Monks, Monasteries and The Mat

-
About to leave

Checklist on dashboard 

Dalwallinu Caravan Park, Dalwallinu

We left home around 1pm, after a quick visit to mum in Mounts Bay hospital (should be out soon), final packing, and last minute instructions to the kids (eg  “don’t leave the heater on the whole time we are away”). 

Despite the checklist - prominently stuck to the glove box - we managed to leave the mat behind. On Day One!

Saying bye to Talia! 

Saying bye to Melissa! 

We are ready!

It was pouring with rain as we drove through Perth and I was anxious about the weight of the van and braking distances as we pulled up to stop at lights. 

But about an hour north, the rain and roads cleared. Within a couple of hours, surrounded by the vast sky and clouds with spotty orange eucalyptus trees lining the road, I had a fantastic feeling of freedom. Unfortunately, intermittent reports about Dad (in Albany hospital) were not good, so a bit of trepidation too.

Skies clearing

Already loving the landscape 

We stopped at New Norcia – well, that was a surprise we did not expect! Huge monastery that used to house Benedictine monks, plus a excellent little art gallery (my favourite, a Juniper, below).


This is the Juniper painting


Albert Namatjira picture

Something to do with the monks

Mark's reaction time was tested today. We pulled up after getting diesel to have some lunch and suddenly I noticed we were rolling backwards. Luckily no one behind us. The incident has served to highlight the importance of the hand-brake for all future pit stops. Mark is very grateful every time I remind him when we pull up (not!).

We are now successfully installed at Dalwallinu Caravan Park. Had an excellent pub meal, and are watching a movie. A great first day.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lazy Day - With Electricity

-
Image
  Tom Price Caravan Site, Tom Price  After a brief shop and coffee in Tom Price, we were planning to hike one of the gorges in Karijini. Tom Price shopping and coffee Very very long train - hundreds of carriages However, we changed our mind and opted for a lazy day- knowing we had a powered site waiting for us at the caravan park. We are having some gas and inverter issues, two separate problems to my knowledge, so the thought of unlimited power was appealing.  Mark wrote a song, I worked on my mosaic, we had a brief walk, several visits from a young autistic kid determined to play Peppa Pig on Mark's speaker, and dinner at home. I finally figured out how to upload photos for this blog so can publish it now! Lovely purple flowers (mulla mulla) Walk out the back of our caravan park Local views Weird tree - Black on the inside and white on the outside Our campsite Half finished mosaic An uneventful day, which we both appreciated. 
Read more

Nostalgia Trip

-
Image
  12 Viewway, Nedlands Packing has made me remember our last campervan holiday. Sixteen years ago, around the same time of the year, we set off in a 28 foot motorhome across Europe for several months. The three kids slept in the area above the cabin - that is how tiny they were! You can see some scenes below - bike-riding in Bruge, dancing in Spain, playing boules in France, throwing snowballs in the Alps m, and Talia carrying Melissa (an obsession of hers at the time, something to do with the Sound of Music). We had so many crazy adventures! But that is another blog :-) Me and the kids in Bruge  Suzy in Spain Playing boules in France Alex joined us in Italy Not sure where but you can see Talia carrying Melissa   We will miss them on this trip! Talia and Melissa are in charge of the house and Suzy is back in Melbourne. If our current trip is half as good as this one was, it will be great! :-)
Read more