Sunday was lovely, hot but not oppressive, sunny but not fierce, perfect for a trip to the beach.
On the way to Gnarabup we rang a friend of Missy and invited her to join us, she lives in Margaret River and was on the way. A short detour and a promise to be careful on the beach and we were off.
The beach was perfect, we swam, the kids dived and found a huge supply of shells we used the boogie boards for over an hour and they still wanted more.
Mr Hojo and I were hanging for a coffee so we got the troops to move over to the sheltered beach for a swim where we could supervise them from the safety of a table, 2 chairs and some warm caffeinated beverages.
Thud, THUD, THUD oh my........ a trailer had unhitched itself and the guy who was hoping to collect some seaweed for his garden was in danger of squashing 4 children, one of whom didn't belong to us!
We watched in slow motion as the trailer bumped its way down the slope towards the children who sensibly stepped out the way and calmly helped him get the trailer back on the slipway! Way cool.
Kids all fine and back in the water we stayed on for a while until we felt we needed to go get the kids home and ready for school the next day.
We took friend home and stayed for a chat witht the parents, at no time did either of us think to mention we nearly got her squashed...I suspect they will trust us again.....?
Showing posts with label Margaret River. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Margaret River. Show all posts
Monday, March 14, 2011
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Wave riders and Watersheds
Sunday 23rd March 2008 Easter Sunday
After a slow start to day we headed out towards Margaret River and then on to Prevelly which is supposed to be one of the top surfing areas in WA. We thought that there would be a beach but it was shallow rocks up to about 200 yards out and beyond that was where all the surfers were sitting waiting for that one elusive wave. We were quite high up on a cliff and had a really good view of it and some of the waves were quite impressive bearing in mind that the water was not particularly rough today but it was keeping the surfers busy and it was fun to watch.
After about 30 seconds the kids attention span had passed and they had decided that they would much rather be in the water themselves than be watching somebody else in the water, so after about ½ hour we moved on to Gnarabup beach about a kilometre (5/8 mile), we came here when we stayed in Margaret River last time.
When we went there last time the kids really enjoyed it and today wasn’t going to be any different, straight away they were in the water, swimming, using their wave riders and getting dunked by the waves on a regular basis. Fraser made a friend again today although this time it was a boy about the same age as him who we think had seen him so far out from the beach that he assumed that he was struggling and went out on his surf board to help him, Fraser was quite comfortably swimming quite a way out and in no danger but took the opportunity to have a chat out there and then get a lift back before playing together for the rest of the afternoon. Unfortunately like most friendships made on a beach it is not ever likely to go any further because this boy is going to be flying out to Hong Kong tomorrow.
We left the beach at about 5pm and drove back on the coast road which took a little bit longer but was far more enjoyable than the main road from Margaret River and you wouldn’t believe how many vineyards there are on that one stretch of road from Gnarabup to Yallingup, at one point every field appears to belong to a different vineyard but these places obviously do alright for themselves because some of the visitors centres are absolutely magnificent and must have cost a fortune to build.
When we got home we had a nice healthy chicken salad, when I say healthy chicken salad I don’t mean that the chicken was healthy because obviously it wasn’t as it was dead and had been cooked, I meant the salad was healthy and we had chicken with it. Sorry if I’m waffling on a bit but when I read healthy chicken salad I get this vision of us ripping apart a nice healthy chicken that just happened to be passing by, wrapping it in a lettuce leaf and devouring it and feel the need to make it clear that although we have moved to Australia we still eat our chicken cooked although in this part of WA everybody seems to sell cooked chicken and I am starting to wonder if they were ever alive in the first place or just come out into this world already cooked to please the Australian appetite.
After dinner we put the kids to bed and then sat and watched about 4 hours of adverts with clips of the film Pearl Harbour in between, the adverts don’t get any better although they do seem to be getting more frequent and more amateur in the making but we shouldn’t knock it too much because one day we might decide to make an advert for the Olde Chapel Café. If you have any ideas for an advert for the Café let us know but please take into account that they will be shown before the watershed whatever a watershed is.
I have often wondered what a watershed was, it sounds like it should be somebody’s personal reservoir that they keep at the bottom of the garden with the lawn mower and tool boxes in a wooden hut but it has got to be something more important than that and it is obviously very moralistic because some things can’t be shown before it. If anyone out there knows what it is and why it is called a watershed could they please let me know because I have been worrying about this for years and now that I am living in a country with no worries I don’t want to feel like the odd one out?
After a slow start to day we headed out towards Margaret River and then on to Prevelly which is supposed to be one of the top surfing areas in WA. We thought that there would be a beach but it was shallow rocks up to about 200 yards out and beyond that was where all the surfers were sitting waiting for that one elusive wave. We were quite high up on a cliff and had a really good view of it and some of the waves were quite impressive bearing in mind that the water was not particularly rough today but it was keeping the surfers busy and it was fun to watch.
After about 30 seconds the kids attention span had passed and they had decided that they would much rather be in the water themselves than be watching somebody else in the water, so after about ½ hour we moved on to Gnarabup beach about a kilometre (5/8 mile), we came here when we stayed in Margaret River last time.
When we went there last time the kids really enjoyed it and today wasn’t going to be any different, straight away they were in the water, swimming, using their wave riders and getting dunked by the waves on a regular basis. Fraser made a friend again today although this time it was a boy about the same age as him who we think had seen him so far out from the beach that he assumed that he was struggling and went out on his surf board to help him, Fraser was quite comfortably swimming quite a way out and in no danger but took the opportunity to have a chat out there and then get a lift back before playing together for the rest of the afternoon. Unfortunately like most friendships made on a beach it is not ever likely to go any further because this boy is going to be flying out to Hong Kong tomorrow.
We left the beach at about 5pm and drove back on the coast road which took a little bit longer but was far more enjoyable than the main road from Margaret River and you wouldn’t believe how many vineyards there are on that one stretch of road from Gnarabup to Yallingup, at one point every field appears to belong to a different vineyard but these places obviously do alright for themselves because some of the visitors centres are absolutely magnificent and must have cost a fortune to build.
When we got home we had a nice healthy chicken salad, when I say healthy chicken salad I don’t mean that the chicken was healthy because obviously it wasn’t as it was dead and had been cooked, I meant the salad was healthy and we had chicken with it. Sorry if I’m waffling on a bit but when I read healthy chicken salad I get this vision of us ripping apart a nice healthy chicken that just happened to be passing by, wrapping it in a lettuce leaf and devouring it and feel the need to make it clear that although we have moved to Australia we still eat our chicken cooked although in this part of WA everybody seems to sell cooked chicken and I am starting to wonder if they were ever alive in the first place or just come out into this world already cooked to please the Australian appetite.
After dinner we put the kids to bed and then sat and watched about 4 hours of adverts with clips of the film Pearl Harbour in between, the adverts don’t get any better although they do seem to be getting more frequent and more amateur in the making but we shouldn’t knock it too much because one day we might decide to make an advert for the Olde Chapel Café. If you have any ideas for an advert for the Café let us know but please take into account that they will be shown before the watershed whatever a watershed is.
I have often wondered what a watershed was, it sounds like it should be somebody’s personal reservoir that they keep at the bottom of the garden with the lawn mower and tool boxes in a wooden hut but it has got to be something more important than that and it is obviously very moralistic because some things can’t be shown before it. If anyone out there knows what it is and why it is called a watershed could they please let me know because I have been worrying about this for years and now that I am living in a country with no worries I don’t want to feel like the odd one out?
Monday, March 17, 2008
A long distance swim, a pizza and Arsenal FC
Saturday 23rd February 2008
The idea of going for breakfast at Sails Café has gone out of the window because Carolyn needs to go on line to check out the other schools in Busselton before we possibly commit to buying a business there, so while we are in the Internet Café the kids are playing in the park.
The Internet access held up this time and Carolyn was able to find out virtually everything we needed to know about the schools in town and there was only one that had any cause for concern and that was in an area where we wouldn’t be looking at living anyway, the rest were all pretty much of a muchness, all doing better than each other at different things.
We arrived at the Business agent’s office at 9.30am and he explained that under Australian law we could put in an offer on the business subject to the current offer failing to complete but that it would not have any influence on the deal in place at the moment. He said that as far as he was aware the deal was still going through but that if another deal was in place it would speed things up should it not complete.
We believed him, because Business Agents always get up early on a Saturday morning to help foreigners fill out offer forms that are not likely to be used, we are hoping the other deal is about to collapse.
We made our offer, added our conditions and signed in all the right places and he told us that he would pass it on and let us know if anything happened.
After the meeting we headed towards Busselton and stopped in Dunsborough on the way, Dunsborough is about 10 km outside Busselton and unlike Busselton has very Modern Town Centre, we went in search of another Café that was for sale but were not impressed with it so we had a wander round before having a very average lunch in one of the small Cafes in the Centre of Town. After lunch we had a look at the Beach in Dunsborough and took a little drive round to look at the area just in case we wanted to live there, but we don’t think we do. We then drove into Busselton and had a chat with a couple of Realty (estate) Agents who were very keen to show us around a few places but didn’t have a great deal of any interest really.
The kids have been very well behaved today so we went down to the Seafront as the weather started to cool down and went for a swim. Ian, Fraser and Marisa swam round a small jetty that probably goes out about a hundred yards or so, a distance that neither Fraser or Marisa had ever done before and while Fraser would not worry about the distance it brought a big smile to Marisa’s face and we think it has given her a confidence boost, like she needed one. Carolyn just sat on the sea wall reading a book.
We drove back to Margaret River and it was getting a bit late, close to 9pm, so we stopped for a couple of Pizza’s in town and took them back to the Chalet to eat and the kids went to bed while Carolyn demolished the best part of a bottle of sparkling Rose Wine before going to bed and Ian went to the pub to watch football.
Ian popped into the pub to check if the Birmingham v Arsenal was going to be shown and the barman said that it would as long as it finished by 11.45, which it should have done. Unfortunately Eduarda got a broken leg and the game was held up for 10 minutes, at 88 minutes and Arsenal looking comfortable winning 2 - 1 they turned the TV’s off, Ian was not happy but accepted it thinking that the 3 points were in the bag now and left it like that.
The idea of going for breakfast at Sails Café has gone out of the window because Carolyn needs to go on line to check out the other schools in Busselton before we possibly commit to buying a business there, so while we are in the Internet Café the kids are playing in the park.
The Internet access held up this time and Carolyn was able to find out virtually everything we needed to know about the schools in town and there was only one that had any cause for concern and that was in an area where we wouldn’t be looking at living anyway, the rest were all pretty much of a muchness, all doing better than each other at different things.
We arrived at the Business agent’s office at 9.30am and he explained that under Australian law we could put in an offer on the business subject to the current offer failing to complete but that it would not have any influence on the deal in place at the moment. He said that as far as he was aware the deal was still going through but that if another deal was in place it would speed things up should it not complete.
We believed him, because Business Agents always get up early on a Saturday morning to help foreigners fill out offer forms that are not likely to be used, we are hoping the other deal is about to collapse.
We made our offer, added our conditions and signed in all the right places and he told us that he would pass it on and let us know if anything happened.
After the meeting we headed towards Busselton and stopped in Dunsborough on the way, Dunsborough is about 10 km outside Busselton and unlike Busselton has very Modern Town Centre, we went in search of another Café that was for sale but were not impressed with it so we had a wander round before having a very average lunch in one of the small Cafes in the Centre of Town. After lunch we had a look at the Beach in Dunsborough and took a little drive round to look at the area just in case we wanted to live there, but we don’t think we do. We then drove into Busselton and had a chat with a couple of Realty (estate) Agents who were very keen to show us around a few places but didn’t have a great deal of any interest really.
The kids have been very well behaved today so we went down to the Seafront as the weather started to cool down and went for a swim. Ian, Fraser and Marisa swam round a small jetty that probably goes out about a hundred yards or so, a distance that neither Fraser or Marisa had ever done before and while Fraser would not worry about the distance it brought a big smile to Marisa’s face and we think it has given her a confidence boost, like she needed one. Carolyn just sat on the sea wall reading a book.
We drove back to Margaret River and it was getting a bit late, close to 9pm, so we stopped for a couple of Pizza’s in town and took them back to the Chalet to eat and the kids went to bed while Carolyn demolished the best part of a bottle of sparkling Rose Wine before going to bed and Ian went to the pub to watch football.
Ian popped into the pub to check if the Birmingham v Arsenal was going to be shown and the barman said that it would as long as it finished by 11.45, which it should have done. Unfortunately Eduarda got a broken leg and the game was held up for 10 minutes, at 88 minutes and Arsenal looking comfortable winning 2 - 1 they turned the TV’s off, Ian was not happy but accepted it thinking that the 3 points were in the bag now and left it like that.
What do you mean Busselton is full?
Friday 22nd February 2008
Ian went on line this morning determined to find something for this weekend and found a 2 Bedroom Chalet on a Holiday Park in Margaret River, we left this morning and don’t go back till Tuesday.
While we were driving down Carolyn rang the agent from Bunbury who couldn’t tell us about a business to see if he could now tell us anything about it and he couldn’t.
She then rang Kevin the agent dealing with the Olde Chapel Café and arranged to meet him when we got to Busselton to look at a Lunch bar and a Juice Bar both of which were not right for us and we explained to him what we were looking for and the only thing he had on his books at the moment that fitted the bill was The Olde Chapel Café but he said that as far as he could see the sale was going to go through. We parted company and he drove off while we had a walk round the town.
It was lunchtime and the kids were hungry for a change so we decided to go to the Olde Chapel for a bite to eat, however as we were about to walk in we saw Kevin the agent chatting to the Owner so we thought better of it and went elsewhere.
After lunch we drove to the Holiday Park in Margaret River it is about ½ hour further south of Busselton and we are beginning to wonder when we are going to run out of land, Perth is supposed to be South West and only ½ an inch away from the South Coast, we have been driving South for over 4 hours and we still haven’t reached the Southern Ocean, the size of this place is going to take some getting used to.
On the way to Margaret River Ian remembered seeing a Cafe on the Internet, it was originally on about the same time as the Olde Chapel, looked like a good bet, a bit expensive but good returns and it had gone under offer at about the same time as the Olde Chapel, a couple of weeks before we came out here but it had just come back on the market again because the sale had fallen through.
The Café is called Sails, is right in the centre of Margaret River and as we drove past it on the way to the Holiday Park we see it looks quite presentable, so we have decided to go there for Breakfast tomorrow Morning to check it out.
We booked into our accommodation early evening and got unpacked before going out to do a bit of shopping, we didn’t need much, just Milk, Tea, Cereals etc. When we got back we got a call from Kevin the agent who said that as we are not normally in the area what he can do is take an Offer for the Purchase of The Olde Chapel Café from us subject to the existing sale failing to go through, which we think is a bit funny but if it gives us first dibs we will do it and have arranged to meet him in his office in Cowaramup just outside Margaret River at 9.30am tomorrow.
Carolyn has started to panic because while she has done some research into the Schools in Busselton she has only had a quick look at them to see if there is something obviously wrong with them she has not done the thorough research that she would normally do and we could quite possibly be committing ourselves to a future in Busselton tomorrow. On the Holiday Park there are no wireless connections for computers so we had to go and find an Internet Café in town where Carolyn had just finished checking out one school when the system crashed and she could not get into the other schools sites so it looks like an early start tomorrow to try and get through again.
We went out for a Chinese meal tonight, it looked like quite a nice place and it was busy but we should have realised it was not going to be a great experience when we saw a white waitress, nothing personal, but you should have a Chinese waitress in a Chinese restaurant. There was however a glimmer of hope, we had got a glimpse into the Kitchen and as well as being clean there were 3 Chinese looking people in there.
We were shown to a table by the waitress but not offered a drink or anything because she was too busy dealing with other customers and she was the only one Meeting, Greeting, Taking Orders and Serving. The people on the table next to us got up to pay after we had been sitting for about 10 minutes without so much as a glass of water and when she had finished taking their money she came over and said “if you can just hold on a couple of minutes I will lay up that table for you because can get more people on this table”, she couldn’t cope with the number of people she had so I can’t imagine why she would want more.
Anyway, table cleaned we sat at it and she brought us over a couple of bottles of water and disappeared again, as we were looking round the restaurant it was like watching a sketch from Farty Towels. The table of 4 behind us were receiving their meals one at a time instead of all together, obviously the chef couldn’t cook more than one meal at a time and the other 2 Chinese people in the kitchen must have been there for moral support, as the meals were getting to the table the 4 of them were sharing the one meal before waiting for the next one to come out. We waited over an hour for our food and while we were waiting we must have seen about 20 people get fed up with waiting and walk away.
Unfortunately for Ian his meal came out first and turned out to be by far the best but the kids ate most of it while they were waiting for their food to come out.
Meal finished it’s off to bed for an early night because we’ve got to get up early in the morning.
Ian went on line this morning determined to find something for this weekend and found a 2 Bedroom Chalet on a Holiday Park in Margaret River, we left this morning and don’t go back till Tuesday.
While we were driving down Carolyn rang the agent from Bunbury who couldn’t tell us about a business to see if he could now tell us anything about it and he couldn’t.
She then rang Kevin the agent dealing with the Olde Chapel Café and arranged to meet him when we got to Busselton to look at a Lunch bar and a Juice Bar both of which were not right for us and we explained to him what we were looking for and the only thing he had on his books at the moment that fitted the bill was The Olde Chapel Café but he said that as far as he could see the sale was going to go through. We parted company and he drove off while we had a walk round the town.
It was lunchtime and the kids were hungry for a change so we decided to go to the Olde Chapel for a bite to eat, however as we were about to walk in we saw Kevin the agent chatting to the Owner so we thought better of it and went elsewhere.
After lunch we drove to the Holiday Park in Margaret River it is about ½ hour further south of Busselton and we are beginning to wonder when we are going to run out of land, Perth is supposed to be South West and only ½ an inch away from the South Coast, we have been driving South for over 4 hours and we still haven’t reached the Southern Ocean, the size of this place is going to take some getting used to.
On the way to Margaret River Ian remembered seeing a Cafe on the Internet, it was originally on about the same time as the Olde Chapel, looked like a good bet, a bit expensive but good returns and it had gone under offer at about the same time as the Olde Chapel, a couple of weeks before we came out here but it had just come back on the market again because the sale had fallen through.
The Café is called Sails, is right in the centre of Margaret River and as we drove past it on the way to the Holiday Park we see it looks quite presentable, so we have decided to go there for Breakfast tomorrow Morning to check it out.
We booked into our accommodation early evening and got unpacked before going out to do a bit of shopping, we didn’t need much, just Milk, Tea, Cereals etc. When we got back we got a call from Kevin the agent who said that as we are not normally in the area what he can do is take an Offer for the Purchase of The Olde Chapel Café from us subject to the existing sale failing to go through, which we think is a bit funny but if it gives us first dibs we will do it and have arranged to meet him in his office in Cowaramup just outside Margaret River at 9.30am tomorrow.
Carolyn has started to panic because while she has done some research into the Schools in Busselton she has only had a quick look at them to see if there is something obviously wrong with them she has not done the thorough research that she would normally do and we could quite possibly be committing ourselves to a future in Busselton tomorrow. On the Holiday Park there are no wireless connections for computers so we had to go and find an Internet Café in town where Carolyn had just finished checking out one school when the system crashed and she could not get into the other schools sites so it looks like an early start tomorrow to try and get through again.
We went out for a Chinese meal tonight, it looked like quite a nice place and it was busy but we should have realised it was not going to be a great experience when we saw a white waitress, nothing personal, but you should have a Chinese waitress in a Chinese restaurant. There was however a glimmer of hope, we had got a glimpse into the Kitchen and as well as being clean there were 3 Chinese looking people in there.
We were shown to a table by the waitress but not offered a drink or anything because she was too busy dealing with other customers and she was the only one Meeting, Greeting, Taking Orders and Serving. The people on the table next to us got up to pay after we had been sitting for about 10 minutes without so much as a glass of water and when she had finished taking their money she came over and said “if you can just hold on a couple of minutes I will lay up that table for you because can get more people on this table”, she couldn’t cope with the number of people she had so I can’t imagine why she would want more.
Anyway, table cleaned we sat at it and she brought us over a couple of bottles of water and disappeared again, as we were looking round the restaurant it was like watching a sketch from Farty Towels. The table of 4 behind us were receiving their meals one at a time instead of all together, obviously the chef couldn’t cook more than one meal at a time and the other 2 Chinese people in the kitchen must have been there for moral support, as the meals were getting to the table the 4 of them were sharing the one meal before waiting for the next one to come out. We waited over an hour for our food and while we were waiting we must have seen about 20 people get fed up with waiting and walk away.
Unfortunately for Ian his meal came out first and turned out to be by far the best but the kids ate most of it while they were waiting for their food to come out.
Meal finished it’s off to bed for an early night because we’ve got to get up early in the morning.
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