Around Oz with the Munchkins: August 2012

Pointy pinnacles, gorgeous gorges, green tabasco and a very gappy mouth!

Like any family travelling with young children around Australia, we are slaves to Alison Lester's book, 'Are we there yet?'. Therefore Sash was beside himself with excitement at the prospect of visiting the Pinnacles - giant limestone fingers sticking up from the dunes - about 2 hours from Perth. He wasn't disappointed - they were pretty spectacular. However we were all feeling a bit exhausted after our Perth and Rotto whirlwinds, and we were feeling the heat because we were seeing the sun for the first time in a while, so we dragged our feet a bit around the pinnacles walk. And with his usual panache Sash decided he urgently needed to do a poo in the middle of the walk. We thought that pooing behind a pinnacle would be somewhat disrespectful so we were forced to rush through the rest of the walk, just pausing to take the mandatory pic of our faces peeking out from behind a pinnacle. After a toilet stop, we checked out the museum. One day we want to return to the pinnacles when it is raining - the photos in the museum look incredible.

Next we headed to a lovely spot called Sandy Cape, just out of a town called Jurien Bay. We were happy to be back at the beach and in our trusty old trailer. The spoils of Perth had been lovely but we were certainly ready to get back to the simplicity of our life on the road. We were also thrilled to discover our friends, Hannah and Michael, set up under a shady tree near the beach. We quickly set up and joined them for a fish and to watch a spectacular sunset over the beach. Our days at Sandy Cape were spent catching up on Zara's neglected schoolwork, walking in the dunes, fishing and playing at the beach. We drove into Jurien Bay a couple of times to avoid the rain - escaping to a little beachside cafe and playing on the playground in the drizzle. A highlight of this time was a walk that took us along a dried up river then through a cave which tunnels right under the rock. Pretty cool (and dark!).

Next we sped through Geralton without stopping - only looking out the window at the trees which grow sideways due to the wind. We arrived at Kalbarri, keen to get our first glimpse of red gorges in the national park. Sadly there is nowhere to camp actually in the national park, so we booked into a caravan park in the town for 5 nights. The caravan was called Tudor Holiday Park, and yes indeed it had a tudor theme including mock tudor cabins and ye olde signposts, but the highlight for us was a crocheted tudor-style sign in the kitchen demanding that we all respect others and keep things clean! Patronising demands cannot be softened by stitches! But otherwise it was a pretty comfy place and the kids were thrilled by the sight of yet another jumping pillow. They were also pretty pleased to spend hours playing with our neighbours lovely dog. The weather was pretty dreary - wind and rain. What is it with WA - I mean we know it's winter and all, but come on let's have some sunshine...

Nevertheless, we checked out the magnificant coast and rode our bikes along the coastal bike track. We tried to see the pelicans being fed at 8am but they didn't appear - supposedly they are off doing more fun stuff at the nearby islands (breeding season...). We drove into the national park a couple of times and were totally blown away by the beauty of the gorges. We did a walk around The Loop, looking through Natures Window (see pics). Next day, Sash and Kate drove out to the national park again and checked out some more gorgeous gorges while Bill and Zara sped around Kalbarri on their bikes. We had a fantastic meal at a little restaurant called 'the restaurant upstairs' - a classy and interesting place which seemed a bit out of place amongst the chicken shops and bad coffee of the town. We ordered oysters which were brought out with green tabasco. As mad tabasco-on-everything folk we were thrilled beyond compare at the discovery of Jalapeno Tabasco! We've since managed to buy our own and our obsessive love for it has become a family joke...

Zara's front teeth, which had been hanging precariously by threads for sometime now, finally started dropping out. This was a relief for the whole family as she had taken to freaking us out by bending them in all sorts of unnatural directions. Zara was thrilled with her new gappy look and of course by two visits from the tooth fairy in quick succession!

Kalbarri was beautiful but the wind and drizzle was annoying, so we decided to leave a day or so early and head north to warmer climes.

Sasha thrilled to finally be at the Pinnacles

Faces from behind a pinnacle - had to be done

Sandy Cape

The beautiful beach (and people!) at Sandy Cape

One down!

The magnificant Kalbarri Coast

Natures Window in Kalbarri National Park

Parrot World in Kalbarri

Punk Quokkas at Rotto

A storm hit when we were taking the boat to Rottnest Island. The rain belted against the side of the ferry and Bill went slightly green while the kids and Kate watched some Rotto promo videos because we couldn't see out the windows. Upon arrival we buttoned up our rain jackets and hopped on our bikes to find our accommodation. As usual, Kate led the family up the garden path and on an extended tour of Rotto before we finally found our funny little cabin which was probably as close to a tent as a building could be. If you know what I mean. It was very basic but kind of cool - old wire beds in rooms with no glass in the windows. We unrolled our sleeping bags and used provided blankets for warmth. Next morning we jumped on our bikes and spent an amazing day cruising up and down the rolling hills of the island, visiting beaches and chatting with quokkas. Kate decided that Rotto is her future home - no cars, beautiful beaches, nice people, endless bike riding, and great donuts at the bakery... And finally the sun was mostly out. More bike riding the next day - this time to the lighthouse. Then Kate took the kids to the museum while Bill sped around the Island on his own. We got so sucked into the beauty of Rotto that we broke with our usual characters and actually purchased the kids quokka t-shirst. Weird. Rotto rules!

A big Orange and glorious family madness in rainy Perth

We had been slightly amused by one of the more popular milk brands in WA which is called Harvey Fresh - Harvey being Zara's best buddy back in Melbourne. Indeed, even the little fresh faced farm boy grinning out from the label looks remarkably like the friend Zara is missing so much. Of course, we always buy that brand in honour of such a lovely friend! So how could we resist visiting the town of Harvey on our way to Perth - indeed home to the milk factory and many other attractions. For B & K it was the HaVe Cheesery where we discovered HaVe triple cream brie - wow! For the kids it was the Big Orange to which we climbed 64 steps for the pleasure of standing inside a big orange and looking out over the rather pituresque orange groves of Harvey. We had a lovely quiet bush picnic, enjoying some peace and solitude between the madness of Bussleton and the impending madness of Perth.

We arrived in Perth in the late afternoon and headed to my cousin Marg's place in Como. We were amazed and thrilled that Cousin Marg and her son Tim had offered to put us up in the fabulous apartment attached to her house free of charge and for the entire 10 days of our stay. The clanger was that I had never met Marg before. So we think she is a very brave lady - inviting a strange cousin and her mad family from Melbourne to stay. What a relief for everyone that we all liked each other so much! Could have been awkward but was actually a hoot. Had dinner the first night with Marg, Tim and another family which included the Australian scrabble champion! Very interesting people but naturally we politely declined their challenge to a game of scrabble... Marg and Tim and their lovely dog Alfie were very welcoming and kind - Alfie even managed to rid our family of some evil chocolate and marshmellows when we left our foodboxes outside the door of the apartment (glad he's ok!). And wow the apartment... Let's face it after 4 months in a tent with drop toilets and very few showers, we would have been thrilled with fake wood panelling, lino floors and a kettle. But this place was really something - I'm talking soft sheets, plumped pillows, large TV, plate sets, massaging shower, fluffy towels etc etc.

We were in heaven. However we resisted the temptation to lounge on the couches wrapped up in towels, ordering in sushi and watching DVDs all week - because not only were we keen to check out Perth, but we had at least 100 Kennedys and a smaller but still significant gang of James to catch up with! Yep both my parents were born in Perth most of my rellies live there - many of whom I hardly know. While I was always looking forward to seeing some family (and showing my children that they have this lovely big Perth family) - it was unexpectedly wonderful to find myself visiting people who reminded me so much of my parents. Even more surprising was the sense of connection I had with so many of them. And I realised with a jolt that I must be getting older because I found myself interested in starting to connect the pieces of my family picture... So Marg watched in astonishment as four blurs whizzed in and out of the apartment carrying flowers and cakes - to and from lunches, dinners, drinks and other get-togethers...

Cousin Louise was also amazing - doing so much of the leg-work and organising for us to connect with so many wonderful people. Zara's highlight was definitely two sleepovers with much-adored Louise, during which they sat up half the night reading the Dalai Lama, discussing the Berlin Wall, architecture, literature and whatnot. In the morning they made french toast shaped like the world's famous buildings! Then a trip to the bookshop from which Zara emerged with bundles of new novels. And of course, a trip to the Armani store (which Louise designed) for a couple of hours of designer dress-ups with the personal attention of the store attendants... The photos are simultaneously alarming and breathtaking. Kate initially gasped but was reassured by Louise that the indulgence had been countered by a lengthy discussion on the vacuousness and emptiness of the fashion world... I tell you what - every little girl needs a great-cousin like Louise! A special bond that we all look forward maintaining in the future. A bit of a relief though to see Zara is back to inside-out t-shirts, dirty tracksuit pants and matted hair!

It was hard to see Perth City at its best because it rained 9 out of the 10 days we were there. And we were thrilled to have 4 luxury walls around us when a typhoon or 2 hit! However we still managed to cylce to the zoo in sunshine, and spend happy hours in the WA Musuem and State Library (fab children's section). Not to mention a trip to the GPO to collect yet more parcels for Sash's birthday (massive thanks to Jane and Sasha, Nina, and Prue and Graham for thoughtful and lovely presents). We also found time to indulge our love of Asian cuisine by eating out at every opportunity - Thai, Japanese, Korean. And of course fish and chips at Hotlips in Fremantle - makes you reliase how good fish and chips can actually be... Then Fremantle swimming pool, the big wheel, bike riding along the river, Kings Park in the driving rain... Even in the rain Perth is a beautiful city. You just get the feeling that life in Perth is always pretty damn good...

Massive thanks to Marg and Tim and Alfie for enduring our chaos (dusty trailer, tarps, boxes, kite on neighbour's roof, breaking the download limit, kids hurtling over the backs of couches and demanding endless cups of tea in precious and delicate cups and saucers, hundreds and thousands from one end of the kitchen to the other etc etc). You were amazing!

Also big thanks and much love to Louise and Harrison, Peter and Jan, Neil and Liz, Catherine and family, Geraline and Nigel and Barbara and David, Sin and Linda and Carl, Walter and Suzie and Angie and family, Alex and family, Sylvia and of course Marg and Tim. And Alfie! We were sad to have missed the chance to catch up with others who were out of town or who we couldn't contact. But after having so much fun this time I am sure we will be back. We would also encourage any family who visit Melbourne to please look us up (if we ever get back there) - we would really love to return your amazing welcome and hospitality.

But it was time to pack our bags, dig out our bike helmets and jump the ferry for Rottnest Island.