Day 89 – 91
We drove from Albany to Esperance which took roughly 6 ½ hours including a petrol stop and a lunch stop; a fairly boring drive and a very ordinary lunch - maybe preparing us for the Nullarbor?
We arrived at the prearranged caravan park via FFR2 instructions. It was very dodgy looking and had no redeeming qualities to write home about. FFR2 are travelling with their dog and it has become apparent to us that generally the only places that accept dogs are the ones that can’t attract people any other way! We checked out the ablutions block and decided that as it was clean we could probably cope for 2 nights as long as we kept the kids out and about during the day.
Chris was furious about the park and as that dark petulant cloud descended over his head we took off for the supermarket and a little drive around the town. By the time we got back FFR2 had arrived and that made Bubba and Madi happy and then it was dinner and Chris was allowed to stay in the van and watch TV via the internet so that kept the storm to a minimum.
We woke up Friday morning to Bubba beaming and announcing for all to hear “It’s my happy birthday”. He was very excited to be turning 7. As per his prearranged menu choices breakfast was pancakes with maple syrup and ice-cream a-la Lazy Moes (I know none of that is really breakfast food but you make allowances when they are so far away from home). He ate the biggest breakfast I have ever seen him consume and then got on to opening his presents. Luckily he was very happy with the offerings (thank God for the shopping centre in Perth and last minute pick ups in Albany). In comparison Madi ate virtually nothing and declared she was sick. Calling her bluff we sent her to bed where she promptly fell fast asleep and won the argument.
Dad and the boys ended up going out together to explore and I stayed home with Madi. She slept until 2.30pm so at the least she was exhausted although she woke up hungry so
I am a bit dubious on the actual illness.
The boys had a great day. They started out at the jetty where Bubba was told as a 7 year old he was a big boy now and thus expected to jump in. He went a little white and took a step backwards so Andy turned his attention to Chris and when he looked back Bubba was in the air heading to the water! They watched a sea lion get fed. Then they went to a little pier that has a pontoon off it with a slide on it. They jumped off the pier (Bubba led the charge) and swam to the pontoon where they played around on the slide for a while. After that they went to Twilight Beach – winner of best WA beach 5 years in a row. It is in a large cove and has a huge rock in the middle of it. The sand is very fine and white, the waves are good for surfing at one end, boogie boarding all along and there is a little calm area at the other end where you can snorkel or paddle. They had a lot of fun there and when the wind came up later in the afternoon they came home with ice creams for all.
That night FFR2 came for dinner and birthday cake. We had party poppers, sparklers and balloons so Bubba was very happy with his birthday celebrations. He even had seconds of the main meal; maybe as a 7 year old he will eat?!
Next day we had to do everything again because Madi and I had missed out the day before. We started at Twilight Beach early in the morning. The tide was out so all the kids swam out to the huge rock and jumped into the water. This was fun and they enjoyed it but they couldn’t find their way into the cave on the side of the rock so they came back frustrated. A little later FFR2 Dad took Nick and Chris back to try again. The tide had come in a bit and they started from the wrong part of the beach so it was quite a swim. Eventually they got there and climbed to a different part of the rock but it was still inaccessible. Eventually FFR2 Dad came down around the side of the rock face looking like a crab on his back – lucky for him he didn’t let the boys follow his lead. They went back, jumped into the water and swam to the part of rock where the cave was it became apparent that the plan was for FFR2 Dad to pull them into the cave. Chris managed to grab his foot, pull himself up about 10cm and then with his next attempt to pull himself up further pulled FFR2 Dad into the water so they had to ditch that idea. The watched some older boys jump from the top of the rock for a while and then they decided to have a go at doing it themselves. Watching from the beach I thought there was no chance they would do it but I had to eat my words. Nick jumped first with no hesitation. Chris was a bit nervous but one of the older boys jumped with him the first time and after that there was no turning back. Eventually they made it back to the beach; we dug Bubba out of his sand grave and headed off for lunch.
After lunch we went to the slide in the water again. Bubba started showing off with cannon balls off the pier (I think we may have created a dare devil there) and they all did the slide a few times. The wind came up and was very strong and made things a little cool so after that we went to Adventureland Park – not very aptly named as there was no adventure to be had. The kids lasted about 30mins and then we headed home for an early dinner and pack up ready for the long drive today.
Today we farewelled FFR2 – tears on their part. Their eldest daughter was inconsolable – Bubba charm strikes again! We are heading for the Nullarbor. We are not sure how far we will get but we will drive until dusk and see where that gets us to.
