To Denmark

We left Mindarie Keys at 10am to begin our long journey down to Denmark.
We were on the road for a total of 5 hours. It is over 400 kms from Perth
We had a stop for lunch in The Woolshed in Williams. Good homemade food with arts and craft shops in the same building.
Soon after leaving there we realised that we had Alex and Katherine in front of us.
We then all stopped in Mount Barker for a cup of tea, it was good to see them, they were on their way down to Albany for the weekend.
After a cup of tea we headed on to Denmark. We picked up the keys to the house in the town, did a little shopping and then found the house.
It is on stilts on a hill and looks out across a valley to the inlet and the Southern Ocean beyond.
We went out for a meal at a super little restaurant.
We are now having an early night so that we can make the most of tomorrow. There are so many things to see down here including the vineyards, treetop walks amongst the huge tinsel trees and the natural rock formations along the coastal areas.
Goodnight for now!

Friday

We had a fairly quiet day. Caught the bus and train to Joondulup and had a really good look around the large shopping centre.
Apparently the centre is going to be extended greatly in the next two years. Joondulup has been built as a new city over the last 25 years and is getting bigger and bigger.
In the evening we all went to James and Shari's for delicious dinner. It was a lovely evening and Rhys helped entertain us. Ethan was in bed!
Stuart and I will not get another opportunity to see James this visit so we had to say goodbye to him.
We saw the sunset from their balcony.
Thank you James and Shari for a great evening.
We are off down to the Southwest this morning, Saturday. A 5 hour drive, and we come back here I think on Wednesday
Bye for now.

A Perth City Tour

Stuart and I caught the train from Clarkson Station into Perth Esplanade Station. We caught the Tram for a tour of Perth City.
It was very good and it took us to Burswood and to the east and west of the city.
We then took the second tour which took us to Kings Park for a good tour of that. Our next stop was to the Barrack Street base.
We then visited the Bell Tower, which has the bells from St Martins In The Field -- we climbed up to the viewing floor on the 6th floor.
It was a fun day, we are now going out for a meal!!

A Rude Awakening!

Yesterday afternoon we went for a drive up the coast to Yanchep. Masses of new homes are being built and even a new town is planned with a harbour.
It is interesting for us to see the development that is going on. Eventually the railway will go that far north, so much land is available and homes are needed. The land was all sand and bush.
We had a look around the lagoon at Yanchep and Two Rocks which is where the Dolphinarium once stood.
We came back home via one of the public golf courses where we had a cup of iced tea.
During the early hours this morning we were suddenly woken up by thunder and lightening and very heavy rain. It was all very close.
The rain was very heavy and sounded worse as a lot of the houses here have metal roofs, to make them cooler inside.
Today we have had a quiet day so far, just been to the shops and then this afternoon had a walk down to The Waterfront here in Mindarie where we had an iced coffee and sat and watched the boats coming and going.
It is hot, you just cannot be in the full sun for long and we always take our bottles of water with us.
It is all very lovely

Kayaking & Smiling

This morning I watched my brother David set off on his kayak for an hour or so's exercise.
Over the festivities of the past week or so I have managed to damage a tooth. I was able to book myself into the local dentist this morning and have already received excellent treatment though
I will not be eating steak for lunch.

Kangaroo Time

We visited Pinaroo Memorial Park and there we saw this sweet family of kangaroos happily grazing in the shadow of a tree. We had a cautious walk around them.
We went on to revisit a lake in Joondalup where we had visited in 1999 with my mother and had been treated with a procession of passing kangaroos appearing in Jurassic Park style out of nowhere, passing us by and then off into the distance.
We did a bit of shopping and then returned back to the house to relax and enjoy the evening.

Meeting the Family

Tonight we have been enjoying food and games at Alex and and Katherine's home.
We met Katherine's Parents, Karen and Leo and Brother Matthew. It was fun and a good time was had by all.
Thank you Alex and Katherine for a good evening.