Snorkels and Flippers

Sunday 6th April 2008
We got up early today and went to Bunnings (B&Q) to by some more tools and equipment for the house ready for when we get the keys tomorrow, we took our time browsing around while the kids went and played in the play area. We have decided that rather than paint everything Magnolia’ish we would let the kids pick their own colour for their rooms which they were quite happy about, Fraser has gone for a very light Green, Marisa has gone for a light Purple and Kristian has gone for a very pale Blue, we will just mix up the leftovers and use that for our room.
When we came out of Bunnings we were confronted by some Scouts trying to raise funds by selling Hot Dogs so we ordered some for the kids third breakfast, while we were there we got chatting to the organisers and have found out where and when they meet so that Fraser and Kristian can go along and join, Marisa is now desperate to find out where the Brownies meet.
We then went home and got changed for the beach, the weather was good and we had Snorkels and Flippers that needed trying out. We made up a picnic, loaded up the car and headed for the beach stopping off at Harvey Norman store on the way so that we can pick up some house phones because we will need to charge them up before we can use them. Unfortunately they didn’t have much stock and the young lad that was serving us was about as useful as a chocolate fire guard, we ended up leaving empty handed and will go in tomorrow morning and deal with somebody who knows what they are doing.
We went to Meelup beach again, the kids wanted to go to Bunker Bay but it is not very sheltered and we didn’t want to lose any of them if they went out too far with their snorkels without realising. Meelup is safe, sheltered and we know it, plus there are plenty of rocks to swim round and have a look at without having to go out into the currents.
The snorkels and flippers have gone down really well and we all enjoyed ourselves, even Kristian dipped his head in the water and had a look round a couple of times which is more than we expected first time out. We are heading into winter now so they probably won’t get a great deal of use for the next couple of months, but if we can use them from time to time we are confident that Kristian will be swimming around with the rest of us by next summer.
While we were on the beach another wedding took place, this is obviously a popular location for it. The ceremony took place on the beach almost at the waters edge, with drinks afterwards in the car park. We cannot work out if getting married on the beach is a romantic or financial decision, after all no church, flowers or caterers to pay for, but in a gorgeous location with plenty of room for a drink and a chat afterwards.
It started to get a bit chilly by about 4.30pm so we headed off home and got dinner ready. Tonight we had roast Beef, on the packet it said Corned Beef Silverside, it obviously wasn’t the same thing as Corned Beef back in England and when we looked at the label to check the cooking times the instructions said to boil it with sugar, vinegar and a few other bits. Unfortunately we didn’t have any sugar, vinegar etc and we didn’t have the time to boil it so we roasted it anyway, when we thought the Beef would be ready we stuck a knife into it to see if any blood came out and found that it was salt that was coming out of it. Salt Beef appears to be Corned Beef in Oz and we will definitely be trying it again, only we will boil it next time and eat it between a couple of slices of rye bread, if it’s any good we might be able to use it in the Café because Salt Beef normally keeps well in a hot cabinet.