Tuesday...29 June

Ok so today was a lazy type day. Someone who went fishing yesterday was not overly energetic  and took extra time to get out of the starting blocks today. Honestly, turtles move faster! Once up and  moving we walked to the shops and wandered around just seeing what they had, bought a couple more tent pegs for the annexe mat, and strolled home again. After lunch we drove out to turquoise bay, although came close to not bothering when we had to pay to go into a national park, but as it was only $11 we paid up and continued on our way. Am of the opinion that the blessed tourists should be charged and us aussies should get free passage into our own national parks. Definately a pretty spot, and blow me down there were crazy people snorkelling in the water, in the middle of winter no less. Just cause the temp was over 20 does not mean one should lose sight of the fact that it is winter after all!!!! On the way back we pulled into the Exmouth lighthouse and watched the whales frolicking in the bay. (Kept saying in Kalbarri that all I had to do was move north to see them.) Drove past the Learmonth Airforce Base and the Harold E Holt naval communications base, nice to see the show of force in the north. I believe the comms base is mainly for our submarine fleet. There is a series of communications towers out there (13) that are super super low frequency transmitters which once upon a time were vital to NATO submarine communications. These days satellite is used but the station here is maintained in case of necessity. Visible offshore is several oil and gas drilling platforms too. So ok, probably no blog tomorrow night as we move on tomorrow and are spending the night in a wayside stop again which usually means no mobile coverage and this also translates to no internet,,,,Will blog again as soon as am able.

Monday...28 June

Home is the fisherman, home from the sea. Todays pic was tea tonight. Himself had a good day out on his fishing charter. Most of the catch was filleted but he kept one aside to bbq whole and share with the neighbours here in the park.Some of the strikes never made it into the boat, sharks took them off the hook. He saw seriously large sharks and some whales and even a dolphin. He aches from  head to toe and although he took sunscreen he is burnt from either the sun or the stiff breeze that was blowing today, but he is smiling and very happy with himself and his catch. I spent the day strolling to the shops, located a hairdresser and came home much lighter in the pocket but happier with my appearance. Tomorrow we thought we might go to turquoise bay...

Sunday...27 June

Boring ho hum day today. Up early and set off on the 368km hike to Exmouth. We fell into our old habits of just keeping on keeping on until we arrived, but really should have stopped at least once on the way, we were bone weary on arrival. The vehicle of course purred along without missing a beat and the van followed without a flutter of any sort, which encouraged us to continue when we should have made a point of stopping for a cuppa or lunch or some such excuse. We passed the Tropic of Capricorn today and said ah ha we are definately in the North West now, this was confirmed when lots and lots of anthills appeared. Had nearly forgotten them, but so majestic and so many of them. We made camp here in Exmouth and had time to wander over the road to the Information centre and Himself made a booking to go deep sea fishing tomorrow. Once we came back from there we took a short, no long, stroll around the caravan park and met many proud dog owners. This park allows pets at the discretion of the management and by the look of it this translates to small dogs. Many varieties on display around the park. Am very impressed with the behaviour of the dogs and their owners. To think I  had to go this far to see genuinely responsible pet owners.Then it was time for happy hour, and a very happy time it was too. The neighbours came over and chatted and produced pizza for tea so Himself is now under pressure to perform tomorrow as I have invited the same neighbours to dinner tomorrow night to eat the fish he has yet to catch. Whislt he is fishing I will wander in the direction of the local shopping centre to see if there is any chance of a haircut. That and a spot of washing should take care of my day...hope yours is as pleasant.

Saturday...26 June

What an eventful day. Up early to go to the markets. Turned the water heater on for a hot shower and took forever to realise that particular tank was out of gas and that the water was still cold!. Once Keith changed tanks things were much better. Eventually we made it to the markets and got some crisp new capsicum for ninety cents each, and a bag of fresh grown tomatoes for one dollar eighty. New celery was a dollar for a full bunch. Most pleased with the freshness and prices. Then we went to lunch at a little cafe just on the edge of town called the River Gums Cafe. It is in the gardens of a plantation right beside the massive Murchison River. Food was fantastic and pricing very reasonable. We got a burger and a smoothie each and simply could not eat it all. We were full half way through it. Such a shame too as they had a lovely tart lemon cheesecake for dessert!!! We also bought an entire butternut pumpkin for a dollar and a kilo of locally grown bananas for two dollars. So I guess this means the current pot of vegetable soup will be replaced with pumpkin soup eventually. The gardens were a riot of color with some simply stunning bushes. They also had some photo albums showing the Murchison in flood, most of the photos were taken from the homestead roof....lol. After leaving there we took a road marked on a mud map (yep muddy dirt road, semi bush bashing required) that eventually led us to the bitumen road to the blowholes. They are most impressive, we even saw a turtle in the water near the blowholes, but wait, there is more, much much more....I went to the blowholes and saw WHALES frolicking within sight of land. A small pod was clearly visible and we spent some time watching them play. My first sighting of whales, very pleased now.  After that we drove the 8kms on dirt out to the Quobba Station Homestead just to take a look. Out near the homestead is a memorial marker dedicated to HMAS Sydney. Apparently two of the Kormorans life boats and some liferings of the Sydney washed up near Quobba station so it was thought the Sydney must have sunk in the area. It is now known this was not the case. Once back in town we found the famous Carnarvon one mile jetty. Seems the one we walked yesterday was not the real one, so today we definately walked the one mile out and the one mile back on the real famous jetty. Naturally the wind blew a gale and alteratively tried to blow us off said jetty and took my breathe away with the strength of it. Came home for a nice hot cuppa followed by a long tall glass of wine to warm myself up again. Off to Exmouth tomorrow, so this should be interesting. Am wondering if any of the grandchildren are keeping track of our travels on a map of Oz? Might make an interesting long term project. Do let me know, I could contribute useful information if it is likely to be used. Each place we go we get the free welcome to our little town book. Full of stuff kids might like to know. And a red line on a map might get some interested in geography.......

Friday...25 June

Bit brrrrrrrr this morning. Was down to 9 degrees. (Yes Yes, I know Perth got to .1degree.) Up nice and early to take the tourneau cover to the upholstery place to have the zips put in. The bloke did a lovely job and even put little flaps on to stop any rain getting in if need be. Very pleased with ourselves.  Decided to stay an extra day as lost most of today waiting for the cover to be done, however we did go out and drove around the big plantations just for a look. Saw bananas trees, mango trees, grape vines, citrus trees, pumpkin paddocks, watermelon paddocks and all manner of stuff growing by the paddock full, most impressive. Carnarvon grows 70% of Australias entire winter vegetable crops.  Then we went to the big satellite dish, telescope thing just on the edge of Carnarvon, my goodness it is huge, 29 metres across, massive. Was very windy up on the hill beside the satellite dish. After that we went and walked the Carnarvon jetty. Seems I am destined to walk my way to fitness. On the way home I did notice a row of trees growing sideways just like the ones south of Geraldton that grow horizontally from the constant winds. Tomorrow there is  a growers market to visit and maybe a day trip to the blowholes which are 75kms out of town along the coast. We made a booking today for a couple of days at Exmouth beginning on Sunday.

Thursday ...24 June

No I did not forget yesterday!!! We left Kalbarri just after lunch, having waited patiently for the constant downpours to ease up...ha ha. We went as far as Nerrin Nerrin which is a wayside stop (without mobile reception) 82kms north of the Kalbarri turnoff.  A total trip of 150km for the day, children please note, it did  happen, we travelled less than forever in a day. Us and around two dozen like minded nomads spent the night at this pleasant little wayside stop, complete with composting toilet.... and solar powered night light. The folks in the caravan next to us were seriously old,  in fact the wife said her husband was an OBE, which stands for Over Bloody Eighty, I thought that was a particularly good quote and showed a wonderful sense of humour. Later in the evening I was doing a few laps of the parking lot for exercise and the old boy joined me. We got to chatting and I found out that not only does he have his funny OBE but he also has a real OBE, for 30+ years service in Local Govt!!!! So now I have met my first real OBE too. Fascinating fella, he kept telling the other occupants of the park that he had hooked himself a rich new girlfriend (me!). lol. Got up this morning to the sound of someones radio playing the news that Julia Gillard is now Australia's first woman Prime Minister. WTG Julia and good luck. Will be interesting to see how she copes. Then it was onto Carnarvon (250-ish kms for the day) arriving at lunchtime. We checked into the caravan park and walked next door to the IGA supermarket and got a bit of meat for tea. Then we went downtown and got me a super large box of anti itch pills for the sandfly bits I am covered in. Note to anyone reading with a interest in the subject.....vicks vapour rub does wonders on sandfly bites!!! Was given the hint yesterday and thought yeah right, but desperation last night in the middle of nowhere and I tried it and it works, and as an added bonus, my ankles don't seem to have a cold......lol  My day for wins, the Woolies liquor shop had a special on my wine, same stuff I was drinking in Kalbarri was on special for $8 a bottle, bought a carton of six. But wait there was more, my chateau cardboard was also on a two for one special so am now stocked up for quite some time .(lmao) . Saw a  bloke in Kalbarri with zips in his tourneau making it fit around the turntable when in transit and easier to seal when the van is unhooked. We are staying here a couple of days and have booked to have the tournau cover altered tomorrow so that it fits around the turntable better. Bring on the industrial zips.

Tuesday...22 June

Last day in Kalbarri. Was just getting the hang of being a local and seems I must away tomorrow to places further north. Ask me no more, will know by tomorrow nights entry where I was going..... Took a last walk to the look out, but sadly no whales, am sure they will arrive the day after I leave. The other visitors that were expected arrived just before lunch, so now there are four caravans of varying sorts parked up here at the one house. Am thinking they will be getting a visit soon from the local shire office for a please explain. Have had a lovely time here in Kalbarri but the shed is built and we must continue the great trek. At the pace we are moving the people we are staying with will pass us somewhere on the road as they too are about to trek into the wilderness for a bit. Good friends, warm hospitality and much laughter, one can only say a heartfelt thank you for such relaxing and enjoyable company.

Monday... 21 June

Shortest day of the year. Still very tired after the big trip to town on Saturday. Another day of housework. Washing, vacuuming, sweeping, toilet cleaning, bed stripping etc. Totally boring I know but even for us retired folk it becomes necessary to clean ones home to be able to continue to live in it!!!!! No trip to the look out today, must do tomorrow am locking up and hobbling like a granny......Plans of starting back on the road either tomorrow or Wednesday, most likely Wednesday. No idea where we are headed as management has not told me yet. The boys spent the day doing all sorts of little jobs, playing catch up now they do not have to spend all day every day on the shed. I now have a proper towel rail out front under the bedroom overhang to be able to air/dry my bathtowels after the daily shower. I also  have handles on my bead drawer as the constant opening and closing was starting to pull the front off the drawer. I have a new electric jug which will hopefully turn itself off, unlike the one it has replaced. I have a spring loaded slider on the fly screen door of the caravan too. And a wonderful little roadside fire box thing, will keep us warm if needed and allow us to cook safely camp fire style. The mail bought us girls a package of online shopping of beads so some of today was spent putting that away too.  Tomorrow yet another visitor is arriving, a winnebago......hmmm enough said.....lol

Sunday....20 June

Hmmmm, who thought today was gonna be a rest day? Silly me. Up early and packed the van because it needs to be moved to allow the final clean up of the you beaut new shed. Rushed around and did the general laundy, got out the sewing machine and sewed and sewed and sewed some more making three tubes and three pouches for rods and reels over three long hours at the machine picking and unpicking as needed until an idea turned into a reality. In between helped and gave encouragement to hostess who is trying to tidy up and cook for guests invited to roast lamb in the webber dinner with dessert of home made pavlova.  All this done to the echoing sound of a angle grinder cutting long lengths of roofing tin to fit the trailer for trip to the tip, which did not happen, a V8 car race beats a trip to the tip any old day!! However even car races come to and end eventually and back to work for the lads.Sewing finished it is time to take the washing off the line so that the initially smoky webber can be set to hotting up for the dinner to cook. Did that and headed to the caravan with the clean washing, only to see it disappear down the drive. After staying out of it all day when I finally do need to re enter it the boys got around to moving things. Grrrrrr.  Half an hour later the caravan that the shed was built for is finally resting in the shed and our caravan is back in the drive and back on its chocks.  Was still putting things back to rights when the dinner guests arrived. Dinner was wonderful with good food and good company, many laughs, and much story telling. I think one of the best parts of the great trek will be meeting new people and hearing their stories. No time to walk to the lookout today. Am hopeful of getting there tomorrow...(Happy birthday Murray)

Saturday ... 19 June

Up ultra early to be ready to leave for the 1.5hr trip to Geraldton. Got to see the other exit/entry to town right before a kangaroo big enough to have fallen off a qantas jumbo bounced across the road along with a medium sized mate. Not happy. All set for a lovely day out and wham, got smacked right between the eyes with a nasty reminder of things I had hoped were long behind me. Silly of me I know but had more or less forgotten the existence of the horrid beasts.  As luck would have it himself had not put the pedal to the metal as we had just passed the 110km sign, so a bit of fancy driving got us out of the way. Took the shine off the day for me and I forgot to look at the passing shoreline and sadly did not get to see it on the way home as we came home in the dark, once again dodging all manner of things that hop. As well as occasional roos, Kalbarri also has lots of rabbits. Have seen the evidence when out walking but until tonight have not seen the rabbits. The day in town was long and tiring, we all came home with sore legs. I believe the men bought all manner of things as men do when they go to town. The girls raided she-bunnings and made good use of the 20% off sale. A very short happy hour tonight followed by a small dinner of pre-prepared pie and all have retired very early. Tomorrow the lads will tidy away the mess in the new shed and stand around and discuss how clever they were to build it between them. I need to sew some calico into long tubes for the storage of fishing rods to prevent them rubbing against each other in their little home under the caravan. With any luck the rest of the day will be a rest day......

Friday ... 18 June

Its done! The boys have finished the carport. More banging of metal today as the last of the roof was attached then even more noise as the old carport which was being used as fixed scaffolding, was demolished from under the new roof, and lo and behold a new shed! Very impressive. The girls headed to the look out in sheer desperation to remove ourselves from the continually constant noise and returned in nice time to watch the last of the old shed be knocked over for the big reveal. Two very tired but very happy men at the table tonight. They will need a tube of deep heat between them but they are not complaining yet . Before heading to the look out today we girls cooked up a storm so as to have dinner ready for tomorrow night when we get home tired after our long day out to Geraldton. And a bonus for us girls, she-bunnings is having a 20% off everything in store sale, wtg Spotlight!

Thursday... 17 June

IT DID NOT RAIN TODAY. Very cold, dull and overcast but no rain. What a blessing. Boys were atop the shed banging away merrily, nothing quite like the sound of a hammer hitting metal....constantly. We walked to the shops and carried humungus loads home on foot or should that read on our backs? The road to the shops is downhill. Unfortunatley the road home from same shops is not. Much huffing and puffing and stopping to admire non existant scenery or gardens! After lunch we strolled to our favourtite look out, and listened to the sound of a  hammer hitting metal.....constantly. Rather surpirising to hear it that far away,but proved the point that it is very loud and the neighbours are very patient and forgiving. Wonder if it was why absolutely nothing was happening out to sea. No boats, no whales, no dolphins, no storms, no fishermen, no water spouts. Couple of people fishing from the rocks at the mouth of the river, some energetic sorts walking their dogs but otherwise all was empty and quiet on land and at sea. We had a party of four join our party of four for happy hour tonight. Much merriment and shared laughter. An enjoyable few hours.

Wednesday ... 16 June

Husbands brother had a birthday today. And you will never believe it but guess what? It rained today!!!!!! We donned bright yellow rain coats after emptying cupboards in little used rooms to locate them and went for that walk anyway. Was so nice to be out in the fresh air again, a bit brisk but so goood. I initially huffed and puffed just like I did when I started this walking stuff, but very quickly got back into routine.  We were not the only silly ones, we passed several others out walking in the rain. Went to our favourite look out and think I saw two or three very interesting spouts well out to sea. Initially thought it was water crossing reefs but only saw two in half an hour and the sea was very churned up so if it was water crashing on a far out reef would have seen a spout every minute or so. Will live in hope that tomorrow or the next tomorrow will prove me right and I get to see some of the biggest beasts of the sea. Am thinking they should nearly have reached here by now on the way to their breeding grounds further north. After getting slightly wet and very windy, we were no sooner home and the sun came out and we had intermittent sunlight during the afternoon. Only supposed to be 22 tomorrow so guess it will be bright yellow coats again.

Tuesday....15 June

So, it rained...it rained all day! It rained all night, the wind blew all night and my little bed felt like a bucking bull ride, this van really rocks!!!! As most of you know I have damaged one of my inner ears, rocking in the wind does not do a lot for me or my balance, ended up in bed holding a round white bag item I relocated from Royal Perth Hospital the one time I got to sample their skills. All the nurses reading this should recognise the description. Was a most unhappy little camper. Mercifully bag remained empty. My moans and groans were accompanied by the thunderous pounding of the sea on the rocks, incredible to be able to hear it this far away. As it rained all day again today, the lads made do with admiring and discussing the merits of the new welder that came in the mail today. Much looking hopefully to the sky for a break in the weather to allow them to try it out on the newly constructed carport capable of holding large 4x4 and fairly large 23ft van. Maybe tomorrow lads, but by the sound of the pounding waves I would not hold my breath. The girls waved a few dusters around the house then continued with beading 101.
Seems I am guilty of telling part of a story and not giving the ending. The visiting caravan that sheared a wheel off last week has been duly fixed by our two resident mechanics at minimal expense to the owner who has duly shown his appreciation! Our lads saved him the cost of the having a car carrier (?caravan carrier) come out from Geraldton, 150kms away to take the van in for repair and of course the two to three week wait to get it back. They were even able to repair other bits broken by the wheel as it came adrift and they did all that on the nature strip in front of this house,the next day. So that couple will be back on the road later this week as was their plan without missing a beat, very lucky people as a sheared wheel was capable of causing a seriously nasty accident as well when it seperated from the caravan.
We are planning a trip into Geraldton before we depart Kalbarri as the lads have been writing a shopping list of things it seems we/they need. Hoping for a nice day as we are all going and it would be nice to do lunch and a spot of shopping at She-Bunnings for the girls. Why should the boys have all the fun!!!!!!!
And come tomorrow even if I have to cut holes in a rubbish bag to make a raincoat I will walk up to the lookout, I am missing my daily dose of sea views and its been raining for two days now. And following a serving of a wickedly good home made cheesecake I need the exercise too........

Monday... 14 June

What a shame, yesterday was so nice and today is overcast and miserable and now it is raining and according to my freindly BOM site it is gonna bucket down tomorrow! Very little acheived today, sat around saying how nice dinner was last night and what lovely company we had and doing a spot of beading 101. Maybe tomorrow will be more interesting but how I cannot think especially if it rains all day.......

Sunday....13 June

Fine and sunny 26 today. Perfect weather! Walked down to the lookout again today and I saw a dolphin playing. Am very pleased with myself for recognising the water splash and locating the animal amid all that water, it was well out to sea, not in the shallows. We sit on a bench seat at the lookout and have slightly bigger than 250 degrees of vision and all of that is water, so magical. As you all know I do not swim and am not one to walk along the beach but I can and do admire a view when I see one. We went out to dinner at the Kalbarri hotel tonight, good food, nice atmosphere, good company. Very enjoyable evening, slightly chilly on the walk home but the milky way was shining brightly to light our way.

Saturday ....12 June

Today we  went to the Rainbow Jungle Bird Park here in Kalbarri. This park breeds parrots of all sorts from around the world.The collection is stunning. Birds of all sizes from tiny to massive. Birds of all colors and what vibrant exotic colors. The plummage was everything from ho hum to wow and there was even one parrot that measured over a metre in wing span. Hard to pick a favourite, but I quite liked the Princess Parrot, medium sized featuring a pretty peachy colored bib. The macaws have such vibrant vivid colors and they are massive birds, they make our local parrots look a bit tiny.Macaws of all colors, blues, red, yellow, green, purple, orange, black. I saw black parrots with yellow trim, black parrots with white trim, black parrots with red tails. I saw the Rosella sauce parrot and the bird that is on the Arnotts biscuit tins too. Of course they had our white cockatoo, and corellas, and pink and grey galahs and the major mitchell cockatoos. They had pretty lovebird parrots and bright bright yellow parrots . The best thing about this park was that they had a huge undercover open area that the birds could fly free in and actually get wind under their wings. The avairys were very clean, all had plenty of clean water and seed and fruit and vegetables and they are actively breeding birds to help keep certain species from extinction so most were in breeding pairs of male and females with very informative signage on the avairys making it easy to tell male from female etc . A stunningly beautiful park full of color and happy inmates.

So no we did not have time to go white water rafting, I would like to do the river cruise up the Murchison, but no one wants to go with me, I did not do beading today, we did discuss skydiving at some stage during the evening happy hour, (a most merry happy hour it was too), I did not make lemon sago, only lemon and herb chicken in a shake bag, I am not pregnant and I have no intention of going to Hutt River Province and giving Prince Lenard or Princess Shirley, any of our hard earned money so as to be able to look around their farm. I know we are sitting within cooee of their place, but as they are now collecting Australian pensions after not having paid tax for the past few decades, I feel they have lost any credibility! as have the govt that allows them to do so.......

Friday... 11 June

So let me see, if I write in the blog no one makes comment...if I forget to write in the blog everyone says where did that day go to? I get it now, this is the kids idea of a joke on mummy. And you will never guess what I did today........

Thursday... 10 June

Up early, visitors coming and the project soooo close to finishing for the boys. They had the safety boots on before breakfast today, such was the enthusiasum. First they went out and collected scaffolding which cost the usual carton rental. Then they moved my little house and finished the framework of the new shed. They even put a couple of pieces of colorbond onto the roof to make the project look that little bit more completed. They were such happy workers they skipped lunch to be able to finish early for the day. They packed away their tools and dismantled the scaffolding and took it back from where it came. They put my little house back on its allotted spot and fiddled until the spirit level said they could stop. Then the poor loves came home all tired out but happy to be finished and able to sit down and spend an hour or two patting each other on the back. Did not happen! Visitors due around lunchtime failed to show. Just as the boys were sitting down to rest, phone rang to say visitors were broken down 10kms out of town after shearing off a wheel on their caravan, on a trip from Perth to Kalbarri today. Sorry boys, pack some tools and jacks and off  you go to rescue the broken down caravan of incoming visitors. Hours later having layed on their backs on the bitumen to fix the problem enough to limp the broken van into town they got the longed for cold drink. One is now asleep on patio, other is in hot bath trying unlock cramped muscles. What a shame when they had so much to celebrate. Never mind lads, maybe tomorrow, after you fix the broken van you can celebrate finishing the shed!!!

Wednesday ....9 June

Very productive day today. Cleaned and tidied the van, which I  had been led to beleive was going to be moved just a few feet today to make way for the building project to continue. Did not happen. Seems the workers decided to have a day off today. Either they hurt all over or they  hurt all over and had feelings of unwellness following a late late night on the back patio!!!! We girls supervised new curtains being delivered and installed and continued beading classes with great success and two new items added to the ever growing pile of completed necklaces, bracelets and ear rings. Later in the day we took a lovely walk to the lookout at the beach and sat and watched several boats coming and going along the sea/river. Even got to see a boat get to the mouth of the river from the sea and do a "go around". For whatever reason they changed their mind and did a complete circle and came back at the entrance from a slightly different angle. Wondered if perhaps it was a learner at the helm? The second attempt to enter the river mouth was text book perfect so well done whoever it was. On the river was one fellow paddling a kayak with a fishing rod trawling behind the kayak. He was fishing in the entrance channel and had to paddle like fury every time a boat came in from the sea. When they come in they sit just outside the mouth of the river until the waves and swirls and eddies are just so, then they gun the motor and barrel through the opening like a rocket, hence our kayakers need to paddle fast out of their way. One wonders on the mentality of someone who would be silly enough to fish smack bang in the middle and at the entrance to a major marine channel, knowing that the fishing fleet are likely to be returning to port around that time. Still it is nice to just sit in the sea breeze and watch the sea in all its magnificence. And occasionally we meet up with other nomads and exchange the time of day and get another outlook on the weather or the lifestyle.

Tuesday...8 June

Another perfect day in the mid west. Fine and sunny without being hot hot hot. Got the washing done and finished a beading project. Spent most of the day just sitting around. Small bit of walking late afternoon to accompany hostess to an appointment, for the sake of a walk for the day. Note to self, make time tomorrow for a proper walk to the seafront again. The men made remarkable progress on the project and are beginning to use words like nearly finished. Tomorrow they will need to move my little home to reach the last bits of the job, then I am assured my home will be replaced onto its original site for the rest of our stay.

By request..short heading

Another pleasant day, sun shining, cool breeze, was so excited I did the washing!! Well sorta. I did do our towels and have big plans to tackle the rest tomorrow if BOM lets me. Have just checked in with them and they are promising 25 tomorrow so it is looking good. Put in some effort and removed dirt and dust from the van before it took over and became a chore, go me!  While I was on a roll I took the turbo cooker out of its box tonite and cooked a roast beef to try it out. Worked well and those that ate the meat swear it was succulent, juicy and cooked just right.  Maybe along the way I will become a cook as well as a grey nomad. More bashing and banging from the direction of the shed roof today, so it seems the secret mens business is making progress and by the time we leave there will be something bigger and better to house the car and caravan at this address. Greatly pleased with themselves.Us girls just nod wisely and string a few more beads......

Quick update for yesterday. Local festival, good day out. Wandered around stalls and tripped over dogs whilst watching the never ending noisy antics of excited children. Am thinking a few people will have no voice or at least very sore throats today after their efforts, the childrens entertainment crew were pirates and spent the day yelling ah me heartys and much ho ho ho ing. Competition was all things nautical, like rod casting and canoe races and pirates kidnapping school teachers and making them walk the plank etc. This was called the Kalbarri Crayfish and Canoe Festival.....was expecting to see stalls selling lots and lots of crays either fresh or cooked, sadly, we saw no actual crayfish. Couple of food stalls were doing sausage sizzle and the fish and chip shop over the road from the festival area was doing a roaring lunchtime trade as were the local pubs and clubs. At one stage it took 15 minutes for us to locate the one and only stall selling bottled water, note to self, take some with me next time I go to such events and yes I know bottled water costs more per litre than petrol!!!! Still we wandered around all the stalls and looked at all the merchandise and only bought items one simply could not manage without (beads) and strolled home again to spend the rest of the day in quiet contemplation.

Ok so it was overcast and damp all day. We still went for our walk to the lookout at the mouth of the river, wind was blowing hard and quite chilly but the sea was a deep green color and quite calm. Odd really. However the rain held off until we were safely home again.  Met an older couple from Goulburn in NSW who were new arrivals and looking for the local RSL club. Also met an asian couple who we thought were probably honeymooners, they asked for their picture to be taken with the river mouth behind them. We said definately no when they offered to take our pics.....lol. Did not fancy my ugly old dial being shown as holiday pics somewhere in Asia as an example of what an aussie looks like!!!!  i could single handedly ruin the australian tourism industry with that shot. The boys continued with their secret mens business building program, today this involved much roof climbing so we went inside and shut our eyes. We beleive good progress is made but still not finished. Early night tonite, big day tomorrow for the crayfish festival, all those little beady eyes looking at me trying to make me feel  guilty which won't work as I do not eat the blessed things. Lets hope BOM is right with their forcast of showers clearing by lunchtime.

Rain, we need it right? But do we really need it all day, like constantly? When the weather man says rain wouldn't it be nicer if he also said it would rain from like two o'clock to four o'clock on friday morning, then fine up so that average folk could get on with their day???? No walking today, in fact not much of anything as it was raining when we got up and is still raining. We do have fingers crossed for fine weather on Sunday for the great Kalbarri Crayfish Festival. This is the big event each year so surely do not want to miss it. And we are hoping that one of the stalls is selling my favourite product (beads). Spent today showing Helen the basics of beading, a fun way to kill a rainy afternoon. She thinks it may be a new hobby for herself and her husband is being consoled by mine regards the forthcoming spending spree needed to obtain beginners supplies!!!! The menfolk are a little out of sorts as they still have work to do on their project but are unable to continue until it stops raining. My luck the rain will not shine again until Sunday and they will need to stay home working instead of coming to the festival.

Have been wondering if it is possible to make the daily happenings or non happenings of a couple of greying nomads interesting in some way to the general population. Do I waffle on about habour views, fishing trawlers, possible whale sightings, crashing waves and constant sunshine? Will my endless references to the shining sun win me friends or have people hating me for bragging? Does it really matter if I found myself reminded of a certain SAFV (sleepy assed fishing village) as is occasionally refered to by another member of my immediate family, whilst watching the fishing fleet return to harbour as I slapped at the ever present but thankfully limited supply of sand flies/mosquitos or other members of the biting fraternity??!! These and other soul searching questions will no doubt be answered as the great trek winds its way around our wonderfully magnificently country.
Am amazed at the ability of some of my fellow travellers to appear daily looking as neat and polished as they would back  home in the city. If my clothes are creased and I haven't had a hair appointment in weeks, do I park in the same little patch of nowhere as they do? OMG the ultimate disgrace to be run out of a wayside stop for not meeting grey nomad dress standards.....
How could my children ever hold up their heads again? Would the grandchild who had a birthday today ever speak to us again? Suggestions needed on how to become the trend setter of the trendy nomads set.

No serious activity today. Did the washing, strolled to the shops, carried our purchases all the way home (go me!). Took  a walk to the beach and watched a person in a kayak paddle to the mouth of the river, try to exit to the ocean, get washed back into the river and paddle around in circles then try again and again...definately wasn't a quitter. Was a much calmer day for the waves today but they were still pounding in. Looking forward to the weekend as there is a crayfish festival on in Kalbarri, might be interesting to look at.