booked into the caravan park in an unpowered site for Thursday and Friday nights. We could have had a powered site for Thursday night, but having to change sites in the morning didn’t appeal. Even though we plan to drive out today we can leave our mat and chairs to mark our spot.

We arrived in Bridgetown at around 11.00 a.m. and went to the IGA for some groceries, then across to a cafe for lunch. We shared a dish, but even so it cost $30 with drinks, a bit expensive, though it’s a nice cafe with good service and food.

The caravan park is south of the town on the river bank, with walks along either side. We settled in and rested for the afternoon before taking a walk in the evening.

Stephen cooked tea, a rare event, beef ravioli with a jar of sauce poured over it, and fresh lettuce on top. Very nice and very filling. We followed up with some nougart. The IGA has a fruit, vegetable and deli section that features Italian food and treats.

Our spot in the caravan park is on the edge near a public park. Although we have one caravan next door it feels a little unsafe. The owner said people free camp in the public carpark and walk though our area to the showers and toilets, very annoying. It makes me feel a little worried about leaving our camping gear outside.

I bought the Starlink inside overnight and put it out again in the morning, just to feel a bit more secure. Because it reconnects quickly when set up, unlike our Gen 2 Starlink, I don’t mind switching it off to save power, and bringing it inside if we are not here to keep and eye on it.

Some photos from our evening walk. The light was going and some processing and cropping in Lightroom was needed.

Tuesday 9th to Thursday 11th April, 2024

Don’t forget to click on the first photo to open as a gallery for better viewing.

We have stayed in Balinup for three nights, going out to the Golden Valley Tree Park twice for most of the day. Looking at the photos and videos I have taken in the park I don’t feel they really do it justice. There is a lovely feel to being in the park that the visuals can’t capture. However, the photos and videos will be good for helping us remember being here. We went to the world collection the first day.

On Tuesday we spent the whole day in the park, after admittedly getting away quite late in the morning. There are short walks and longer walks, and we took the Pear Walk which takes you gradually uphill until you reach a viewing point, then it is a quick, steeper downhill walk back to the carpark.

I cooked lunch for us, a sausage curry, very delicous. A ranger came and spoke to us about not camping in the carpark and we assured him that we were staying at the Transit Park.

It was disappointing to find someone in our camping spot when we returned in the evening. They had rung the out of hours number and the person they spoke to did not have a way of checking which sites were booked. We parked on the other side next to the oval for the night. Yesterday morning I confirmed our site booking and when we arrived back it wasn’t taken. We like this side because it overlooks the river (dry at the moment) and the little bridge. It also has thick grass which means we are not trekking dirt inside.

Instead of going straight out to the Park yesterday we stopped at the little General Store for some essentials, then went to one of the two cafes. It is called Mr Foster and is very quirky and interesting. I took a photo of the dragon outside on our first evening and was able to get a better photo in daylight.

We had our first cloudy morning today, which meant we had a colourful dawn.

Today we move on to a new location. But, we have our site here until 12.00 noon and are having a relaxing morning. The Bibbulmun Tracks runs through here and we may take a walk along in the other direction as we have already followed it into town on the first evening we were here.

Sunday 7th to Tuesday 9th April, 2024

Sunday was hot and we didn’t do very much. We walked along the estury in the evening, but gave up when it became rather difficult to get through. We ran into a couple of boys (grey haired, balding) who were playing with a frisbee and they pointed out an eagle’s nest and said they had watched a mating pair bring up a fledgling and send it on it’s way. We saw one eagle (a sea eagle) but it flew away before I could get a photo.

In the evening after tea I set up the projector and we watched a bit of Youtube. I find I’m getting very tired and need to get to bed early, but the tiredness has the bonus that I sleep extremely well and wake up refreshed and with some energy.

We also had a Facetime session with Matt. He seems quite happy and said that Marianne, another resident’s mother, had been to visit and bought cake. He also said that he and Eli had been shopping for toilettries and some long pants (trousers) on Friday.

The wind had picked up during the day and by evening was quite strong. I decided to bring in our Starlink as I was worried that it might get hit by flying debris. It was lying on an outdoor rug, and the rug had blown up and wrapped itself around the Starlink. Obviously, we hadn’t been getting a signal for a while, but our neighbour’s Starlink had been giving us the internet and we hadn’t noticed.

Yesterday was a moving day. We had settled ourselves in and it took quite a while to pack up. It was still quite windy in the morning and a bit cold when we went down to the water’s edge to watch the sunrise. I set the alarm for 6.00 a.m. to make sure we woke up in time. Unfortunately it wasn’t as lovely as the first morning as the sky was completely cloudless.

Once we were on our way we took a slight detour to visit Lake Clifton to view the thrombolites. The nearest giant (Giants of Mandurah) was just 1.4kms along a path, but I was worried about getting to our next destination in time, so we didn’t go to see it. We could go to Mandurah another time to see Robyne and take in some Giants as well.

We realised as we drove down to Balingup that we have not been to this area for many years. It is good to come in autumn as there are many deciduous trees which make the area especially lovely. On the way we stopped once to get fuel, then a second time in Donnybrook for shopping.

The Donnybrook IGA was on the edge of town and there was a cafe in next door. We thought about driving further to find a cafe, but decided that it looked quite nice and it would save looking for parking if we had lunch there. The food was good and the staff were friendly and professional, a good choice in the end.

Why Balingup? Stephen had been reading about the Golden Valley Tree Park, an aboreatum. We will visit it today and I’m hoping for more autumn colours as the park has a huge variety of trees.

We arrived in good time to pick up our key (for electricity linkup) and a code for toilet/showers. The Visitor Centre runs from 10.00 a.m. until 3.00 p.m. and we made it here at about 2.30. We chose our spot, then I drove back to the Visitor Centre to pick up our key and paperwork. We are booked in for two nights, but may stay for three. The Transit Park where we are staying has a time limit of 72 hours, but a longer stay can be negotiated if they are not busy.

In the evening we went for a walk into town, and it was very short. We could have parked up and walked in together to the Visitor Centre. The walk has Bibulmun track signs as the track passes through Balingup. We wandered up and down the street. When the sun set we decided to get back to the Sherwood before dark.

There is one other campervan staying here and some young people who were camping in their very small car. It is getting a bit colder and we needed our doona overnight. Stephen was brave enough to sit outside after tea to observe the stars, but I was worried about getting a chill. He said that he has now done the research and has some things he can show me tonight.

Obviously an immigrant from Great Britain! The reason I’ve used the alternative form of the name instead of Pixie is that this is a rather ugly creature, more in keeping with pre Victorian pixies which were not cute little creatures in green clothes with pointy ears as we often see them in pictures.

We are at the Hideaway Caravan Park south of Mandurah for a couple of nights. It took us ages to pack for this trip because I took so much out of the Sherwood and stored it in the house because of the heat, then we had a couple of jobs done at Ken Peachey just before leaving so took out even more stuff. One job was to put in a new power point for the kitchen, another to change the sacrifical anode in our hot water system and we also had the solar panels cleaned. With the dry weather solar panels are not getting natural cleaning.

We are not really used to being surrounded by other campers. Of course, as it’s the school holidays there are lots of families with young children. But, we chose this spot for the location on the estury, hoping for lots of birdlife. There is certainly some birdlife, though not as much as we had hoped.

Our spot, despite being one row back, has a view of the estury, especially when we are inside and a bit more elevated. The toilets and showers get very dirty when there are lots of people at a caravan park, especially the women’s when there are teenage girls about. So we are mostly using our own facilities, especially for showers/washes.

We have nine nights away on this trip. We have to be back for three choir rehearsals before going to the Fremantle Songfest in a couple of weekends time. Stephen has mapped out an itinerary, and unlike our usual trips, we may spend most nights on powered sites at caravan parks. This is due to choosing locations near things we want to see.

When we arrived my devices jumped onto a Starlink network that wasn’t password protected. Very foolish as I could access their dish for some functions through the app.

We set up our own Starlink this morning, we have the new flat design with a cord that plugs in using RJ45 plugs, so quick and easy compared with our other setup. We were online within five minutes of setting up. I had checked other Starlinks for the orientation to use and didn’t need to do any adjusting. The flat design without motors means that you may have to make adjustments by moving the dish around. There is a guide in the app which gives real time feedback. But, it was nice to not have to worry about doing any adjusting.

We are not sure of our plans today. We may be in for a hot afternoon as the weather is not predicted to cool down a bit until tomorrow. It was hot yesterday afternoon and although we used the air conditioning for short periods, we mostly sat outside where there was a slight cooling breeze. Fortunately, although it was completely still overnight the temperature dropped enough for comfortable sleeping. We had the windows wide open and the fan helped move the cool air around.

Stephen woke up at 6.00 a.m. this morning. He was able to dress and leave the Sherwood without walking me. When I woke up to the alarm at 6.30 am he was just back. I quickly dressed and went down to the water for photos. The alarm is set for 6.00 am tomorrow morning so that I will be able to photograph the pre dawn light.