We know we have said this before and undoubtably will say it again – where did this year go? 2021 certainly passed very quickly. We hope this second year with COVID has been a good one for you and you are well and healthy. Like last year, we continue to be extremely thankful to be living in Australia, particularly Western Australia and have frequently commented how lucky we are.
We are now seven years into retirement and have had no regrets. We find we are continually on the go and wonder how on earth we fitted everything into our working lives when we were working! There are never moments where we are twiddling our thumbs. Life is good.
As WACA members, January saw us heading to the cricket. Our friends Pam and Roy join us when they can and we have a great time. Glenn and his friend Frank have also come along and shared these days with us. We really enjoy it. We have had some fabulous days at the cricket over the summer at OPTUS and the WACA. On one occasion during a shield match at the WACA, we booked into The Bradman room for lunch. This was fantastic as you got to have your table in the restaurant overlooking the game for the whole day! Brilliant! We are hoping that we can coordinate this again this year. Well worth it if you’re interested in cricket. A lovely meal too!
We also had our beautiful Tyler to stay over the January school holidays and at other times throughout the year. He is now ten and is easy going and good company. We are having him stay for a week after Christmas and then hopefully again in the new year before school commences. We are looking forward to that.
February saw us packed up and ready to go off on a short caravan adventure to Albany. The night before we were due to depart, W.A. went into a lockdown! So we unpacked the van! We are sure many of you had plans that at the last minute had to be altered due to restrictions. Later in February however, we headed to Karri Valley to celebrate Pam’s birthday. Roy organised for her sister and brother-in-law and us to meet us down there and surprise her. We had a fabulous long weekend there, walking, laughing, drinking and relaxing. Great company.
During March, with Pam and Roy again, we stayed at The Metropole for a couple of nights on a Luxury Escape! It was such fun but we decided the stay was too short! We are on the lookout for another good deal and will hopefully stay for a bit longer
April is birthday month for David and Sophie. AND also now for their second daughter and our second grand daughter Nora Rose. She is almost eight months old and is just a bundle of smiles and joy. She has the brightest, bluest eyes and a curiosity for what is going on around her. We have been lucky enough to have had her and Poppy sleep over on several occasions and we babysit and help out where and when we can. They are delightful and we are blessed and so fortunate to be a part of their lives. Poppy is now three and heads to Kindy next year. She will love it and her teacher will love her. She is loud, curious, funny, empathetic, caring, kind and full of life. She knows what she wants and is a real girl. We love her – and all our grand kids very much. They bring a deep satisfaction and joy to our lives.
May saw us head north for a get away. We headed off with Pam and Roy and spent just over 3 glorious weeks at 80 Mile Beach. It was just lovely even if the weather was cooler than we had hoped. We both jagged fabulous sites near each other with our own little beer garden between us, where we spent many evenings together. Day merged into day and we filled them with walking along the beaches, fishing, eating, drinking and lots of laughing. We are so lucky to share and spend time with this couple who are so gracious in letting us travel with them and be a part of their lives as they are with ours. Pam and Roy had to head back to Busselton for some appointments and we headed to Cape Keraudren where we spent 6 weeks doing not a lot! It is always lovely to go back there for a stay as we know many of the people who are also camping there. Kevin and Maree were established in their van when we arrived and it was nice to catch up with them. Heather and Glenn also arrived on their journey north and we again shared food, drinks and laughter with them. Mary, Bill, Les, Doug, Del and Doug were also there and as usual, very welcoming and wonderful company. We were stunned at how busy it was – as were all the roads and camp sites along the way. We have never seen so many people and vans at The Cape. There was huge drama one evening when a family with 5 children travelling in a converted bus, saw the bus burn down! It was so fortunate the wind was not blowing a gale that evening as the result could have been so much worse for many others camping nearby. The generous donations from all those camping at The Cape was astounding and no-one was hurt. We hope we never witness anything like that again. The family were obviously distraught, but safe.
Mark continues to live his own life in his house and while we don’t hear from him, David and Ashleigh keep in contact with him and keep us filled in.
In August we headed to the Wheatbelt area and had the most wonderful time. We drifted to Dumbleyung and stayed overnight and went to the pub for dinner. It was a town we have driven through many times but never stopped. This was our chance and we had a great time. From Dumbleyung we returned to one of our favourite places – Nyabing, where we lived for three years when the kids were little and Steve was the principal of the school. When we lived there, the people and community opened their homes and lives to us and we loved it. Nothing has changed in that regard. We stayed a couple of nights at the recreation ground and visited the pub and caught up with some remarkable people. It was simply wonderful seeing some of the children now grown up and doing so well. We will go back and do it again when we can.
From Nyabing we headed to Albany and stayed in a caravan park in the centre of the town. As we had taken our bikes, we spent time riding around and just enjoying and relaxing. When we had the block, it was always work based and we never had time to appreciate the area. This was different and wonderful. We headed out to The Porongurups and climbed Castle Rock and walked the boardwalk. It was fantastic. We jagged great weather the whole time we were in Albany which made all the sight seeing spectacular. From Albany we headed to Busselton and stayed with Pam and Roy for several days. Never a dull moment and always a fun time to be had. They are such good hosts.
The end of August saw us heading back to Karri Valley for a week staying in a gorgeous chalet again with David, Sophie, Poppy and Nora. The weather was not particularly kind to us, but it is a beautiful part of the world and it was just lovely spending time with David, Sophie and the girls. Poppy already has asked where we will go on holiday next year with them!
David continues to work at Austal Shipping as a supervisor in Naval Base doing marine electrical work. He has been doing heaps of overtime and is often working 6 days a week. Sophie is now working casually with MIMCO and continues her law studies. She enjoys her study and her grades are very high. She juggles life with the girls well. For the first time in many years, she is not working Christmas Eve and we are heading up to their place for nibbles and a few Christmas Eve drinks.
Ashleigh turned 30 this year and a family gathering of about 40 people was held at our home with us catering. Steve cooked all the meats and did a fabulous job. It was a lovely day. The following weekend she had a girls gathering. It was supposed to be a picnic type affair in the park, but the weather was not playing its part and so she held it in her unit. It was a nice afternoon. That evening she had arranged another gathering in the city. Her birthday went for a fortnight. She is still at Hammond Park and moves back to Kindy for next year. She is happy about that. She works very long hours and is a perfectionist so there is always something to do. She still lives in South Perth in a lovely little unit that suits her needs.
She and Steve’s dad Denis continue to have a wonderful relationship. They are always heading out to lunch or to the Swan Valley for wine testings. It is so lovely. Denis is keeping fit and healthy and will probably outlive us all!
October saw us heading back to Broome again, this time staying at Moonlight Bay Apartments which are close to Chinatown. We had the best time. The apartment was fully self-contained and very roomy. We didn’t hire a car this year, but walked around and caught the bus out to Cable Beach and went to Zanders (at Cable Beach) for lunch that day. We just enjoyed wandering around, stopping here and there for a cocktail and then back to our apartment to watch the sunset and enjoy the warmth that is unique to The Kimberleys. We are planning on heading back again in2022. It may become an annual event.
Oh! And Paula got another pearl!
We decided to get the swimming pool resurfaced and the paving around the pool and the back yard replaced. What should have been a simple job and completed within 3 or 4 weeks, turned into a fiasco and took 8 weeks. It’s a long story, but it was not a pleasant experience. Although Poppy found the idea of having a sandpit around your house for nearly 8 weeks just fabulous and wanted to bring her bucket and spade! We can look at the completed job now and enjoy the finished result, but Steve had to do so much finishing off and is still thinking of calling them back to redo a section of paving that is not even. Steve did a fabulous job in tidying up loose ends. It is so lucky he is such a good handyman and can actually do lots of these jobs. We’ve decided that renovating is over for us!
We head into Perth each year for a Cellar Door wine tasting event held by West Cape Howe wines, Mount Trio and several other wine makers. This year we went with Ashleigh and our lovely friend Vicki. We had a great time and were not planning on buying any wine, but we all walked out of the event with orders. Looks like it will be a very merry Christmas.
Steve continues to go metal detecting when he can, which unfortunately this year hasn’t been too often. He loves it and often will find an old coin or two or some interesting artifacts. We are hoping next year, he will have a better opportunity as we plan to head away mid April for 4 or 5 months. We are not sure where we are going until borders are opened – or not!
Hopefully 2022 will see everyone being able to move a little more freely and families will be able to get together again. Take care. All the best to everyone for a Happy Christmas and fingers crossed for a much brighter and safer 2022.