6 weeks in Oz!
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Red dirt road - Harvey, WA. |
6 weeks in Oz! Wow, how time has flown!
As you might have guessed with the lack of posting on here (follow my Instagram stories if you want more regular updates 😅) I've totally switched my computer off from all work and play and have switched myself off too, reading more and doing very little other than relaxing. Rhys and I haven't ventured very far away from his mum's house yet, other than a few day trips here and there, as we've both been saving money and attempting to catch our breath and have a do-nothing holiday. Up until the last fortnight we have been relying on borrowing Jaqueline's car to get us places too which were a little restricting, but we've now managed to get our own wagon, and once it gets fixed up a little we're almost ready to hit the road and start exploring places for longer periods of time! For now though, ill share some bite-sized insights into some of the things that we've gotten up to - though photographs of course - which {SPOILER} get significantly better about halfway down this post as I bought a new camera whilst waiting for my current one to get fixed! 😁
Where exactly are we!
Firstly, I've realised that I haven't shown you all on a map where exactly we are right now, so unless you've been bothered to do some digital sleuthing yourselves (aka a quick google) you might want to know where exactly we are down under! Well, we're currently staying in Kingston, in Australind, Western Australia (see the map below). Lots of folks told me that I would be amazed by just how HUGE of a country it is, and they weren't wrong! I am still constantly surprised by how long, flat, and straight the highways are, how most roads (unlike in Scotland) unless they follow the coast go directly from A to B!
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Under the green dot is Perth city, and under the red dot is us in Australind. |
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This is a more zoomed-in pic - the top green dot is Perth City - which is 2 hours away from us. The red dot is where we live, and the bottom green dot is the closes city - Bunbury. |
It takes about 2 hours (depending on traffic, which can be awwwwful) to drive to Perth taking the Forrest Highway from where we live, or an alternative route would be to drive an hour to Mandurah where we then get the train for the remaining hour into Perth. Although it takes about the same amount of time to get the train, it saves driving into the city which can be a nightmare avoiding navigating those 4-lane highways, ensuring we are taking the correct exit, or even harder - finding parking in the city! Bunbury on the other hand is only about 15-20 minutes away from us, is a much smaller city, but still has all the shops and entertainment we might need (more than Stornoway anyway 😅).
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| Rhys, Jaqueline, and I, on the train back to Mandurah after an afternoon in Perth city. |
Beach days
Kingston where we live is about a 5-minute drive away from the coast but as you see from the maps above the nearest body of water is the Leischinault Estuary. This means there isn't really much of a sandy beach, and the water, although expansive, is quite shallow and doesn't allow for swimming. To get our dose of sand between our toes and a paddle in some cool water we head to Koombana Beach in Bunbury, although I was slightly concerned by this sign on our first trip, I've not yet seen a snake!
A day in Margaret River
If you're a wine person, you'll have heard of Margaret River - the world-famous wine region in Western Australia! This was about a 2.5-hour drive southwest of us, and what a stunning drive! We spend the afternoon pottering about the town, had some lunch, did a little shopping, then headed a little back up the road home towards the wineries. We specifically wanted to visit a winery that Rhys and his family had spent a lot of time in as a kid, Treeton Estate. Rhys Mum had worked in the winery every other weekend as a Celler-door salesperson, and during summer holidays she and the boys stayed on the property with the owners who were family friends, making spud-guns, fishing, and getting up to general mischief, as well as helping out with pruning the vines. The estate has changed hands since then, and the winery is now leased to LS Merchants, who care for the vines as well as trade out of the winery buildings. As the name suggests they are a wine merchant, and although they use some of the grapes grown on the property to make their wines, they also bring in grapes and work with other growers and wineries to make the wines sold in their shop. While we were there we (well I - since Rhys was driving) indulged in a wine tasting and we tasted all 8 wines on the top shelf of that right-hand picture. My favourite, which I'll definitely be back for, was the JCY BNGR *pronounced Juicy Banger*, a delicious white wine! We'll have a return trip to Margaret river again soon for sure!
Hanging out with Ruby <3
Ruby is the family dog and she's the most delightfully gently American Blue Staffie <3 Most evenings about 6pm we go for a wee walk around the block, you see some Kangaroos on the way! They really remind me of the red deer you see all over the moor in Lewis.
Jaqueline has a beautiful garden at her house and we try to help out where we can; in the garden, cleaning gutters, that sort of thing! The house and the garden is a wonderful space to spend time, relax and chill out when it's not too hot, but OH BOY it's been getting really hot here! We've had a few 38 degree celcuius days recently and my gosh, they don't lie that you just cant do anything in that heat! We're lucky that Rhys' mums house has air con, and mirrored windows AND shades, which all work together to keep the sun out and the cool air in. Still seems so counter-intuitive to me to be closing the blinds in the middle of the day, but you really feel the difference, massively cooler just by closing the curtains! Who knew!? haha It explains why Rhys was always so confused in Scotland about why I'd close the curtains in the evening to keep the cool air OUT! Lots of reading in the shade with an iced coffee for this peely-wally scottish lass!
And the best news is that i got a new camera, AND my old camera is fixed! This means ill be able to star working again very soon, and have some proper quality holidays snaps! Here are a few favourite images with a short caption about when and where it was taken.
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| Trees, skies and grasses in the nearby Kingston parks |
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| Kangaroo footprints (I think) |
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| Swimming in the Honeymoon pools on a 37 degree day! Phew |
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| Jaqueline and I have an occasional evening walk somewhere new...here we are at a beach in Bunbury. |
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| A wee day trip to Freemantle. Didn't do any touristy stuff though so we'll be back! |
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| We took a short day trip up to the Harvey dam with Rhys dad Trevor, and his partner Bev, to do a spot of fishing. Well they were fishing and I was photographing! |
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| Spotting some local flora and fauna. |
Well, I'm afraid that's all I have to say for now! I am giong to try and do these a bit more regularly, but as its not a conventional Holiday, and more just living here, we're not always doing very exciting or intersting things... so, I'll share when there are some good photos or an interesting update, how does that sound? :D
for now, however, Oidhche mhath and speak soon!
Fiona x
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