Monday 12th May
Early start to get on the road down to Busselton our destination for the next three nights. Our first stop on the road is Mandurah where we crack open the tea and muffins and sit on a bench in the sun, what a way to start a Monday morning! We then took a walk around the town and found an English Sweet shop which I got very excited about. Sad I know! They had everything though, it was amazing; fruit salads, cola pips, Nerds, Wham Bars, Rhubarb and Custards, Popping Candy – I was like a kid in a sweet shop, except unfortunately I was an adult! What’s good about being an adult in a sweet shop is that no one can tell you what is too much to buy so I grabbed as much as I could carry and went to the counter – y-u-mmy! Back in the car for another couple of hours and we stopped for lunch and then got to Bunbury. Unfortunately the weather had made a turn for the worst and we nearly got blown away trying to see if the dolphins were anywhere near the shore, after a few minutes of freezing cold air I decided I wasn’t all that worried about seeing them again and we drove off to a lighthouse. I was quite pleased with myself I made it halfway up the lighthouse, not bad for a vertigo sufferer! Another few hours and we arrived at the Abbey Beach Resort at our self catering 2 bed apartment. It was a stones throw away from the beach, which I’m sure is lovely when the sun is shining, there was a nice indoor pool and gym area (which I’m sure will get a lot of use!!) and a nice river with ducks on!
Tuesday 13th May
We headed off towards Margaret River which is a main wine producing region in the South West of Australia. We headed straight for the cheese factory to get our elevenses, they had five cheeses and a yogurt to try so we were sorted!! After this we headed into the town of Cowaramup and the home of Candy Cow sweet shop and factory!! No wonder I am having trouble fitting into those jeans! We watched them make Honeycrunch which is basically like the inside of a Crunchie, really tasty but the size of the packets they sell would definitely be enough to rot your teeth! I was happy with some fudge and a new cow keyring!
We then headed into the town of Margaret River itself and had a walk around the town to try and pick out somewhere for lunch, we then decided to had to a winery for lunch instead – perfect! We went to Amberley Winery and firstly did some wine tasting, I’m not sure if it was any good but it certainly tasted good to me! We then had another amazing lunch and the most tasty pudding I have had in ages. Chocolate brownie, still warm and slighty sticky with clotted cream on the side and covered in a light chocolate sauce – needless to say once we started eating it I think we probably would have liked one each rather than sharing between three!
We then headed for the coat to a place called Yallingup, the weather had really pulled the black clouds towards us and the wind was making huge waves, I got sprayed with water and I was miles away from the actual coast. We then stopped at our final destination for the day Simmo’s Ice Cream shop where they have 44 flavours of ice cream, I decided to go for Swiss Chocolate flavour, it had bits of nougat and chocolate pieces and the size they gave you was amazing. Was a truly fattening day, brilliant! One thing I will say in my defense after eating so much in one day is that I did go to the indoor pool and do a few lengths, but as soon as I realised the hot tub was free I did let the bubbles do their work!
Wednesday 14th May
On the road towards the town of Nannup, a tiny town with most of the shops closed because it was a Wednesday and they close on a Wed and a Tues! We found a café open and had a lovely hot chocolate and a scone with cream so all was going well for a second day of indulgence! We then headed to Balingup which was another very small but quaint town where we had lunch at the local Gallery, another lovely meal, this time I abstained from a pudding as I was so full from Lunch and I had a herbal tea to try and help my digestion! Just outside Ballingup was an emporium of Arts and Crafts made by Western Oz artists, the place was huge, just as you thought it had finished it carried on around a corner. If I had more space and more money they would have made a fortune out of me that day. Some of the tables they had made out of old branches were just beautiful. We then moved towards Donnybrook and to a cider factory where we tried some cider and picked our own Pink ladies. I was a bit disappointed with the guy serving the cider, when I asked him how it was made it avoided the question and told me that scrumpy cider has more of the pith and skin left in, so there you go!! Useless! On the way back to Busselton we drove though the town of Capel and then on towards our temporary home. I had another swim before dinner which I think allowed for the large amount of cheese I then consumed for dinner!
Thursday 15th May
We visited the town of Busselton itself, specifically going to see the 2km long Jetty. There is a lot of history around the jetty and had the weather been better I would have taken the walk but as it was the clouds were creeping in and I did not want to be stuck at the end of a jetty in the middle of the pouring rain! After that we were back on the road again and heading towards Perth, we made another stop in Mandurah at a lovely pub which my Auntie and Uncle had been to before. Back on the road again and we got back home in good time, time enough for me to start uploading the photos I have taken in the last 2 weeks and to try and finish this bloody blog! I think I’m going to go back to only writing certain days again soon cos this is just taking far too long! Later that evening we went and watched Julia play Indoor beach volley ball, it was such a laugh. Basically they have a sand court with nets around it and you have four a side and you play volley ball!! Wish they had that in England it looked like such a laugh although I would obviously have to get over the urge to cower when the ball actually came towards me, but I would probably get used to it! Maybe, with time!
Friday 16th May
To be honest I spent most of the day writing this blog and uploading photos, I still have emails I should respond to but I am fed up of being at the computer! I am getting far too used to not being at one! The kids are having a sleep over tonight because they wanted to have one while I was still here. We had fun playing frustration which I must admit is really frustrating, I lost and I wasn’t even trying to! They have gone to bed now and I’m going to follow very soon. We are doing something with them tomorrow, maybe a picnic in Kings Park if the weather is good or we might go bowling, we will have to see what tomorrow brings.
On Sunday I fly to Sydney and I shall be sorry to leave my Australia family, I have had such a laugh and it has been great fun getting to know my young cousins before they get too old and too cool to talk to their boring older cousin! But the sun beckons and I hope to find it as I travel up to the Whitsunday islands and to the Great Barrier Reef….. watch this space for the new adventures of Sarah-Jane… has anyone seen Lois Lane?? (I know I know lame joke!)
Signing off for a while
S-J xx
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