Hopetoun - At "The Deck"

We have some friends from long ago, Chris and Carol, whose house we lived in when we first arrived in Perth. They have lived in all sorts of different places around WA but have spent the last 10 years in Hopetoun - another beautiful, rugged, coastal town 50 kms off the main road. They bought the old post office building and have done a fantastic job of developing it into a place where you can sit on the deck and have a great filter coffee, walk through the small art gallery and have fun finding something to buy in their interesting gift shop. We popped in to say hi to them and have a cup of coffee but ended up sharing a lovely dinner together and staying the night in the driveway of The Deck.

We had a great time chatting about all that they had done. It is very difficult not to fall in love with the remoteness and beauty of the place and buy your very own holiday cottage!! Chris and Carol have a small cottage behind The Deck which they will rent out to family and friends ...so if you need a break at any time we can give you the details. It is an amazing part of the world to explore - remote beaches, The Fitzgerald National Park and, of course, The Deck!

Bremer Bay- a remote piece of paradise

After traveling 60kms off the main road to Esperance we discovered an absolutely amazing paradise of pristine beaches and remote ruggedness. There were sheltered coves and beaches all around the area with the most turquoise sea that we had ever swum in.

The caravan park we stayed at had the feel of an alpine village in a south west forest! At night we were visited by the most enormous kangaroos that I had ever seen. By the time we got up in the morning they had completely disappeared.

Even though the area is so remote there are a few places to visit and enjoy - the one wind turbine which provides 40% of Bremer Bay's power needs, an eerie looking abalone farm, Wellstead Homestead built in 1857 where we saw a small stone building that reminded us exactly of the little stone chapel on Graeme and Sheila's farm in Walkerville and the rammed earth Bremer Bay resort where we had an ice cold shandy.

We had another interesting neighbour! No chanting this time. He was an ex-miner, Rod, who had given up on women and now travels with his 2 dogs in a HUGE Bush Tracker caravan pulled by a Ford F250 which does 2km to the litre!!! His plan is to travel for the rest of his life. He even has a shovel at the top of his rig to be used when he departs this world! I offered him a cup of tea and he remarked that it had been a long time since anyone had made him one!! He asked if I had a sister - so he probably hasn't really given up on women...so, if you know any single ladies looking for life in a Bush Tracker pulled by an F250 let me know!! I am sure we will bump into him again.

We were very happy staying in this remote part of the world and will definitely return. It's worth the detour off the main road.

Traveling east from Denmark to Albany

Our hippie neighbour was out of his trance and very willing to move his motorhome so we were able to leave our beloved Denmark safely! (If you ever come to Denmark stay at Riverbend. It's like living on your own farm without any of the work.)

We drove to Albany where we had arranged for our caravan to have a service. We spent a few days in a rural area of Albany - rolling fields, grazing cows and an incredible strawberry farm - the best strawberries we had ever tasted - $3 a kg! We also needed to do some shopping so visited an excellent farmers market and walked around the historical part of Albany looking at some of the restored buildings and magnificent views across the harbour out to sea.

It rained most of the time we were there and as we had visited Albany before we spent the days relaxing and reading. It was lovely seeing rain after having not seen any rain anywhere for ages. After our relaxing time we were ready to explore parts of the coast we had never seen before.

Leaving Perth

After having been in Perth since the middle of October last year we finally decided to set off on our travels again. The tenants in our house decided that they would like to stay for another year. We had reassured Granmere that she could pay her bills. Chris fixed all sorts of things in her little house.We organised a Silver Chain Care Alarm knowing that she could get help if no-one was around. We helped Nat and Ben pack up and move house. Chris finished a big network job at Mc Coy. We spent a lovely Christmas with all the family and had loads of precious moments with Eva, Eloise and Ali. We were built-in babysitters for Ben and Nat which I know they really appreciated.

It's always sad to leave the family but also very exciting packing up the home on our back and heading off into the sunset!!

Well, the day we left, we were half a km down the road when the electric brakes of the caravan packed up. You can't tow a caravan with no brakes!! Oh dear me. Was the air blue? Poor Chris spent about 2 hours undoing and re-doing wires, cables and measuring Ohms. The brake unit was "@#$%*d"!!! BUT....miraculously he worked out what the trouble was.....corroded connectors after the caravan having been standing for a few months. He had a magic spray, and lo and behold, it was fixed and we were on our way.

We drove to Busselton and stayed on the banks of Geographe Bay in a lovely treed

site. However, getting into the site took a bit of work. We had lost our touch and after

trying and trying, with my hand signs being USELESS, a very kind man came and asked if we needed help?!!! He quietly helped us get into the site.....now our holiday could begin...with a few lessons having been learnt.

We swam in the beautiful bay, walked through the trees, drove to Margaret River and visited Peta-Jane and Brian who have done an amazing job of renovating their 100yr old home and slowly got ourselves back into "Gypsy" mode.

We then went on to the Shannon National Park where we were totally self-sufficient - no water or power, just what we had in the caravan. It's a lovely feeling being so remote and unconnected to the outside world - only the forest smells, the birds and the stars - and the smell of our camp fire!! We did listen to some of our 10,000+ songs we have on our ipod. Can't go anywhere without music!

We stayed in the park for 2 nights and made our way to Denmark, a place we absolutely love. It is just beautiful - rolling green hills, endless forests, the whitest beaches and turquoise bays. We have a beach we go to where we swim in the nude! Our special place!

Right now we have a few hippie campers around us and a guy in a van who is obviously trying to find himself. We have been enveloped in the smell of incense and the sound of Indian women chanting all morning. I love it but Chris is struggling to concentrate on a small job he has to do on the computer! For us to get our caravan out tomorrow this guy will have to move his van. Hopefully he'll be out of his trance!!

It's great fun being gypseys. You never know who you'll meet!!