Whistlestop tour through our week.......Monday 22nd February to Monday 1st March
Marisa was poorly on Monday as were almost all her friends...hmmm not good, I had to work so fortunately a good friend had her for the day, Tuesday still poorly so at home with Mum and couldn't go to Scouts, Wednesday still ill so another day at home. Enough already and back to school please :o) Well enough to go to the pool Friday night though!
Busy morning on Friday for Carolyn, monthly pilgrimage to see the accountant while the children enjoyed games and crash test dummies and kite flying and cooking etc etc for Jubilee Day at school, K had a friend round after school which was fun, nice chap.
Saturday night was WOMUBU a music festival held on a local estate called Broadwater Farm great music and free tickets for us which was fab. The children climbed the local travelling climbing wall and we listened to music till long after dark. Good times.
Late start on Sunday, I wonder why? trip to Bunbury as nothing better to do looking for odds and ends and stuff for Ian, another pair of sunnies to be replaced for our offspring who seem to lose or break sunnies regularly. Fish and Chips on the Marsden Waterfront which wasn't great, have had much tastier one there before.
Monday was a public holiday so like all sensible people we went to the Beach at Meelup, stopped at a coffee shop based at Ngilgi Cave on the way home to drink coffee and read the paper while various kids, not all ours, roamed around eating ice creams.
At home the children watched a film while we sat out front of the house and enjoyed a light breeze as we read till it was too dark, popped some fish in the oven and chilled out. No cubs this week due to public holiday but back again next week.
Showing posts with label Eating with Kids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eating with Kids. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Goat Pie
Sunday 1st November 2009
We went to the market down at the foreshore this morning, there were quite a lot of people about but we didn’t find anything of interest so we drove to Bunbury, to have a look round up there.
We drove straight to the waterfront at Bunbury and found a small market that we hadn’t realised existed, again there wasn’t much that interested us, apart from a pie stall, it was manned by a lady of African decent and she offered us a taster of a few pies, they were great especially the Goat pie and if we had got a cool box in the car we would have brought a few home, as it was we weren’t hungry enough to eat one then and we didn’t have a cool box in the car, so we didn’t get any, but we’ll be ready next time.
Whilst in Bunbury we managed to find Marisa some cheap boardies (shorts) that will do her through the summer, for a girl she’s not that bad to buy shorts and trousers for, she is so small and skinny that they last for years, the shorts she was wearing today were for age 7-8 and they were only just starting to get tight.
On the way back we stopped off at the Farmers Market and loaded up with fruit for the week, we were hoping to grab some bunny Veg as well but there must have been someone just in front of us that had emptied all the bins.
When we got home we took the puppies for a walk along the beach, we had intended to go for a coffee at the beach shack, but as the warm weather is here and there are plenty of people wandering around, they have closed it for refurbishing and we haven’t got a clue when or if it will be reopening, so we had a coffee at Broadwater Bar and Grill (stilts).
After coffee we walked home and watched Escape to Witch Mountain with the kids, quite a good film and ideal for the kids.
We went to the market down at the foreshore this morning, there were quite a lot of people about but we didn’t find anything of interest so we drove to Bunbury, to have a look round up there.
We drove straight to the waterfront at Bunbury and found a small market that we hadn’t realised existed, again there wasn’t much that interested us, apart from a pie stall, it was manned by a lady of African decent and she offered us a taster of a few pies, they were great especially the Goat pie and if we had got a cool box in the car we would have brought a few home, as it was we weren’t hungry enough to eat one then and we didn’t have a cool box in the car, so we didn’t get any, but we’ll be ready next time.
Whilst in Bunbury we managed to find Marisa some cheap boardies (shorts) that will do her through the summer, for a girl she’s not that bad to buy shorts and trousers for, she is so small and skinny that they last for years, the shorts she was wearing today were for age 7-8 and they were only just starting to get tight.
On the way back we stopped off at the Farmers Market and loaded up with fruit for the week, we were hoping to grab some bunny Veg as well but there must have been someone just in front of us that had emptied all the bins.
When we got home we took the puppies for a walk along the beach, we had intended to go for a coffee at the beach shack, but as the warm weather is here and there are plenty of people wandering around, they have closed it for refurbishing and we haven’t got a clue when or if it will be reopening, so we had a coffee at Broadwater Bar and Grill (stilts).
After coffee we walked home and watched Escape to Witch Mountain with the kids, quite a good film and ideal for the kids.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Birthday Boy
Thursday 24th September 2009
It was an early start for all of us today, Ian had to be in work for 7am to see in a delivery and it’s Frasers birthday, we now have an official teenager in the house as opposed to three unofficial ones.
Whenever there is a birthday in this house, it is customary for cards and presents to be opened before anybody leaves the premises and as Fraser likes to have a good look at what he has got before he opens the next one, it can become quite time consuming, hence getting up really early to get it over and done with.
Fraser loved his presents, which was just as well really as they were chosen from a list that he had painstakingly written whilst camping out in the toy shop for most of the day last Saturday.
It was another day of being quiet in the morning and busy at lunchtime and in the afternoon at the Café today, but compared to this week last year we are doing very well, we reckon that the new Freeway extension from Perth which is going to take thirty minutes off the driving time from Perth to Busselton, is going to be a tourist attraction in its own right and will increase the tourist trade down here, or possibly is already.
We went to the local Mexican restaurant “El Gringo’s” for Frasers birthday meal tonight, we all enjoyed our food there and then came home for birthday cake with fab candles that burn with blue, red and green flames, very cool.
It was an early start for all of us today, Ian had to be in work for 7am to see in a delivery and it’s Frasers birthday, we now have an official teenager in the house as opposed to three unofficial ones.
Whenever there is a birthday in this house, it is customary for cards and presents to be opened before anybody leaves the premises and as Fraser likes to have a good look at what he has got before he opens the next one, it can become quite time consuming, hence getting up really early to get it over and done with.
Fraser loved his presents, which was just as well really as they were chosen from a list that he had painstakingly written whilst camping out in the toy shop for most of the day last Saturday.
It was another day of being quiet in the morning and busy at lunchtime and in the afternoon at the Café today, but compared to this week last year we are doing very well, we reckon that the new Freeway extension from Perth which is going to take thirty minutes off the driving time from Perth to Busselton, is going to be a tourist attraction in its own right and will increase the tourist trade down here, or possibly is already.
We went to the local Mexican restaurant “El Gringo’s” for Frasers birthday meal tonight, we all enjoyed our food there and then came home for birthday cake with fab candles that burn with blue, red and green flames, very cool.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
English Jelly Babies
Saturday 19th September 2009
Carolyns birthday and she had to work, she didn’t have to work until 10am mind and she finished at 1pm, so it wasn’t so hard really.
Fliss and Lukery her lover took the kids to the cinema this morning, they went to see the film UP, we reckon Lukery loves these cartoon films but is a bit too macho to go on his own and Fliss is just a big kid herself, so when a film like this comes along taking the kids is the perfect alibi.
Ian was hoping to finish work early today, but with staff dragging their heels as usual it was 4pm by the time he finished everything he had to do.
After work, Ian went shopping for some English Jelly Babies and rabbit scraps at IGA supermarket, Australian Jelly Babies are disgusting, the person who makes the Australian version has obviously never tasted the far superior English version, or maybe he doesn’t really care what they taste like because if they are only eaten by Australians the chances are they will be covered in tomato sauce anyway, so it doesn’t matter what they taste like because they will all be tomato sauce flavour by the time the get eaten.
When Ian got home, Carolyn opened her cards and presents and seemed to like them all, so that was a result.
We went out for dinner at the Vasse tonight, the boys were determined to have a Pizza each despite the fact that we told them they were big, they managed to finish the equivalent of one whole pizza between them, so guess what they’ve got for dinner tomorrow.
Carolyn had a steak with mushrooms stuffed with snails, we haven’t eaten snails since we were back in the UK, so she was in her element and thoroughly enjoyed the meal, she reckons it was the best meal she had eaten in Busselton and let the chef know it.
After dinner we walked up to the Royal Palms (Ship) for a quick drink before catching a taxi home, the floor in the bar was once again filthy and sticky as they had a crowd in to watch the AFL (aerial ping pong) this afternoon and none of the staff could be arsed to mop the floor afterwards despite it being the main bar for a wedding reception in the evening, the management should be ashamed of themselves.
After we got home, Ian watched the real football, Arsenal v Wigan, a mismatch if ever there was one, while Carolyn played on the computer.
The dogs still haven’t got a name although we did sit up last night firing names at each other, Hinge and Bracket, Smith and Jones, Samson (sammy) and Delilah, Anthony (Antoinette) and Cleopatra, George (Georgia) and Mildred and many more, they are Carolyns babies so she is going to have the final decision at some point, the rest of us will just have to wait in nervous anticipation.
Carolyns birthday and she had to work, she didn’t have to work until 10am mind and she finished at 1pm, so it wasn’t so hard really.
Fliss and Lukery her lover took the kids to the cinema this morning, they went to see the film UP, we reckon Lukery loves these cartoon films but is a bit too macho to go on his own and Fliss is just a big kid herself, so when a film like this comes along taking the kids is the perfect alibi.
Ian was hoping to finish work early today, but with staff dragging their heels as usual it was 4pm by the time he finished everything he had to do.
After work, Ian went shopping for some English Jelly Babies and rabbit scraps at IGA supermarket, Australian Jelly Babies are disgusting, the person who makes the Australian version has obviously never tasted the far superior English version, or maybe he doesn’t really care what they taste like because if they are only eaten by Australians the chances are they will be covered in tomato sauce anyway, so it doesn’t matter what they taste like because they will all be tomato sauce flavour by the time the get eaten.
When Ian got home, Carolyn opened her cards and presents and seemed to like them all, so that was a result.
We went out for dinner at the Vasse tonight, the boys were determined to have a Pizza each despite the fact that we told them they were big, they managed to finish the equivalent of one whole pizza between them, so guess what they’ve got for dinner tomorrow.
Carolyn had a steak with mushrooms stuffed with snails, we haven’t eaten snails since we were back in the UK, so she was in her element and thoroughly enjoyed the meal, she reckons it was the best meal she had eaten in Busselton and let the chef know it.
After dinner we walked up to the Royal Palms (Ship) for a quick drink before catching a taxi home, the floor in the bar was once again filthy and sticky as they had a crowd in to watch the AFL (aerial ping pong) this afternoon and none of the staff could be arsed to mop the floor afterwards despite it being the main bar for a wedding reception in the evening, the management should be ashamed of themselves.
After we got home, Ian watched the real football, Arsenal v Wigan, a mismatch if ever there was one, while Carolyn played on the computer.
The dogs still haven’t got a name although we did sit up last night firing names at each other, Hinge and Bracket, Smith and Jones, Samson (sammy) and Delilah, Anthony (Antoinette) and Cleopatra, George (Georgia) and Mildred and many more, they are Carolyns babies so she is going to have the final decision at some point, the rest of us will just have to wait in nervous anticipation.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Ancient River Bed
Sunday 16th August 2009
We had to be up early this morning to get ready for Kristians birthday outing, plus of course he had to open all his presents before we could do anything.
Carolyn was picking up a couple of Kristians friends just before 9am, so Ian went to the market on his own to get the fruit, none of the kids would go with him while there were a load of new toys lying around that needed to be played with.
After Ian got back and Carolyn had picked Kristians mates, we drove to Ngilgi cave where we went on a guided tour down to the ancient river beds that would have been flowing about 10,000 years ago.
The tour took us off the beaten track, we had to wear hard hats with lights attached, we clambered over rocks, squeezed through gaps and when we got to the Ancient River bed we had to crawl on hands and knees to get to the end, we all enjoyed it and Kristians mates announced that it was the best birthday party they had ever been to which was nice.
It was a really good tour and one that we would recommend for adventurous but well behaved kids, fortunately ours and those that came with us fit into both of those categories.
After we came out of the cave, the kids had an Ice Cream while we had a coffee and rested our weary bones.
From Ngilgi we went to Yallingup Maze, where we sent the kids into the maze while we played with puzzles in the café while drinking coffee.
The café at Yallingup maze has got loads of infuriating puzzles on the tables and as much as you might try to ignore them, it doesn’t take long before you stop talking to each other and start cursing the puzzle, but people keep coming back for more so it must work.
From the Maze we drove to Cheffy’s in Yallingup for lunch, fortunately they weren’t over busy, we got a table straight away and we had a good meal before heading home for Birthday Cake.
After cake the kids played while Ian watched Arsenal stuff Everton 6-1 on telly, at 5pm Carolyn took one of Kristians friends home and the other ones parents came to pick him up.
We did very little this evening, just about enough to make sure we all had something to wear tomorrow and then vegged out in front of the telly.
We had to be up early this morning to get ready for Kristians birthday outing, plus of course he had to open all his presents before we could do anything.
Carolyn was picking up a couple of Kristians friends just before 9am, so Ian went to the market on his own to get the fruit, none of the kids would go with him while there were a load of new toys lying around that needed to be played with.
After Ian got back and Carolyn had picked Kristians mates, we drove to Ngilgi cave where we went on a guided tour down to the ancient river beds that would have been flowing about 10,000 years ago.
The tour took us off the beaten track, we had to wear hard hats with lights attached, we clambered over rocks, squeezed through gaps and when we got to the Ancient River bed we had to crawl on hands and knees to get to the end, we all enjoyed it and Kristians mates announced that it was the best birthday party they had ever been to which was nice.
It was a really good tour and one that we would recommend for adventurous but well behaved kids, fortunately ours and those that came with us fit into both of those categories.
After we came out of the cave, the kids had an Ice Cream while we had a coffee and rested our weary bones.
From Ngilgi we went to Yallingup Maze, where we sent the kids into the maze while we played with puzzles in the café while drinking coffee.
The café at Yallingup maze has got loads of infuriating puzzles on the tables and as much as you might try to ignore them, it doesn’t take long before you stop talking to each other and start cursing the puzzle, but people keep coming back for more so it must work.
From the Maze we drove to Cheffy’s in Yallingup for lunch, fortunately they weren’t over busy, we got a table straight away and we had a good meal before heading home for Birthday Cake.
After cake the kids played while Ian watched Arsenal stuff Everton 6-1 on telly, at 5pm Carolyn took one of Kristians friends home and the other ones parents came to pick him up.
We did very little this evening, just about enough to make sure we all had something to wear tomorrow and then vegged out in front of the telly.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Busselton Jetty Fleece
Sunday 5th July 2009
We got out of bed at a reasonable hour this morning and went to the market at Yoganup while the kids played in the park, there were plenty of people around and loads of stalls but we didn’t find anything that we could remotely say we were interested in.
After the market we went for coffee on the front, had a look round the Jetty Shop and found nothing new.
We did however point out to the staff that all summer when the weather is hot they have a constant supply of fleeces and we don’t feel the need to purchase one because we wouldn’t wear it, during the winter when people get caught outside in the cold, they have a constant supply of T Shirts and not a fleece to be seen.
When we pointed out that we would have bought a fleece on more than one occasion if they sold them during the colder months, the woman we were talking to seemed genuinely surprised that people would want to buy them when it was cold and was going to mention it to her boss.
After coffee we went for a walk round town while the kids played on the front, we had a look at the local art display and went to the Café to take some bits out of the freezer ready for tomorrow before heading home for lunch.
After lunch Ian and the kids went for a bike ride down to Port Geographe and back, about 20km, stopping at the foreshore on the way back for the obligatory ice cream.
While Ian and the kids were cycling, Carolyn went to a meeting about school, it was organised by a Market Research company employed by the school to get an accurate overview of what parents think of the school and whether they feel it is meeting their childs needs with regard to education.
Carolyn thought that it was very interesting and a bit of an eye opener, listening to what other people expect from the education system and where they feel it is achieving and failing.
She did note that more than one parent that attended the meeting worked for another school, so Cornerstone School can’t be that bad.
This evening we all watched an old version of War of the Worlds, we had hoped it was the version that told the story of the radio play that caused chaos when it was first played, but it wasn’t, it was just another old version, the kids enjoyed it and it was easy viewing for us.
We had Pizza for dinner tonight, we decided to give Dominos Pizza another chance to impress, and surprise surprise they did.
Dominos Pizza in Busselton is up for sale at the moment and we reckon that either the Franchisee is working there to improve its reputation, or Dominos head office have put a relief manager in there until a new franchisor can be found.
Whatever it is, it has worked, the pizza was the best we have had from one of the big pizza companies and we will definitely be giving them another go.
While eating pizza, we all watched Mission Impossible, the Tom Cruise version which the kids thought was quite good fun.
We had an early night.
We got out of bed at a reasonable hour this morning and went to the market at Yoganup while the kids played in the park, there were plenty of people around and loads of stalls but we didn’t find anything that we could remotely say we were interested in.
After the market we went for coffee on the front, had a look round the Jetty Shop and found nothing new.
We did however point out to the staff that all summer when the weather is hot they have a constant supply of fleeces and we don’t feel the need to purchase one because we wouldn’t wear it, during the winter when people get caught outside in the cold, they have a constant supply of T Shirts and not a fleece to be seen.
When we pointed out that we would have bought a fleece on more than one occasion if they sold them during the colder months, the woman we were talking to seemed genuinely surprised that people would want to buy them when it was cold and was going to mention it to her boss.
After coffee we went for a walk round town while the kids played on the front, we had a look at the local art display and went to the Café to take some bits out of the freezer ready for tomorrow before heading home for lunch.
After lunch Ian and the kids went for a bike ride down to Port Geographe and back, about 20km, stopping at the foreshore on the way back for the obligatory ice cream.
While Ian and the kids were cycling, Carolyn went to a meeting about school, it was organised by a Market Research company employed by the school to get an accurate overview of what parents think of the school and whether they feel it is meeting their childs needs with regard to education.
Carolyn thought that it was very interesting and a bit of an eye opener, listening to what other people expect from the education system and where they feel it is achieving and failing.
She did note that more than one parent that attended the meeting worked for another school, so Cornerstone School can’t be that bad.
This evening we all watched an old version of War of the Worlds, we had hoped it was the version that told the story of the radio play that caused chaos when it was first played, but it wasn’t, it was just another old version, the kids enjoyed it and it was easy viewing for us.
We had Pizza for dinner tonight, we decided to give Dominos Pizza another chance to impress, and surprise surprise they did.
Dominos Pizza in Busselton is up for sale at the moment and we reckon that either the Franchisee is working there to improve its reputation, or Dominos head office have put a relief manager in there until a new franchisor can be found.
Whatever it is, it has worked, the pizza was the best we have had from one of the big pizza companies and we will definitely be giving them another go.
While eating pizza, we all watched Mission Impossible, the Tom Cruise version which the kids thought was quite good fun.
We had an early night.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Great Danes For Lunch
Friday 26th June 2009
Trade was pretty much the same as yesterday at the Café, loads of people drinking coffee and not a lot else.
Rodelle was off sick today with the flu which saved us a few bob on wages, Fliss and Ian both sniffed their way through the day trying to avoid going sick.
The kids had Red Nose Dinner today at school, we couldn’t not support the cause totally could we. They had Great Danes for lunch, apparently they are large Hot Dogs as opposed to Chihuahuas, which are small ones, stands to reason.
This evening the kids went to Freaky Friday, Carolyn did some office work then read her book, Ian used up the best part of a roll of kitchen paper blowing his hooter while working on the computer.
After the kids got home and went to bed, Ian dosed himself up with as many cold remedies that he could find that were compatible and we had an early night.
Trade was pretty much the same as yesterday at the Café, loads of people drinking coffee and not a lot else.
Rodelle was off sick today with the flu which saved us a few bob on wages, Fliss and Ian both sniffed their way through the day trying to avoid going sick.
The kids had Red Nose Dinner today at school, we couldn’t not support the cause totally could we. They had Great Danes for lunch, apparently they are large Hot Dogs as opposed to Chihuahuas, which are small ones, stands to reason.
This evening the kids went to Freaky Friday, Carolyn did some office work then read her book, Ian used up the best part of a roll of kitchen paper blowing his hooter while working on the computer.
After the kids got home and went to bed, Ian dosed himself up with as many cold remedies that he could find that were compatible and we had an early night.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Wyndham Resort
Sunday 14th June 2009
We got up earlyish this morning, it’s Ians birthday tomorrow and Carolyn had booked a table for the five of us at Toby’s Restaurant in the Wyndham Resort on the way to Dunsborough, for breakfast.
We arrived there at exactly 9.30am which was the time Carolyn had booked the table for, we walked through to the restaurant and were met by a waitress who showed us out to a table on the patio.
Admittedly the sun was shining, but the wind was cold and those people who were out there were wearing their winter coats.
Carolyn pointed out to the waitress that she had booked a table for five in the restaurant and we were not going to sit outside in the cold.
The waitress apologised for the mishap saying “but we had a big group come in unexpected so we gave your table away” needless to say we weren’t impressed, why bother taking bookings if they aren’t going to honour them.
The waitress said that she would try and organise something for us and asked us to wait in the lounge, but the place was packed, they were running out of things and after about ten minutes Carolyn let them know we weren’t happy and that we were leaving.
We then drove to Dunsborough where we had a good breakfast at ArtiZEN Café, it was almost like they were waiting for us, the only table available when we got there was a table for five.
After breakfast we went for a drive back towards Busselton but via a Nursery, they had some quite interesting, reasonably priced as well as massively over priced bits and pieces there and if we ever get the time to do up the garden we’ll go back there for some ideas.
We decided to take the long road from the Nursery back to home, down the country lanes, as we drove along we came across a field with a herd of Kangaroos in it, there were hundreds of them and we didn’t have a camera with us.
When we got home we picked up the new Microwave that we bought on Thursday and took it into work, it was a bit of a tight fit getting it on the shelf but it got there in the end.
From the Café we went to the foreshore fore a coffee and read of the papers, we had just sat down when the heavens opened so we drank up and went home again.
This afternoon we decided to have the ultimate family, dossy afternoon and sat in front of the telly watching films all afternoon.
We watched Jurassic Park III and Godzilla, the kids had total leisure time with us while watching films of their choice and loved every minute of it.
This evening after the kids had gone to bed we watched a couple of episodes of Shameless, not a show for the easily offended it has to be said but in some of the less salubrious parts of Manchester it is probably fairly close to home.
We got up earlyish this morning, it’s Ians birthday tomorrow and Carolyn had booked a table for the five of us at Toby’s Restaurant in the Wyndham Resort on the way to Dunsborough, for breakfast.
We arrived there at exactly 9.30am which was the time Carolyn had booked the table for, we walked through to the restaurant and were met by a waitress who showed us out to a table on the patio.
Admittedly the sun was shining, but the wind was cold and those people who were out there were wearing their winter coats.
Carolyn pointed out to the waitress that she had booked a table for five in the restaurant and we were not going to sit outside in the cold.
The waitress apologised for the mishap saying “but we had a big group come in unexpected so we gave your table away” needless to say we weren’t impressed, why bother taking bookings if they aren’t going to honour them.
The waitress said that she would try and organise something for us and asked us to wait in the lounge, but the place was packed, they were running out of things and after about ten minutes Carolyn let them know we weren’t happy and that we were leaving.
We then drove to Dunsborough where we had a good breakfast at ArtiZEN Café, it was almost like they were waiting for us, the only table available when we got there was a table for five.
After breakfast we went for a drive back towards Busselton but via a Nursery, they had some quite interesting, reasonably priced as well as massively over priced bits and pieces there and if we ever get the time to do up the garden we’ll go back there for some ideas.
We decided to take the long road from the Nursery back to home, down the country lanes, as we drove along we came across a field with a herd of Kangaroos in it, there were hundreds of them and we didn’t have a camera with us.
When we got home we picked up the new Microwave that we bought on Thursday and took it into work, it was a bit of a tight fit getting it on the shelf but it got there in the end.
From the Café we went to the foreshore fore a coffee and read of the papers, we had just sat down when the heavens opened so we drank up and went home again.
This afternoon we decided to have the ultimate family, dossy afternoon and sat in front of the telly watching films all afternoon.
We watched Jurassic Park III and Godzilla, the kids had total leisure time with us while watching films of their choice and loved every minute of it.
This evening after the kids had gone to bed we watched a couple of episodes of Shameless, not a show for the easily offended it has to be said but in some of the less salubrious parts of Manchester it is probably fairly close to home.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Our Other Cat - Catnapped
Saturday 30th May 2009
It was an average day at the Café today although it was made a bit hectic by Carolyn having to go and pick up Silver our cat, he had been trapped last night by one of our neighbours and handed over to the Ranger.
Carolyn did manage to find out from the Ranger that the person doing this had caught three cats recently, that’s both of ours and another and that the person doing it is within sixty metres or three doors of us.
We have a rough idea who it is and are trying to think of a way of confirming it and getting the problem sorted, as it is, this time the Ranger hasn’t issued us with a fine but said that he will if it happens again, so Carolyn has decided to make the cat a house cat and not let him out.
Ian reckons we should just find out who it is and petrol bomb their house.
*Carolyn would like to point out that Ian isn’t seriously considering doing that, he is just a little more than a tad pissed off*
This afternoon after work the kids went round to their mates road where they could hang out and Rip Board to their hearts content, we went for a walk along the beach.
We walked down towards Stilts which went Bankrupt about three weeks ago, that is about a month after we stopped going there. Hopefully it wasn’t our fault entirely, it was an accident waiting to happen, the guy who ran it may have been an alcoholic who had no idea of stock, staff or people management.
It’s weird that it has been closed for so long, it is attached to a Resort who obviously own the building, so you would have thought that they would have put a relief manager in as caretaker until a new lessee is found for the business.
Back in the UK when we worked for pub companies, if ever they had a tenant or lessee that went bankrupt or had made it so that the business could not operate, they would install a relief manager within a couple of days to ensure that the business remained a viable entity, over here they either don’t seem to care or the laws relating to bankruptcy are too complex to make it worth while trying to get round it.
We had homemade Lamb Biriani for dinner tonight, we used a Tandoori curry paste so it was a bit more tasty than your average run of the mill Biriani, we thought it was lovely, the kids thought so too apart from Marisa who’s a bit of a girlie when it comes to spicy food.
After dinner we watched Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, we have watched this film so many times it’s untrue, but the kids love it and there don’t seem to be too many films around that are aimed at the family.
The problem we have with watching films as a family is, we don’t want the kids listening to swearing while they are viewing, by the same token we don’t want them exposed to nudity and adult themes either, god knows they’ll get enough of that as they get older so there’s no benefit to us ramming it down their throats now.
Our kids don’t particularly like watching the old films that we used to sit down and watch with our parents, but films that are made now seem to have a definite audience in mind rather than catering for the masses, it has got to the point where the kids can’t imagine it being real unless it’s a cartoon.
Why the kids think like that when they themselves obviously don’t look like cartoons is beyond us, but the film makers must be rubbing their hands with glee. Just pump out a load of computer animated garbage, get a few voiceovers and hey presto, another few million in the bank.
No stars and there tantrums to pay for and put up with, no props to pay for and most importantly, no Key Grip. Nobody has ever worked out what the Key Grip did anyway, so to get rid of him and possibly his assistant as well means less to pay out in wages and one or two less lines to read when the credits come up.
What we need is remakes of the Saint, Fireball XL5, Man from Uncle etc, brought up to date so as to appeal to us all but with the ability to keep us on the edge of our seats for the right reasons.
After the kids went to bed we watched the Christmas special of Only Fools and Horses on UKTV, (we knew we got Foxtel for a reason) it was the one where Raquels dad recognises the Harrison Fob Watch in their lockup and it gets sold at Sotherby’s for £6 Million.
Would you believe it, no swearing or nudity in it and it was on too late for the kids to watch, they probably wouldn’t understand the adult humour either and would talk all the way through it, so just as well it was on late.
It was an average day at the Café today although it was made a bit hectic by Carolyn having to go and pick up Silver our cat, he had been trapped last night by one of our neighbours and handed over to the Ranger.
Carolyn did manage to find out from the Ranger that the person doing this had caught three cats recently, that’s both of ours and another and that the person doing it is within sixty metres or three doors of us.
We have a rough idea who it is and are trying to think of a way of confirming it and getting the problem sorted, as it is, this time the Ranger hasn’t issued us with a fine but said that he will if it happens again, so Carolyn has decided to make the cat a house cat and not let him out.
Ian reckons we should just find out who it is and petrol bomb their house.
*Carolyn would like to point out that Ian isn’t seriously considering doing that, he is just a little more than a tad pissed off*
This afternoon after work the kids went round to their mates road where they could hang out and Rip Board to their hearts content, we went for a walk along the beach.
We walked down towards Stilts which went Bankrupt about three weeks ago, that is about a month after we stopped going there. Hopefully it wasn’t our fault entirely, it was an accident waiting to happen, the guy who ran it may have been an alcoholic who had no idea of stock, staff or people management.
It’s weird that it has been closed for so long, it is attached to a Resort who obviously own the building, so you would have thought that they would have put a relief manager in as caretaker until a new lessee is found for the business.
Back in the UK when we worked for pub companies, if ever they had a tenant or lessee that went bankrupt or had made it so that the business could not operate, they would install a relief manager within a couple of days to ensure that the business remained a viable entity, over here they either don’t seem to care or the laws relating to bankruptcy are too complex to make it worth while trying to get round it.
We had homemade Lamb Biriani for dinner tonight, we used a Tandoori curry paste so it was a bit more tasty than your average run of the mill Biriani, we thought it was lovely, the kids thought so too apart from Marisa who’s a bit of a girlie when it comes to spicy food.
After dinner we watched Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, we have watched this film so many times it’s untrue, but the kids love it and there don’t seem to be too many films around that are aimed at the family.
The problem we have with watching films as a family is, we don’t want the kids listening to swearing while they are viewing, by the same token we don’t want them exposed to nudity and adult themes either, god knows they’ll get enough of that as they get older so there’s no benefit to us ramming it down their throats now.
Our kids don’t particularly like watching the old films that we used to sit down and watch with our parents, but films that are made now seem to have a definite audience in mind rather than catering for the masses, it has got to the point where the kids can’t imagine it being real unless it’s a cartoon.
Why the kids think like that when they themselves obviously don’t look like cartoons is beyond us, but the film makers must be rubbing their hands with glee. Just pump out a load of computer animated garbage, get a few voiceovers and hey presto, another few million in the bank.
No stars and there tantrums to pay for and put up with, no props to pay for and most importantly, no Key Grip. Nobody has ever worked out what the Key Grip did anyway, so to get rid of him and possibly his assistant as well means less to pay out in wages and one or two less lines to read when the credits come up.
What we need is remakes of the Saint, Fireball XL5, Man from Uncle etc, brought up to date so as to appeal to us all but with the ability to keep us on the edge of our seats for the right reasons.
After the kids went to bed we watched the Christmas special of Only Fools and Horses on UKTV, (we knew we got Foxtel for a reason) it was the one where Raquels dad recognises the Harrison Fob Watch in their lockup and it gets sold at Sotherby’s for £6 Million.
Would you believe it, no swearing or nudity in it and it was on too late for the kids to watch, they probably wouldn’t understand the adult humour either and would talk all the way through it, so just as well it was on late.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Ngilgi Cave
Sunday 24th May 2009
We had a nice long lie in this morning, we think it probably had something to do with working for two weeks without a break, we did the Sausage Sizzle last week.
We had an entrance ticket to Ngilgi Cave which we got as part of our Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse trip and hadn’t used, it was a nice day so we went to have a look at the caves.
Ngilgi cave is probably the best cave we have seen down this coast so far, it is not as big as some of the others but it is pretty spectacular and Jewel Cave which we saw when Carolyns Dad was here, is nothing compared to Jewel Casket in Ngilgi Cave.
It took us about an hour to walk through the cave, it was only semi guided so we got taken into the entrance, told a bit about it and then left to our own devices, we could have stayed down there all day if we had wanted, we would definitely recommend this one.
When we came out of the cave we had a very nice cup of coffee from the Café there before moving on to Yallingup in search of some lunch.
There is a place in Yallingup that has been doing loads of advertising lately, we have never noticed it before so maybe it is a new venture, but we had read a couple of good write ups on it and decided to give it a go.
Cheffy’s is its name, it is right next to the car park, which in turn is right next to the beach where all the surfer dudes hang out.
Considering it is in what is perceived to be an exclusive area the prices were very reasonable, two of the kids had Pasta, Fraser had a Chicken Burger and Chips, Ian had a Lamb Kofte Burger and Chips and Carolyn had Chilli Mussels, we all thoroughly enjoyed it and will be going back again sometime.
After lunch we went home, the kids cleaned the rabbits and did their homework before a quick shower, some tea and off to bed for an early night.
We had a Chinese take away from Jade in Busselton, it was a bit less than average and reminded us why we hadn’t been there for a while.
Then we watched the Keanu Reeves film The Day The Earth Stood Still, we have recently been talking about how good the Keanu Reeves films always are, we are now reassessing the situation, it was complete and utter tripe and is not likely to win him any awards.
We had a nice long lie in this morning, we think it probably had something to do with working for two weeks without a break, we did the Sausage Sizzle last week.
We had an entrance ticket to Ngilgi Cave which we got as part of our Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse trip and hadn’t used, it was a nice day so we went to have a look at the caves.
Ngilgi cave is probably the best cave we have seen down this coast so far, it is not as big as some of the others but it is pretty spectacular and Jewel Cave which we saw when Carolyns Dad was here, is nothing compared to Jewel Casket in Ngilgi Cave.
It took us about an hour to walk through the cave, it was only semi guided so we got taken into the entrance, told a bit about it and then left to our own devices, we could have stayed down there all day if we had wanted, we would definitely recommend this one.
When we came out of the cave we had a very nice cup of coffee from the Café there before moving on to Yallingup in search of some lunch.
There is a place in Yallingup that has been doing loads of advertising lately, we have never noticed it before so maybe it is a new venture, but we had read a couple of good write ups on it and decided to give it a go.
Cheffy’s is its name, it is right next to the car park, which in turn is right next to the beach where all the surfer dudes hang out.
Considering it is in what is perceived to be an exclusive area the prices were very reasonable, two of the kids had Pasta, Fraser had a Chicken Burger and Chips, Ian had a Lamb Kofte Burger and Chips and Carolyn had Chilli Mussels, we all thoroughly enjoyed it and will be going back again sometime.
After lunch we went home, the kids cleaned the rabbits and did their homework before a quick shower, some tea and off to bed for an early night.
We had a Chinese take away from Jade in Busselton, it was a bit less than average and reminded us why we hadn’t been there for a while.
Then we watched the Keanu Reeves film The Day The Earth Stood Still, we have recently been talking about how good the Keanu Reeves films always are, we are now reassessing the situation, it was complete and utter tripe and is not likely to win him any awards.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Meme time...
Lifted from Vic
1. Can you cook?
Yes.
2. Do you like to cook?
No.
3. What do you eat for breakfast?
Whatever is laying around.
4. When, where and how do you eat on weekdays?
Brekkie at home, Lunch at the Cafe and Dinner at home with the offspring and Ian
5. When, where and how do you eat on weekends?
Saturday is just like a weekday, Sunday brekkie at home or in a cafe in Dunsborough (yum)late snack lunch then Dinner at home in the evening. Too cold to BBQ now booooo
6. How often do you eat in a restaurant?
Once a month maybe? but cheapo, not expensive :o)
7. How often do you order delivery/take-out?
Recently, not often although we rather like a local Fish n chippery
8. Buffet, take-out or sit-down restaurant?
Depends on my mood.
9. What are your signature dishes?
The kids would say Pasta dishes, Ian would roll his eyes as we would rather he cooked. I hate to cook. Too many years in catering.
10. Have you ever cooked for more than six people?
Too many times.
11. Do you cook every day?
between work and home, yup.
12. Have you ever tried recipes from blogs?
Online recipes, yup loads, from blogs? can't remember.
13. Do you cook totally differently compared to your mother/parents?
Some thing yes, some no. Spag bol a la mum, yes :o)
14. Are you a vegetarian or could you imagine being one?
Nope.
15. What would you like to cook which you haven’t dared to make yet?
Nothing.
16. Do you prefer cooking or baking?
I don't bake.
17. Home-made or store-bought?
Home made.
18. What was your biggest cooking disaster?
Egg fried rice without first boiling the rice, who knew ???
19. What is your number one comfort food?
not comforted by food. Do like eggy mash or Heinz tomato soup with mash in it if I am poorly.
20. If you were on a deserted island, what one food would you want to have with you?
I'd get bored of it what ever it was.
21. What is your biggest weakness when it comes to food?
Nope, nada.
22. What food can you absolutely not eat?
Oysters. Bleuk, splutter, gag.
23. What is the most decadent dish you’ve had?
Don'tknow, depends on your pov.
24. What is your favourite type of food?
Something cooked for me.
25. What is your favourite dish?
Don't have one.
26. If you could go to any restaurant you wanted, which one would it be?
A good one. There are loads y'know.
27. Are you a soup or salad person?
Yes.
28. What is the most impressive dinner you’ve ever made?
Lost count ;o)
29. Do you know what vichyssoise is?
Yes.
30. Can you name at least three TV cooking personalities?
Nope, don't do TV.
31. Who is your favourite TV cook?
See 30.
The End.
That was unexciting wasn't it, well done if you made it to the end, 31 questions worries me, I like even numbers.
xc
1. Can you cook?
Yes.
2. Do you like to cook?
No.
3. What do you eat for breakfast?
Whatever is laying around.
4. When, where and how do you eat on weekdays?
Brekkie at home, Lunch at the Cafe and Dinner at home with the offspring and Ian
5. When, where and how do you eat on weekends?
Saturday is just like a weekday, Sunday brekkie at home or in a cafe in Dunsborough (yum)late snack lunch then Dinner at home in the evening. Too cold to BBQ now booooo
6. How often do you eat in a restaurant?
Once a month maybe? but cheapo, not expensive :o)
7. How often do you order delivery/take-out?
Recently, not often although we rather like a local Fish n chippery
8. Buffet, take-out or sit-down restaurant?
Depends on my mood.
9. What are your signature dishes?
The kids would say Pasta dishes, Ian would roll his eyes as we would rather he cooked. I hate to cook. Too many years in catering.
10. Have you ever cooked for more than six people?
Too many times.
11. Do you cook every day?
between work and home, yup.
12. Have you ever tried recipes from blogs?
Online recipes, yup loads, from blogs? can't remember.
13. Do you cook totally differently compared to your mother/parents?
Some thing yes, some no. Spag bol a la mum, yes :o)
14. Are you a vegetarian or could you imagine being one?
Nope.
15. What would you like to cook which you haven’t dared to make yet?
Nothing.
16. Do you prefer cooking or baking?
I don't bake.
17. Home-made or store-bought?
Home made.
18. What was your biggest cooking disaster?
Egg fried rice without first boiling the rice, who knew ???
19. What is your number one comfort food?
not comforted by food. Do like eggy mash or Heinz tomato soup with mash in it if I am poorly.
20. If you were on a deserted island, what one food would you want to have with you?
I'd get bored of it what ever it was.
21. What is your biggest weakness when it comes to food?
Nope, nada.
22. What food can you absolutely not eat?
Oysters. Bleuk, splutter, gag.
23. What is the most decadent dish you’ve had?
Don'tknow, depends on your pov.
24. What is your favourite type of food?
Something cooked for me.
25. What is your favourite dish?
Don't have one.
26. If you could go to any restaurant you wanted, which one would it be?
A good one. There are loads y'know.
27. Are you a soup or salad person?
Yes.
28. What is the most impressive dinner you’ve ever made?
Lost count ;o)
29. Do you know what vichyssoise is?
Yes.
30. Can you name at least three TV cooking personalities?
Nope, don't do TV.
31. Who is your favourite TV cook?
See 30.
The End.
That was unexciting wasn't it, well done if you made it to the end, 31 questions worries me, I like even numbers.
xc
Monday, May 4, 2009
Subway Wrap
Monday 27th April 2009
Another day off, this one is because Anzac Day fell on a Saturday, so everyone has a public holiday, we did go into work for a while though.
We went into work early to get things ready for tomorrow morning before going to Bunbury, we needed to get some trainers for the kids and as Busselton is either useless for these things or closed depending on which day of the week it is, we decided to check out Bunbury shops instead.
Bunbury shops weren’t a great deal better than Busselton shops really, apart from the fact that they were open of course, but we did manage to find trainers for Fraser and Kristian.
We had lunch in Subway, Carolyn and the kids had their usual Subs, Ian tried a Wrap for a change. We didn’t realise that they did Wraps, Ian thought the one that he had was great.
Another day off, this one is because Anzac Day fell on a Saturday, so everyone has a public holiday, we did go into work for a while though.
We went into work early to get things ready for tomorrow morning before going to Bunbury, we needed to get some trainers for the kids and as Busselton is either useless for these things or closed depending on which day of the week it is, we decided to check out Bunbury shops instead.
Bunbury shops weren’t a great deal better than Busselton shops really, apart from the fact that they were open of course, but we did manage to find trainers for Fraser and Kristian.
We had lunch in Subway, Carolyn and the kids had their usual Subs, Ian tried a Wrap for a change. We didn’t realise that they did Wraps, Ian thought the one that he had was great.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Fremantle Prison
Sunday 19th April 2009
Today we had to take Carolyns dad back to Perth ready for his flight back to the UK, we decided to make a day of it and went to have a look round the Fremantle Prison.
We left home about twenty minutes later than we had intended but thought nothing of it, there won’t be anyone on the road on a Sunday morning anyway.
Wrong, not only is it still holiday season, but there are quite a few roadworks going on this weekend as well, hence a rather slow drive to Fremantle.
Carolyn had rung the prison yesterday to book a tour for today, but as we were driving up we knew it was going to be touch and go as to whether we would get there on time, so Carolyn rang them again and got our tickets changed to a tour half an hour later. Don’t you love mobile phones? That’s probably the second useful thing it’s done since Carolyn got it for Christmas, the first was ordering a taxi from the pub.
We were right to change our tour time, we arrived about ten minutes after the original tour started, but that gave us a bit of time to look round some of the exhibits and the gift shop
Fremantle Prison must have the worst tourist gift shop on the planet, it didn’t have much to offer in the way of merchandise and what there was would probably appeal to the average punter just a bit less than spending a bit of time in the prison itself, Carolyn did manage to find a fridge magnet.
The Prison tour itself was quite interesting if a bit grim, the Guide was very stern and not impressed with the Japanese tourists that kept wandering off to look at things while he was talking.
The Prison was grim, stark and the rooms were tiny with no facilies, just a bucket with a lid.
We saw the Cells and Exercise yards, the Kitchens and Chapel, the life that the prisoners must have had in there must have been a nightmare, unless of course you are one of the top dogs in which case it would have been a bit more comfortable.
Then we were shown the flogging post where naughty prisoners were tied to it and whipped with the Cat o Nine Tails, apparently when you were on the verge of death they would cut you down and chuck a bucket of salt on your wounds before taking you to the infirmary to recover. After a few weeks recovering, you would then be taken back to the post, tied up and be whipped again until you were on deaths door again or the punishment had been completed.
Apparently the average prisoner could take about 17 lashes before needing to be cut down and taken to the Infirmary, the maximum punishment was 100 lashes and the punishment had to be completed, so a prisoner could go through the cycle of lashes and recovery several times before his punishment was complete if he was a particularly naughty boy.
Corporal Punishment was only abolished in Western Australia in 1993, although the last time it officially took place at the prison was in 1943 and the last Birching was in 1962.
At this point, Kristian was going a bit green round the gills and refused point blank to go into the next exhibit, the Gallows, he is only eight after all.
As we walked into the room that housed the Gallows we were faced with this Noose just hanging from a beam, with a big drop below, it was a bit eerie and probably not the sort of place we’d want to make a habit of visiting, having seen one is enough we think.
Yes, we stood and peered down the trap door, gulp, the noose hasn't been used, it was burned after each use so that someone who had confessed their sins wouldn't be hanged by the same noose as someone who hadn't. Not the done thing apparantly.
The tour lasted about an hour and a half and was informative, although we felt like there was a lot that we hadn’t seen or heard about, but we suppose that’s why they have about three different tours to choose from.
From the prison we drove down to the waterfront and had some Fish and Chips at Cicerello’s, the waterfront was heaving with people as it was a nice day, the businesses down there must make a fortune in good weather.
After dinner we went up to the Market in town before driving to Carolyns dads friends house, the same friend who picked him up from the Airport and drove him down to Busselton when he first arrived.
We had a cup of tea before saying our goodbyes and driving back to Busselton, leaving Carolyns dads friend to give him a lift to the Airport for his flight home tonight.
We got home just after 8pm and put the kids to bed before having an early night ourselves, we have driven just over 500km today and it is virtually all monotonous driving so is very tiring.
Today we had to take Carolyns dad back to Perth ready for his flight back to the UK, we decided to make a day of it and went to have a look round the Fremantle Prison.
We left home about twenty minutes later than we had intended but thought nothing of it, there won’t be anyone on the road on a Sunday morning anyway.
Wrong, not only is it still holiday season, but there are quite a few roadworks going on this weekend as well, hence a rather slow drive to Fremantle.
Carolyn had rung the prison yesterday to book a tour for today, but as we were driving up we knew it was going to be touch and go as to whether we would get there on time, so Carolyn rang them again and got our tickets changed to a tour half an hour later. Don’t you love mobile phones? That’s probably the second useful thing it’s done since Carolyn got it for Christmas, the first was ordering a taxi from the pub.
We were right to change our tour time, we arrived about ten minutes after the original tour started, but that gave us a bit of time to look round some of the exhibits and the gift shop
Fremantle Prison must have the worst tourist gift shop on the planet, it didn’t have much to offer in the way of merchandise and what there was would probably appeal to the average punter just a bit less than spending a bit of time in the prison itself, Carolyn did manage to find a fridge magnet.
The Prison tour itself was quite interesting if a bit grim, the Guide was very stern and not impressed with the Japanese tourists that kept wandering off to look at things while he was talking.
The Prison was grim, stark and the rooms were tiny with no facilies, just a bucket with a lid.
We saw the Cells and Exercise yards, the Kitchens and Chapel, the life that the prisoners must have had in there must have been a nightmare, unless of course you are one of the top dogs in which case it would have been a bit more comfortable.
Then we were shown the flogging post where naughty prisoners were tied to it and whipped with the Cat o Nine Tails, apparently when you were on the verge of death they would cut you down and chuck a bucket of salt on your wounds before taking you to the infirmary to recover. After a few weeks recovering, you would then be taken back to the post, tied up and be whipped again until you were on deaths door again or the punishment had been completed.
Apparently the average prisoner could take about 17 lashes before needing to be cut down and taken to the Infirmary, the maximum punishment was 100 lashes and the punishment had to be completed, so a prisoner could go through the cycle of lashes and recovery several times before his punishment was complete if he was a particularly naughty boy.
Corporal Punishment was only abolished in Western Australia in 1993, although the last time it officially took place at the prison was in 1943 and the last Birching was in 1962.
At this point, Kristian was going a bit green round the gills and refused point blank to go into the next exhibit, the Gallows, he is only eight after all.
As we walked into the room that housed the Gallows we were faced with this Noose just hanging from a beam, with a big drop below, it was a bit eerie and probably not the sort of place we’d want to make a habit of visiting, having seen one is enough we think.
Yes, we stood and peered down the trap door, gulp, the noose hasn't been used, it was burned after each use so that someone who had confessed their sins wouldn't be hanged by the same noose as someone who hadn't. Not the done thing apparantly.
The tour lasted about an hour and a half and was informative, although we felt like there was a lot that we hadn’t seen or heard about, but we suppose that’s why they have about three different tours to choose from.
From the prison we drove down to the waterfront and had some Fish and Chips at Cicerello’s, the waterfront was heaving with people as it was a nice day, the businesses down there must make a fortune in good weather.
After dinner we went up to the Market in town before driving to Carolyns dads friends house, the same friend who picked him up from the Airport and drove him down to Busselton when he first arrived.
We had a cup of tea before saying our goodbyes and driving back to Busselton, leaving Carolyns dads friend to give him a lift to the Airport for his flight home tonight.
We got home just after 8pm and put the kids to bed before having an early night ourselves, we have driven just over 500km today and it is virtually all monotonous driving so is very tiring.
Monday, April 27, 2009
The Last Supper
Saturday 18th April 2009
The Café was very quiet today, it was so quiet that we didn’t stay open very late at all really, we were closed by about 1.30pm, Carolyn came in and helped with the cleaning and we were done just after 3pm.
Carolyn, her dad and the kids started work early this morning on trying to get the Bunny Run completed, Carolyns dad had hoped that it would have been finished by now so that he could have one last relaxing day here before flying home.
Unfortunately for him we have become fairly laid back since we have been here and don’t tend to worry about things too much, hence we haven’t been pushing too hard for it to be finished, hence the mad rush today.
That’s not to say that we don’t have worries though, on the contrary we do, we just don’t worry about them and things just seem to work out.
We think it has probably got something to do with the fact that nobody else round here seems to worry, so why should we and at the moment it seems to be working.
The last of the Bunny Run was finished at about 1pm and it looks really good, fit for a King Bunny you might say.
While Carolyn helped clean the Café this afternoon, her dad and the kids went down to the Nautical Lady on the foreshore for a bit of R & R, he relaxed over a cup of coffee while the kids Ran Riot in Jungle Bungle for a couple of hours.
Ian and Carolyn met them after they finished work, the 3 adults just sat with a coffee having a chin wag for a while until they were noticed by the kids who had decided they wanted something different.
In the evening we went into Busselton to show Carolyns dad a bit of the bustling nightlife, unfortunately all the people who hadn’t come into the Café today, weren’t coming out to play this evening either.
We started in the Vasse, had a beer in there whilst toying with whether to stay there and eat or move on to the Nard (Esplanade), the Nard came out on top because they have a climbing frame whereas the Vasse has nothing for the kids at all.
We walked down to the Nard expecting it to be very busy as it usually is on a Saturday, and the place was empty, they either knew we were coming or Busselton is not very popular in the places to go stakes today.
The food in the Nard wasn’t as good tonight as it usually is, Ian and Frasers steaks which where supposed to be Medium and Medium Well respectively, were still kicking when they were brought out.
Neither of them mind a bit of blood from their steaks and ate them, Ian did let them know though that they were extremely underdone and whilst we had eaten them another customer would have been well within their rights to send them back.
They said they would let the chef know which is all we can hope for, the last thing we want is for this place to go down hill, we’ll have nowhere to go for a meal.
After dinner we sat outside and had a drink and a chat while the kids played, it was warmer out there than it was inside with the air conditioning on.
The Café was very quiet today, it was so quiet that we didn’t stay open very late at all really, we were closed by about 1.30pm, Carolyn came in and helped with the cleaning and we were done just after 3pm.
Carolyn, her dad and the kids started work early this morning on trying to get the Bunny Run completed, Carolyns dad had hoped that it would have been finished by now so that he could have one last relaxing day here before flying home.
Unfortunately for him we have become fairly laid back since we have been here and don’t tend to worry about things too much, hence we haven’t been pushing too hard for it to be finished, hence the mad rush today.
That’s not to say that we don’t have worries though, on the contrary we do, we just don’t worry about them and things just seem to work out.
We think it has probably got something to do with the fact that nobody else round here seems to worry, so why should we and at the moment it seems to be working.
The last of the Bunny Run was finished at about 1pm and it looks really good, fit for a King Bunny you might say.
While Carolyn helped clean the Café this afternoon, her dad and the kids went down to the Nautical Lady on the foreshore for a bit of R & R, he relaxed over a cup of coffee while the kids Ran Riot in Jungle Bungle for a couple of hours.
Ian and Carolyn met them after they finished work, the 3 adults just sat with a coffee having a chin wag for a while until they were noticed by the kids who had decided they wanted something different.
In the evening we went into Busselton to show Carolyns dad a bit of the bustling nightlife, unfortunately all the people who hadn’t come into the Café today, weren’t coming out to play this evening either.
We started in the Vasse, had a beer in there whilst toying with whether to stay there and eat or move on to the Nard (Esplanade), the Nard came out on top because they have a climbing frame whereas the Vasse has nothing for the kids at all.
We walked down to the Nard expecting it to be very busy as it usually is on a Saturday, and the place was empty, they either knew we were coming or Busselton is not very popular in the places to go stakes today.
The food in the Nard wasn’t as good tonight as it usually is, Ian and Frasers steaks which where supposed to be Medium and Medium Well respectively, were still kicking when they were brought out.
Neither of them mind a bit of blood from their steaks and ate them, Ian did let them know though that they were extremely underdone and whilst we had eaten them another customer would have been well within their rights to send them back.
They said they would let the chef know which is all we can hope for, the last thing we want is for this place to go down hill, we’ll have nowhere to go for a meal.
After dinner we sat outside and had a drink and a chat while the kids played, it was warmer out there than it was inside with the air conditioning on.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
More Caves
Sunday 12th April 2009
We went to visit a couple more caves today, they are both down towards Augusta and on the same ticket as the Lighthouse and Jewel Cave tours that we did on Friday, they were Mammoth Cave and Lake Cave.
We went to Mammoth Cave first, there were never any mammoths in this neck of the woods so it got its name because it is very big.
The Cave offers a self guided tour using MP3 technology, so you can take as long over it as you want, you just tap in a number at the points of interest and get a full commentary as you go round.
When we came out of the cave, we took a walk through the forest of Marri and Karri trees that surround the cave, they are quite spectacular, untouched apart from the odd bushfire for hundreds of years. There were hardly any dead ones, even the ones that had been caught in bushfires were still growing above the point where the bushfire had swept through.
We got the girl at the Mammoth Cave reception to phone ahead and get us booked on a tour of Lake Cave, she managed to get us booked on one an hour and a half later, so we drove there and had Tea with Hot Cross Buns while we waited for our turn.
How civilised is that eh, 30+ Degrees and there we were, sitting outside eating Hot Cross Buns and drinking Tea, almost reminiscent of the days of the Empire.
When we had finished eating and drinking we went into the visitors centre, there were the usual displays and descriptions of how the cave was formed and a manmade fibreglass tunnel which was supposed to be a cave tunnel simulation and a good excuse for the kids to chase each other through it.
Carolyn and her dad both went through the tunnel much to the amusement of the kids, Ian preferred to walk round instead.
When we went to join the tour we had to descend about 300 steps just to get to the entrance of the cave, it was in the bottom of a massive crater known as a Doline, basically a cave where the roof had fallen in.
From the entrance to the cave, we then had to descend a load more steps before we reached the water level in Lake Cave.
We followed a small stream which slowly spread out in front of us, there were, Stalactites, Stalagmites, Straws, Columns and a Suspended Table made from Stalactites that had reached the water level and joined together many years ago and now just hung there above the water since the water level went down.
With all the lights and shapes glistening off the surface of the water, it was quite spectacular and well worth the visit.
Then came the hard bit, we had to get back to the top again. 300+ Steps and we all did it in one go, Kristian seemed to run most of it while the rest of us put our defiant heads on and marched to the top without stopping.
At the top we stopped at a viewing point to get our breath back and wonder whether we were wise to do the steps in one hit, it hurt a bit but none of us died of heart failure, therefore it must have been good for us.
Apparently, some time ago, some plonker said “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”, he/she obviously hadn’t walked up those steps in one go before, it didn’t kill us, but we certainly felt weaker for doing it, although the fact that it was past lunchtime might have had some bearing on it.
Having got our breath back, we drove to Margaret River for lunch. The problem with going to Margaret River for a late lunch on a Sunday is that, despite the town being chock-a-block with people looking for entertainment and food, everything (virtually) closes at 2pm.
We did find somewhere in the end, a Café called Sails, we were going to have a look at it when we were down this way over a year ago, it was closed.
It was up for sale then and we were having a weekend in Margaret River while looking at different businesses in the area that were up for sale, it had closed by the time we got to Margaret River so we decided that we would go and have breakfast there the following morning, looking at it from a customers point of view.
Anyway, we got a call from the agent who was handling the sale of the Olde Chapel Café suggesting that we might like to put in an offer on the Olde Chapel just in case the sale fell through, Sails was closed the following day and the rest as they say, is history.
We had a nice lunch at Sails although they did close the kitchen just after we arrived, we don’t think it had anything to do with us, but it certainly upset a lot of other people, who seeing us sitting outside eating assumed that the place was open and were not happy when told otherwise.
After lunch we had a little walk along the Banks of the river in the hope that Carolyns dad might see a Kangaroo, but to no avail.
We headed for home, stopping at the Beckett’s Flat Winery to sample and purchase some wine, we were probably not in the right frame of mind for tasting serious wine and opted for a few bottles of Rose to take home, it tends to be our preferred wine on the odd occasion we do drink wine, easy to drink, whatever the occasion.
We went to visit a couple more caves today, they are both down towards Augusta and on the same ticket as the Lighthouse and Jewel Cave tours that we did on Friday, they were Mammoth Cave and Lake Cave.
We went to Mammoth Cave first, there were never any mammoths in this neck of the woods so it got its name because it is very big.
The Cave offers a self guided tour using MP3 technology, so you can take as long over it as you want, you just tap in a number at the points of interest and get a full commentary as you go round.
When we came out of the cave, we took a walk through the forest of Marri and Karri trees that surround the cave, they are quite spectacular, untouched apart from the odd bushfire for hundreds of years. There were hardly any dead ones, even the ones that had been caught in bushfires were still growing above the point where the bushfire had swept through.
We got the girl at the Mammoth Cave reception to phone ahead and get us booked on a tour of Lake Cave, she managed to get us booked on one an hour and a half later, so we drove there and had Tea with Hot Cross Buns while we waited for our turn.
How civilised is that eh, 30+ Degrees and there we were, sitting outside eating Hot Cross Buns and drinking Tea, almost reminiscent of the days of the Empire.
When we had finished eating and drinking we went into the visitors centre, there were the usual displays and descriptions of how the cave was formed and a manmade fibreglass tunnel which was supposed to be a cave tunnel simulation and a good excuse for the kids to chase each other through it.
Carolyn and her dad both went through the tunnel much to the amusement of the kids, Ian preferred to walk round instead.
When we went to join the tour we had to descend about 300 steps just to get to the entrance of the cave, it was in the bottom of a massive crater known as a Doline, basically a cave where the roof had fallen in.
From the entrance to the cave, we then had to descend a load more steps before we reached the water level in Lake Cave.
We followed a small stream which slowly spread out in front of us, there were, Stalactites, Stalagmites, Straws, Columns and a Suspended Table made from Stalactites that had reached the water level and joined together many years ago and now just hung there above the water since the water level went down.
With all the lights and shapes glistening off the surface of the water, it was quite spectacular and well worth the visit.
Then came the hard bit, we had to get back to the top again. 300+ Steps and we all did it in one go, Kristian seemed to run most of it while the rest of us put our defiant heads on and marched to the top without stopping.
At the top we stopped at a viewing point to get our breath back and wonder whether we were wise to do the steps in one hit, it hurt a bit but none of us died of heart failure, therefore it must have been good for us.
Apparently, some time ago, some plonker said “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”, he/she obviously hadn’t walked up those steps in one go before, it didn’t kill us, but we certainly felt weaker for doing it, although the fact that it was past lunchtime might have had some bearing on it.
Having got our breath back, we drove to Margaret River for lunch. The problem with going to Margaret River for a late lunch on a Sunday is that, despite the town being chock-a-block with people looking for entertainment and food, everything (virtually) closes at 2pm.
We did find somewhere in the end, a Café called Sails, we were going to have a look at it when we were down this way over a year ago, it was closed.
It was up for sale then and we were having a weekend in Margaret River while looking at different businesses in the area that were up for sale, it had closed by the time we got to Margaret River so we decided that we would go and have breakfast there the following morning, looking at it from a customers point of view.
Anyway, we got a call from the agent who was handling the sale of the Olde Chapel Café suggesting that we might like to put in an offer on the Olde Chapel just in case the sale fell through, Sails was closed the following day and the rest as they say, is history.
We had a nice lunch at Sails although they did close the kitchen just after we arrived, we don’t think it had anything to do with us, but it certainly upset a lot of other people, who seeing us sitting outside eating assumed that the place was open and were not happy when told otherwise.
After lunch we had a little walk along the Banks of the river in the hope that Carolyns dad might see a Kangaroo, but to no avail.
We headed for home, stopping at the Beckett’s Flat Winery to sample and purchase some wine, we were probably not in the right frame of mind for tasting serious wine and opted for a few bottles of Rose to take home, it tends to be our preferred wine on the odd occasion we do drink wine, easy to drink, whatever the occasion.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Cheap Books and Chinese
Saturday 29th March 2008
We went into town this morning to pay the rent, check the emails and pay a library fine incurred by Marisa for having a nose bleed over one of their books. The book was not that badly damaged but because it was blood we thought we should let them know, however it was not all bad because we now know how to get books on the cheap as they are normally very expensive to buy over here. From now on every time we find a book that we wouldn’t mind keeping we are going to have a blood letting ceremony, it will involve one of the boys giving Marisa a whack on the nose while she is reading for which they will be suitably reprimanded and while we are mopping up the blood some of it might get onto the book that we wish to keep.
After that we took the kids out for lunch and gave them their first taste of Jaffle Pie which they enjoyed, although the flavours that they chose were the same as the food they would normally eat for lunch but without a pie case, Fraser had Egg and Bacon, Marisa had Carbonara while Kristian had Shepherds Pie in his Pie.
After lunch we had a look at some Indonesian furniture before going home to chill out for the afternoon and then went to Meelup beach early evening. When we got to the beach there were a load of chairs laid out at for a wedding ceremony and people milling about in suits and designer dresses, the weather was perfect for it and the location is amazing. When the ceremony started all the people that were on the beach stopped what they were doing and watched which was quite nice, Ian however decided to stay in the water and the lucky couple will be delighted to find out that straight after the ceremony when the photographer stepped in and started doing his bit, the first photographs he took of them standing next to the registrars table with their backs to the Ocean will have Ian in the background bobbing around on a bright red wave rider.
When we got home we fed the kids and put them to bed before demolishing our First Australian Chinese meal which wasn’t bad, it wasn’t quite what we are used to but it was tasty and if this is what Australian Chinese tastes like then we won’t be complaining, especially when it is washed down with a couple of litres of Jacobs Creek Rose. We spent the evening watching a load of adverts interspersed with a couple of movies whilst eating and drinking.
We went into town this morning to pay the rent, check the emails and pay a library fine incurred by Marisa for having a nose bleed over one of their books. The book was not that badly damaged but because it was blood we thought we should let them know, however it was not all bad because we now know how to get books on the cheap as they are normally very expensive to buy over here. From now on every time we find a book that we wouldn’t mind keeping we are going to have a blood letting ceremony, it will involve one of the boys giving Marisa a whack on the nose while she is reading for which they will be suitably reprimanded and while we are mopping up the blood some of it might get onto the book that we wish to keep.
After that we took the kids out for lunch and gave them their first taste of Jaffle Pie which they enjoyed, although the flavours that they chose were the same as the food they would normally eat for lunch but without a pie case, Fraser had Egg and Bacon, Marisa had Carbonara while Kristian had Shepherds Pie in his Pie.
After lunch we had a look at some Indonesian furniture before going home to chill out for the afternoon and then went to Meelup beach early evening. When we got to the beach there were a load of chairs laid out at for a wedding ceremony and people milling about in suits and designer dresses, the weather was perfect for it and the location is amazing. When the ceremony started all the people that were on the beach stopped what they were doing and watched which was quite nice, Ian however decided to stay in the water and the lucky couple will be delighted to find out that straight after the ceremony when the photographer stepped in and started doing his bit, the first photographs he took of them standing next to the registrars table with their backs to the Ocean will have Ian in the background bobbing around on a bright red wave rider.
When we got home we fed the kids and put them to bed before demolishing our First Australian Chinese meal which wasn’t bad, it wasn’t quite what we are used to but it was tasty and if this is what Australian Chinese tastes like then we won’t be complaining, especially when it is washed down with a couple of litres of Jacobs Creek Rose. We spent the evening watching a load of adverts interspersed with a couple of movies whilst eating and drinking.
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?
Young Romance and Jellyfish
Saturday 22nd March 2008
We had a lazy start today, just dossing around doing very little until lunchtime when after a light lunch we went to the Café to check our emails. In the Shopping Centre they had an Easter Fox wandering round giving out chocolate eggs to any poor unsuspecting children that may be walking past, well it didn’t take long for the kids to notice him and before long he had been mugged and the kids were sitting in the Café with a big pile of chocolate eggs in front of them.
While we were in the Café the owner came over to us with a piece of paper in her hand and said “I think this might be for you”, it was a message from our new bank, not top secret or anything like that but nevertheless a message for us from the bank. It would appear that it had been sent from one bank department to the local branch in Busselton for the attention of us, however the Wally who received the fax at the bank seeing that it was with reference to the Olde Chapel Café decided to fax it to the Café. So much for security when it comes to bank accounts, we will be having words on Tuesday.
After that we went to some of the bedding and furniture stores in town, we found a couple of bits that we may go back and look at but the choice is not great although the price of real wood furniture is so much cheaper than back in the UK.
Late afternoon we went to the beach in Busselton, it was not as busy as the day before and after a short while in the water we think we found out why when we were surrounded by baby Jellyfish which obviously didn’t like being disturbed. Ian was out of the water like a shot with stings on his arms and Fraser had managed to get some on his back, the netted area that was originally put up to keep sharks out appears to be keeping the Jellyfish in. After a while Fraser decided that he wanted to swim out to a diving platform situated between the netted area and the Jetty so Ian decided to go with him as the platform is about a 100 yards out but by the time they got much above waist depth they were surrounded again by Jellyfish that were stinging their legs so they came back in. Ian proceeded to cover himself with stingose soothing lotion while Fraser went off to play at the waters edge, after a while he went onto the small wooden jetty and started looking at the jellyfish soon he was joined by a young girl about his age or maybe a year older called Katrina. Within minutes she was flirting and posing in front of him and he was hooked, the pair of them were jumping off the jetty and swimming with Jellyfish (how romantic) and Fraser was a happy young lad.
When it was time to go we had a little chat with Katrina’s mum and it turns out that she used to live in Busselton but had moved to Perth and was down here seeing her mother, when we asked about the Jellyfish situation she informed us that they had always been around Busselton and when we asked for how long she said they are here pretty much all year round. It looks like we could be investing in a swimming pool when we buy the house, although we haven’t checked out the beach near the house for swimming yet so we may be lucky. As we parted company Fraser and Katrina were waving frantically to each other until they were out of sight and you never know they might meet again because they know the Café and have said they will come in and see us next time they are in Busselton.
In the evening after tea we had a family night in front of the box watching Ice Age and it was great fun, it’s a long time since we have been able to sit down as a family in our own house so to speak and enjoy a good wholesome family night in, whilst it was great at Carolyn’s mum and dads and at Sharon’s and we were left pretty much to do our own thing it was still somebody else’s house and you are always aware of it.
We had a lazy start today, just dossing around doing very little until lunchtime when after a light lunch we went to the Café to check our emails. In the Shopping Centre they had an Easter Fox wandering round giving out chocolate eggs to any poor unsuspecting children that may be walking past, well it didn’t take long for the kids to notice him and before long he had been mugged and the kids were sitting in the Café with a big pile of chocolate eggs in front of them.
While we were in the Café the owner came over to us with a piece of paper in her hand and said “I think this might be for you”, it was a message from our new bank, not top secret or anything like that but nevertheless a message for us from the bank. It would appear that it had been sent from one bank department to the local branch in Busselton for the attention of us, however the Wally who received the fax at the bank seeing that it was with reference to the Olde Chapel Café decided to fax it to the Café. So much for security when it comes to bank accounts, we will be having words on Tuesday.
After that we went to some of the bedding and furniture stores in town, we found a couple of bits that we may go back and look at but the choice is not great although the price of real wood furniture is so much cheaper than back in the UK.
Late afternoon we went to the beach in Busselton, it was not as busy as the day before and after a short while in the water we think we found out why when we were surrounded by baby Jellyfish which obviously didn’t like being disturbed. Ian was out of the water like a shot with stings on his arms and Fraser had managed to get some on his back, the netted area that was originally put up to keep sharks out appears to be keeping the Jellyfish in. After a while Fraser decided that he wanted to swim out to a diving platform situated between the netted area and the Jetty so Ian decided to go with him as the platform is about a 100 yards out but by the time they got much above waist depth they were surrounded again by Jellyfish that were stinging their legs so they came back in. Ian proceeded to cover himself with stingose soothing lotion while Fraser went off to play at the waters edge, after a while he went onto the small wooden jetty and started looking at the jellyfish soon he was joined by a young girl about his age or maybe a year older called Katrina. Within minutes she was flirting and posing in front of him and he was hooked, the pair of them were jumping off the jetty and swimming with Jellyfish (how romantic) and Fraser was a happy young lad.
When it was time to go we had a little chat with Katrina’s mum and it turns out that she used to live in Busselton but had moved to Perth and was down here seeing her mother, when we asked about the Jellyfish situation she informed us that they had always been around Busselton and when we asked for how long she said they are here pretty much all year round. It looks like we could be investing in a swimming pool when we buy the house, although we haven’t checked out the beach near the house for swimming yet so we may be lucky. As we parted company Fraser and Katrina were waving frantically to each other until they were out of sight and you never know they might meet again because they know the Café and have said they will come in and see us next time they are in Busselton.
In the evening after tea we had a family night in front of the box watching Ice Age and it was great fun, it’s a long time since we have been able to sit down as a family in our own house so to speak and enjoy a good wholesome family night in, whilst it was great at Carolyn’s mum and dads and at Sharon’s and we were left pretty much to do our own thing it was still somebody else’s house and you are always aware of it.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Pretty Good Friday
Friday 21st March 2008
We had a lazy day today, we all got up late, Carolyn did the washing, the boys played or read books and Marisa made lunch and the evening meal supervised by Ian.
Marisa made rolls for everyone for lunch and cooked up some vegetables to make a Russian salad. She also prepared the rest of the salad for the evening meal and made a massive trifle so that it would be ready for us to eat when we came home in the evening.
In the afternoon we went for a walk round town to see what if anything was going on and to see how much the influx of tourists would affect this quite little town. Answer, it didn’t affect it much at all really; the majority of shops were closed and nobody was going out of their way to grab the tourist dollar, the couple of Cafes on the front were doing well as the beach was a lot busier than normal (bloody tourists). Other than making your own entertainment there was not a lot going on really.
We decided to head out of town this afternoon and headed for the beach at Yallingup, it is supposed to be one of the best surf beaches in Australia but unfortunately we have picked a bad day to witness this because the weather is so good the water is like a mill pond.
There appear to be 2 sections to this beach; there is a small almost enclosed stretch of calm water almost like a lagoon which is surrounded by a reef the other side of which is where the surfers sit for hours waiting for that elusive wave; the other section is a sweeping sandy bay that drops very sharply into the water where the waves rise up very sharply only a couple of yards from the waters edge and then come crashing down, we started off here, it was good fun for an adult but not so good for the kids. We did try swimming out past the waves but the undercurrent made it very difficult to swim back in so we moved to the calmer area so that it was safer for the kids to play.
As the sun started to go down we left the beach, went home and enjoyed the evening meal that Marisa had prepared for us and after eating too much trifle we put the kids to bed before relaxing with a couple of tinnies in front of the advert ridden telly watching Legally Blond 2, it was rubbish.
We had a lazy day today, we all got up late, Carolyn did the washing, the boys played or read books and Marisa made lunch and the evening meal supervised by Ian.
Marisa made rolls for everyone for lunch and cooked up some vegetables to make a Russian salad. She also prepared the rest of the salad for the evening meal and made a massive trifle so that it would be ready for us to eat when we came home in the evening.
In the afternoon we went for a walk round town to see what if anything was going on and to see how much the influx of tourists would affect this quite little town. Answer, it didn’t affect it much at all really; the majority of shops were closed and nobody was going out of their way to grab the tourist dollar, the couple of Cafes on the front were doing well as the beach was a lot busier than normal (bloody tourists). Other than making your own entertainment there was not a lot going on really.
We decided to head out of town this afternoon and headed for the beach at Yallingup, it is supposed to be one of the best surf beaches in Australia but unfortunately we have picked a bad day to witness this because the weather is so good the water is like a mill pond.
There appear to be 2 sections to this beach; there is a small almost enclosed stretch of calm water almost like a lagoon which is surrounded by a reef the other side of which is where the surfers sit for hours waiting for that elusive wave; the other section is a sweeping sandy bay that drops very sharply into the water where the waves rise up very sharply only a couple of yards from the waters edge and then come crashing down, we started off here, it was good fun for an adult but not so good for the kids. We did try swimming out past the waves but the undercurrent made it very difficult to swim back in so we moved to the calmer area so that it was safer for the kids to play.
As the sun started to go down we left the beach, went home and enjoyed the evening meal that Marisa had prepared for us and after eating too much trifle we put the kids to bed before relaxing with a couple of tinnies in front of the advert ridden telly watching Legally Blond 2, it was rubbish.
School, shopping, swimming, this is tough
Thursday 20th March 2008
This is probably our first day back in the real world (almost), we were up early to get the kids ready for school before driving them in and after that we headed to the Café to catch up on our emails before doing the weeks shopping early to avoid all the tourists.
After taking the shopping home we went out doing bits and pieces for the business, dropping off forms etc, we contacted the Gas, Electrical and Water people to make sure we know what we have to do to set up our accounts before we moving in.
We then went to see a carpet dealer to try and arrange for carpets to be fitted before our possessions arrive on 9th April. We are meeting the carpet man on Tuesday morning which will be nice for the kids because for some reason they have got the day off and they want another chance to explore the house and fight over who gets which bedroom. Back in the UK if the kids had an extra day off either side of a school break the school used to tell us it was for staff training, over here none of the teachers have a clue why they have got the extra day but the forecast is good so they’re not going to knock it.
We then went to check out some White goods just to get an idea of sizes and prices. We went to one of the biggest chains of Furniture and Electrical goods suppliers in WA, every time we went from one department to another we were pounced on by a salesman who would ask us if we needed any help and when we said no, would say “if you see anything you like don’t take any notice of the price tag because we can sort out a better price on that” so after walking around for about an hour we haven’t got a clue how much anything costs although Ian did find a BBQ that he liked, it is actually more like an outdoor kitchen than a BBQ really, fitted with a sink and fridge as well as all the cooking bits which may or may not cost around $1995.
We picked up the kids from school at 3.05pm and they were as happy today as they were yesterday and after dropping all their school stuff off at home we went for a swim down at the seafront for a couple of hours before picking up a couple of pizzas for our evening meal.
This is probably our first day back in the real world (almost), we were up early to get the kids ready for school before driving them in and after that we headed to the Café to catch up on our emails before doing the weeks shopping early to avoid all the tourists.
After taking the shopping home we went out doing bits and pieces for the business, dropping off forms etc, we contacted the Gas, Electrical and Water people to make sure we know what we have to do to set up our accounts before we moving in.
We then went to see a carpet dealer to try and arrange for carpets to be fitted before our possessions arrive on 9th April. We are meeting the carpet man on Tuesday morning which will be nice for the kids because for some reason they have got the day off and they want another chance to explore the house and fight over who gets which bedroom. Back in the UK if the kids had an extra day off either side of a school break the school used to tell us it was for staff training, over here none of the teachers have a clue why they have got the extra day but the forecast is good so they’re not going to knock it.
We then went to check out some White goods just to get an idea of sizes and prices. We went to one of the biggest chains of Furniture and Electrical goods suppliers in WA, every time we went from one department to another we were pounced on by a salesman who would ask us if we needed any help and when we said no, would say “if you see anything you like don’t take any notice of the price tag because we can sort out a better price on that” so after walking around for about an hour we haven’t got a clue how much anything costs although Ian did find a BBQ that he liked, it is actually more like an outdoor kitchen than a BBQ really, fitted with a sink and fridge as well as all the cooking bits which may or may not cost around $1995.
We picked up the kids from school at 3.05pm and they were as happy today as they were yesterday and after dropping all their school stuff off at home we went for a swim down at the seafront for a couple of hours before picking up a couple of pizzas for our evening meal.
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