2025 June to September - Returning Home to Nelson and an Operation

A small "walk" with Joan

 We flew into Christchurch via Auckland from Perth. Had time for a quick catchup & coffee with Wayne & Kate, before rushing through security for our flight to Christchurch. Only to find our flight cancelled and a new flight later in the day. It was a long day.

A chilly morning in Christchurch

Arrived in Christchurch and taxied out to Weddons, where the bus had been in storage for nearly 4 months while we were in Australia. All was good, and the bus started easily. The new Penny automated system worked well to let us drive out of the storage compound and into the NZMCA Campground to park up. We got our bikes sorted and rode into Rolleston for groceries, forgetting how early it got dark, and no lights on our bikes! It was an early night after two full on days of travel and a bowl of soup.

New Brighton

We had three nights in Christchurch for Bill to have a scan, more tests and met the Surgeon to have his prostate removed. We were privately funding the operation as robotics wasn't publicly funded at this time. And after all our research and meetings with specialists in Aussie, we felt this was the best way to go for Bill. We were fortunate there was a bus stop at the gate of our camp and for $4 we could travel into town before 9am / free after 9am on our Gold Cards to return home. No parking hassles. It was a bit dark when heading into town and a bit cool one morning at -2 degrees (a bit of ice on the inside of our motorhome windows). We had time to catch up with Marg for brunch one morning and Helen & Ralph for lunch another day. A bus ride out to New Brighton and check the changes going on there and back into town around the medical appointments. Checked out the lovely new library a couple of times (greeted by R&P's son Adam one morning and renewed our friendship from years ago).

The Christchurch Cathedral still struggling
with it's rebuilds

After meeting the Surgeon and going over all Bill's results, he made a date to have the surgery in a few weeks. Uggh! It will be good to have it all done and out.

We left Christchurch the next morning and headed straight to Marfell's Beach (a favourite DOC camp for us.) We were traveling home without a COF or Rego (can't get this without the COF) as we thought we would do all this back home in Nelson, so wanted to get off the road as soon as possible. The next morning after a beach walk, we headed over the hills back to Nelson and back home to 177 after 11 years of renting it out. We had had good management of the property over ten years. Unfortunately, we changed companies for the last one. They got lovely tenants but didn't manage the cleaning very well. Amazing how quickly a place can deteriorate in 9 months! Being winter isn't a great time to return home anyway, but the house looked very shabby. The doors and walls were sticky. The windows shocking. Can't believe the Property Manager signed the place off. And as it was a couple of weeks after the tenancy termination, we couldn't do anything about it. I was so upset, we didn't move back in for a few days, staying in the Bus till we could get some cleaning done. Very grateful to V&T for dinner that night. Stopped me crying. But we were lucky to have been away 11 years with very few issues over that time.

Marfells Beach 😍

When I had previously connected with Power companies (like Tosswill Road after 6 years of not connecting to any power provider), it wasn't an issue. But this time as they had actually disconnected the service to the property, what a shemozzle to reconnect. Very hard to get a person on the end of a phone call these days. Thankfully, we were still in the Bus so not too much of a disaster. More frustrating. And with all the providers these days, who is best to join up with. Genesis won. And so far, have provided good service, especially their power shouts.

Restructuring for a new TV!

Tyler was home next door for the Uni holidays. What a great opportunity for us to have a strong young man next door.😊 Bill & Tyler were able to move all the heavy furniture back into the house from the sleepout / storage room pretty smoothly. In the 11 years we had been away, technology had moved along quite a lot. Our 17 year old TV really was past it's keep date. Surprisingly, considering we aren't big TV watchers, Bill was on a mission to replace it pretty quick. This involved a day of altering the wall unit and reassembling it to be able to take the bigger screen. After a hiccup in misunderstanding what was out there for sale and at what price, Bill finally got it sorted and rushed out to the Warehouse for a bargain! I must say it has been good and is great for playing music from the many streaming services that are out there, without actually signing up for any subscription. And more surprising was we were able to sell the old one along with the cromecast and freeview dish for $50. Much better than going to landfill.

Another slip 😕

The weather was great initially on our arrival home, but heavy rain was forecast. Bill checked all our guttering and drains in preparation. And then the rain commenced. That was ok as the tenants had left us some firewood, and it was a good time to finish cleaning and moving everything back into its right place. Or send down the hill to Restore if no longer required. Unfortunately, it was pretty consistent heavy rain and by day 3 of no letting up, our neighbours property had a slip come down on our driveway, blocking it. It was too wet to do anything about it till the rain stopped, not knowing it would take two months before we could clear it.

When we headed down to Christchurch for Bill's operation, we decided to have a night in Hanmer Springs as it was a last chance for a swim before his op. Out of the blue, we got a phone call from Flora & Bjorn whose kids had seen us walking around the streets of Hanmer. They had amazing recollection of us, which was lovely when we met for a coffee at their Bus (home) the next morning. They went on the road three years after us with their four children and still loving it. 

My Rose Gold bike.

Onto Christchurch that morning to H&R's. We checked out a bike sale at 99 Bikes as I wanted a new bike after my lovely Aussie one. They had my Aussie one except for the colour. Only $1400NZD, the Aussie one was $2200 NZD. Bargain, except for the rose gold colour. But if it saved over $700, I don't care that much about colour. The next day was my birthday - after a morning shopping, checking out lounge suites among other items, we headed back to H&R's to walk to Arlo's up the hill for my birthday lunch. Very nice. 

The next morning, 6.30am, I took Bill in for his Op. After he was checked in and I gave him a kiss (just in case it was to be his last), I headed out for breakfast, then caught the bus to the Palms for a bit of shopping waiting to hear from the Surgeon. All went well. I caught the bus back to hospital just as Bill was coming out of recovery. He seemed pretty good and the Surgeon was happy how it all went (which is what you want to hear). I picked him up mid-morning the next day, after going through all his post op care with the nurses. As Bill was feeling so comfortable, we went shopping, well may as well .... poor Bill. He was very good as I drove around looking at curtains / vacum cleaners /rangehoods / lunch at Scarborough. 

Morning walk with Helen & Ralph

We even picked up my new bike. Bill managed a good night's sleep. Only up the once. We stayed on in Chch an extra two nights for recovery after a mate had said how uncomfortable the journey home had been for him straight after surgery. We had a big walk the next day up the hill. Bill was amazing, coping very well with catheter and pain. We drove through the Lewis Pass home, beautiful drive through, no comments from any backseat driver. Much nicer coming into the house this time. It was feeling more like home.

Bill recovering with a cup of tea & sandwhich

Dennis removing loading spoil onto the truck

Bill needed to buy another Ute (workhorse), as Ute's are much more versatile on a hillside property. We were able to start to clear bits in the driveway, but it was too sodden to do too much around the slip. Another claim went into NHC (replacement for EQC) but that's like getting water out of a rock to meet their criteria for compensation. Dealing with your driveway but not your land that has come down onto it, is quite complex. Once the ground dried out enough to be moved, almost two months later, Bill & Dennis spent a day clearing the slip. Dennis on the digger, Bill taking 11 loads of waste to a dumpsite. Although now cleared, there is no remedy to stop future slips, so this will be an ongoing issue with our heavier rainfalls unfortunately. I know, I know Bill! We live on a sea cliff!!!! Anyway, that is a discussion five years away. Watch this space.

Our new workhorse

Along with settling back into the house, sorting the overgrown gardens, we are back to weekly visits to Joan (who hadn't noticed we had been away), occasional cards at Bobs (along with Diana when she was available) on wet days, a memorial for Richard Cowan (an ex kayaker) which was a good get-together with fellow kayak members we hadn't seen for a few years, and local walks & bike rides. Catch up with friends and what they've been up to while we have been away. We are enjoying being back in Nelson, especially now we have retired.

Upgrading the kitchen wall for a new rangehood

We caught up with an ex Nelsonian / Kayaker Ray while he was passing through town (thanks Bob for keeping people connected). Ray & Katie now live just out of Melbourne in Mansfield, so we will put them on the list to visit when we head over next February for Michael & Alex's wedding.

We started to plan what we wanted to do in the way of renovations and the priority of jobs. We followed up a two-year-old quote on double glazing the whole house and amazingly the price had only increased by $300! Wow! We will take that, but not until next year after our summer trip to Aussie. Booked it in. The decking around the house was priority with summer around the corner and most of the Family and extended Family all coming for Christmas. Huge job for Bill removing all the 40-year-old plus timbers and prepping for the new decking. Just as well he had good recovery from his operation as there was a lot of squatting and scrunching in replacing the deck.

Bill into the deck replacement

A new pruning tool

Bill replaced the broken range hood in the kitchen, which allowed me the opportunity to repaint the dark red end of the kitchen (very fashionable 25 years ago!). We replaced the curtains in our bedroom, which also helped to make it feel fresher and more modern. Along with these jobs we worked away on the gardens, recovering our view and restoring areas that had got a little overgrown.

Our lovely newly covered bus seats

Bill also worked away on his new (old) Ute which had a few small issues that he wanted fixed. Like getting the seat welded after breaking away from its frame! Replacing the radio head with a $33 Ali Express bargain - Bill was very BVD (a rating system of Bill's - Bill very disappointed). We also got on and replaced the fabric on the front seats of the Bus that had deteriorated and was disintegrating as we sat on them. Who knew there was a lot of science that went into upholstery fabrics along with the dollars to buy it. Then there is the poor guy that does the job. The seats are not easy to work on even when they were taken out of the bus. So, for $4k, we now have very smart seats. Also at this time, Bill decided to replace the Suzuki's head unit with one that would include a backing camera. It's ok for the majority of people's vehicles that commonly come with cameras these days, but our nearly 20-year-old car missed the boat on this device. We can boast we have one now too.

Elaine & I at the Nelson Car Museum

Mark & Elaine decided it was time to do a much-needed South Island trip, leaving Auckland and come and stay with us in Nelson for a part of it. It was lovely to see them and get out and about around Nelson and play tourists along with them. Nelson put on great weather while they were here which certainly helped.

Dethatching the lawn

Coming into spring I decided it was time to do something with my sad looking lawns - more weeds than blades of grass. I learnt about dethatcher's and hired one to go over our lawn. Bill helped me as they are rather heavy machines to operate. But what a difference it should make, also after sowing new grass seed as well. 🤞

While all this is going on, Bill managed to hurt his second to last finger while working on the deck, which resulted in 6 weeks of physiotherapy. Who knew what a problem a droopy finger could be. And how much you can exercise a finger!😂 Thankfully it did recover. Mostly.

Hopefully finished before Christmas!

The days are getting longer which is lovely to watch the sunsets from our deck at the end of our working days around the place. We managed to get the COF for the Bus, which also allowed it to get registered once again. Happily, all legal to get back on the road in time for our next road trip down south to Central Otago to meet Em & Nick and the Granddaughters when they come over for a wedding in October. Looking forward to seeing them all and having a trip away in the bus with our smart new seats.

Driving the Ute with a bit of debris on  it.

A lovely Nelson sunset 💕

2025 May/June - Australia Part 3/3 - Dunsborough

In bed with the Tylers 💕

We returned to Dunsborough after our Motorhome trip to settle back into the routine lives of Rochelle & Nick's families. Em's parents were about to head away to Europe for five weeks, so we planned our return to NZ on their return. We were available to help with E&N's Girls and Lenny where needed.

Bike riding with the Family
(Bill wanting to go too)

Both houses had a couple of jobs for Bill to keep him out of trouble. R&D had some tiling in their ensuite and N&E wanted to replace the shower curtain in the main bathroom with a glass door.

We were still getting to the beaches but less frequently swimming. And riding our bikes along with babysitting duties.

Dad & GrandBill feeding the Twins

Bill & Nick
fitting the shower door

We had time to catch up with Daniel's Mum Cathy (Nonna) and her Mum Big Nonna (even though she is tiny😄) when they came down to R&D's to have some time with Lenny. 

And finally had time to walk to the Golf Club Cafe - very handy to R&D's and offering quite a range of meals and drinks. Managed a coffee initially and later dropped in for a wine. Very pleasant.

N&E have started talking about taking a year off to do a caravan trip around Aussie with the Girls next year before Ophelia starts school. They have begun clearing out gear in the house to enable it to be rented out. And started looking at buying a new vehicle to tow a caravan. Within a short time, they had bought an Izuzu and Nick sold his FJ (the joy in his life at a different period in his life eg pre children 😊)

Late afternoon at the beach with Ophelia

It was also that time for N&E to start to look at schools for the future for Ophelia - so they did a few school visits at different educational facilities to find what they thought would be best for Ophelia. Of course, all Educators come across well when promoting themselves. Making choices harder than easier when they all seem amazing. 

Ophelia also had to visit an Optometrist to see why her eye was rolling inward, which had slowly got worse. She will need glasses for some time to hopefully correct the condition for now. So hard for wee ones to have to use glasses daily but the improvement to her vision must be great as she is happy to wear them.

Rocky, Lenny & Ophelia on the beach, I'm off into the sea🏊 

We were able to celebrate Daniel's birthday with "whole family", as Philly likes to say, from Burgertron! The famous burger shack ran by a fellow Kiwi that Nick was always keen for us to try but every opportunity we had the shop was shut. The owner is there for lifestyle, not to slave away! 😁 

Bill was still looking at his options to proceed with removal of his prostate, but the options were starting to look about the same back in NZ, and then any complications were probably easier to deal with back at home rather than the Aussie health system. So, he lined up an appointment in Christchurch for our return.

Ophelia & GrandBill
playing

N&E wanted to move the Girls into Ophelia's old bedroom now that she was all set up in what was the Guest room. With the double glazing in all the front rooms to quieten them from road noise and be warmer for winter, the new joinery gave a new look to the front of the house even though the property isn't that old. Along with new blinds, the girls were ready to move into their new room and new beds. N&E moved into the Twins old room and we got the master bedroom with ensuite. 😍 This was to put everyone closer together, except visitors, for any nighttime call outs of which there were a few most nights. 

Lulu & Tulsi have moved into their new room

Rocky & Nick organised an evening to take Bill & I out for dinner before we were to return to New Zealand, to Pedro's, a favourite of Rocky's. It was a lovely evening and included a late-night shop at the supermarket! Thankfully, there were no other customers at that time of the evening!

Our Tenants back at home (177) gave notice they were moving out early June, which was to work in well for our return to Nelson. Finally, after almost 11 years, we were moving back home. Not like the false start back in 2024 😕.

The Simpletons out for dinner -At the supermarket afterwards.
Thankfully no other customers this late at night 

Although it was exciting to be thinking and planning our return back home, it was also a bit sad to be leaving our two families over here. Lenny has just started taking small steps, Lulu is crawling everywhere and Tulsi is happy to just sit and watch. Except when her twin sister comes and grabs things off her now. At least she has good lungs! 💕 

Rocky & Bill assembling the bike trailer

Lenny's bike trailer arrived a couple of days before we were leaving, which gave Bill & Rocky time to assemble it and have a few practice rides and Rocky get familiar towing. Nick & Em use theirs a lot, and Ophelia sits on a seat on the bar of Nick's bike so he can take all three easily. Rocky & I took our bikes to the supermarket as a trial and loaded the trailer with groceries. It worked well. Rocky was ready for Lenny now. Bill & I headed off on a 12km ride with Lenny and popped into a beach for me to have a swim and Bill & Lenny a play in the sand. She loved it.

Lenny enjoying a ride in her new carriage 🚲

Pram & Bike Trailer

Our morning of departure was beautiful for a stroll along Bussleton waterfront with Rocky & Lenny before catching the Bus to Perth to fly home later that day. Another wonderful visit to WA and our Granddaughters. Will make plans for our next trip early next year. 🤞

Lulu trying out GrandBill's hat 

Lenny enjoying eating sand (just like her Mother)

Mothers Day at E&N's

Strolling at Eagle Bay

Autumn at R&D's

2025 Easter - Australia Part 2/3 - The South West WA in a Camper

Freedom Camping at Boddington

 We arrived at Elizabeth Quay, Perth, at mid-day after a smooth bus ride from Bussleton (via the airport - make a note for the future to fly home). We were met by Graeme coming at us on an electric scooter (watch out Perth!!) he was loving his first ride. we had the afternoon exploring Southern Perth by catching the ferry across. Public Transport is so cheap over here, even not being able to use our Gold cards.

Graeme terrorising
Perth

We had booked into the old Criterian Hotel based on the fact it was clean and cheap. That it was. But boy was it well past its makeover date. But for one night it was fine, and very central. First thing the next morning, we caught a local bus out to where we were to pick up our camper vans for a three-week adventure down the south west of WA. Once again, public transport so cheap (under $10 for the three of us). Google Maps were great for timetables on public transport.

Ian, Graeme & Bill checking out one of the Giants
of Mandurah

The camper vans were fairly new and much better supplied than our last hire in Aussie back in 2018. Plus! The big thing this time was a toilet and shower. Bill & I enjoy these comforts these days. Especially with the spiders & snakes that may be around at night if you have do a wee. After being given a thorough guided tour of the vans (what to do and not to do) and a big discussion on insurance and what is covered (more on that later), we headed off for lunch and a nearby supermarket to top up basic supplies.

Mandurah Harbour

Bill had his appointment with the Prostate surgeon, where more discussion was had on Bill's options. The surgeon booked him in for a Cat scan and MRI on our return to Perth at the end of our three-week trip. Graeme headed off to find our camp at Mandurah, only an hour south of Perth. Not too big a trip for our first day. It was also where Graeme was wanting to catch up with ex Kiwi's Lieutenant Colonel Healey (from G's Territorial days) and his wife Linda. 

We stayed an extra night at Mandurah after Ian had booked us onto a harbour cruise the next day, where we got an amazing display from the local dolphins that frequent the estuary and harbour. Ian was a good local guide, showing us around the area. 

Marrinup POW Camp

From Mandurah, we headed inland to Boddington for the night, via Dwellingup's POW camp. This was amazing history of the second world war's treatment of recent immigrants into Australia. Australia needed the manpower of people to grow produce for a growing city and surrounding areas. But with Italy siding with Germany, the local Italians and Germans were treated as hostile aliens and were imprisoned in fairly remote spots. We found one such camp and wandered through what is now quite overgrown but plenty of sign boards of the history of these people who had done nothing wrong but belonging to a race of people that were our enemies at that time. Just the labour and manpower that was involved to build and supervise the prisoners, was immense. Boddington was our first night of freedom camping, and as we travelled through these small rural settlements inland in WA, discovered there had been recent government funding to these small settlements to help draw in tourists. Lovely RV freedom camping spots. Boddington's camp was by the river, where we joined half a dozen other campers. A nearby reserve bbq made cooking dinner easy. Lovely and quiet.

G&B surfing Wave Rock

The Hippopotamus's mouth

Our destination inland was Wave Rock which we didn't get to on our last trip in 2018, and everyone says it's a must do. I'm pleased we did as it was amazing rock formations and again the history of the area. As we dove thru the small settlements on the way, we would stop and read about the history in these areas which were initially grain growing areas (and still are today) but also a lot of mining now too for precious metals. The mining companies have helped by returning some money back into the towns to stop them from dying, which they would have with lack of employment. And today, people just don't want to live so rurally, it makes it very difficult. 

Unfortunately, on day 5, we learnt more about the fine print on the insurance cover of the vehicles, when Graeme backed into a branch of a tree that you couldn't see in the backing mirror. Bummer! Thankfully, he was still able to open and close his back doors. He reported the incident, but nothing was required until our return. This incident made us even more cautious after reading that fine print on our insurance policies, realising that there was very little that was actually covered. Luckily G had travel insurance that would cover his excess on the claim.

With Mike & Alex

Wave Rock was as far inland as we wanted to go, so from here, headed down south to Esperance. And unfortunately, the weather was as disappointing as our last visit 7 years ago. Showery and cool. Not appealing for a swim. We had trouble booking into a camp, we thought we would have been ok being mid April but school holidays and Easter on its way, had a lot of families on the road. The camp "managed" to squeeze us in (at the entrance carpark!😒). At least we could walk to a local pub for a drink and G hired another scooter to travel back to camp. We were also noticing the increase in camping prices, and not necessarily more facilities. We had our first thunderstorm here.

After a look around Esperance town centre, and the weather not improving, we decided to move onto Hopetown. Again, not a lot of choice in camping spots, so booked into an old campground that at least had an old pub nearby. G managed to cook a delicious pasta dinner back at camp with the rain pouring down. Thankfully there were no leaks in the vans and as we were on sand in the camp, the water disappeared pretty quickly.

Ensuite with our motorhome on the left

We continued on along the coast to Bremer Bay, where Bill and I recalled was a lovely little bay. Again quite remote. A long way in on long red roads. we had two nights here, which made the next day quite relaxed. we also caught up with Bill's nephew Michael & partner Alex (from Melbourne) as they were travelling around the area too. Good timing. This was also the first chance for a swim. Bill & I swam, G took the photos.

Blossom Beach

Onto the small town of Kotanning the next day, where G found a little bar underneath the new hotel. This town is halfway between Perth and Esperance, so has a lot of overnight travellers & sales people staying. We did wonder how a new hotel could survive in such a small centre. We headed back to our RV parkover camp, which was another locally supported spot. Nice and handy to town.

Underground Bar at Kotanning

We were heading westward to Hamelin Bay to meet up with Rocky & Daniel with Lenny for Easter. We had camped here before with R&D, but this time will be a bit different with more comfort in our Vans and a baby for R&D. Our four days here were a bit of a mixture weather wise. Nick turned up the next day with Ophelia for the day as camping with the Twins and Ophelia was a bit much this year with the Twins being so young. This worked well as we had two cars to run around in and look around the area. we headed to Conto Beach but the weather wasn't that great for a swim, but we did get a bit of a walk in and Ophelia got to play in some rock pools. We were all looking forward to heading back to the Roadhouse near the camp for a big lunch. Sadly, we hadn't checked online if it was open (not great phone coverage around here) and arrived to find it closed.😢 So it was pies and hot chips and chicken. Not quite the plan but still tasty. Pity nothing gluten free for Rocky.

Camp site at Hamelin Bay

Babysitting duties in our van 😍

GrandBill with Ophelia & Lenny at rock pools 

Nick headed home with Ophelia at the end of the day. We cooked hamburgers for dinner, making up for the disappointing lunch. The camp was pretty crowded and full of young people with all the gear on the Utes that makes camping very comfortable. But also can play loud music, so R&D moved their tent to where G's camp spot was, which was a bit more remote (quieter) and G moved his van over to be near us. Our last day was the best (typical), beautiful and hot. R&D headed off to another beach on their own for a surf, while the Oldies looked after Lenny. She was very easy to take care of, not into too much trouble yet. And would just go off to sleep in her sleep suit in the van or the front pack on GrandBill. We actually got a couple of swims in too.

Hamelin Bay Beach with Lenny

The next morning, after some young guys helped to push our van out of the sand 😐, we said our goodbyes to R,D&L, whom we would see later in the week back at their home, and headed off to Augusta. Turners Camp was lovely, right on the waterfront. Drove out to the lighthouse at Cape Leeuwin for lunch and a bit of a walk around. Called into Flinders Beach on the way back to camp. Only I had a swim, the Boys were too woosey. The Pelicans put on a show the next morning for the locals & visitors, enjoying the scraps of fish people were feeding them with.

Next was onto Walpole (a very expensive campground - with Anzac Day coming up, they could charge what they like!) via Pemberton. A nice lunch in a little cafe and a wander around Pemberton. It was busy with lots of families around. We made the decision to book ahead after Walpole but couldn't get any accommodation near Albany for Anzac day. So we booked a night in the hills at Karri Aura, a lovely caravan park with the difference of having your own ensuite's. They have small buildings that contain two ensuites where your motorhome or caravan parks next to, to be able to use the facilities. You can't see your neighbour with trellis for privacy between you. It was perfect, particularly as it was wet in the morning and let us keep dry while packing up. 

Watching the watchers at Cheynes Beach

We booked Cheynes Beach for 3 nights instead of the planned 2, seeing as accommodation was so scarce. We should have thought about the numbers looking at attending the National Anzac Centre in Albany where you can look across the King George Sounds to where the convoys of Australian and New Zealand soldiers left from. The Museum, which Bill and I had visited last time and were very impressed with, was on G's bucket list with his military background. 

On our way to Cheynes Beach we visited a private military museum - Recollections of War, which was pretty impressive as one man's collection. We also headed out to the Whale Station and saw/read all its bloody history with the Whaling industry over the years. By the time we stopped in at the GAP Rocks, it was getting dark as we made it into camp. After G's earlier incident and damage to his van, I was worried about the kangaroos out and about just after dusk. Thankfully we didn't see any.

Another great RV spot 

The next day was just a chill day. ANZAC Day. G got up early and met the camp operators and one dog at the gate for the dawn service. Watched a lot of would-be fishermen, fishing off high on the rocks. It was quite a pleasant day but too much weed to swim at the local beach and a cool wind. The next morning, we headed off into Albany for the day at the museum. we thought the actual day might have been too hectic. It was still busy the day after, but manageable. What was surprising is that local business was mostly shut. Not all cafes open. One would think with the numbers around for Anzac Day, that it would be their busy time! But the museum was as impressive this time as last time - so many sad stories. The soldiers were so young. Back at camp, G & I sampled some local wines that were being promoted, just before the rain came in again.

Easter at Hamelin Bay

It was time to start heading north, back to Dunsborough and catch the Kids, before returning our Vans to Perth. We had that night in a little town that looked very English (Bridgetown), lovely old hotels and buildings. It was down in a gully, very picturesque. Another great RV freedom site. We drove past Lake Muir on our way through, and from its description and photos we were expecting to come across a massive lake. Well, maybe in the wet season it may have some water. But certainly not the day we were there. I wonder what the locals would think of our NZ lakes like Taupo! WOW!

Sculptures made of scrap metal 😍 

The next day we drove through Margaret River which is another picturesque little town, and the region known for great wine production. We had to call in to Montegue's of course for you Claire 😍. Not a bad wine either.  Made it to R&D's in time for dinner and a catchup. And unload most of our gear as were dropping the vans back in two days time in Perth. The next day, Rocky had off, so we travelled around with her and Lenny, (G in his van as he was worried he had a bit of a cold and didn't want to pass it on) out to the Lighthouse (Cape Naturaliste) and Eagle Bay for lunch. delicious. We popped into Nick & Em's on the way home to see the Girls (and Em & Nick of course), before heading back to R&D's.

Montague Winery - listening to the 
owner telling tall stories

Simple camp setup

We returned the motorhomes back to Perth the next afternoon, after a fairly uneventful journey up. Then G found a rooftop bar for lunch in town before he headed out to the airport to fly back to NZ. We found our way to Leanne & Steve's for the night. Ophelia was there too, having a little holiday at Neenee's and Grandda's.

Before returning to Dunsborough the next afternoon by Bus, Bill had his MRI and CT scans. Will wait on the results before making his next decision. Rocky met us at the Bus in Bussleton, then dropped us off at N&E's. Lovely to see our wee Granddaughters again.  

Back at E&N's with the Granddaughters

Hamelin Bay camp set up

Bridgetown

Truck Museum on the side of the road

Bill holding up the 
Cape Leeuwin
Lighthouse

Sculptures
in rural towns