Gnomes, Cheese, Wine and Chocolate

We got to Perth and it was game on, all of a sudden it felt like we were running out of time, from having months under our sleeves to just weeks, it was 1st of December so we literally had 4 weeks to get back home, still, doable I thought. But I was, believe it or not, excited about being back in the caravan, I can’t say I was excited to go back to sleeping in the so called “bed” but I was definitely excited to be a nomad once again. After arriving in Perth I collapsed and slept for about two hours simply exhausted but when I got up I got to meet Debbie, Mario’s partner. Now if you remember, we left our van at Mario’s while we went to Bali and although we didn’t get to spend much time with him then, we were hoping to get to know him better this time around. Debbie was just as lovely and we had good chats about Malawi, she has done a lot of work there educating health professionals, but even before catching up with Debbie, Carlos had laughed and enjoyed listening to old stories from back in Malawi, Mario was also born in Malawi and has been a close friend to the Morin family.

The same afternoon we decided to go to Fremantle or Freo as it is more commonly known, even though I was somewhat tired it was the only day we could go to the market as it is on Fridays and Saturdays, so we drove there and it was amazing. Freo has some great architecture, beautiful old buildings that make you feel like you are visiting another country and when we got to the market, it was heaven, everything you could ever want. Unlike Darwin were the markets go on and on, Freo Market was contained, the atmosphere vibrant. I actually had food from Venezuela and Carlos and the boys had a very traditional Turkish slice accompanied by a very weird looking but tasty complementary tea. Lots of crafty stuff, clothes and fresh fruit, we absolutely loved it.

On the way out we stopped at the Gaol, biggest we have come across so far and very well maintained, once again impressive building, not as scary as the Dubbo gaol and definitely not as run down as the Derby gaol, reading its history is always interesting.

The following day the ‘amazing race” continued, this time we went to check out the “Pinnacles” north of Perth about a 2 hr drive, very interesting….different? There are rock formations in a desert like habitat, you feel like you are in another planet, kids enjoyed playing hide and seek however we could not stay too long as it was hot and no shelter.

On the way back from the Pinnacles we stopped at the sand dunes of Lancelin, it was very surreal and again it felt like I was in the Sahara desert. You could hire boards to slide down, you could also pay for rides on a sand dune buggy around the sand dunes, we decided not to get too excited and stuck to the boards instead. There was a trick to sliding down and after a few tries we finally got it, the right amount of wax and great manoeuvring skills was the perfect combination for a great slide. As fun as it was to slide down the climbing back up was a killer so we did not end up staying as long as we thought, we were exhausted.

Day three, we decided to visit Rottnest Island and check out the cute little creatures called the Quokkas. From what I had read, what makes them even cuter is the fact that they always look like they are smiling so what is very popular when you visit this island is to get a selfie with a quokka. We caught the ferry and got to the island, just beautiful, white sandy beaches, bright blue sky and lo and behold, we met the quokkas.

We decided to catch a bus that takes you around the island (approx 1 hour) and planned to get off close to where we catch the ferry back so we wouldn’t miss it. During the tour, we got off once to a stop known for the seals and so far in our journey we had not seen any. The seals were cheeky, one fin up in the air which actually looked like a shark fin, as we got closer we got to see them better, some playful other just lazing around, others just curious, the kids loved them.

Back in the bus and we ended up at an inflatable theme park that had temporarily set up, of course the kids and Carlos had to go and they had lots of fun playing ninja warrior and doing dives, in the meantime, I was still trying to get a selfie with quokkas!!!

We said goodbye to Mario and Debbie, once again we experienced such love and attention, they welcomed us into their home and treated us like family. Mario made a really cool mix of music from Malawi, Sega, pop and every time we listen to it in the car, we think of him and our time in Perth.

Moving south we made a quick stop at Bunbury, stayed at a great free camp opposite a playground but also a reserve that had great walks, one of them took you to a look out and the other to the beach. We camped the night and the following morning Carlos and I did the walk to the beach….quiet, beautiful and peaceful, it was our anniversary that day and I couldn’t have asked for anything more special.

We left Bunbury, drove pass Busso (Busselton) and headed to Margaret river, a place that a lot of people have told us to go to, a gem in the West, on the way there we stopped at a place called, yes, Gnomesville, there are many stories about how this place started but my favourite is that a random gnome appeared, and other people placed their gnomes so the original one would not be lonely. Quirky little place, we had a laugh at some of the gnomes, my personal favourite the zombie gnome but as you will see there were others quite peculiar...

Unfortunately as we got to Margaret River the weather changed and it rained but after not seeing rain for so long, to see it, was special, we were cold, but it was still special. Now remember the friends we met at Punsand Bay, Graham and Toni, well this is where they live and we have been really looking forward to seeing them again, this is where we spent 5 days of pure bliss, enjoying the cheese, the chocolate and I should say coffee not wine, of Margaret River. Toni and Graham kindly offered us a place to stay, this time it was a studio and it was perfect, their property is nestled between beautiful trees and I have not seen another place that has as many kangaroos as Margaret River.

I have to say that Carlos and I really enjoyed our morning walks through what had a forest feel, lots of magnificent birds, many more kangaroos and of course the river and to our benefit the weather just kept getting better.

On our first outing we visited a place called Canal Rocks, a series of granite rocks in the Indian Ocean just off the coast. Truly amazing place where you can get up close and personal to the mightiness of the sea, you can hop through some rocks and get to a place where you can admire the force of the waves crashing into the rocks.

We enjoyed this place, really, any place where there is climbing, hopping from rock to rock, wading through water and a slight hint of danger the kids absolutely love. Once again we were blessed with beautiful weather.

On the way back we stopped at a cheese and chocolate factory…I was in heaven. We had some chocolate, well plenty of chocolate “samples” but it was the cheese where I took my time to really enjoy and appreciate the flavour. After being cheesed out and having a bag full of supplies we left, mission accomplished.

We are not much of wine drinkers Carlos and I and believe me there are vineyards everywhere you look in Margaret River but we can say we really enjoyed our morning coffees with Graham and Toni. I was never a coffee person myself, more of a Chai person but I did enjoyed the homemade coffee and of course it was nice to see them before they went off to work.

While we were there, Margaret River happened to have their Carols by candlelight, I was excited. Christmas was coming upon us and we didn’t really feel like it, we all love Christmas but I think the fact that we were and are always doing something we didn’t really get a chance to think much about it. Well this was our chance, I pictured carols in jells park, the people, the special guests, the picnic and everyone signing carols finished off by some extraordinary fireworks….umm things are done a little bit different in Margaret River, definitely on a much smaller scale and really it was more like a school Christmas concert where the kids sing and parents try to stand up to take photos of their kids. Never mind, it was a little taste of Christmas, we didn’t end up staying there for too long.

On our final days before leaving we had a fish cook off, a lovely dinner with Toni and Graham, it is really nice to sit together at a table, have delicious food, lots of laughs and great company. We left to our next destination, Bridgetown, missing them already, Toni’s blunt sense of humour and Grahams patience with Carlos’s discussions of solar panels. Once again very grateful to meet such special people in our trip.

Till next time my friends…