Telephone Box Opening

 Letter No. 252

Dear all,

While Katie was away in England I started work at 5:30am each morning and worked until 4pm. I made it home before the peak hour’s traffic and then did all the domestic stuff like washing, ironing and cooking. It seemed to work pretty well and I really liked the early starts and finishes!

Matthew and I went to a 21^st birthday party for a family friend Claudia Tod. I went in the afternoon to help set up the lighting. It was a lovely party. Matthew actually had two 21^sts on that night and the other was for one of his closest friends. He stayed much longer than he had intended as he was having such a good time. Actually I was having such a good time I stayed much longer than I intended too. I stumbled into bed at 2am. It is a long time since I have been out that late. It was a slow day next day.

On Easter Sunday the kids and I went to SeaWorld. We hadn’t been for many years and it was pretty much exactly the same. We had a nice day looking at the penguins, seals, dolphins, polar bears, sharks and other sea creatures.

Katie arrived home from the UK on Tuesday 23rd April at 6:30am. We had pretended that we wouldn’t be able to pick her up and surprised her at the airport. I took the morning off work and had a nice morning catching up on her news and gossip from the UK. It was a short week actually with Anzac Day Public Holiday on the Thursday after Easter. It will be a bit tough going back to a five-day week after all the recent public holidays.

It was Jessie’s driving test on Friday 26th April but sadly didn’t pass. I was a little surprised as she is a fairly good driver. There is a long wait time for tests and the earliest she can get now is six weeks away.

I went to a Stag Party for one of the guys who work with me on Sat 27th April. It started with barefoot bowls at noon. We played until about 3pm then everyone went back to a fantastic Airbnb apartment they had rented in West End. We played beer pong for a long time. It got very messy, especially when they started mixing rum in the beer which was horrible. About 8pm we staggered into taxis and went into the city. I lasted about an hour before the long day of drinking got the better of me and I slipped out and went home. The others kicked on until 3am. The stag made it to work on Monday but said he still felt drunk. Matthew went to the UQ Law Ball on the same Saturday night and had a big night as well.

On Friday 3 May Katie and I went with Matt to Dugald Graham’s 21^st Birthday Party. He is the son of some family friends. The theme was 70s Glitz and glam. I went as Elton John in a sparkly jacket and glasses. I was quite pleased that quite a few people recognised me. Katie wore Jessie’s Mamma Mia dance costume which was very retro and sparkly. She was delighted that she could fit into her 16-year-old daughter’s dance dress and told quite a few people about it. It was a great party and we danced to 70s music until after midnight. Matthew had two 21^st parties on that night. He went to the other one first and arrived about 11:30pm, so he kicked on much later than us.

On 4th May I went for lunch with my friends John and Shaun. John is in training to swim the English Channel in September this year. He had to qualify by doing a 10-hour cold water swim; the water has to be lower than 16 degrees temperature. He is hoping to do it in 14 hours. You have to do it without a wetsuit, as that is the way it was originally done. Part of his training is to actually put on weight so he has a layer of fat to keep him warm!

The next day I went hiking at Mt Maroon with my friend Derek Trebilcock. We left home at 5:15am and drove to Boonah and met up with our guide and another seven people who were walking with us. We drove a further 50km on to Mt Maroon on the NSW border. We were doing a traverse of Mt Maroon and had to leave some cars at the end point of the hike and then drive around to the start. We started off at 8:30am and it took us three hours to reach the summit. It was a very steep climb up the mountain. We were scrambling up on all fours for quite a lot of the time. It was quite tough. The 360⁰ views were spectacular. We went down the back face of the mountain which was much less steep but still quite rugged without any track down an unmarked gorge. We would have never found the route without our guide. We made it back to the cars by 4:30pm – it was quite a long walk – and then had to drive back to Brisbane. A very long, exhausting but enjoyable day.

Katie and I went out for dinner at the Rocklea Night Market on 10th May. It is a copy of a similar concept on the other side of town, with an Eat Street which has loads of lovely food stalls plus a live band. It was OK but not as well designed or as lively as the original. We did enjoy the band though. There was a torrential thunderstorm just as we got our dinner so we stayed undercover and watched them for a bit longer than intended.

We saw a few movies in May and June – All is True (clever but slightly depressing true story about the end of Shakespeare’s life); Rocketman (slightly confronting life story of Elton John with great music) and Men in Black – International (just fun). We have given up waiting for the kids to be free to come with us and Katie and I just go when we want. We often go to the little boutique cinema in Graceville. It is so nice to have a cinema in our own suburb so we try to support it … plus we can walk home afterwards.

We went to Billy Kart Kitchen for Mother’s Day lunch. It is run by some “celebrity” chef I have never heard of. They have two restaurants and I booked for one in West End, forgot and we went to the other one in Annerley. I was a bit confused when they had no record of my booking but luckily they managed to fit us in on a very busy day.

Katie and I went to the Queensland Pops Concert at QPAC on 18th May. They had used the BBC College Hall that Katie manages for a concert rehearsal and gave her some free tickets. They were great seats and it was a nice variety concert with Scottish and Irish singing, dancing and bagpipes plus the BBC pipe band. We had planned to just go for the first half and then slip out at the interval if we wanted, but it was so good that we stayed to the end.

The next day Jessie’s boyfriend Bryce came over for Sunday lunch. He was a bit nervous as it was the first time he had properly met Matt and I. He was an ex-BBC boy and took Jessie to her Formal last year so we had met him before and Katie had seen him a few times around the halls of the school. He lives in Ballina now so they can only see each other every two weeks or so. We had a nice family lunch together, which is rare these days as the kids are so busy working/tutoring/studying and seem to be rarely at home.   

That night was Matt’s annual Eurovision Party. He had about 20 friends over and they all picked a country and dressed up and also brought food or drinks from their chosen country. Their costumes were hilarious and they had a fantastic smorgasbord of European dishes and desert which Katie and I helped to reheat and serve at appropriate intervals. The kids all piled into the pool room and it was actually quite a fun night as we spent quite a bit of time chatting and eating with Matt’s friends.

On 25^th May the date had finally come to move my telephone box to the street to fulfil its original purpose as a Street Library. I had spent the last few weekends preparing for the move. I cut a hole in the fence and prepared the foundation. The telephone box is incredibly heavy – it weighs about 200kg -- so the move had to be carefully planned. I asked four friends to come over on Saturday morning to help me. I had borrowed a fridge trolley and bought a whole heap of straps and ropes. To move it we had to lay it down almost flat to get it under the front stairs. I was a bit worried that the dome roof (which is made of concrete and weighs about 100kg) might peel off when we tipped it back. I had not intended to ever move it when I built it and hence the roof was mainly held down by its great weight. I strapped the roof down and we started the move. At one stage I was right under it as it tilted back and was worried that we might drop it and I would be crushed! It was a pretty hard task and five of us only just managed to get it moved between us. Even though it was hard work it only took half an hour and Katie missed the whole thing as she was doing a Pilates class! Probably for the best I guess.

The telephone box looks pretty good in its new location. It is inset to our fence line, so that the door can be opened from the outside without anyone having to come into our garden. I spent the rest of the weekend patching up and repainting the fence and putting books in the library, while Katie dropped off invitations to everyone on our street to the official “opening” the next weekend. I was a bit concerned that we might not manage to move it, so didn’t want to send out the invitations until we were sure. 

On Sunday 26^th May Katie and I went to Barefoot Bowls. It was a fund raising event for the butcher in Graceville who supplied a heap of meat and food for a lovely BBQ. We had a group of ten people and spent the afternoon playing bowls in the lovely autumn sunshine. It was quite a lot of fun. The bowls club is only a short walk from home. They were on a big recruitment drive for new members but we decided to give it another ten or fifteen years before signing up as the average age seemed to be early 70s. We had a really fun afternoon and loads of drinks so the kids had to fend for themselves for dinner.

The next weekend I went to see The Reds (Rugby Union) at Suncorp stadium with a group of guys. We went to the Newstead Brewing Company for drinks and a pulled pork rolls before the game. The Reds lost so we went to Caxton Street to drown our sorrows afterwards.

Sunday 2nd June was the Opening Party of our Mortlake Road Book Exchange. I had spent the previous week putting the final touches to it and stocking it with books. I even had a special stamp made with a picture of a telephone box and our address. We invited the whole street and a few select friends from adjacent streets for 4pm and Katie made cheese platters and we served drinks. Pretty much the whole street came, even people we hadn’t met, and most people brought nibbles and drinks and donated books too. At 5pm I gave a little speech telling everyone about how I had made the telephone box and how long it took. Most people were astounded that I had made it myself and thought it was a real one imported from the UK. After my speech the Queen arrived and Katie (wearing her tiara) helped her cut the ribbon to “officially” open the library. The Queen was having trouble with her cardboard arms so it was lucky Katie was there to help her. It was a really lovely community event and the library is well stocked now. Books really do bring people together.

On 12^th June Jessica sat her second driving test. Unfortunately the tester deliberately tricked her (again) and asked her to do a really difficult manoeuvre of turning right from the left hand lane (well that’s what she told us)... Unfortunately, it was another fail so we’ll keep our fingers crossed for the third go.

We went to a new restaurant in the village on 22nd June. It is called Botellon and serves great Spanish tapas and paella with a good range of Spanish wines.  We went with the Tods and the Cilentos; the food was delicious but the seats are mostly outside and it was a cold night. We had to retire to our house for a nightcap to warm up.

The next weekend we went to Stanthorpe in the Granite Belt for a couple of days with our BBC crowd the Biddles and Rasmussens. Katie had booked a lovely farmhouse on the outskirts of town with a fireplace and lots of cosy spaces. We drove up on Saturday morning and met for lunch in Stuttons, a famous apple nursery with a nice restaurant and roaring fire. In the afternoon we drove down to Ballandean to visit a few wineries. We had a nice afternoon driving around to three wineries and had to buy some wine at each. We had dinner and a movie back at our farmhouse next to the roaring fire.

The next day we had booked a winery minibus tour and over the course of the day we visited six more wineries and also had a lovely long lunch. The driver was very entertaining and the wine got better as we went along. Of course we all had to buy wines at every one so our bus was really clinking on the way home! It was a long day of sampling wine and tripping around. We were all quite pleased to get home and have dinner and a bit more wine with another movie! The next morning everyone headed back to Brisbane relatively early so Katie and I took our time and went for a nice hike in the rainforest at Cunningham Gap. There were great views from the top of the range out towards the coast.

We had a busy weekend the next week. On Friday night we went out for dinner with some ex-AECOM colleagues. We went to West End and started at La Luna wine bar for wine and oysters, then on to Billykart Kitchen for dinner and then on to Covent Garden Gin Bar. The Gin Bar had a wall of over 400 different gins and a gypsy jazz band playing with heaps of people dancing in the aisle between the bar stools. It was a very cool place and we stayed longer than we had intended. The next night I went to see The Radiators and Mental as Anything with John Haughton and Ian Muir who was visiting from Hong Kong. It was a fun evening. On Sunday we had lunch at Southbank with the Haughton and the Muir families.  I had to have a sleep on the sofa on Sunday afternoon!

The next weekend was Katie’s birthday. We went out for dinner on her birthday with the BBC parents crowd. We decided to go to Café Meze where Jessie works so that she could serve us. Jess finished her shift and then sat down with us and helped us finish off our platter of food. This was great as we subsequently got a 25% staff discount! The next morning we went to the village for family brunch. This was the only time we could all get together at the same time. The kids are just too busy with their hectic jobs, tutoring and study schedules.

That’s all for this month.

Derek, Katie, Matt, Jessie & Molly

Katie's Trip to the UK

Letter No. 251

Dear all,

Back to real life after our holiday to Western Australia... On Friday 18^th January we were invited to a party for Jack Biddle’s 21^st birthday. This year is Matt’s “Year of the 21sts” and Jessie’s “Year of the 18ths” and it feels as though the kids are constantly out partying with their friends.  Jack’s mother Carolyn had invited us along for moral support and security – not that we would be much use against a group of drunken 21 year olds. Luckily all of Jack’s friends are well-behaved ex-BBC boys. We had quite a nice evening and there were some interesting speeches so we are getting some ideas for Matt’s birthday at the end of this year.

We were back at the Biddle’s house the next weekend for an Australia Day BBQ with a group of ex-BBC parents. Jessie had been up to Caloundra for the weekend with a friend and we drove up the next morning to collect her. We spent a morning on the beach but it was almost too hot and Katie even went swimming! We had a nice lunch at a beach side café but when we went back to the car the alarm went off and we couldn’t make it stop it or get into the car. After a lot of stuffing around we realised the battery in the car key was flat. We managed to get into the car eventually and had to drive to a shopping centre with the alarm going on and off intermittently and get a new battery. It was a bit annoying. Jess drove home as she is still counting the hours towards her learners permit (100 hours required).

Meanwhile Matt was having his own Australia Day BBQ party at home with a group of his friends. They spent most of the day drinking champagne in the boat in the pool. They had a BBQ and made pavlova and had a nice afternoon sitting in the pool in the sun. Amazingly they cleaned up most of their mess and had gone on to another party by the time we got home. A few days later we went for drinks with our next door neighbours who used to own our house. Our neighbours from the other side also came so it was a very neighbourly evening. They keep native Australian bees and have five hives spread around their garden. The showed us the hives which was really interesting. I would get a hive myself but there may be enough bees in our area now.

I have joined a hiking group with a friend and we went on a Larapinta Falls Hike on Sunday 10^th February. There were 10 people and a paid guide going on the 16km hike. We drove down almost to the New South Wales border, to the end of Christmas Creek Road and then to a dead end road up the valley. There is no trail to the Larapinta falls and we were just bashing uphill through the forest, criss-crossing the creek. It was a very hard hike! After three hours we made it to Westray’s Grave, the burial site of one of the initial survivors of the Stinson plane crash in 1937. He was walking out from the crash site for help when he fell off a cliff and succumbed to his injuries in the forest. He was buried close to where he died. After another hour of rock-hopping up the creek we made it to the falls. There was a wonderful swimming hole at the base of the falls and we spent a pleasant hour and a half there, swimming and having lunch. Then it was a four-hour walk back through the forest to get back to the car. I was pretty knackered when we made it back and happy to sit down in the car! There is no way we could have made it without the guide. The forest is almost impenetrable in places. It took eight hours of walking and I got a leech on my ankle which was still itching over a week later!

Katie and I went for a Weekend in Noosa by ourselves from 15^th to 17^th February. I took Friday off work and we drove up in time for lunch. We had a nice studio apartment in Hastings Street which was a great location and we enjoyed time on Noosa main beach, a couple of hikes around the Noosa coastline and some lovely meals out. On Saturday night we went to Locale, probably the fanciest restaurant in Noosa, for a very upmarket dinner. We left after lunch on Sunday and drove straight home as we were invited to a Chinese New Year Party that afternoon at the home of our friends Tony & Wings Malins. The theme was Crazy Rich Asians so we had to dress up like one of the characters from the movie (which we hadn’t actually seen yet). Katie rummaged in her wardrobe and dragged out a couture Shanghai Tang cheongsam that had been hand made for her about 15 years ago when she was slightly slimmer. It still fitted although she couldn’t sit down! She looked fabulous and we had a lovely afternoon and fantastic Asian feast before playing a Chinese dice gambling game into the evening. We only lost a small amount!

The next day, 18^th February, I took a day off work and went to Wet’n’Wild with Matt and Jess for a day of watersliding. School was back so it was very quiet with no school age kids and we got more rides than we ever had before! That week was also Orientation Week at Uni. Jessie went to the market place and signed up for lots of different societies that we didn’t know existed: The Vegan & Vegetarian Society; Yoga & Meditation Society; Chocolate Lovers’ Association; Social Volleyball group; Journalism Club; Psychology Society. We are a little concerned that she may forget to study.

The next week was a bit of a St Aidan’s throwback week. On Tuesday 19^th February we went to the St Aidan’s Honours Assembly for high achieving academic students. Out of 110 students, seven got OP1 (the highest) and three (including Jess) got an OP2. It was so nice to see Jessie in a small selective and high achieving group. The girls were honoured in a whole-school assembly to all current students. They each had one minute to give advice to the current students. Jessie’s message was about being kind to others; she said “the prettiest girl in the room is always the one with the kindest heart” which is a lovely thought. She also got two laughs in her one minute so we (unbiased) thought she was the best.

That Friday night Katie went to a Y12 Mums’ reunion dinner at Hunter & Scout in Graceville. There were about 40 mothers there who clearly can’t let go of the school years. The next night we went to a St Aidan’s Parents & Friends Cocktail Party, for current parents plus a few ex-parents (like us) who obviously can’t let go of the school years... Actually it was really good and we still knew heaps of people and had a nice time. It was also an art show featuring local and student artists. Katie bought a painting of a black orchid from one of Jessica’s school friends who is a fantastic artist.

The next weekend we went to the Sunset Cinema, a pop-up outdoor movie theatre in the Botanic Gardens. It was the opening night, but sadly the organisers were having trouble with their liquor licence so it was a dry bar. They had a lovely food truck and we had reserved bean bags in the front row. We really enjoyed our evening watching Crazy Rich Asians (finally) under the stars, a very funny movie.

We went for dinner at My Thai on Sat 9^th March with our BBC parent friends. I love Thai food – we haven’t been to Thailand for so long. The next day, Sunday I went to see The Eagles with my friend John at Boondall Entertainment Centre. I have wanted to see them for so long and thought they would never tour Australia again. When the tickets came on sale, there was a bit of a mix-up and for some reason I had forgotten we had tickets. John reminded me about a week before the concert so it was a really pleasant surprise and a fantastic concert!

Katie and I had tickets to see Kylie Minogue at Sirromet Winery the following Sunday and it was rather eventful. Kylie is not really my favourite Aussie singer but Katie felt that we should go to see her perform as she is a bit of an Australian icon. It had rained heavily all weekend and Katie predicted (correctly) that the field where the concerts usually take place would be a muddy swamp. On Sunday morning Katie got an email saying that the event would only be open for 4WD cars, not regular cars, as parking is on a slippery wet grass slope. They were putting on free shuttle buses for anyone without 4WD cars from a far distant shopping centre! Sirromet is already a 40-minute drive from Brisbane so we were not at all keen on the shuttle bus option as there would now be thousands of people waiting for buses at the end of the night and it would be a long journey home.

I rang my sister Lisa and asked if she or Andrew had any spare 4WDs lying around their property. Luckily they had an old Toyota Landcruiser which we could borrow. It was quite old with no air-conditioning and the windows were also broken, so they couldn’t be wound down, but we were not complaining… at least not until we hit the traffic jam 2km from the event. It took over an hour to go 2km and I almost expired in the humid heat with the windows up and no AC. Katie ended up getting out and walking beside the car as it was so hot. We made it to the car park, got a brilliant parking spot near the exit and just made it through into the grounds as the heavens opened once again. As predicted, the grounds were like a bog but we were not too fazed; Katie had dressed in best Glastonbury style with her green Hunter wellies, mini skirt and a good waterproof jacket and I was also in boots and a waterproof. We were astonished though at the number of people who had cluelessly dressed in thongs (flip flops), long floaty trousers or high heels, all of which were getting ruined or lost in the mud. Luckily we had tickets to the VIP tent so we headed straight there and then enjoyed the free food and private bar securely under cover while it absolutely bucketed with rain and the rest of the patrons got soaked. We watched the support acts and then the rain stopped just in time for us to go to our seats at the front. So lucky lucky lucky… Kylie put on a great show; very different to the other rock bands we’ve seen there and more like a stage show with backing dancers and lots of outfit changes, but we had such a fun evening and we knew all the songs. We started walking out as the final song was playing and made it back to the car and out of the car park in record time. I dropped Katie home by 10:00am and returned Andrew’s car and made it back home before 11pm. Some friends who had opted for the bus didn’t get home until nearly 2am so we were very lucky. Thanks Lisa and Andrew.

On Friday 22^nd March I went to a Zero Latency virtual reality game evening with my work team. It is a warehouse scale, free-roam, multiplayer VR game and is near my office. We had a few drinks before walking over, then had a briefing and got kitted out with virtual reality goggles, headset, headphones, backpack (containing a computer) and a weapon. The room was an empty warehouse with a black floor and white painted lines in a 1m grid. We were in four teams of four. In the first game eight of us were defending a fort against attacking zombies. It was very realistic and almost like being in the Holodeck on Star Trek. You could look around in 3D and see your friends in Avatar format fighting the zombies. They would attack from different sides and you could go and help on any side. If you died you had a 15-second time out while you were resurrected. At the end the headphones told us to fall back for evacuation and a platform raised us high above the zombies. It all felt so realistic; I kept trying to grab the (virtual) handrails and it really felt like we were going up. In the next game we had two teams of four attacking each other on a space station. We had to run up ramps, go up and down lifts and through a maze to steal the opposing side’s flag. If you died you had to go back to the start and be resurrected. It was very intense. I really enjoyed it. It took about an hour to play three games. We finished about 8:30pm and then went on for drinks at The Green Dragon nearby. A very fun night.     

Katie and I went to see the Book of Mormon on 27^th March at QPAC. We were planning to meet for a nice dinner beforehand but the traffic was absolutely terrible and it took Katie over an hour to drive what usually takes 15 minutes. We had a slightly rushed meal; the show itself was very funny but we both thought it was unnecessarily crude in places so not one of our favourites.

The next night, Thurs 28^th March we went for a dinner cruise on Kookaburra Queen to celebrate my parents’ birthdays. It is Dad’s 80^th birthday this year so we wanted to do something special. We had a quick drink in one of the lovely cafés on the riverbank before setting off on the boat. It was a buffet dinner and there was a singer entertaining us during dinner.   A lovely evening was had by all. After dinner we went out to the bow and watched the lights of the city go by. Mum and Dad had a night at a hotel in the city and it was a lovely memorable evening for everyone.

On Monday 1^st April Katie left heading on a trip to Europe and the UK. Over to Katie…. My first stop was Copenhagen, a city I had never been to before, intended to conquer the jetlag before arriving in the UK. I absolutely loved the elegant city, Danish design and the healthy outdoor lifestyle – bicycles everywhere (actually more bikes than cars), pavement bars with burners and blankets to sit and watch the world go by (even at 6⁰C). Highlights were Nyhaven with its pretty colourful houses lining the wharf; Amalienborg, home of the Danish Royal family (Queen Margrethe was at home); a cycling tour around the historical parts of the city; Danish pastries; Fisksuppe and an evening at the Tivoli Gardens.

Next it was straight to Oxford for a girl’s weekend with all the girls I shared a house with back in 1986-87 in my Oxford days (Julia, Eleanor, Mei-mei, and Nikki). We have kept in close touch over the years, getting together regularly at times at each other’s weddings, pregnancies, with toddlers, then teenagers etc, but it was so nice this time to meet up back in Oxford. We drove past Oxford Brookes, visited our share house and lots of old haunts/pubs, plus iconic Oxford places like the Covered Market, Botanical Gardens, Broad Street, Bridge of Sighs, Turf Tavern, and afternoon tea at Browns. A lot of talking, laughing, drinking, eating and falling into bed at 2am … just like old times. So nice that everyone made the effort to make more fantastic memories.

Only one day in London, but I still managed to fit in a very nice lunch in Covent Garden with Suzanne (the daughter of my godmother Annette), some shopping and then a theatre trip with Julia. And then it was on up North to Cheshire (Hale, near Manchester), where we had lived from 2003-2010. I had great fun packing seven years of Hale lifestyle into four days, which meant a tour of all the new restaurants with old friends – lots of lunches, dinners and breakfasts; a magical early morning walk around Dunham Massey admiring the wildlife; plus a visit to the kids’ old school and our old house. Managed to catch up with so many friends … too many to name here. Sandra hosted a lovely glamorous girl’s night party on the Friday and it felt like I had never left, but was so nice to see everyone again and as always so hard to leave.

My final stop was Yorkshire to spend a week with my brother Chris and wife Julie in their home near Tadcaster. The main purpose of my trip was to celebrate Chris’ 50^th birthday … with the opportunity to speak at his party and embarrass him with lots of childhood photos and stories. After the celebrations it was great to spend a few days together in York and Leeds, as well as Bramham village where we grew up. I managed to fit in visits to my two godmothers Annette and daughter Liz; and Margaret with Jill and Peter; both looking extremely well. Highlights included a lovely day out in Whitby with Chris & Julie for proper Yorkshire fish & chips and a fantastic day at the rugby with Chris watching the Leeds Rhinos beat Huddersfield (in the Director’s Box of course), plus a surprise lunch with my cousin Karen and Steve. By the time I left the sun was shining and I crashed a lovely lunchtime garden party (thanks Chris & Sharon, Caroline & Jon, Julie & Peter) before heading to the airport for the long return flight home.  Farewell England and thanks for a great trip down memory lane.        

Love Katie (Derek, Matthew and Jessica)

Mum and Dad's Birthdays

Western Australia - Part 2

 Letter No. 250

Dear all,

Day 8 – Margaret River to Pemberton – The Forests

We drove south from Margaret River to the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, which is the most south-westerly point of Australia. The 53m-high lighthouse had great views of the surrounding cliffs and we read the history about various shipwrecks around the point. While we were there we had a call from the doctor in Margaret River who said that Jessie’s blood tests had shown she definitely had Glandular Fever. She was quite upset, as it would take her longer to recover and the antibiotics wouldn’t help. Poor little thing. She is putting on a brave face though.

We then drove another 1.5 hours on to Pemberton for lunch and then found our beautiful little B&B called The Log Cabin. They only had two rooms so we had them both and it was a very luxurious and comfortable stay. We spent the afternoon exploring the famous Karri forests.  First stop was the Bicentennial Karri Tree which is about 2m in diameter and 65m high. It had iron bars hammered into the outside of the tree in a spiral going right to the top. You could climb right to the top of the tree where there was a lookout. There were originally several karri trees which were used as lookouts for forest fires. We were astounded that you could climb up 65m with no safety briefing, no harness or helmet and minimal restraints. If you slipped you could fall through the iron stakes and plummet to certain death! There was a platform half way up and by that time the tree was moving alarmingly in the wind. I chickened out at that level but Matthew went on to the top where there were five lookout levels connected by a ladder.

When Matt made it back down we went on to Beedelup Falls and then The Cascades for short walks in the forest and to look at the rivers while Jessie snoozed in the car. We got a little lost on the way back to Pemberton when we lost phone signal for Google maps but luckily Katie can still manage a paper map so we found our way back. There was another Karri tree close to the village. I was a little disappointed in myself chickening out at the last one and was determined to make it to the top. It was a 53m near-vertical climb which I found easier, as you were looking straight out rather than straight down. Matt and I both made it to the top for a spectacular view out over the tops of all the other trees.

We went back to our B&B for our complementary afternoon tea. Soon after we arrived our host produced a delightful afternoon tea tray with freshly baked bread, cheeses, olives and nuts. It was an absolute feast. We had a bit of down time before going into town to a rather cool Tapas Wine Bar for local wine and great food.

Day 9 – Pemberton to Denmark

Our hosts had prepared a delicious breakfast with toast, homemade jams, cereals, yogurt, freshly squeezed juices and fruit. The best B&B we have stayed in for a very long time. After breakfast we drove 1.5 hours from Pemberton to The Valley of the Giants near Walpole. This area is famous for the ancient tingle trees and there is also a treetop walk which rises 40m above the group up into the treetops. The walk was 650m long and moved alarmingly both horizontally and vertically. You could see straight through the open mesh floor. It did wonders for Katie’s vertigo and she had to grip on to the rails. Even I felt a bit queasy from the movement but it didn't bother the kids at all! There was also an Ancient Empires Walk which was a boardwalk past huge hollowed out tree trunks which were pretty cool.

We drove in towards Denmark and stopped for a picnic lunch at Elephant Rocks. We then walked to the adjacent Green Pool which was a lovely beach and a huge rock pool in front of it about 300m x 100m and up to 5m deep. It was totally protected from the sea by huge boulders with only small channels to let in water and keep out large Great Whites. It was so beautiful. Jess promptly fell asleep on the sand with Katie, while Matt and I spent the afternoon swimming and rock climbing. We went into Denmark to find our hotel and spent the evening eating wood-fired pizza and playing cards at the local Italian restaurant. 

Day 10 – Denmark

We had a day around Denmark today. First up was a quick stop at the Denmark Maze. There was one maze and two labyrinths; it was quite twee but fun. It was owned by a local farmer who had just decided to do it in one of his fields. Next we drove to an Alpaca Farm. We thought it might be a bit lame but it was actually fantastic with a huge range of friendly animals and especially lots of cute baby animals - dogs, sheep & tiny lambs, goats & kids, baby kangaroos, Shetland ponies, horses, heaps of alpacas with babies, guinea pigs, ferrets, camels, ducks, rabbits, geese, chickens and foxes. It was just like going over to my sister Lisa’s house! We particularly liked watching the ferrets playing in their enclosure and stroking the baby guinea pigs and rabbits. It really perked Jess up, who constantly exclaimed “OMG they are so fluuurrrfy I could die”! We spent much longer there than we intended.

Next we went on to the cellar door at Rickety Gate Winery, which ended up being Katie’s favourite winery of the trip, then lunch, a cheese factory and then one more winery before heading back to the beach for the afternoon. We went to Green Pool and Elephant Rocks again as they had been so fantastic the day before. We felt we had really “done” Denmark and headed home for dinner at our hotel.

Day 11- Denmark to Albany

It was a short 40-minute drive on to Albany which is the oldest town in Western Australia. Our first stop was the National Anzac Centre, a great museum dedicated to Australia’s participation in the First World War. A fleet of 36 Australian and New Zealand ships, 30,000 soldiers and nurses and thousands of horses had gathered in that harbour in December 1914 and sailed in convoy to Egypt to fight at Gallipoli. They were protected from German warships in the Indian Ocean by only three warships but made it safely. A second convoy set sail a few months later. Thirty per cent of all the men and women who left in those convoys never returned and only one Australian horse made it back to Australia.

The museum was brilliant and there were photographs of the ships at anchor next to a window looking out on the same vista. It was very interactive. At the entrance you were assigned a solider and at various spots through the museum you could follow their progress through the war. My soldier survived Gallipoli but was badly wounded at the Somme in 1917 and sent back to Australia. Katie's soldier was killed in Gallipoli but Matt and Jessie’s soldiers both survived. Afterwards we walked all around the Albany Heritage Park at the top of the mountain overlooking the bay. It had gun emplacements and historic military barracks that had protected Australia since the mid-1800s until after the end of the Second World War.

We drove on to Middleton Beach for a picnic lunch then went to look at the Brig Amity. It is a replica of the first sailing ship to arrive, bringing settlers to Albany in 1829. There had been 61 people on board including 30 convicts on what was a very small ship! Once again we all commented what easy lives we have in comparison. There was an entertaining audio commentary as we made our way around the ship.

We went back to our room for some down time and later we had Chinese takeaway for dinner and then walked to the Albany Hotel for a drink and to play cards. The Albany Hotel is the oldest pub in the oldest town in WA and has been operating continuously since 1835. There were lots of interesting photos on the walls showing the pub through the years. It looked a bit rough but we had a nice evening.

Day 12 – Albany

We drove to the Torndirrup Peninsula on the other side of King George Sound to the Historic Whaling Station. This was the last operating whaling station in the world and closed in 1978. In that year they killed 726 whales. It was surprising to hear that whaling had continued until so relatively recently! The tour explained the whaling process which was pretty gruesome and we were all a little shocked how awful it was. We had only intended to stay a little while but it was so horribly fascinating that we ended up being there for three hours.

We had lunch in the cafe before a short drive to The Gap and the Natural Stone Bridge. The Gap is a vertigo-inducing cantilever walkway out over the cliffs looking down 35m to the raging sea below. The Natural Stone Bridge is a short walk away and also very impressive.

In the afternoon Katie and Jessica went to see the new Mary Poppins movie while Matt and I had some downtime. We picked up the girls at 6pm and then went on to a very hip wine bar and restaurant Liberté at the London, which served amazing Vietnamese-inspired dishes. We ordered some delicious dishes to share and I taught everyone how to play the card game 500.

Day 13 – Albany to Bremer Bay – The Beaches

Today we packed up and drove on about 40 minutes to The Granite Skywalk in the Porongurup National Park. It was a 2.2km hike through the bush to get to the top of the mountain, uphill all the way. It was too much for poor Jess, who was starting to feel a bit better but still getting tired easily. She made about 1km before deciding to turn back to read in the car. Poor girl.

The trail got progressively steeper and steeper and was quite tough at the top. We finally made it to a spectacular viewing platform about 10m from the top of the mountain with 270 degree views. Katie stopped at this point but Matt and I continued on to a higher viewing platform which was accessed by a scramble over huge granite boulders with stainless steel handholds drilled into them, then a scramble through a chasm and finally a 7-metre vertical climb up a ladder to the top. There was a walkway cantilevered off the top boulder and it was very scary looking through the platform to the bottom of the cliff which was more than 100m below in places!

The hike down which was much quicker and we then drove on to the tiny town of Bremer Bay which was another 1.5 hours. There was absolutely nowhere to stop and a lot of nothingness between towns, so we had to eat our picnic lunch on the side of the road! We arrived about 2pm and went straight down to Bremer Bay Beach. It was a truly beautiful beach with fine white sand, warm turquoise water, sunshine, 10km of beach around a bay with almost no one on it! The weather had also improved after a few grey days in Albany and it was a perfect sunny beach afternoon. There was a platform we swam out to and jumped off. We had about two hours on the beach before heading back to our resort.

Day 14 – Bremer Bay

Another day exploring Bremer Bay, which was starting to feel like a fantastic secret hideaway. We drove to a lookout point after breakfast and were amazed at the endless expanses of perfect white sandy beaches and clear turquoise water. We went on to the Wellcamp Museum. The Wellcamp family settled in Bremer bay in the 1840s and it seemed like everything they had ever owned since had been kept and put on display in the museum ever since! It was fairly quirky. Next it was on to the Gnorbup Winery before lunch. Katie cannot help herself at by this point we had more wine than we could drink before we left and more than we could carry back to Brisbane. J

After a quick lunch in our room we went to Blossoms Beach for the afternoon, another impossibly beautiful beach. That evening we went to the pub for dinner and quite astonishingly we bumped into some old friends Jenny and Neil LeFebvre. They are an Australian couple who we had become friends with when we all lived near Manchester between 2003 and 2006. They had moved back to Perth in 2006 and we had not seen them since then. It really was quite astounding to bump into them in this remote corner of outback Western Australia. Jessie and their eldest son Tom had been friends at playgroup when they were both three but didn’t remember each other at all! We had a lovely catch-up and took photos for Facebook. It was really great to reconnect with them all.

Day 15 – Bremer Bay to Esperance

We left Bremer Bay early for the four-hour drive to our final destination Esperance. When we arrived we took a small detour around the 38km Great Ocean Road, a loop just outside Esperance taking in beautiful lookouts, beaches and the Pink Lake. The Esperance Pink Lake was formally pink and is now actually white, as the salinity in the lake has dropped below the level needed to turn it pink. Still an interesting view though.

We suggested a visit to the nudist beach but the kids used their veto so we went on to Twilight Cove. It was absolutely beautiful - fine white sand, turquoise water and protected by a series of huge granite boulders. Matt, Jess and I swam out to them and spent another sunny beach afternoon jumping off the rocks. When we were suitably cooked we went to our accommodation which was a huge two-storey beach villa on the Esplanade with a lovely verandah and sea views. We had wine and cheese on the verandah enjoying the view and then a night in.

Day 16 – Esperance

A very early start today for a boat trip to Middle Island in the Recherche Archipelago. We were heading to Lake Hillier, an actual pink lake. This is a long trip and the company only runs it once or twice a year so we were lucky with our timing. It was a one-hour drive to the boat ramp and we met there at 6.30am, where there was a small speedboat ferrying little groups of passengers onto the boat. There were 42 guests in total, so this took quite some time and then we were underway by 7:30am.

It was a 2½ hour trip to the Recherche Archipelago which has 144 named islands. Middle Island is a 70 nautical mile trip. The sea was a bit rough and the boat lurched quite a lot, so several guests were seasick (luckily not us). One poor elderly Korean man threw up his false teeth into his sick bag and had to fish them out! We all enjoyed the sailing and it was a fantastic day to be out on the water although a little cool and windy. We saw a huge pod of dolphins on the way.

We stopped in the cove where Australia’s most famous pirate, Black Jack Anderson, made his hideout. The boat anchored off a pure white beach and we caught the speedboat in. We walked about 1km to the far end of the beach, up a small hill and the huge bubble-gum pink lake behind the beach dunes was revealed. It was an amazing sight. From that viewpoint we could see the full length of the beach, strips of blue deep water, turquoise shallows, white sand, green forest vegetation and the astonishingly bright pink lake. The colours were unbelievable.

We walked down through the bush to the lake edge past the ruins of the pirate settlement. The lake was even pinker up close! Definitely the pinkest place we have ever been and completely natural. The colour is created by algae that only grow in very high salinity water (10 times saltier than sea water). There are very few pink lakes in the world so it was pretty special. A walk back down the beach, quick swim and back on the boat for lunch.

It was another 2½ hours return sailing but was much calmer and warmer so we had a lovely time sitting on the front of the boat. Katie appropriated the Captain's chair on the upper deck and drank tea and chatted to everyone who came up to visit her. We made back to our villa just before 6pm and had showers and an early dinner in.

Day 17 – Esperance

We drove to Lucky Bay which is supposedly the only place in the world you can see kangaroos  on the beach and swimming in the sea. We arrived about 9:00am and it was already 38⁰C and I think the kangaroos had decided it was way too hot to be on the beach as there were none around. We knew that our friends Jenny and Neil had gone on to Lucky Bay and joked that we would probably bump into them. Amazingly, as soon as we arrived we stopped at the coffee truck on the beach and there they were! We had another long chat and then drove our car on to the beach. It was technically closed due to a Great White Shark lurking about but as the water was so clear we decided we would see it coming and spent the morning swimming.

On the way back to Esperance we stopped at the Esperance Stonehenge. It is a full size replica of how Stonehenge would have looked when it was originally built. It was originally commissioned for a winery which went broke before the quarry had finished but then a local farmer bought the stone and completed the job. It had heated up to 41⁰C by this time with a hot howling wind, however we were amazed to discover that the wind totally stopped inside the stone circle. It was quite spectacular. We drove back to Esperance and later that day we went for drinks to the Esperance Yacht Club and watched the sun go down before having dinner at The Loose Goose which is reputedly the best restaurant in Esperance.

 

Day 18 – Esperance to Perth

We got up at 6:00am and had a long drive back to Perth. It was over 750km so we spent most of the day on the road. We stopped for about 1½ hours at Wave Rock. It was an impressive rock formation and interesting hike through the bush. We arrived at our hotel in Perth about 5:00pm with just enough energy for a swim in the pool and an early dinner at the hotel restaurant.

Day 19 - Perth to Brisbane.

Our flights back to Brisbane left very early and we had to be at the airport by 6:00am. Jess and I were flying Qantas and Matt and Katie flying Virgin as we had booked all the flights on frequent flyer points. Our flights were leaving ten minutes apart, Jess and I were supposed to leave ten minutes before Katie and Matt but our flight was delayed by twenty minutes and they won the race! We were all home by 3:00pm that afternoon.

Cheers,

Derek, Katie, Matt, Jessie & Molly