13 - 19 February 2013 - Perth WA

13th - arrived in Perth.  Nice van Park. Thought about taking the laptop to be fixed but were a little late in motivation.  Went to the pool first.  Beautiful.  Feels like we haven't done much swimming on this trip at all.

14th- dropped off the laptop to be fixed then went to the jetty with the hope of a speed boat ride. Declan, who we were trying to please with a ride in a boat, wasn't into it.  So out the window went that idea. Paul was not happy. We went home (to the van) and spent the rest of the day home schooling.

15th - went to the maritime museum. Kids loved it. Paul loved it too, I think.
Got to check out a submarine. Pretty squeezy in there. Spotted some sales at target, so bought some new things for the kids.

17th - We took the kids to the Perth Mint. It was very informative. The best part was when they melted the Gold and made it into a bar. We all loved that :-) Then we went to the Science and Discovery Centre. So much to do in there. Picked a good day to go there, as it was our first rainy day. 

Margaret River, WA - 07 Feb to 09 Feb 2013

Stayed are Cowaramup in the Margaret river region. Big 4 taunton farm. Kids loved it. They were able to feed the farm animals. Again, they made some friends.

Whilst we stayed at Margaret River, we made a visit to the winery. The kids came to, although they didn't taste test. .....lol! Ewan asked why there wasn't any soft drink factories where they could taste all the soft drinks. ...lol! Anyway, think I may have found the type of wine I might like to drink. Been a rough ride trying to decide what wines I like ;-)

We visited the chocolate Factory and nougat factory. Never got to the fudge factory :'(

We were extremely amazed by the Maze ;-) we managed to get lost in there! It was made to be very much fun, they gave us water pistols for our adventure. After the Maze we had coffee and ice blocks.  There were puzzles to do on all the tables so we spent a couple of hours with those.  Kids really enjoyed them, so did I ;-) glad we came here.

Surf looked magnificent but was still a little cold and blowy for us to enter the water :-(

On the way to out of Margaret River we made a stop at the biggest sea shell collection we have ever seen. It was huge! Found out that come

Alexandra bridge camp ground - 05 to 06 Feb 2013

Free camped here for one night that turned into 2. Kids spent the whole day down st the river fishing for fish and blue crabs. With the help of a nice man, Peter,  they were able to catch 4 blue crabs. Then Peter invited us to come and try the blue crab after he had cooked it.  Ewan loved it. Declan liked it and Jenna sort of liked it? Whatever that means....lol! Peter and his wife,  Kay were very happy to have spent a lovely afternoon with our kids and we were very happy for them to have spent the afternoon with our kids too.....lol!

Valley of the giants, Walpole, WA - 05 Feb 2013

The tingle forest. Walked among the giants. The treetop walk. It was very high. 40m to be exact. The trees can grow to a massive 80m tall. Kids threw water over the edge of the bridge and a short time later we heard the water hit the ground ;-) the bridge was very wobbly. It kind of made you feel a bit seasick.

Albany WA- 02 Feb to 04 Feb 2013

Another repair job for us. The trailer lights and brake cable ripped clean away from the car. Again on the weekend so had to wait til Monday to get it fixed. The laptop has also died on us and we have to figure out a way to backup our data prior to sending it for repair.

Albany is a big town. Lots to see and do. Sat we took a drive. There are lots of old buildings to see and lookouts too. We went up to have a look at mt Clarence. The first place in Australia to hold an Anzac day ceremony, so we were told by the man in the information centre.

Sun was a big day. We went aboard the amity brigg. The first boat to bring the first white settlers to WA. Jenna and I took a stroll around the very small farmers market whilst Paul and the boys checked out the old gaol. We met up and went into the local museum. After lunch we went to Whales World. The old whaling yard. Gruesome stories to be told there. Learnt about how they used to do the whaling! Very informative and educational. The kids now know how the whales suffered :-(

Yesterday, Monday, paul went and got the cable repaired whilst the kids and I made a start on their schooling ;-)

Now we are on our way to Denmark.

Camp Riche - 01 Feb 2013

Free camp. Well, almost. $10 for a night. This is a nice spot. Toilets available.  There are kangaroos that can be hand fed. Kids loved that.

There is a diving platform out in the ocean. Paul, Ewan and Jenna braved the cold water and took a swim out to it. Too cold for Declan and I ;-)

Kids are finding lots of anemones. Sticking their fingers in them so they can watch them close up.