I’m rolling these few days into one blog post as there wasn’t much touring done – it was mostly just being with special people that we care about and don’t see often enough.
We enjoyed our hot showers at Dandaragan in their amazing ablutions block and heated croissants on the public bbq in pioneer park before packing up and heading off in the rain. It felt like we were driving into winter as we headed down that last 150km to Perth. There seemed to be lots of military establishments (training facilities etc) and mines along this stretch of road, but we were too keen to get to Perth to stop and investigate more.
We had a few troubles with finding a petrol station that we could easily get to off of the freeway, but managed it before we ran out of fuel (phew). There were a few stressed moments in there. Unfamiliar freeways paired with apps that don’t seem to do what you want when you want are a bit of a recipe for stress.
Our first stop was Maggie and Nic’s place. (Maggie and Nic were teenagers in the youth group that we once led – now they have teenagers of their own!). They were home for the weekend and then busy in the week, so it made sense to take up their time while we could see them. They kindly made themselves available and we brought the last of our Shark Bay Whiting (just defrosted) to have with lunch and then sponged off of their fabulous hospitality, playing catch up on all the events in our lives that pass by while they are in WA and we are in SA. Their girls continue to grow into fabulous and accomplished young ladies and we always look forward to seeing them and admiring the changes as they grow into young adults. Maggie has lost a heap of weight since we last saw her and looks healthier than we have seen her for many years. They all seemed to be happy in their space, which was great to see. I didn’t think to grab a photo with them while we were there.
On the 22nd we headed for the other side of the river to Aunty Joc’s place, and were given permission to park in the driveway by the garage. This was just out of the way of the newspaperman, who comes down the driveway to deliver each morning and does a three point turn at the end. He managed not to clip us as he drove past while we were there. We once again solved some cryptic crosswords with Joc (it was she who taught us about them in the first place) and spent lots of time just drinking tea and chatting.
We headed into town with Joc and cousin Tim to get together for dinner with extended family in a room at the top of an apartment building which looked down over spectacular views of the Swan river. It was a very beautiful place and good to meet some more of Lou’s family and to catch up with cousin John and his wife Louise again. (There is never enough time together).
The 23rd was my birthday. I hadn’t known of the tradition that the Southgates have for creating a “throne” with streamers on a chair for the day which is the birthday seat. I spent the day sitting in this special creation for the day and feeling very special every time I did.
We returned the key to Maggie and Nic’s place to Maggie’s work before heading over to Kings Park for lunch in the cafe and a bit of a walk. The wildflower garden was looking good, but it is just a little early for my favourite kangaroo paws to be out in bloom properly.
Joc taught us how to do the Alexander Technique of Semi Supine constructive rest with our legs up on the lounge room chairs and our heads on books for 20 minutes. This was a gift that we hope will keep on giving and we practiced a couple more times before we left her and have already tried a couple of times since we came home. It is good for resting the mind and realigning the body.
https://www.poisealexandertechnique.com.au/articles/2018/5/29/semi-supine-practice-guide
We shared dinner at home with Joc, Tim, John and Louise (who had forgone their handstand classes for the night for our benefit) and ate beautiful fruitcake cooked specially by Joc for the occasion. I felt very very spoilt.
On the 24th we went out again to do some chores while Joc had the cleaners in. We got a new tyre on the camper (one had been changed off a week or so before as it looked rather worn out), filled the gas bottle and bought a warm flannel shirt each while we were at BCF. Later on in the day we took Joc and did a Bunnings visit for a few essentials and had a look at her new car in storage at the dealership. (We asked specially so we could see it before we left town)
We did some food shopping ready for the next leg of the trip, visiting Joc’s local butcher and picked up some of the most beautiful meat we have had on this whole trip – cryovacced so that it would keep well for the trip home.
On the 25th we were ready to go again. We reluctantly said goodbye to Tim as he left for work and then to Joc as we drove away again.
Luvapuzzle 