Thursday 30 January 2014 - Perth, WA
We’ve been busy but haven’t done all that much at the same time. On Sunday we left Jurien Bay and stopped at Bells Rapid for lunch. It was on wikicamps as an overnight spot, but it was stinking hot and there were big ‘no camping’ signs at the entrance, so we pushed on. We stopped at Whiteman Park for a play and in the meantime called our caravan park that we’d booked into from Monday (they were fully booked over the Australia Day weekend) and fortunately, they said they could squeeze us in a day earlier.
On Monday, the Australia Day public holiday, we drove back to Fremantle. First stop was the E-Shed markets (not that exciting) followed by the maritime museum, which was much better. Glenn, being a boatie/fisherman found it much more interesting than I did, but I still enjoyed it and it was well set out for little kids too. There were a few kid things on each level and the adult exhibits weren’t easy to touch/trash, great for deterring grabby toddler fingers! After that we wandered through the town a bit more and were disappointed because we couldn’t go to the cool bread cafe we found last time (it was shut). We had lunch at The Dome (chain cafe, but still good food and great for kids) and checked out a few cool shops. Yasmin was most excited about the Pickled Fairy store where she bought a pretty hair clip and both girls were most impressed with the chocolate shop that offered free tastings.
We went to the prison next, which was really interesting and a little bit eerie – we even saw where the death row prisoners were hung. Yasmin was quite taken by it all and is obviously still thinking about it/processing it all, because she was asking me more questions about it today! I would have loved to have done the second tour (we just did the general one) but it would have been another hour or so and the kids just can’t cope with that unfortunately. Maybe next time! Our final stop was at the LIttle Creatures brewery/restaurant/awesome thing. It was flat chat and not super young-kid-friendly, although there were heaps of older kids. I would definitely love to go there with a big crew for afternoon/evening drinks/food but on this day it wasn’t meant to be – we were tired, the toilets were packed while I was trying to change Sienna’s (pooey) bum and when we went to buy takeaway beer the line didn’t get shorter but longer, so much so that we just put the drinks back in the fridge and left! Oh well, maybe next time.
Tuesday was a pretty special morning, because we got to see some familiar faces! We drove to Krissy’s, a Mackay mother’s group friend of mine. Her two kids, Charlotte and Lucas, are the same age as the girls and although Yasmin didn’t quite remember them at first, she got right into the swing of things only a few minutes after we arrived. Glenn dropped us off to go and do some car maintenance/repair research and I enjoyed catching up with an old friend, while the girls went nuts with real toys, a house and somewhat familiar kids! The kids (well, Sienna) started to get ratty after a few hours and it was also time to take the car to its first doctor for a windscreen replacement (massive crack developed whilst in Jurien). Glenn dropped me and the girls at Karrinyup Shopping Centre and we killed a few hours in the air con while the Cruiser had her makeover. Finally it was back to the caravan park for dinner, showers, bed.
On Wednesday I was all set for a morning run... but Sienna didn’t wake until 6:40am! This was so weird, because the previous night we were ready to disown her due to her horrible nocturnal antics, plus she woke at 5am and screamed at us! The car was booked in at 8am for CV stuff (not sure of the technical term but that’s kind-of what Glenn said and Glenn needed to leave by 7:30, so I didn’t have enough time to squeeze a run in. Oh well, a small price to pay for a sleep-in and a peaceful morning! After Glenn left, the girls played on the playground and then we hung out at the pool (which is actually three pools and pretty awesome!) until he got home. In the afternoon we did a few shopping errands (Glenn sat in the car while the kids slept and I ran in and out), then checked out Trigg Beach (from the car) and played at the park for a bit.
Today we went to Whiteman Park again, with the plan to do all the things we didn’t do while we were there on Sunday. Unfortunately the mercury climbed a little too high to make it tolerable and all we managed was a little play at the water park, a quick stroll through a few shops and a tram ride. We’ll have to leave the museums, playgrounds, Mussel Pool and Children’s Forest till next time. We drove on to the chocolate shop/factory, where the girls enjoyed the free samples and we all had an icecream (mine was horrible – a mango sorbet with no real mango in it, ended up in an old coffee cup near our table!) and then lunch in the car because it was too hot to sit outside, even in the shade. We came back to camp to give the girls a sleep, which fortunately they managed in the tent, because the breeze had picked up. I dozed for a bit but the bed was too hot, so I hit the pool with a book, enjoying some kid-free time. Glenn rested but didn’t sleep, then the girls had a swim while I ducked out and grabbed a few more groceries and some drinks. Then it was back to the camp for dry clothes and off to the playground. Leftover curry tonight so easy dinner = cruisy arvo = happy drunk parents!
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