A mixed bag

11^th October– 27^th October

Not much to say about Boscabel Hall, other than it’s a really good overnight stop. A big open area, nice, and a few birds.

Then we came upon Boddington and what a lovely little town this is. Very pretty, beautifully kept, and with a river flowing through it, plenty of birds. Way over the other side of the river bank I spied a nest and a couple of young Spoonbills; one of my fav waders. ☺️

This is a very popular spot, with a lovely rose garden nearby, so parking spots at the 72 Hour RV camp site, are at a premium, so get in quick.

So, back to Fremantle Village. I don’t think that the Fremantle Village caravan park is actually in Fremantle. You drive past the “Welcome to the City of Cockburn” sign, then put the indicator on to turn into the Village. Cockburn is a light industrial area, and not particularly pretty. Still, it was a short drive (about ten minutes) to South Fremantle and another five to the Fremantle harbour area, the starting point of the Americas Cup yacht race Yet another five minutes gets you to North Fremantle train station which offers $2 per day parking, and an easy train ride into the city of Perth.

We had booked in at Fremantle Village for two weeks, having organized some repair work on the car and maintenance on the caravan. True to form, even though the car repair had been arranged a couple of months earlier, communications between the repairer and the insurance company had ground to a halt so we extended our stay another week to get the work done.

That too, was in vain and now we’re going back on the 21^st November to get the work done. 😒 Nothing’s ever easy when you live on the road.

During our three weeks, we did quite a lot of exploring. Including several hours roaming Kings Park, in particular, the Botanical Gardens. We’re at the tail end of the wild flower season, but the park was still stunning and we saw some different flowers.

The caravan maintenance went without a hitch. Tony from Westcoast Trailer & Caravan Service, came to us and did a great job with the van. He fixed the brakes, re-packed the wheel bearings, and gave Chunky Bum a thorough going over. Sadly, he found a few more problems and parts needed to be ordered. Luckily, we will be back on the week beginning the 21^st and can do the work while the car is being repaired.

Perth city is… well it’s a city. It certainly didn’t grab us the way Adelaide did, but the area around the river is quite lovely. I was able to catch up with an old friend, and that was wonderful.

The 21^st of October marked one year since my operation, and I’m pleased to report that my latest check-up was all good, and both Peter and I are fighting fit, and still loving life on the road.

We spent a fun day in Mandurah, visiting the Giants of Mandurah, if you want to learn about them, follow this link – https://visitmandurah.com/giants-of-mandurah/

We only saw three of the five, as we had a better offer to have lunch with Peter’s cousin. It was great to catch up, and the lunch was delish.

We did a few day trips around the area, and into the city and of course a day trip to Rottnest Island. It’s a thirty minute ferry ride over to the island, then you can explore on foot, bike, bus, or a combination of these. We did the foot and bus combo and had a great day. The bus took us past an Osprey nest that he said had been in use for about 100 years. Each season, the breeding pair will do a bit of maintenance on the nest and raise their young. This year they have two bundles of feathers to feed.

And I’ve saved that best till last. Rottnest island was discovered by a Dutchman, Willem de Vlamingh. He thought the island was overrun with rats, hence the name, Rottnest (Rat’s nest) Island. What old Willem thought were rats, are the cutest little marsupials called Quokkas. I’m pleased to say they still live happily on their island.

See you out there somewhere

On tow and on the go!