Wilsons on the road: Sunday 15 December 2013

Sunday 15 December 2013 - Kalbarri

It’s been pretty great for the last few days. Hot though – pushing 40 degrees for the most part, during the hottest times of the day. On Thursday I took the girls to the PCYC playgroup Christmas party. It was really well-organised and the kids had fun, although Yasmin didn’t really play with any of the kids there. It’s strange – she’s super-fast at making friends in the caravan park, but come an organised kids’ activity and she gets all shy and reticent. Sienna just cruises, doing her own thing mostly but occasionally playing with others.

On Friday we set off for Gero (Geraldton), hitting the town mid-morning after only one incident of threatening to put Sienna out of the car and drive away after she started her usual whinge-fest. We zipped through as much of the ‘errand’ shopping as possible (ie Supercheap, camping shop, BCF, Barbecues Galore etc) then hit the shopping centre around lunchtime. I wolfed down my salad and set off for Target to do a spot of Santa shopping. It was a bit of a stealth mission – I parked the trolley inside Target at the layby desk, then met Glenn out the front and took the girls to start the grocery shopping while he went back inside, collected the trolley, paid for the items and then hid them in the back of the car. Didn’t allow much time for browsing, bargain hunting or weighing up pros and cons but hopefully the girls will be pleased on the big day!

After a $350 grocery shop we decided to go and check into a room so we could put the cold stuff in a bigger fridge, so we started ringing around. I was quite keen on not staying in a caravan park for once, but we couldn’t find anything for the right price so it was a cabin at Bel Air for $110 that we found. It turned out to be perfect, air conditioned and just the right size for us, kept in pristine condition and all in all, very comfortable. After a cuppa, I took Sienna out to do a few more shopping errands and we had a bit of a wander through the centre of town at the same time. Glenn kicked back in the air con with his square-eyed buddy (Yasmin), where they battled it out over the remote between cricket and ABC 2.

Gero’s pretty awesome. We’d heard from a few people that it wasn’t anything special, although a guy who’d been staying in the Kalbarri caravan park with kids the same age as ours told us it was a great place to live. There’s a bit of a funky mixed-culture vibe, with lots of food from all over the world, plus the shopping looked quite interesting in the main drag. There’s a lot of history there too, lots of beautifully restored beaches, plus it has heaps of gorgeous beaches and is really tidy and well-maintained – I could easily spend a week exploring the place.

We waited for the heat of the day to dissipate (it must have been around 40 degrees again) and then went to check out the HMAS Sydney II memorial. We’d heard it was pretty special and it definitely lived up to its reputation! The view from the little hill it was on was spectacular – it looked out over the town and the sun setting over the water bathed the whole area in a golden glow. After we paid our respects, we drove down to the foreshore, which has an amazing kids’ playground and let the girls go nuts for a while.

The following morning, I took Sienna out for a sunrise stroll and checked out the lighthouse and little beach area around the caravan park (we stayed out near the port). It was pretty hot and sweaty, even at 6am. After saying goodbye to our ‘chalet’, we visited the farmers’ markets and picked up a few veggies and some tasty halal food for brekky. Then it was back to the foreshore playground, but this time the kids were getting wet. I put my bathers on too and cooled off with the girls. The ocean was stunning, calm and clear and I couldn’t resist having a swim – it was so refreshing. Dotted all along the foreshore are swimming pontoons which I imagine are packed with children during busy times, but this morning I had one all to myself!

Then we ran a few more shopping errands before calling into the museum, another impressive feature of Geraldton. It’s free entry, but they ask for a $5 donation per person and is beautifully laid out. There’s a kids’ area and it kept the girls occupied for ages while Glenn and I wandered around. I got to read nearly everything – such a luxury when you’re travelling with small children – although I only managed to scan the big section at the back on the shipwrecks that have struck the coast here. There is so much fascinating history in this region – from millions of years ago to just the last couple of hundred! Finally we hit the road again and headed back to Kalbarri. We sat the thermometer we’d just bought on the (sunny) dash of the car and it read 41 degrees (in the air con)!