Andrew has a yacht called Sandale, moored at Fremantle yacht club, so he took us for a weekend of sailing out to Rottnest Island.

Andrew in his favourite place.

The sky looks menacing, I know, but it was actually very mild, and it didn’t rain. We packed up the food, wine, dive gear and surfboards and motored out to Rottnest Island on Saturday. It’s a great way to spend election day! But it was quite strange to know the result before the WA booths has even closed, given the two hour time difference.

Andrew and Michelle

As you can see, the sea was like a mill pond when we started and we had to motor much of the way. Finally the wind picked up and Andrew gave Fergus some tuition at the helm.

And then he left him to it!

Captain Fergus looking very happy at the helm

Harry spent time at the wheel too, and Andrew put them both to work on the winches when it was time to change sails. The boys can now add sailing to their repertoire of new activities for our trip! We sailed around to the northern side of the island and moored in Marjory Bay, protected from the wind. We stayed the night there, falling asleep to the gentle rocking of the boat.

There was time to nip around to the next bay in the inflatable boat for a dive and a jump off the rocks. No surf for John though. It was here that they swam with seals. The seals were zipping all around the boys, and I think Harry wanted to swim off with them! They saw lots of fish and coral too.

Harry got back on board feeling rather cold

On Sunday we pulled in to Thompson Bay where the ferries from Perth dock and the original village is located. Rottofest – a music festival – was on, so it was a busy place. We had coffee in the sunshine, and then spotted the famous Quokkas.

The boys thought they were exceptionally cute, but I think they are like well fed rats!

We were back in Freo in time to visit the Maritime Museum of Western Australia. We saw Australia II and heaps of other good stuff. There was also a temporary photographic exhibition of the Abrolhos Islands telling the story of the decline of the fishing industry there.

And what better way to finish a day in Freo but with fish and chips!

I lived in Perth in the late 80s, in the years following the America’s Cup victory. They were great days. Perth’s had some ups and downs over the years, but it’s on one big upswing right now. We came in from the north (I guess that’s obvious) along a new road from Cervantes, via Lancelin and into the northern suburbs of Perth. Suburbs that didn’t exist when I lived here! I cannot describe how enormous the houses are at this northern end of town. Huge! Really huge! Either they have lots and lots of children here, or a lot of empty rooms. It’s not possible to need houses this big.

We’re staying with our good friend Andrew in North Fremantle. Andrew and John went to Uni together, and he came to live in the west while I was here too. So for the first time in our 10 weeks on the road (so far), we slept in a bed! It was very, very nice. Trevor the Trailer is good, but not that good. We had showers in a room you could swing much more than a cat in, and we even watched the news on the television. Actually, we haven’t missed the tv. It’s been a rather pleasant election campaign at our end. And best of all – a washing machine all to ourselves.

Perth marks something of a milestone in our trip. We’re enjoying catching our breath, staying with Andrew and meeting his new lady – Michelle. Perth is where John and I met, and we are having fun pointing out all the places we remember to the boys.

No one knows. The scientists have two explanations, but they can’t agree. You get that. What we do know is that there’s a huge number of these limestone pinnacles scattered throughout the area.

I tried to get some funny photos of the boys here, but nothing worked, and I’ve decided there really is no way to liven up the pinnacles. So we left.

Perth here we come!

When I said (last post) that Coronation Beach was popular with windsurfers – here’s a pic of a not very windy day.

Definitely not my thing.

I also forgot to mention the Pink Lake we passed on the way south. Depending on the conditions, an algae produces a vibrant pink bloom containing Beta Carotene which is harvested for the vitamin supplement market.

We stopped in at Geraldton to vote. Right nearby was the Western Australian Museum where we saw some great displays about the history of the region. They also had a section on HMAS Sydney and the story of finding the wreck. We’ve been absorbed in the shipwreck history and early Dutch exploration of this coast, and the museum had a great collection of relics from that era.

The rest of our time in Geraldton was spent at the major banks sorting out fraudulent activity on our accounts, and the odd bit of identity theft. All fixed now, but we were impressed with the banks’ staff and screening practices that identified the problem. So next time they ask you a dozen security questions over the phone, be glad they keep their guard up!

Somewhere north of Geraldton, around about Northampton, the land suddenly becomes viable for cropping. It seems to happen so fast, switching from the arid, marginal pastures to healthy green fields of lupins, canola and other grains. They don’t call it the wheatbelt for nothing.

We continued south through Dongara and Greenhead, and camped at the pretty town of Jurien Bay. There’s a great bike path alongside the shore, so John and Ferg went exploring, although they only found the marina.

We meet lots of nice people when we stay in the caravan parks. There’s always a good yarn to be had on the roads we’ve travelled and the places we’ve visited. Besides the fellow travellers, there’s also the ‘stay put’ people. These are almost exclusively Nomads, which I suppose is a contradiction, because they don’t actually go anywhere. Perhaps I’ll dub them the Grey Migrators. They go north for the winter – just like all the Victorians do when they head to Queensland, and stay in the one place for up to six months.

We met Stan in the Lighthouse Caravan Park in Exmouth, right next door to our site. He’s been camping right there each winter for 45 years. Now that’s a pretty good effort, since Exmouth only started to exist in the 60s. Stan has seen them come and go. I bet he can remember most of the neighbours he’s had on Site 72, including the permanents that were there for 18 years. He’s over 80, and on his own now. But he still comes to Exmouth from Perth every year. He says he’s trying to spend his childrens’ inheritance. Might take a while if he just stays in Exmouth and goes fishing every year. Unless of course he buys expensive bait. With just two weeks till he was due to head south again, he hadn’t caught any fish this year. That’s a pretty lean 4 months of fishing. He had a bit of a moan about having to buy meat from the supermarket at $25/kg. That wasn’t in his budget.

Stan keeps up with his reading. He chewed John’s ear for a good while over the latest gadgets he’d seen in the 4WD magazines. He’s been reading these mags for 25 years, and he reckons they just start to repeat the stories after a while. No kidding Sherlock. Try reading a mountain bike magazine.

Best of all was his car rego. And check out the ‘family’ sticker on his back window – it’s just him and his fishing rod! You’ve got to love him – Grumpy or not.