My Birthday Weekend

As you well know ;o), it was birthday on the weekend of the 15th and 16th July and did I celebrate in style!!! I shared my birthday morning with my house mates Catherine and Graham - by strange coincidence, Catherine and I discovered that only do we share a house, but a birthday too! For breakfast, we dined on patisseries and luscious jams bought from the local French cafe conveniently located just around the corner. By the end of the day, the house was blooming - for me 6 gorgeous red roses from the lovely Si, and for Catherine, tulips - her favourite flower.

By 10am, the sun had come out and Jane, Tim and my good-self set off to Rottnest Island. We took the Rottnest Ferry to cross the 19km of water, from Freemantle (nr. Perth) to the Island. The Island is 11 kilometres long, 4.5 kilometres at its widest point and can only be described as stunning. The aqua marine/turquoise sea glistens against the pure white fine shelly sand. I have put a picture of the water onto the website, just to boast how beautiful and clear the water is. The air was warm, and there was a lovely smell of heathland. During our visit, we were lucky enough to be graced by some of the islands wildlife, including a pelican and a quokka. No cars are allowed on the Island, so the only way to get around is to cycle. There is a tour bus for the elderly or for those carrying surf boards (the surf, I have to say, is pretty good). We took bikes - not covering the 24km periphery, but made a good go of it. By 4pm, it was time to catch the ferry back to mainland, and believe me, we were quite sad to leave! Not sad for long though, as there making its way through the Indian Ocean was a dolphin. The birthday girls, Jane and Jo from work, spent the night boozing at the OBH, followed by some delicious cocktails (lots of fresh fruit, including lychees - yummy) at The Claremont. What a great day!

Surprisingly, the following Sunday did not start with a hangover! I met Jane, Tim, Gavin (Irish, you will understand later, no offence meant) and Corman to make, what was an epic journey to Wave Rock (http://www.waverock.com.au). Knowing it was a three hour journey there, we insisted that we could make it there and back in a day. Of course, you cry, we agree ?!?? On departure Gavin announced he would like to test Betsy's ability to travel long distances. Bear in mind that Betsy is around 20 years old, has no heating and is probably on her second time around the clock. So, ok, we picked up the hire car, with Jane, Tim and I travelling in the luxurious brand-new Nissan. We finally left Perth at 11.45am. 1 hr into the journey, Betsy starts smoking, but to his avail, Gavin uses his skills and half an hour later, we get back on the road. What we did not appreciate, is quite how sparse the Australian countryside is.

We arrived in a town called Brookton, thinking that we could grab a sandwich and jump back on the road. Oh no; just imagine a rusty train track and tumble weed. Of the 3 possible food outlets, one of those being a bottle shop (off license to the foreigners), the only place open was a hotel. We had to wait for an hour before we could it, by know it was about 2.00pm and we were told that Wave Rock was further away than we thought, 2 hours further than we thought! We jumped back in the cars, the Nissan trundling behind Betsy at 80km/hour (and pushing it). That's it we decided! At this rate, we would never make it to Wave Rock before the sun went down. So, Betsy was left to the roadside and driving like a bat out of hell, we got us to Wave Rock for 4.45pm. I think the passengers may also have something to play in this, claiming that the sign with the black ring and black stripe through it meant 'No Speed Limit' Later we learnt that the sign meant National Speed Limit, which in this state is around 110km/hour and not 160/km/hour. Oops! Along the way, we were questioned by natives as to our motive to go to Wave Rock, "why travel 300km to see a rock, I personally, would not go. It's not worth it". Well, boo hoo, because when we got there, we were mesmerised. Perhaps it was triumph over adversity that made it so, but we must be some of the luckiest people to see Wave Rock it the way we did. No one was there, the rock was still warm from the midday sun and we got the see the changing colours of the rock as the sun set. It was beautiful. We celebrated by finding a fabulous bistro in Hyden (just near Wave Rock) and Corman serenaded us after by playing guitar and singing us a song that he had written, as we warmed ourselves by the fire. By now it was 8.00pm and we had to return to Perth. A call from Andy West meant that I had to stop driving. We all leaped out of the car to see what had to be the second beautiful moment of the day, or now night. We looked to the sky and there glistening, the Milky Way, thousands upon thousands of brightly shining stars and what must have been every five minutes, a shooting star. Several wishes were made that night (one of them has come true, so the myth must work!). We lay on the road, star gazing for what must have been an endless time, but reluctantly had to get back on the road. For a while, we thought we may have lost her, but thankfully, in amongst the trees, we managed to find Betsy. A good job, as by now we were fast running out of fuel. A voice from the back was saying, 'yeah we'll have enough to get back to Perth', and a voice from the front saying, 'you know, I am not sure we will'. The significance being, 'remember rusty train track and tumble weed' combine that with it being 9.30pm at night on a Sunday, us being 150km from Perth and our only saviour being Betsy. Hmmm, well, I think it must have been that lucky dolphin that we saw as we were coming back from Rottnest or somebody being on our side, because just after our hearts sank at the site of closed petrol station in Brookton, a little glimmer of light and people came too. The petrol station was closed, but the employees had stayed behind for a natter. Our faces lit up and we threw ourselves at the closed doors. Thank goodness for niceness - before we knew it, the petrol station had opened and switched on a pump just for us. Jayne purchased a much needed phone card and I was able to buy milk for my breakfast. Good does somehow come of bad! There you think the journey ends...Oh noooooo! Betsy broke down again, Corman cursed the lack of heating as by now it was cold desert night temperatures, and we were all very very tired. Gavin, now knowing the problem, got her back on the road. After travelling a very slow 50km/hour, we finally made it home just after 1.30am. What another great day! And thank you all for your lovely messages! x