As last weekends Sunday night storm, the Ex-cyclone Mangga approached, I decided to enjoy the beauty of the Margaret River and tea bag in the Indian Ocean on Saturday before the change in weather. The water seemed colder than my last swim but after one minute in, it simply seemed just as delightful as my last tea bag.
Floating in the ocean was something that I’ve never done in the Northern Pacific – way too cold! All by myself with no family, I floated feet up, bobbing in the waves. My face hurt from the smiles, giddy like a kid. The 20 something woman next to me was also enjoying herself. I might have invaded her space…oh well, the zen of floating.
Michael unbeknownst to me, wanted to join me and as I was finally walking out of the surf, he was walking from the path down to the beach. He got as far as his ankles into the surf after taking his shoes off. That was all he could do! Yes, it seems cold but I didn’t mind. However, he was happy to walk along with me back down the beach to the next opening up to the path. It is very difficult walking as the sand is very deep and very clingy. We walked back to our “sunset bench” and sat together to take in the sunset as well as time for me to wipe off the sand from my feet and put on my shoes. We then trudged back toward the house knowing a major storm was brewing out in the Ocean.
When we arrived after sunset, I was dismayed and said, “Sh*&^t, I’ve lost my towel”, as I unpacked my bag. Michael replied, “Don’t worry it will be hanging on the fence tomorrow!” Needless to say, we’ve seen a lot of lost and found and I’ve shared a few of those orphans.
The next morning early you can see how the clouds have moved in. As I headed to the beach, there were actually lots of folks trying to get a walk in before the deluge arrived. No one had taken my lonely towel. From a distance, I noticed my towel was gently hung over the fence, I was thrilled. I walked back and stuffed it in the washer as we watched the clouds continue to roll in. We had a 2:25 p.m. lunch at Voyager Estate and the rains had arrived by noon. We walked into Voyager with steady rains getting us wet despite rain coats from Regents that were given to us on the ship – thank goodness we have them.
It was a wonderful lunch. Just like the Gin tasting that week, we were a few of the first to enjoy Voyagers new lunch after the V. Michael and I were here with Bob Anderson in October on a beautiful spring day where we enjoyed the grounds and the roses under a gorgeous blue sky. Last Sunday’s weather was definitely different and the huge room you can see behind Larkin was pretty empty as we were three of only 20 folks allowed to eat in the room. The fire was behind me…nice touch! The rains continued.
Michael took a video of the churning waves with their tails blowing in the winds. I stayed in the car. We arrived home about an hour before the power went out. We had one little LED lantern, one flashlight from a drawer in the house and each with our phone flashlights. What do you do with no power, no internet, no phone signal? Read and sleep and go to bed early! The hardest thing was no phone signal. All the cell towers were down too!
The beast of Mangga was 80 mph winds at the Cape Leeuwin lighthouse and probably 60-70 mph over night where we are here at Cape Mentelle. 60,000 to 80,000 people without power. Luckily we have a fireplace to sort of add heat to the house. When we got up the next morning with the winds and rains still howling, we headed into town for provisions. There was no power to be found in Margaret River. The Mitre 10, the Home Depot of Margs had a generator so they were open and we found little clip on LED flashlights, an LED rechargeable lantern with speakers and a few LED headlamps. We had to laugh because there was no way to use credit cards so Michael was finally able to use the cash he got on March 20th! Larkin and I went into the electronics store, Retravision for an extra plug to go into the car so we could charge electronics since I was the only one with extra battery chargers that were actually charged! They also had to have cash and all we had was an AUD $50 so we had to add a few Aussie USB plugs…they have come in handy!
We continued north to Cowaramup to check on Michael’s new computer. Wait, I haven’t told you Michael let his glass of red wine have a date with his old computer the previous week? It was inches from totally frying everything, but the hard drive was saved and we were waiting on having it all transferred over to his new computer. Cowaramup was also in the dark…nothing was open so we headed back to Prevelly Beach. Good news was we also have a gas stove top at the house so we could cook and heat water.
We got settled in, charged up our phones and lanterns and were ready to settle into another night with no power…but of course it came on about 24 hours after it went out so we were able to catch up with the news and the devastation in Southwestern Western Australia.
Of the six seasons of the Noongar aboriginal people of Western Australia, we arrived at the end of Bunuru which is usually Feb-Mar which is the ‘second summer’ or the hottest part of the year with little to no rain. Also known as the Season of Adolescence.
April and May is Djeran which is cool and pleasant. The winds lesson and their are generally light breezes swinging from southerly directions. Also known as the Season of Adulthood. It has been a pleasant two months down here!
June-July is Makuru – it must have started early this year. Its called the first rains and since we’ve had two storms in the later half of May, I guess it came early. It is the coldest and wettest time of the year with more frequent gales and storms. It is also known as Fertility Season. Traditionally, this was a good time of the year to move back inland from the coast as the winds turn to the west and south. We rather like our front seat view of the churning ocean so we ‘re staying put!
We assume we will be able to head home during Makuru. Larkin loves this weather and we are now prepared for the beast after the beauty of their fall. I like the fact that the UK and Australia divide their seasons in a more normal fashion…June-August is winter/summer; Sept-Nov is spring/fall; Dec-Feb is summer/winter and Mar-May is fall/spring. When the news tonight said welcome to winter tomorrow I smiled…June 21st is too late to be winter…its here already.
All the natives of WA are now enjoying traveling within the state except the Kimberley region. It is amazing how many more cars are on the road and people are in town to enjoy their WA day or three day weekend which is celebrated tomorrow June first! More families with kids, Dinks, Yuppies with dogs and bikes and just people out and about. Life here is getting back to normal. Next weekend, up to 100 people can gather in restaurants…and it will feel safe!
Enjoy spring and summer for those of our friends in the USA and stay safe from riots and the V. Congrats on the launch and docking with the space station…we wish that news was more front and center! BTW – We are still enjoying our seclusion or sheltering in place in Australia!
THE TRAVELING MARTINI'S 
So great to hear you survived the Storm so well. We so enjoy you posts. So keep up the writing. Regards to everyone. We like seeing Mike tasting wine with the GGWS virtual tasting so early in the morning.
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