HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEREK... 40 years young today!!

Friday 10th October 2008-
Derek took the day off work and celebrated a low key birthday, as requested! We spent the day at Point Walter and the weather was just perfect. Elise took her kayak and once Myra, Pim and the girls joined us the kids all went off sailing! We had a BBQ then had a leisurely afternoon relaxing! We had a meal booked for the four of us that evening at the 'Little Mexican' restaurant. The food was excellent and very authentic (I had stir fried cactus in my meal...it was very nice!). Derek had a great day and was very pleased with his pressies (thank you everyone) of a catamaran, aftershave, clothes, 'Rolling Stone' magazine subscription, money & cocktail shaker!!

Geocaching @ Jarradale

Sunday 5th October 2008-
Thought we'd get some fresh air and exercise today so we got our walking boots on and went down to Jarradale, a old mill town about half an hour away. Had a bit of a crash about in the bush and claimed another cache then went onto the local pub for an Irish coffee, yay!

Ice Skating

Wednesday 1st October 2008-
Whilst Elise & Stella got their skates on...Myra & I sat and shivered (I forgot what COLD was!!!!).

Half Term...yippee!!

Monday 29th September 2008-
Two weeks of no school or work (sorry Derek!), now that sounds like a plan to me!

Going home :-(

Monday 22rd September 2008-
Four weeks passed quickly and it was almost time to say farewell again to Mum & Dad. Not before having a nice slap up meal together at 'Miss Mauds', before their long journey home the next day.

UWA Mandarin Speaking Competition

Saturday 20th September 2008-
Drew, one of four nominated from his school, took part in the annual UWA Mandarin Speaking competition. For this he had to publicly speak to an audience for two minutes about himself in Chinese!! He did very well (even though we couldn't understand a word of what everyone was saying!) and was awarded one of the runners up prises in his age group...well done Drew.

Massed Choir Festival

Saturday 5th September 2008-
Elise took part in the 2008 WA Primary Schools' Massed Choir festival @ Winthrop Hall, UWA. It was a thoroughly entertaining night with choirs from 10 primary schools all singing together to form one mass choir which sounded amazing.

Mundaring Weir

Sunday 31st August 2008-
The weather was feeling pretty warm for spring so we decided it was BBQ time!! We drove out to the beautiful Mundaring Weir were we (or should I say the main man on the BBQ, Derek!) cooked our lunch. This was washed down by a nice cold beer from the Mundaring Weir Hotel!

Camel Rose Gardens

Thursday 28th August 2008-
After Mum had, had her hair done by her personal hairdresser in Aus (thanks Cath!), we thought it would be nice to have a drive out for lunch. The sun was shining and it was pleasently warm so where better to go than the Carmel Rose Gardens. The food was rustic, fresh tasting & yummy!

Visitors!

Monday 25th August 2008-
Mum & Dad arrived from the UK (via Dubai) to spend four weeks with us :-)

Homeward bound...

Saturday 19th July 2008-
Sadly our holiday was at an end but before our long drive home we had our lunch at the pub and I also had a mulled wine to warm me on this wild wintery day!

Oranje Tractor...

Friday 18th July 2008-
With another storm on the way we decided to go to the Sandalwood factory this morning but on the way passed the 'Oranje Tractor' winery and got sidetracked!!! It is a very small vineyard owned by a very friendly couple Murray & Pam. The wine produced is organically grown and they rely on travellers and those on working holiday visas to help pick the grapes in return for free accomodation & food...hmm sounds good to me! We ended up having lunch there, which consisted of a platter of home produced & local produce even down to the homemade butter...it all tasted amazing! The Pinor Noir was just the best we've ever had & we took a few bottles home with us! On our way home we grabbed a cache from a world war two bunker and with that we got caught in a hailstorm and got absolutely soaked to the skin!!!

Marron & Bird Park

Thursday 17th July 2008-
On arrival at the Marron & Bird park we decided that coffee & cake was needed to warm us up on this very cold day (honest!).All the cakes were homemade and the port & walnut cake I had was divine (they wouldn't share the recipe with me tho'!). We all loved cuddling the gorgeous miniature rabbits and feeding the birds, miniature horses, donkeys, pigs & goats. As the park was not too far from Two Peoples Bay we decided to revisit it from last year and I'm glad we did as I'd forgotten what a perfect beach it was, the sand felt like snow underfoot and even squeaked when we walked on it!

Whaleworld!!

Wednesday 16th July 2008-
Woke up to another gloomy windswept day! We managed a quick geocache this morning which rewarded us with 360 deg views of Albany, biting winds and hailstone!!!! After that we decided it might be a good idea to stay inside and get warm so we went to Whaleworld! Albany used to have a thriving whaling industry and this is the place were they used to be taken once slaughtered, for skinning and the manufacture of oil, meat etc. The last Whaling ship 'Cheynes IV' is docked here permanently as a museum piece and was great fun to explore and see the conditions the sailors lived in until the 1970's when the whaling industry was stopped in Australia. One of the most amazing sights we saw was the huge skeleton of a Pygmy Blue Whale found beached in Albany harbour in 1973. It measures 22m long!

Greens Pool

I have been very slack just lately & haven't been updating my blog :-(... until now!!! So here is a continuation from were I left off...

Tuesday 15th July 2008-
We were warned yesterday that bad weather was on the way and sure enough we woke to the pitter patter of rain that is so familiar to Albany. However, it didn't stop us (almost) sticking to our plans for the day! We drove down to Denmark, a gorgeous little town surrounded by lush forests and also near to the coast. We ended up at Greens Pool, a particularly scenic spot (fantastic for swimming in summer, we've been told) were we did a very cleverly thought out multi-cache. Lucky for us it didn't take too long to find it as by this time the heavens had opened and we were getting soaked!! After a long day driving around we ended up at the pub in Albany, yay! The Earl of Spencer was packed and the food was good especially the Bailey's cheesecake!!!

Happy caching!

Monday 14th July 2008-
Today we did a multi-(geo)cache. This took us on a tour of the wartime coastal defence emplacements in the Princess Royal Harbour. Whilst walking around we were accompanied by plenty of large lizards and a couple of bandicoots for company! After stretching our legs we did coffee & cake at 'Bay Merchants' just around the corner from our duplex & chatted with a Scottish bloke and his wife!

Middleton Beach

Sunday 13th July 2008-
Had a lazy morning then ventured out to the nearby Middleton Beach for a walk. The beach was covered in an array of different shells which had been washed up after a violent storm in the area two days earlier. Drew & Elise soon had pockets bulging with shells they wanted to take home but they were spoilt for choice!

Albany, here we come!

Saturday 12th July 2008-
Today we are off on our annual jaunt to Albany for our fix of 'proper' winter weather!
For those of you who may not know, Albany is 4 1/2 hours south of Perth & experiences colder conditions to Perth due to its location near to the Southern Ocean.

Our 16th wedding anniversary !

Friday 11th July 2008-
We hadn't planned on doing anything special as we are going away tomorrow but Derek was a little bit sneaky and booked us all a nice meal at Panchos Mexican Villa, good onya Dez!

Half term holidays start, hurrah!

Monday 7th July 2008
I was hoping to have a nice relaxing week off but as usual the jobs have piled up and first on my list is to start painting Elises bedroom. It has to be finished completely by the end of the week as we are going away on saturday!

Bike lesson...

Saturday 5th July 2008-
Had full waterproofs on today (poured down)...what a sight I looked!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OSKAR...2 today!

Friday 4th July 2008

M/bike lesson no.???

Saturday 28th June 2008-
Not sure how many lessons I've done now, but todays was well scary...I was let loose on the road!!!

Derek, home.

Sunday 21st June 2008-
Drew, Elise and I had an early start to pick Derek up from Perth airport at 12.30am!

Derek at work!!!

Dez flies to Singapore

Monday 16th June 2008-
Derek flew to Singapore this morning on a business trip for Western Power who he works for.

Brekkie @IKEA!

Saturday 14th June 2008-
After an early morning motorbike lesson of 7am (yes...I am mad!) there are two things on my mind this saturday morning, breakfast and spending money...and where better else to do both of those than our brand spanking new IKEA store yippee!

Couldn't resist...

Monday 26th May 2008-
...sharing these two pictures with everyone, Sox is the grey cat & Toffee the ginger!

MY 35TH BIRTHDAY!!

Sunday 25th May 2008-
Yes, its that time of the year again...why is it the older we get, the quicker it comes around?!!
Had a nice leisurely morning watching the last semi-final for Eurovision (we get the contest 24 hours later than Europe, so we have to avoid all media for risk of spoilers!). In the afternoon I had my helicopter trip (which was actually my christmas present!) which I must admit I was a tad nervous about (the older I get the more I like to keep my feet Firmly on the ground!). However, once in the air I had a fantastic view of Fremantle & Perth city as I was sat at the front with the pilot...awesome!
After all that excitement I needed nourishment so it was onto Miss Mauds for a smorgasbord tea, then home for cake (well actually a rather large fruit crumble!).

Bike lesson...

Saturday 24th May 2008-
I really wasn't looking forward to my bike lesson this week after the disasterous lesson I had a fortnight previously. However, I managed to keep calm (fairly!) and all went well. The only criticism from my instructor Brian is that I'm not going fast enough...ok, well maybe I do need to go faster than 20kh!
WELL DONE HULL CITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Uthando Project

Monday 19th May 2008-
Elise for the past 8 weeks has been involved in the Uthando Project during her PEAC (primary extension & challenge) lessons. During these lessons Elise & her classmates have been making dolls for the children of Kwa-zulu natal in Africa. Here is a picture of Elise with her finished doll ready to go to its new owner in Africa, well done Elise!

Day out in York...

Sunday 18th May 2008-
...York, WA that is (yes, it is named after the more familiar York!). Its not as big as York in the UK but its quite quaint with a few historical buildings, craft & coffee shops.
A few of us turned out to support our friend Kelly who was doing a tandem parachute jump. I thought she was soooo brave, its not something I would EVER consider doing!

Girly Nite out!

Friday 16th May 2008-
Seems ages since I had a proper girly nite out (miss ya Shelle), so jumped at the chance to socialize with my friend Hannah & her mates around Ocean Reef.
Hannah & Chris (who Derek works with) have just moved into their new home in Clarkson which is a good hour up north from where we are. We all stayed overnight as its such a long way. Had a good night & the Ocean Reef crowd were all really friendly.

Mother's Day

Happy Mothers Day to both our Mums in the UK, hope you have a great day, you both deserve to be spoilt rotten!
My treat was being awaken with a nice cup of tea (and biscuits) by Elise. I then received chocolates from Drew (washed down by more tea) and an organiser from Elise. Derek then treat us to lunch at Little Creatures Brewery in Fremantle where I worked my way through tiger prawns, veg kebabs & waffles with apple/rhubarb & cream...yum (me thinks I need to work EXTRA hard at the gym this week)!
On our way home we went to the garden centre and got some water plants and two fish for my pot pond. Drew & Elise have named them Ariel & Kraken!

2nd bike lesson...

Saturday 10th May 2008-
Oh dear... think I may have tempted fate last log...
I just couldn't get things together this lesson... I had problems with my gear changes (I did get up to third this lesson though!), over revved the engine and nearly gave myself a heart attack then just as things couldn't get any worse I lost my balance and ended up on the deck (fortunately I was stationery at the time)!
Things can only get better...

1st bike lesson...

Saturday 3rd May 2008-
I had my first motorcycle lesson today :-O
I was initially nervous but by the end of my hour long lesson I was doing 'figure of eights' and changing into second gear...all without falling off once!

Back to school, back to work...

Tuesday 29th April 2008-
Back to school for Drew & Elise and back to work for me as I am now working two days a week in the high school (Tuesday & Friday).

Perth Motorshow

Saturday 26th April 2008-
Took a good look at some seriously nice cars (and bikes) today...

Camping, day 3

Friday 25th April 2008-
Happy Birthday Nils (in Norway) ;-)
After a VERY chilly night we cooked porridge to warm us up then set off on another caching expedition. Nanga Hill was our destination, a popular 4 x 4 trail up the hill which was scary enough to walk up let alone drive up! After we found the cache we gingerly walked down as it was VERY steep and slippery and gave our leg muscles a good work out! Our afternoon was spent relaxing by the river before packing up our tents and returning back to civilisation!

Camping, day 2

Thursday 24th April 2008-
Today we started the day with a spot of fishing in the Murray river. Drew had high expectations of catching something nice for lunch, however the hook got caught on a rock and snapped Drews line leaving him gutted and us hungry! We went on a bush walk next and grabbed a geocache at the same time from Swamp Oak campsite on the Bibbulmun Track (one of the world longest walk trails).
After this we popped into Dwellingup for a quick browse around. On our way back to our tent we saw a wild Echidna walking by the edge of the road!
After another unsuccessful attempt at fishing, we had our tea (not fish!) then started settling down for our second night in the bush. Oblivious to time it was only when we got to bed that we checked the time on our mobiles...shocked to find that this time we were crashing out at 7.20pm!!!

Camping- Lane Poole Reserve, day 1!

Wednesday 23rd April 2008-
Today we set off on our short camping expedition to Lane Poole Reserve, situated in forest located by the small town of Dwellingup (1h 30m, south of Perth). Mid afternoon, when we arrived in the reserve we were greeted with a wild boar trotting around in the middle of the road (it was so cute, think 'Babe', but in black!!!). By late afternoon we had our tents up and were ready to cook our tea...until I remembered we'd forgotten to bring a pan or any cooking recepticle! Lucky for us the local shop was still open and Derek managed to purchase a billy can! Our day ended with a game of Yahtzee until we all crashed out exhausted, presuming it was very late we got snuggled up in our sleeping bags only to realise it was in fact 8.15pm!!!

Ice Skating

Tuesday 22nd April 2008-
Today Drew, Elise & I went ice skating. I think its the first time since leaving the UK that I have really experienced the cold...it was like walking into a fridge!! We skated non-stop & that was just to keep warm!