Perth (final)

Day 211

Carmen is off to work again this morning so we are up at a reasonable time and I pack her off with a sandwich and a nut bar for lunch and settle down to some serious gaming.

I think the neighbours probably wonder what I am up to sitting inside on such a nice day with the curtains shut and headphones on as I do get some funny looks on one of my toilet breaks.

Of course I’m not playing games all day, I also manage to busy myself with a bike ride to the beach. It may not be too far but there are several hills along the way and it is a hot afternoon so by the time I arrive I am dripping in sweat and I haven’t even got my swimmers so there is no chance of a cooling dip before hitting the hills home again.

Chores are done in the afternoon and before I know it Carmen arrives home again in time for dinner.

Day 212

Carmen has booked herself in to have her roots done with the on-site lesbian hairdressers and so off she trots early in the morning. Several hours later and still no sign I have visions of her reappearing in tears with a hair disaster but I am happy to report all is well and she (eventually) comes back, hair intact with a shiny new hairdo.

A moment I have been looking forward to for months in the afternoon as we drive down to the Swan River and hire out a sailing catamaran for an hours sailing up and down the river. It is Carmen’s first time sailing and she looks nervous as we push off the beach and head out into open water.

The Fremantle doctor has arrived and so there is a good breeze and we soon pick up a good bit of speed (far too much apparently) and whilst I am in my element, Carmen is gripping on for dear life thinking we are going to hit every other boat on the river!

The hour is over for too quickly for me although it feels like a lifetime to Carmen and we arrive back at the beach both exhilarated (me) and regretting ever getting on the damn boat (Carmen) and we both agree that next time I should probably go on my own and Carmen can watch from the safety of the bank.

Day 213

A day out to do some Christmas shopping and so we pack up Polly and head to ‘Harbour town’, a shopping ‘village’ in the city. As we approach the car park there is one of those hanging booms with warning signs telling of the maximum height (2.1 M). We approach slowly and as it turns out the fuel can on the roof rack is just above 2.1M and so we whack the boom and it noisily swings announcing our arrival to the onlooking shoppers. What an entrance!

The shopping centre has all of the usual shops but (for 3 days before Christmas) seems amazingly quiet and so we stroll around in the (relative) peace and quiet and both get ourselves some presents (Thanks Dad).

Where are all the Christmas shoppers?

Of course as we are leaving the car park we have to pass under the boom and whack it again announcing that Polly has left the building!

Back at the campsite and it’s a big night as it’s the Karinyup waters Christmas sausage sizzle with live music! Slightly apprehensive we have a couple of drinks before we go over (purely medicinal of course) to calm our nerves and just after 7 we stroll over.

Well looks like the whole campsite has turned out and the sausage sizzle in in full blast! We grab a couple of snags and settle down on the grass to listen to ‘forgetting Julia’ (one of the worst band names ever).

Sausage sizzle

They are actually quite good, an 80’s style pub rock band covering all the big names from Mental as Anything, through Hunters and Collectors to The Travelling Wilburys (!?) and with the aid of a couple more snags (and a couple more beers) we both thoroughly enjoy the evening and knew that both Peter and Rob would have been up dancing.

Day 214

After last night’s frivolity what better than to get up super early (5.30am) for Carmen’s penultimate shift at work! She is packed off on the early bus and I spend the morning doing washing and feeling slightly hung over.

I manage to jump on the bus around lunchtime and head into the city as we have both booked ourselves into the dentist for a check-up, clean and polish. All goes well and Carmen is in after me for more of the same. Once this is finished we both head back and decide to get off the train a stop early in Leederville to visit the (infamous) Leederville hotel. Good little pub too, well I say little but the place is huge with indoor and outdoor bars, mezzanine levels and a live music venue next door. We settle down and enjoy our pints of cider and when we are done we get back on the train for the rest of the journey home.

Day 215

Christmas eve today so we are out in the morning to complete our Christmas food shopping at the shopping centre and buy our Christmas booze. Luckily we have a list and so are pretty much in and out managing to avoid (most of) the last minute shoppers.

Carmen heads off in the afternoon for her final shift at work and I keep myself amused playing the game (again!) and generally preparing for the big day tomorrow.

Carmen arrives back home and we realise that we have both been so caught up in the excitement of Christmas that we haven’t got anything for dinner tonight! We delve deep into the cupboards and out come the emergency tins of soup which are heated and eaten and followed by Christmas chocolates and we retire knowing that we can have a lie in tomorrow.

Day 216

Christmas day!

Finally a bit of a lie in, but not too much as I am eager to get up and see what Santa has brought. I have (mainly) been a good boy this year and am hoping Santa got my letter in time….

We went a bit overboard with the decorations

The presents are arranged under the tree and we haven’t done too bad for people that live in a van.

After the customary shaking and squeezing of all of the gifts to try and guess what they are (we know what they are because we only brought them the other day) the unwrapping begins.

We are both pleased with our haul, I got a game (a custom since the early 80’s, thanks Dad) and some new shorts and socks and Carmen got some new scarves and other assorted clothes as well as a jigsaw for us both and some replacement glasses that we forgot to bring from Sydney when we left (thanks Davey).

Once that excitement is over the eating begins, starting with a champagne breakfast of smoked salmon scrambled eggs and followed quickly by Christmas chocolates and nuts.

Christmas wouldn't be complete without a visit from the bunny...

or the ducks...

or the swans!!

All too quickly we start preparing our seafood and cheese platter lunch with a side of ham and crackers and once this has been consumed we take a stroll (roll) up to the pool for a relaxing dip to help it all go down.

The pool is good and we can’ t believe that after being here a month this is the first time we have been here for a swim, it’s hot too and after a bit of sunbathing we return to the van to think about tea. Think about it is all we end up doing as neither of us can face the prospect of turkey and Christmas pudding today so instead we decide to indulge in another Christmas day tradition and plonk ourselves down on front of the tele (laptop) to watch our Christmas day movie.

We decide to watch a film called ‘Snowtown’ thinking that it sounds pretty festive but it turns out to be a film about Australia’ s most notorious serial killer and is pretty graphic as well (which doesn’t help the ham sandwich go down at all!!).

Christmas day draws to a close and we retire to bed having eaten and drank too much and with fresh images of peoples toenails being pulled off with pliers in our heads!

Day 217

Boxing day

We awake late and still full from yesterdays over indulgence and the big clean up begins. After being in one place for over a month now it’ s amazing how our possessions seems to have expanded to fill not only the van and surrounds but our spare room as well and we begin to wonder if it will all fit back in. Polly has a good clean out and Christmas is all packed away (it does all fit, just) and we decide that it is high time we had our Christmas turkey for dinner.

Boxing day ducks

It’s a huge slab of meat and we warm up the BBQ and throw it on along with some potatoes and sit back whilst it cooks. It takes a while but finally it is ready and we gorge ourselves (again) and both think it was worth putting it off until today so that we could do it justice. This is followed by a huge portion of Christmas pudding with custard and cream which goes down very nicely indeed and is a fitting end to our final day at Karinyup waters Caravan Park.