We were up early after our wonderful night in Shannon National Park so that we could have get the 50km under our belt heading to Manjimup out of the way so that Kimbo could talk to Chris about his new job. Much to our horror he wasn't required to work until the following Tuesday 5th November which coincidentally was also Melbourne Cup Day......not today (28th October) as he was told. Hope this isn't a bad omen. However it gave us a week to find a lovely park to stay in and re-aquaint ourselves with this beautiful part of the world. Before we knew it the week was gone, we'd had a trip to Bunbury (our closest big smoke), bought all the things you need (beer and wine), including two new bikes and Kimbo had found what he hoped would be his favourite fishing spot (Salmon Beach).

Another year under our belt making it 21 maybe we could have given ourselves a party but we didn't.

So from Melbourne Cup Day (did I mention he placed $150 on the nose on Fiorente and was paid back $1,005) before he went to work that day, while I was having a lovely lunch at Louise Schutz's house, until last Saturday ( 30th November) he worked his little arse off for a company that couldn't care less for their employees or their safety.

So what did I do while all this was happening over the past month................well I've been honing my domestic goddess skills (not very successfully), growing mushrooms in a box (not very successfully - at this stage harvest has produced one mushroon) and trying to find my waist (not very successfully). I lost my waist somewhere between Sydney in 2012 and Manjimup but what concerns me more is that my waist has been replaced with someone's child bearing hips!!!!!! So if anyone realises their mistake, can I please have my waist back.......... I will gladly give you your hips............the hunt goes on. I have also attempted to bring back a semblence of fitness so in order to do this I have, as some of you know, joined the aquatic centre, (even though I'm not a pensioner) and undertaken some aqua classes and also a gym circuit, where I thought I would surely die.......thankfully for me it didn't happen.

As mentioned earlier we purchased a couple of bikes with the expectation that we'd do some bike riding....well one trip into Woolies (1km) doesn't make a great return on that purchase. I also found my skipping rope, and when I wasn't tripping over it, managed to keep it going for a least 30 seconds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm grateful that I've had the opportunity to share some quality time with Louise and hope that I've made a difference........be it good or bad!

I've also been blessed that Marissa and Jeff entrusted the running of their caravan park albeit for a day while they went to Perth to pick up their new Jeep!

However as always happens, one door closes and many many more open. Kimbo and I have been delighted to share the past couple of days with our dear friend Lyn. Between laughing, drinking and talking Lyn and I found the time to undertake a very small portion of the Bibbulmum track after a delicious morning tea at Pemberton,one of my most favourite towns in this beautiful country of ours. We also took her back to her roots this morning, Tone River settlement where her dad worked at the timeber mill some 60 years ago, sadly just a shadow of its former self, as many of the old milling town now are but an important part of her visit with us. We just hope her old fiat "Halfcut" gets her back to Perth.

Kimbo and I will now be spending this evening discussing our next move. It looks like it will be Onslow where we expect to take up a new opportunity and also hope that the cyclone season will be a quiet one. So for now it's time to talk and plan the next move in our great adventure.
Watch this space for the next instalment.