Love a tree

We left Pemberton yesterday and headed onto Walpole to the "Valley of the Giants" and the tree top walk. Amazing country with huge Karri, Jarra's and Tingles. As you can see from the pic Ron found one he wanted to take home, I think it would have made a great Bonsai LOL.

We arrived here in Albany about 4pm yesterday, set up on our ensuite site which is right next to the beach. Swimming, sailing and all sorts of fun things lay ahead for the next three days. WRONG. At 4.05 a gale blew in and has been at it ever since. The forecast is for it to last until Saturday. Last night has been the scariest night we have spent in Miss G so far, with the walls blowing in and out, the roof moving in the opposite direction to everything else and the ends (beds) going up and down, I imagine it's a bit like being in a storm at sea. The rain is not hitting us because to it blowing straight over us, only the really BIG drops make it down to our level. We even considered packing up and taking off inland but it's too dangerous to try and get the awning and flys down in this wind. Ron still has the flu so things are a bit grim at the moment. Never fear Saturday will come and we'll be off again.

Just to prove that he hasn't bumped me off yet

This was the welcoming committee at the big tree, much friendlier than the magpies LOL

I think this is one for Bruce

Today was karri forest day and we have done the big tree, the bigger tree and the biggest tree, the cascades, the dam, the waterfalls and have driven through a Mc Cubbin painting all day. Along the way we came across even more new flowers and then this one which I think is a native orchid, if I'm wrong I'm sure Bruce will correct me in the comments box.

and of course the fabulous "White Boys" are standout favourites of ours.

The wild flowers continue

We thought that the season for the flowers might have finished but down here in the south it really is just hitting its straps. I have tried to pick some of the more interesting examples for the blog. I have more than 70 great wildflower pics if you want to see more just let me know and I will post some new ones each week.

On the road again ------

Yesterday was packing day and we were off to Pemberton in the Karri forest area. We stopped over at Nannup for lunch and parked in front of this magnificent tree in full flower, thought you might like it.

A BIG ray of sunshine

On our last day at Busselton we went for a walk along the pier and spotted these two cruising under the pier. We were approx 30 ft above the water so I guess they were about 5 - 6 foot across. Big boys.

Knee Deep - The last stop on the winery tour

Well we survived the tour and as you can see there were causalities. 5 wineries (average 7 wines per place, the cheese factory, the chocolate factory and the Bootleg Brewery - all in one day.

We are staying at a great park just next to the beach, the park has won every tourism award in the last 5 years and is now ineligible to enter. Large lawn areas, great ensuites,lots of trees that block out the satellite, good management, just a great place. Off down the track tomorrow, we are heading down Caves road which runs through the hills all the way down to the very bottom of the state and then on to Pemberton and the karri forests.

Welcome aboard to Frans and Eveline from Holland who are also trekking around in a pop top (more casualities of the wine trip) we hope to catch up with them along the road.

Aaaaah another gourmet meal in the making

Good afternoon from down town Busselton WA. We left Perth this morning and cruised our way south to Busselton some 250klms away. The weather is great 31 and sweaty, just the way we like it, clearish sky and a vague threat of rain overnight. First thing was to organise the Margaret river wine tour which starts at 10.15 tomorrow morning and they pour us back into the park at 5,30ish, sounds very dangerous LOL. We are 100 meters from the beach so Wednesday will probably be a "not very active" day, maybe looking for more shells for Bailey.

Have a great holiday Hans

News Flash - We've been SHOPPING

As much as I would like to say this little ol' boat at fremantle was ours, unfortunately it didn't come in the right colours, so we declined the offer - BUT "Miss Guided 2" is born. Today we paid the deposit on the new generation MG and will pick her up in Geelong when we get there. She comes with all the bells and whistles, almost a proper kitchen, full size fridge, normal size counters, WARDROBES, storage for heeps and heeps of stuff, a toilet and shower etc etc etc. She will be ready in two weeks but we probably wont be home until early December as the farewell trip for "Miss Guided" will include some more drinks and good times.

I have also changed the parameters for comments on the blog and everyone can now leave a message. I didn't realise that I had left all the blocks in place, now they are gone.

RT is well and loves his new windscreen and I absolutely adore being able to see again with my new glasses. Off to the Margaret River on Monday.

Good Morning from Port Denison,

Well we have been quiet for the last couple of days waiting out the remainder of the school holidays by walking, painting and watching the Bathurst telecast. Off to Perth tomorrow to get a new windscreen for RT and me - can't wait LOL. We are staying a small park about 5 klms from the center of town so hopefully it will be ok. It is bounded by the racetrack on one side (which will suit Ron) and the airport on the other which will suit me as I just found a $600 airfare and 4 night accommodation package to Brunei (very tempting) LOL, and the swan river is on another side so if the weather heats up a bit we may get D'luded into the water. We went in here but the weather has been a bit too windy since then and an ocean going sailing ship she ain't. Off to the Sunday night Roast tonight.

Go Holden

Nero fiddled while Rome Burned,

but we decided that we would go to lunch while the market crashed, but you will notice that we are drinking tea and NOT wine. The reason for this is that it is almost impossible to get a decent bottle of wine in this state. All the bottle shops look like extensions of Liqourland. While we are not in the Margaret River area just yet, we thought that by now we would be getting cellars selling local wines - Nope, I asked someone the other day about a cellar and was informed that there was a basement in one of the old post office buildings !!!!!!!!!! not what i meant was it LOL. Yesterday we spent 3 hours sailing around Port Denison and for a change I manage to shift that large lump in the front end and get in some good fast sailing. Dinner last night was yet ANOTHER meal of that dam fish Ron caught, and there are still several meals to go.

And the winner is...... the Green Grocer

Well the sunshine parade has been and gone and in true style it started in the RAIN. It was a strange parade, no amplified music AT ALL, no speaker system on the street so you didn't know who or what the float was about, two bands the local brass and a pipe band and they were good, but without some razzamatzz it sort of didn't quite get there LOL. That said all the kids loved it and lots of lollies were thrown around so I guess it did what it was meant to do.

We arrived at Port Denison this afternoon and have found an almost perfect park. It sort of feels like a retirement village - NO WISE CRACKS - everything is manicured, the gardens are great, we are parked under cover for the first time ever, we have an ensuite which has a separate toilet and shower, a storage room for the freezer and junk and most importantly a WASHING MACHINE AND DRYER that didn't come from the Tardis. It does have a big tree at the back which scraps along the metal roof, so lets pray the wind stays quiet. We're not sure what is around here so we have only booked in for 3 nights. If the weather stays calm and warm we may stick around longer (if we can extend). Last night we thought we were going to be blown back to Victoria, the winds blew all day and all night and we were very glad to put Geraldton behind us.

"Oooooooh what's this big black thing in here"

Aaah yes Ron has finally discovered the engine, and how to pump up the tyres as well, it was a good day at car school LOL. As you can see yet again we had to lower the tyre pressures and then sit on the side of the road while mighty muscle pumped them up again. We are getting very good at this little routine. We have arrived in Geraldton and so far everything is going on schedule. I saw the optometrist yesterday so the new glasses are on the way, RT (truck) has been to the doctor to get the rear door sensor cleaned so it doesn't keep telling us that the back door is open (apparently full of dust and dirt, can't imagine how that happened) and today is the 50th anniversary of the Sunshine Festival so off to the street parade at 3pm followed by the dog competition and then a Tea Dance - this sounds very much like Midsumma Festival.