November 2019

On our drive we had a call from our good friend Cecilia who organised to meet up with us at Donnybrook. What a pleasant surprise. We caught up on her about her recent holiday to Kota Kinabalu where she saw for the first time some pygmies elephants, orangutans, proboscis monkeys & Gibbons in the wild.

Our weekend camping friends arrived. Michele & Gary and got settled. We went for a stroll to see the community gardens which was looking very productive. They were growing a basil, celery, tomatoes, zuchinnis that were green & yellow, corn, sunflowers, eggplants and so much more.

A quick stroll to the local IGA for some salads found us detouring into the Red Cross store. Deborah found some new plates and serving platter for the van. Michele mentioned if she'd seem them first there could have been a fight on.
Our set up at the Donnybrook transit centre.

The boys chose to move the cars to the rear of the vans after reading this sign on the fence surrounding the cricket oval in front of us and watching a chap mark lines on the oval.

Michele, Gary, Ian & I attended an Olive oil appreciation session.

We walked down to the Food & Wine Festival today with our neighbours Michele & Gary. We heard the thunder from a toy run in town with people on a variety of bikes dressed up all Christmassy with toys for all those who perhaps would not have had presents this Christmas. What a sight.

Who did we meet up with at the Donnybrook Food & Wine event but Rose, Rob & Diane. What a lovely day we all had. We listened to talented singers & this one was an exceptional singer. We think Kate Hindle will go far.

Remember as a child seeing a steep grassed slope, remembering a time you slid down it on cardboard or rolled the whole way down till you were as giddy as. The children were having so much fun doing just that. It was great to see the smiles on there faces.

Ian spied a Morris 100 van he quite liked, so he couldn't resist the urge to look under its hood.

Then there were the vintage motorbikes

We strolled home to enjoy another relaxing night at our campsite. Tonight we had some young car club enthusiasts sharing the campgrounds with us.

Another relaxing weekend away with friends was had. Until nextime. Thanks for your friendship & the memories we share along the way.

A quick getaway for an overnighter at Greenbushes. Nice spot just off the highway next to the ovals and tennis courts. This provided a flushing toilet, with working lights. Bonus. You can stay up to 7 days...and there are camping spots behind the ovals, which are quieter, less highway noise. There were already 2 vans parked up for the night.

Morning saw us driveoff, via a look through the townsite, towards Manjimup and Fontys Pool caravan park.
Unfortunately we arrived close to 10.30am, only to be told ar reception the paperwork stipulates 2pm checkin. We parked the van in the visitors area and made a cuppa.
At noon we did an early check in, found our bay, and did a wander around to see some of the 'Tribe' members who had arrived days earlier.

Friday night was a byo bbq arrangement.
Here we have esky Phil and Karen. They are Mandalay regulars every February.

Later in the day Phil discovered the amazing Charlie's Angels.

Saturday included a sausage sizzle by the crew from New Age Perth dealership. Sunday found them providing a bacon and egg breakfast for Tribe members prior to our checkout.
Paul and Chris joined us for brekkie.

New Age Perth also, again, provided advice and help where needed with each caravan. Here they are planning their day. We can clearly see this from our front window.

The Firey crew came to the event to shoot a segment for caravan & camping WA to be shown in the New Year. Needless to say we are goig to have another 15 seconds of fame so prepare yourself. Here is a drone pic they took.

Our Saturday night Christmas party provided some controversy in the Bad Santa presents. Deborah never ended up with her first choice cushion she had chosen, but she is having great fun with her twin Naughty Elves, we have named them Enid and Evan. They had great fun on our journey home.
As you can see they can be seen here hanging around. At our morning tea break they were out & about at the Nannup Ampitheatre. When they grow up they might want to be electricians.

There was also a Saturday night Christmas lights competition.

First stop Pinjarra to see the fat controller, but none in sight. Perhaps he has retired.
We heard about 3 trains in the night.
A stroll across the bridge revealed flowing water across the Weir. The area near the swing bridge & buildings are being renovated. No entry was permitted. As you can see the free camp area was very busy, always room for a few more campers. It's interesting how quiet the area is at 8 pm. The bar across the road had pie & skimpy night. Deborah had cooked our dinner so we had a quiet night in.

With the installation of a PC board to our hot water system we were able to have a hot shower on gas.

Next day we travelled to Goomalling caravan park, run by the council. There was a pool right next door & the entry fee was $2 pp. Very good value we thought. Shame the council had not got the message to the locals that the pool was open again as the days were hot here. 47 degrees Saturday.

There was a severe fire alert in the area.

When in Goomalling why not visit the Community Resource Centre/ Library

We headed off to the Konnongorring Hall where buses ferried the guests down the road to "The White Dam" for the wedding. There was a fire truck on hand in case of a fire on the property.

The country wedding of the newly weds went off without a hitch. It was 47 degrees in the sun. You guessed it we, the guests were all in the shade with bottles of cold water to stay hydrated.
Here are some of the pictures we took of Mr & Mrs Dew's wedding day. We were very honoured to be invited.

On the way back to Busselton we stopped off at Caversham for a cuppa on the roadside & a slice of country wedding cake.

Met up with Margot & Andrew for lunch at Pinelli Winery Restaurant for a lovely lunch & headed home along the SouthWest Highway. Arrived home safely.

After another successful punt at a competition on the Triple MMM Southwest radio station, we organised our free camping session for the 2019 Blues at Bridgetown.
We park up at the Bridgetown showgrounds, no power or water, but plenty of sunshine this year.
It hit mid to high 30's on Saturday.

Of course included in your weekend entry prize pack is a free lunch, with booze, at the Bridgetown Hotel. We sat upstairs on the veranda and watched the masses walk by on Saturday.

Of course the weekend wouldn't be The Blues without some music. Artists included Z-Star Trinity, with a fabulous drummer, Russell Morris, Diesel and many more including Hussy Hicks and 19Twenty.