We found a spot which seemed too good to be true - a private, flat, grassy area surrounded by trees and moss and ferns. We even had a big campfire area with logs strategically placed around it. Then we found a tap with fresh water and a big pile of pre-prepared firewood! Camping heaven. So with the promise of lovely walks, good fishing and all the gastronomic pleasures of Margaret River close by, we decided to stay a while...
While checking out the beaches we bumped into old friends Gary and Sue who gave us the lowdown on the area and them came over after dinner for drinks around the campfire. They were great company and inspiring with their interest in sustainable living. Although we meet many people during our travels, the interaction often doesn't go very deep - hence it's easy to become a bit insular as a family. It was wonderful to have a night of talking and sharing stories with Sue and Gary - although we felt completely exhausted afterwards! Interesting also to watch the kids enjoying the different energy of new friends - we laughed as Sash edged gradually towards Gary then eventually onto his lap. Meanwhile Zara talked books and Europe with Sue!
It was a good thing we were socially warmed up because next day, Bill and Zara discovered Hannah and Michael from Brunswick (who we had bumped into numerous times during the South West adventures) and invited them to eat dinner at our campfire. We had an excellent couple of nights hanging out with those guys - the beginning of a special friendship! Bill was thrilled to be able to cook a roast in the camp oven and have someone to share it with. And Kate was thrilled to discover that Hannah is also a pescatarian social worker who enjoys pepitas on her breakfast. And the kids were just thrilled to find new friends who laughed at their antics and read them books.
Zara and Kate drove into Margaret River to spend another small fortune at the second-hand bookshop and to do some secret shopping in preparation for Sasha's upcoming birthday. And while balloons and party hats were being chosen, the soon-to-be-birthday boy himself was feeding baby animals at a local farm and then completing a hedge maze with Bill. We met up later to hit the local pool (which was freezing so we didn't stay in long).
Considering we were near Margaret River, we decided to spoil ourselves with lunch at a winery and chose Cullen Estate because one of Bill's friends had recommended it. We ate lovely sumptuous food and drank beautiful wine outside in the sunshine while the kids ran in and out of the grapevines. Discovered the friendly couple at the next table live right near us in Yarraville! Lovely wines but we didn't buy a bottle. We did go to the chocolate 'factory' though. And the cheese 'factory'. But we stopped there because although the produce is generally nice, they are shops not factories. The chocolate 'factory' is a massive shop piled high with stuff to buy. You can peep through a little window at the back and of you are lucky you might see someone in a white coat flicking a switch to turn off a chocolate-turning machine, but it's hardly Willy Wonka's! We started to feel that we were on the tourist conveyor belt, so we purchased an enormous bag of chocolate and cheese, then hopped off!
Conto was lovely. In between vineyard lunches and chocolate tastings we simply enjoyed being back in the bush - we fished, hiked, played on the beach, made friends with a gang of wild bike riding kids, socialised and explored the numerous cool caves in the area. We would have liked to stay longer but Bill wasn't catching squid there and had been promised success on the Busselton Jetty - so off we went!
No comments:
Post a Comment