Our final blog of Fremantle and Perth

After getting up early to do the school on air lessons we actually had a break today as there was no lesson and even though we had a big day planned we had decided to just wake up in our own time.  Obviously we had forgotten to tell the kids this was our plan as they were up early, but it was chilly so they jumped into our bed and we all managed to sleep in a bit longer.  I definitely made sure though I made their beds properly when we did wake up so it will help stop them kicking their blankets off and keep them in their own bed a bit longer.

We were nearly ready to go when Hamish begged to play with his friends a bit longer and as they were leaving the next day we decided to let him play for a bit longer and it would also mean the phone repair shop Jason wanted to put his phone into in the city would definitely be open.  Well let’s just say we forgot what peak hour traffic was like and the shop would have been well and truly open by the time we arrived, if we could have found it or found a park nearby so Jason could run in.  I don’t think it was a very good plan at all so after a few laps around we gave up on that idea and kept heading north out of the city to the Gravity Centre.

Someone is trying to move in.

Cleaning up the kids crumbs.

My sister and her family had given us a voucher to the centre for Christmas and we had originally planned to do it when we headed north as it is about an hour’s drive out of Perth, but decided we had some spare time so might as well do it now, and the fact it was on a different road to the one we had planned to take up the coast.  Even though we were on one of the major roads heading north you honestly couldn’t tell, it just seemed really quiet and very little traffic. 

We arrived at the Gravity Centre and straight away Hamish wanted out of the car as something had caught his eye and he wanted to go in.  Just getting them in the front door was hard as there were some cool displays outside that they had fun with.  The Gravity room was where we spent most of our time trying out each of the different displays and activities.  The kids were having a ball but after a while we got a bit peckish and we did need to do some school so we went to their little café and enjoyed a nice lunch and coffee and completed some school. 

This could have entertained them for ages.

Inside the main gravity room.

Jason throwing up a ball into the black hole.

After lunch we focused on some more of the outside activities, one which included climbing 222 steps up their leaning tower (based on the Leaning Tower of Pisa) and dropping a water bomb and watching it land.  I actually think the idea was to have all different quantities and drop them at the same time and see which one landed first, but we just had fun dropping one at a time.  On the way down we passed a couple heading up, so once at the bottom we stayed and watched theirs fall down. 

Just a small tower to climb.

Kayla having a rest on the way up.

Hamish all ready to drop his balloon.

This place was great and there is a lot to do here.  I think you could easily spend a good day here doing everything.  The only thing I think they could do was just hand out a map when you purchase your entry.  Hamish and I did a bit more school whilst Jason checked out some more displays before checking out the shop.  Just so you understand where everything is and can easily find it all,  as we were leaving we noticed signs to even more things that we weren’t aware of but by now the kids were tired and ready for a rest.  Kayla fell asleep as soon as we got going in the car. 

Everyone was keen to seen them go splat.

The view from the top.

We took the scenic route home via Hillarys Boat Harbour and Scarborough Beach.  I think we went past some extremely big homes but none of them had any back yard and just seemed ridiculously big.  Certainly glad I don’t have to clean them.  Eventually we arrived home, exhausted but happy from a great day out.  We whipped up a nice and easy dinner, completed some more school and caught up on the washing and odd jobs as the sun set.   Thank you to the Timms family for a great Christmas present and a great day out.

Another day started with another on air lesson - again a successful one!  Whilst Jason and Hamish did school, Kayla and I cleaned all the dark main curtains in the caravan.  Certainly the first time I have done it this trip and it is probably the last.  At least I got rid of some of those chocolate handprints!  After that we chatted to the family across from us who had rolled in the day before.  They have two kids two and Hamish had already made friends with their son. 

Eventually we got to the shops.  The idea was that I would go to the library with the kids and do school whilst Jason went to Telstra to sort out a new phone as his was broken.  Then we would swap and Jason would do school and I would get my hair done.  It is in desperate need of a good cut and colour as I haven’t done anything to it since before Christmas.  I ended up doing a school session in the food court as I couldn’t be bothered finding the library.  That was a bad move as it took a while to complete the lesson as there were a few distractions (we ended up getting cake and coffee half way through). 

So as a break we headed to Big W to replace some things that have broken along the way like the little cooler bag for snacks in the car.  We also needed a new stroller as ours was on the way out and slowly bits were breaking.  Finally the kids scored new boogie boards that actually fitted them and a toy each.  Hamish of course picked out an annoying gun and Kayla a dog that barks and walks.  Maybe now she will leave all the dogs in parks alone.   By now I was getting quite worried that I wasn’t going to have time to get my hair done today and when Jason called he was only just making the decision then.  I should have known that no trip to a Telstra shop is ever a quick one.

So Jason came and got the kids off me and took them back to the Telstra shop and I headed off in search of a hairdresser.  There weren’t many in the shopping centre and I found one but they just couldn’t get it done in time as I was meeting my friend that afternoon, so I just made an appointment for the next afternoon.  I quickly ducked in and bought a replacement pair of shoes for the ones that were falling apart and joined Jason back at the Telstra shop. 

It was meant to be that I would get a new phone and Jason would then get mine as he was still under contract.  Well to cut a long story short we walked out of the shop thinking the new phone was mine and Jason then had mine, but the Telstra guy had stuffed up and done it the other way around, so of course when we tried to see if they worked we just went straight to message bank.  In the end I was happy though as it meant I kept my old phone and Jason got the new one, so I didn’t have to learn how to use the new phone and transfer all the details.  Starting to really show my age!

We quickly did a bit of Mother’s Day shopping after some lunch and then got out of there as we were all over it by the end.  After a quick pop into the caravan park to get the washing in and do another school session we headed into Fremantle to catch up with Hayley and her two beautiful kids, Lachie and Annie at the park.  It was so great catching up with Hayley and meeting her kids.  It was actually the story Hayley told me of her husband changing careers that stuck with me and provided me with comfort when we were making our big decision.   Hearing other people make life changing decision and being so much happier for it provides some sort of reassurance that you are going to be okay.

Kayla is only a few weeks older than Hayley’s son Lachie and it was as funny as that they discovered a muddy puddle together.  Of course I knew what was going down as my daughter isn’t one to just look at a muddy puddle and walk away and obviously Lachie wasn’t either.  They had so much fun jumping in the puddle and mud went everywhere.  I really wish I had gotten some decent photos of them jumping up and down and them both at the end covered in mud.  Then came the task of cleaning them up.  Hayley was way better prepared than us as she had a spare outfit.  We had nothing but luckily Hayley had a spare top of Lachie’s that she lent us. 

Lachie and Kayla having fun.  Really wish I had gotten more photos.

My dirty, shirtless child running around.

From here we headed to Little Creatures Brewery which was right across the road.  Hamish of course ran ahead and then got into trouble for having no shoes on.  So we quickly popped on his thongs, ran through and then kicked them off at the other end to play in the sand pit.  So us parents enjoyed a few drinks and dinner whilst watching the kids play in the sandpit.  The place was so busy that we thought it was Friday, but Hayley assures us it is even more packed on a Friday.  It was a great meal and before we knew it we were saying goodbye.  Thank you Hayley, Lachie and Annie for coming all the way to Fremantle to catch up with us.  We really appreciated it and had a great time.

Jason, Kayla and Hamish all ready to go..

Not a bad way to end the day.

By now Jason and I were ready to head home but of course the Ferris Wheel was running and Hamish was not going to let go that we had promised him we would do it, so we decided to jump on and give it a go.  It was nice seeing the view all around and reflect on how much we love Fremantle.  It is hard to believe that we only have four more nights here.  So after that we headed straight home for showers and bed.  Kayla was so overtired that she was chucking tantrum after tantrum but we eventually got her into bed and asleep. 

So Friday was much the same as Thursday, except in the morning we did venture out to Fremantle.  Jason and Hamish went to the Maritime Museum where they had fun trying to pretend to turn a winch on a yacht, check out the Australia 2 yacht that won the America’s Cup in 1984 and did a tour of the Ovens Submarine.

Hamish was a bit disappointed it wasn't underwater and didn't get to see nemo.

Use your muscles Hamish.

Love this photo of Hamish.

His 'hurry up and take the photo Dad', face.

 

Whilst the boys did the museum, Kayla and I just walked the streets of Fremantle.  We stopped and ate some food and then continued admiring the old buildings whilst also knocking over a few odd jobs.  This morning was really cold though and the wind was not helping the situation.  Before this day I had been thinking that it is going to be hard to leave down here, but now that the cold weather has caught up to us it might be a lot easier to hit the road.

You could walk around these streets forever.

Also stopping at the little coffee shops.

Looking back down from the Round House.

We all met up again at SquidLips for lunch as we had heard it was great food, and it was but I think I had eaten too much during the day and wasn’t really that hungry.  Kayla also wouldn’t stop playing with the windows so of course I had to drag her out kicking and screaming and we hot footed it out of there as soon as the boys were finished lunch.  From there we went back to the shopping centre where Jason dropped me off to get my hair done.  It was so nice to have a change but I forgot to pack my book which I had been looking forward to reading whilst there.

 

Still I walked out feeling fantastic.  It is amazing how much a new haircut and colour can make you feel.  Jason and the kids picked me up and back in the caravan park we quickly had dinner and showers so we could watch the movie on their big screen.  Getting the kids inside was a little hard as the caravan park had become quite packed again due to the weekend being a long weekend, so there were kids running around everywhere.  We eventually got there and after the movie was over it was straight to bed.

ANZAC morning was another cold one so we opted out of the Dawn Service and instead vowed that we would definitely do the parade to pay our respects.  We felt really bad for not going as realistically we believe that the least we could do was get up early one morning and brace the cold.  We did go to the parade and it was really good and the kids loved seeing everything and Hamish asked a million questions so that has to be a good thing.  Though one of them was ‘Are these guys pirates?’ as their flag did sort of reflect one in kid’s eyes.  It is really emotional watching the veterans be driven past but what hit me the most was a woman marching with the medals pinned to her and holding a picture of a family member she was honouring.  I am assuming that it was father or grandfather and her face looked like she was just holding it together but was proud of what she was doing.  This is the future of these parades and it would be lovely to see more people doing this, especially holding a picture of their loved one.

So much respect.

A little reminder of QLD.

They all look so smart in their uniforms.

After the parade was over we returned to the van for some lunch, a bit of school and then Jason headed out to join in the local social tennis.  Jason had managed to find some real grass tennis courts in Freemantle and just had to have a game.  He found it amusing as to how much more formal social tennis is in Western Australia.  Apparently you put your name down, then they organise who is playing with you and after 25 minutes a bell is rung which means you end your set and play with a new group of people.  This is done three times before afternoon tea is served before hitting the courts again. 

Whilst Jason was at tennis I had the kids for a few hours.  How hard could that be right?  Well I was exhausted and I thought maybe if I put on a movie that would keep Kayla inside the van and I could do a little bit of school with Hamish.  That didn’t work and I realised the magnets I needed were in the car so it wasn’t ever going to work.  Really I should be as thin as a model the way my kids keep me on my toes.  Around and around the caravan park I walked following and checking up on them.  Guess it just goes to show how bad my diet is!

Jason got home around 5pm and the smart man found me in the playground and had brought me a beer.  So back to the caravan I went (after encouraging the kids to come too) and we managed to finish off Hamish’s lesson which was fishing for the paper fish we had made earlier that day.  This started out great but then we attracted a bit of a crowd with kids and I had only made two fishing lines!  So Hamish and Kayla were a bit protective of their fish and rods but with a bit of coaxing they did share and I quickly made another fishing line so there were more to go around. 

Dinner was a throw together of whatever we could scrounge out of our cupboards and fridge.  Yep we really do need to go shopping.  Then it was a matter of getting our two kids into bed.  They didn’t seem too tired but we were so they needed to go to bed in my eyes.  Hamish was upset as he realised there was another movie on but honestly we were too tired to go.  Thankfully they were more tired than they thought and crashed pretty easily.

So our last day in Fremantle had rolled around ever so quickly.  It is going to be strange packing up and hitching on tomorrow when we haven’t done it for two weeks!  Our plans for today was get in a quick food shop and then my sister and her family were coming for lunch and a play in the local recreational park and then dinner at Tracey and Steve’s place.  However this was changed when I found out Woolworths doesn’t open here until 11am.  Certainly different Sunday trading hours to back in Brisbane.

Jodi, Madie and Hugh were a bit early so they called into the caravan park and we sat down and had a coffee together.  For a minute I thought we could just stay here but then we seemed to attract every kid possible to our caravan and it was hard to talk over them.  So we decided to still go to the park next door.  Jason dropped the kids and I off and went off to do the food shopping for us,  as we had no food to feed everyone for lunch and thought it would be a lot quicker him doing it on his own.

Cousins on the playground together.

No idea what they are doing here.

Then we moved to the beach - check out all the people fishing.

Well the poor guy certainly lucked out as it was packed and there were people everywhere.  He even sent us a picture of the line up for the register so we knew it was going to be a long time.  Jodi and I however were just sitting back near the playground watching the kids have fun.  It was good to have this last catch up and I even asked for some tips on how to get Hamish to enjoy sounding out and writing words.  Kayla was just following the dogs around and around and after a while started to get really upset so we decided it was time to go and check out the beach.  It is funny we have stayed here for two weeks and that is the first time we went down to the local beach.

Kids having fun, though I think Kayla is stopping Hugh from making it to the water.

What part of don't get your clothes wet didn't they understand?

Then lets go and roll in the sand afterwards.

It was beautiful and there were heaps of people fishing off the jetty as the day before there had apparently been a huge amount of salmon in there.  The kids didn’t take long at all to get themselves wet and start stripping down their clothes.  They were having so much fun and going deeper and deeper.  Neither Jodi nor I were keen to go in to get them if they got into trouble.  Jason then phoned to say he was finally out and on his way so we headed back to the carpark and then back to the van for some lunch.

We scooted ahead to get a start on lunch as it was already 1pm and everyone was quite hungry.  All the food shopping was dumped up on Hamish’s bed and the cold food put away whilst Jason started cooking the sausages.  Hamish ran off to play with his friend, except was straight back for his iPad!  They were “playing” together by sitting beside each other on iPads and swapping them every now and then!  Tragic my dear son, tragic.  Don’t get me wrong the iPad is great for the car and other times but we are going to start to ban it during the day when there are kids to play with.  Thank fully they did eventually put them down and went and played under the big tree.

It was sad seeing off Jodi, Madie and Hugh knowing we won’t see them again for a while.  We really appreciated you guys coming up to see us again.  Then it was time for a rest before we headed off for dinner.  Well that was the plan, Hamish was off playing under the big tree and Kayla was grumpy and in and out of the van.  Then we had the neighbour’s girl playing with the puppy so I decided I wasn’t really going to get to rest so I might as well start packing up.  Before I did a big off road caravan rolled in so I had to get Jason to move the car to make it easier for them to get in and I then went to make sure Kayla was out of the road. 

The best photo I got of all four of them.

Big hugs goodbye.

No Aunty Trish I am not going to show you my walking!

So we managed to squeeze in a little bit of packing up but then we thought we should head off so we weren’t late as we wanted to drop into BCF on our way and pick up some fly veils.  The kids already have some but we have heard the flies are really bad up north so we decided we should also get some for us.  Then it was straight to Tracey and Steve’s place for dinner.  We were very spoilt and got to enjoy a delicious roast beef followed by bread and butter pudding.  It was so great to see them again and catch up and hear of their travel stories, especially their ‘bloody city slickers’ trip to Tom Price.   Kayla followed their two dogs around all night and even pretended to be a dog.

Thankyou Tracey and Steve for your most wonderful hospitality and beautiful meal.  We had a fantastic night. 

We went home with the plan to pack the outside of the van but we were exhausted and decided to leave it until the morning.  Kayla fell asleep on our bed whilst we were having showers so that made it easy for us and we transferred her to her bed and then just got Hamish to hop up in his.  What a fantastic stay we have had here and we have met the most wonderful people.  It is going to be hard to leave.