THE TRAVELING MARTINI'S

One might say, “that’s not a watch!” However the end of last week Michael and I headed to the hot tub and as I walked down the stairs to get into my suit, I took off my watch and thought I need a new band! I have not seen that watch since.

I think the universe was telling me time would stop or time just wasn’t important. I did check every pocket, every drawer, every trash can. I looked behind things and in drawers in case it fell in. I looked under the bed and on random shelves in other rooms. I always put it next to my sink in the bathroom. It simply vanished.

Its been over a week and everyone of my friends that will read this most likely know we don’t worry about Covid or the elections as we simply don’t have the time. We watch all the fire news – we stay inside to avoid the smoke – we take in friends and family who are evacuated. We are blessed with friends to share this tragedy and share the tears. …and wait for this next wind event to end. Rumor has it a hurricane is in the Pacific and when it breaks up it can bring us rain. One hopes it doesn’t bring lightening like the last set of storms that started the biggest fires in the state.

We of course now live full time at the beach and have wonderful to be new owners who are now living in our former Calistoga home. The ghost winery from 1915 is now a ghost and needs a new roof. The trash cans are, well, safe. Why can’t they be burned or melted too!? Our friend Dolly helped us watch over the place over the past couple of years and was residing in the 1922 Road House called the Maples in the front of the property near the highway. You can see her white tub in the rubble. Looking up the property you can still see smoke from a huge fir tree that has fallen across our road preventing access to the back of the property. The bottom right photo is from the first morning and Larkin’s swing set is still smoldering. Many good years on the Michael Walker swing set. He helped us put it all together.

We lost the little workshop, the water storage and treatment plant and the wonderful little cottages from the 1920’s. We had two great girls that enjoyed those cabins. We wish them well as we all go forward. We have not seen photos of those ashes yet. The little barn from years past we’re sure is toast.

This photo was also the first morning. My family is not happy the metal palm tree survived because I want to move it to the beach. There is still green around the house but we are not out of the woods. A wonderful man that works with our neighbors over the past five years was able to get up and check and put out spot fires. Our back deck had a smoldering post. A few railroad ties were also smoldering in our garden area. Egads! But seeing some green is a blessing!

The to be new owners have kept up with the incident command to let them know that there is a home that survived and might need a little TLC! We all wish we could be there and help. We think the fire folks know where our house is now and hope none of the embers blow into areas that could ignite anything still flammable near the house. Blessings for a metal roof, stucco siding, concrete and asphalt parking deck and a pool.

Napa County knows we lost part of our property and we now have paperwork to adjust our taxes. Nationwide is our insurance and they are already on top of what has happened and what we need! They are also trying to keep in contact with incident command as its in their best interest to have our main home still standing when this fire is over!

We look forward to working with the new owners and the insurance company and take the time to make the property even more beautiful! We hear our old home two properties over did not burn but were not sure of our direct neighbors on the west side. We know are eastern neighbors are safe and sound. The Castello Amorosa farm building is gone and we could see their water tower from Larkin’s swing set. The major buildings at the castle survived. Their photos are devastating!

Mom we rescued an hour before mandatory evacuations from Oakmont on Sunday night. We heard about two hour traffic jams just to get out of her subdivision. We were able to go the back way and got mom to the Beach in a little over an hour. Our friends from Angwin were able to come back out for their second evacuation on Sunday morning. The first time was for ten days in August/September so we’ve got the drill down. All of us are still waiting on the weather to calm down and the fire to somewhat subside so we can go to our homes and see the smoke damage or the ashes. We are now five adults and two teenage boys. Plenty of wifi band width. Plenty of space to spread out and disappear. We also have four dogs. Life is interesting.

We all do whatever we want during the day, often running errands together. We exercise only if its not smokey which is seldom for now. When the fog arrives, I cheer! We come together for dinner and cooking has been a delightful way to take my mind off the situation. I get to cook the food I love and watch other people appreciate it! I also am enjoying and sharing The Great British Baking show. I love it!!! I don’t bake sweets often so I am not inclined to try a single recipe. Yippee!

In closing I just wanted to share my feelings and some photos. We know we are blessed and count them everyday between the tears. The watch might show up some day when the universe thinks I’m ready to tell time again. The photo below is the left over sand from our world cruise collection. As I glance out to the ocean right now my eye goes past it and I smile! Margaret River is but a memory that lives in our hearts!

Early on in our trip cruising around New Zealand pre-V crisis, we enjoyed The Lord of the Rings triology. These movies we binge watched on the TV in our cabin. We visited where parts were created at the Weta workshop, and also where it was filmed outside on site at Hobbiton, all captured on a previous blog. One quote I’ve heard mentioned that hits us all now is when Frodo says, “I wish it need not have happened in my time?” In response came the perspective of the wise old, wizard, Gandalf: “So do I, and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for us to decide. We all have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

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The last few days were lovely. Rainbows led to clear skies and a beautiful view from our home over the last 11 days in our rental in Gnarabup. The last week was food, wine and packing. Six bags went on ahead by luggage forward and would be waiting for us in our front entry and 8 bags including our wine bag and guitar had to be equally distributed by weight. Oh fun!

For our last hurrah’s we had one of our best evening meals at Morries in downtown Margaret River. Tapas and drinks. It was a repeat of our dinner with Bob Anderson in October – delightful! At that time we knew we wanted to visit Margaret River for an extended period of time…never dreaming it would happen in less than six months and we are able totally absorb what Margs has to offer. The food, the wine, the geology, the people. Every bit delightful!

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The next morning Larkin and I were able to visit Lake Cave and walk down its over 300 stairs which of course we had to climb back up! My legs didn’t hurt the next day thank goodness! Our very last dinner was take out burgers and pizza from The Common Bistro a few blocks away in Gnarabup. Our last lunch was a beautiful meal at Millbrook Winery which was only 30 minutes from the Perth airport. We took the long way enjoying the hills above Perth on our way to get to the airport before sunset.

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So for now, we  have returned to the United States, or at least until the Virus has a vaccine or becomes more manageable (but who knows where else life might take us then). We loved our time in Australia and we’re ready to head back when we are allowed to visit again. We needed to finally get home and for Larkin to get back to normality at Colorado School Of Mines for her last year of her Masters in Mining.

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But now there is that re-entry shock that we’ve been going through…

What is new at home…trying to realize I must stay on the right side of the street as I did all the driving for three months! I became very aware of the footprint of our Toyota rental car as well as the roads and really enjoyed our jaunts up and down the Margaret River wine country. Don’t get me started on windshield wipers and turn lanes. I wonder how long that adjustment will take!

The toilets in Oz flush by pushing a button on the top of the toilet and if they leak you have to take the button off first and not try to take the entire unit off. I actually think our American toilets are so much easier to fix. Every time I head to the toilet I’m trying to find the button on the top. Like the left side of the street it might take some time.

American is Ameri-centric – like we are taught that China is China-centric. I think both countries think the world revolves around them. You can’t miss that fact when you watch our US TV networks. In Australia we became accustomed to watching only about an hour of news in the evening to catch all the Aussie and world news. Lots of British news and European news along with what was happening in the USA. More worldly information than we would ever see in the states on a local network. The ads were delightful from water systems for farms or the “west Aussie wave” which is when you tell people thank you or you let people cross the street in front of you or you accidentally pull out in front of someone you wave to say sorry. American’s would wave something else at them that wouldn’t include all 5 fingers.

The Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan when asked about a tv report on the hair style mullets and should they be allowed in schools said, “Rise up and rebel!” As in you have the right! If our rebellions were only that easy! Our last week they announced the candidates for Lord Mayor of Perth and the local channel 7 sports announcer, Basil Zempilas, is in the running. I recognized his face and of course his voice. I don’t know of too many sports announcers in America that would consider getting into politics! Go Footy! I will miss Australian Football as it is the most exciting sports game I’ve watched…a cross between rugby, soccer and American football with the speed of basketball games. Exhilerating! Go Eagles or Dockers or even Geelong Cats!

Most of our friends still wonder why we’d leave a state of nirvana in Western Australia to come back to the USA. We wonder that ourselves as we see how polarized Americans are in this new century. The worst is this an election year and if you put an American Democrat and an American Republican into a room alone together (or even a facebook forum) and give them only the opportunity to discuss politics, you can watch them boil at the mere thought of what the other is saying. They can’t just sit there and hear each other out without finding a reason to get upset, and they begin preaching at the other for thinking the way that they do. They’ll try to change the other person’s opinion in that one discussion, instead of just listening and learning from each other. Its like we as American’s have freedom of speech but only if it is your side…We saw none of this in Australia. We noted a few Aussies who we thought were conservative and a few who seem to be more liberal but we couldn’t even put a name or political party to anyone as they don’t discuss things in the same way. Thank goodness!

During our entire stay in Western Australia I probably saw 3-4 people who were very overweight and only saw a handful ever smoke a cigarette. It was pleasantly surprising. Americans get to watch Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig – Australians just have fun commercials. If you want a large drink it might be 12 ounces if your lucky. Their servings are much more reasonable calorie wise than American super sized meals and drinks. How refreshing!

We miss being in Western Australia — It’s a beautiful state in a beautiful country. But it’s better for us to be back at Dillon Beach as the Covid- 19 virus keeps spreading world-wide. We were happy to be able to get on a Qatar flight through Doha, Qatar to LAX. Qatar does a delightful job of the pre-flight demonstration using soccer plays in their locker room. They use Qatar’s beautiful burgundy colors. We had a gorgeous sunrise as we flew into hot and humid Doha the capital of Qatar. Its was 5:00 am and we had to traipsie down stairs and into a bus to be taken to the terminal. Once inside everyone had masks and many had face shields on. This airport is busy trying to get people repatriated across the globe. We much appreciated their hospitality and their flights. On the way to LAX we flew over Greenland and the north pole. Yes, that is the quickest way to LAX from the Gulf.

We’ve been home a week and have only ventured out for food with masks when needed. We can now enjoy 15 year old Emma our Pumi in her blindness and deafness and walking into walls and then I can talk to mom in the same time zone while enjoying our Dillon Beach foggy views. We can order from Amazon and expect shipments within the week. We can wave at friends and neighbors we have missed when we see them on the streets!

Here are a few of those things that I’ve noted since I’ve been home…

When I try to smile now, I realize it might affect my body but the minute I look at another’s face with these darn mask’s on I notice their eyes might be smiling but you can’t tell. The whole covid thing has changed how we interact. I miss not having to wear a mask in WA!

People don’t realize how big Australia is or the fact that it is as much of a country of immigrants as the United States. Its almost just as big as America in size but less than a tenth the population and those folks live mostly around the coast line. Western Australia is the step child of Australia even though they bring the most money into the country via mining. We noticed there are many eastern Europeans who are mostly backpackers, many Europeans from Italy and Spain immigrated beginning at the turn of the last century, Asians from all countries are now citizens (many wealthy Chinese traveled to Australia pre-covid and they were highly catered to), plenty of United Kingdom immigrants including Scotland, Wales and Ireland as well as Canadians and Indians from the common wealth. There are even many New Zealanders that have headed across the Tasman Sea. They have the same issues with Black lives only their black lives are the native Australian aboriginals and if you think we were bad with native American’s, you should check out their history which was even more violent.

If you hear Victoria is quarantining because of covid – that is one of only 6 states. New South Wales, think Sydney; Queensland, think Brisbane and Cairns and the Gold Coast; South Australia, think Adelaide and some wine valleys like Barossa, McLaren Vale and Clare Valley; Tasmania with Hobart and Burnie and great Pinot Noir’s; and Western Australia with Perth and our Margaret River. They have only three territories which include the Northern Territory with Darwin, ACT with the Capital city of Canberra which is the capital territory which includes Jarvis Bay Territory which is some how a part of ACT and gives water/coastal access to ACT – why? who knows?

Because Western Australia has kept its borders closed tight, they have no Covid virus. We as American’s would cry Communism…as do some WAers but at the same time they are all smiling because they have NO covid and are free do do anything they want as long as they stay within the state. For about 6 weeks you couldn’t even cross many shire (county) lines. Now, if they are allowed to leave the country they must pay for a 14 day quarantine when they return. FIFO or fly in fly out have work exceptions but are always tested for covid and quarantined. They know when they leave they do not have it. Our first flight to Doha felt totally safe because there is no covid in WA and the flight attendants all wore masks and cleaned the restrooms at every opportunity. The flight was about half full which also made it feel safer.

FYI – For those in Victoria who want to flee into South Australia to get away from the expanding virus, they can expect a holiday at Her Majesty’s pleasure. The government introduced legislation to parliament to include a two year jail term if they are caught. They are serious about this virus.

I learned by living in Australia that as an American we lack knowledge about the geography of most of the world. That might be most people in most countries. Would we judge Western Australia for seemingly being backwater and communist to deal with Covid – but were they really? Travel does open up ones eyes to the rest of the world. You only understand another country by living in it for a period of time. We now feel blessed to have been able to call Margaret River home for almost four months and it has made us appreciate the Aussies and their way of life and their daily inherent happiness.

Even though we have always heard about the deadly beasts of Australia, we only heard about the brown snakes during our time in WA and the name sounds innocuous like our garden snakes but they are not. They are the 2nd most venomous snakes in the world. When they bite, they will inflict a terrible pain that’ll make you double-over, crap your pants, paralyze you, and, eventually (if untreated), kill you.

Cutest story was a man the last week we were there was pulled over on a highway (we are not sure where this was in the country) at an ungodly speed. When they finally caught up with him, he blamed the brown snake. Yeah right, what an excuse! When they saw it in his truck, they let him off with a warning. We were laughing so hard but its not a laughing matter. We thought we would have thrown the brakes on and jumped out of the truck!

We know in Australia, you can die by Crocodiles, blue ring octopus (no antivenom and you seldom know you’ve been bit until you are about to die), the box jellyfish- if you’re STILL thinking about taking a dip in the alluring, blue waters off eastern Australia, this spineless, floating pain-palace will put the brakes on that plan. They are extremely venomous whose complete insouciance and disregard for life would make a grown man cry. It’ll sting you, realize it can’t eat you, then just keep swimming around you. What makes this species even more dangerous is the fact that they hunt their prey (unlike most jellies, which just drift aimlessly into their dinners) and they have short-term memory issues, so after stinging you once they’ll do so again JUST BECAUSE. When we were watching the BONDI tv series (a nightly occurrence along with repeat NCIS shows), they would put up notices about jellyfish in the water along the beach. The screams of those who go to the lifeguards for help after being stung is not a pleasant sound!

Other deadly creatures that we never noted in WA were the Giant centipede which seems to be the insect spawn of Satan – naturally equipped with a pair of venomous claws that sting its victims, because having scores of legs running haphazardly in no particular direction isn’t terrifying enough. If they develop wings one day through some sort of sorcery, which may just happen in Australia, we might be safer in outer space!

In the Cape, the only thing we could have been afraid of seems to have been the sharks. I shared the shark alarm system photo which thankful was never used while we were there. Many people were able to see whales as the migrated from the Southern Ocean into the tropics. We missed any of these sightings, sigh!

Okay so we don’t miss deadly creatures but we do miss our Kangaroos and Quokka’s! We definitely miss the big waves along the Cape to Cape coast and the surfers heading to their best waves.

We miss all our dog friends along our journey including Elsa:

We will miss all our new friends from Michael’s cousins friend Kara and her husband Gary, to winery friends Rob at Firetail and Bruce at Domaine Naturalist to Lake Tahoe nomads Julie and David and even our Cowaramup – Two Moody Cow friend Jody or Connor the barista from Missouri!

We miss the bikes we crossed!

We will miss the birds, their colors and their individual personalities!

We will miss the beach walks often with the sunsets!

We will miss the food at all the wonderful winery restaurants and the restaurants in the town of Margaret River.

We will miss the wonderfully affordable fabulous wines! We did a couple of blind tastings one for Semillon and one for Cabernet Sauvignon. We added a Domaine Naturalist to our Cabernet Sauvignon tasting after I took the photo. Each and every wine was yummy and we’d be thrilled if you brought any of these to our home for dinner when the covid scare is over! We will miss the screw caps for our wines. A few of their top Cabernet’s are still corked. We met one cellar door lady who mentioned one night she had friends over and they had a wine with a cork, the only way to open it was a screw driver. I think the rest of the world is on to something! Screw caps unite Premier McGowan!

…and of course our sunsets in Margs! Fogust at Dillon Beach just doesn’t offer these clouds or any vision of the horizon for a sunset!

There’s something about the social in “social distancing” that seems difficult to understand around the world. …and with that I leave…

We will enjoy our Exile for as long as it takes to tame this virus! Thanks to all of our friends for supporting us and reading about our adventures. When I finally get around to it, there will be another blog on the history of wine in the Margaret River!

But for now…may rainbows grace your days after the thunderstorms pass as you isolate due to covid!

All three of us Martini’s have enjoyed all the “Up’s” around the southwest cape. Gnarabup Beach has been the extended beach area next to us here at Prevelly Beach and is where we are headed tomorrow. Marmaduke will be our new street and after walking in the cemetery in May, I realized it is also a local first name. We also decide this month that as long as we cross or travel on Caves Road which runs the length of the Southwest cape, we might as well visit one cave.

To the Noongar people, the Margaret river is known as Wooditchup, named after the magic man, Wooditch, who created the river in the Nyitting or the Dreaming. Noongar people have a long and continuing connection to this south west cape area. Devil’s Lair cave, south of Margaret River, is one of the earliest sites of human occupation in Australia. Evidence of Noongar existence dates back about 48,000 years. Excavations have uncovered stone artifacts, animal bones, hearths, bone artifacts and human remains.

The cave we chose last week was the largest and closest. All these caves are located along a massive limestone ridge that runs the length of the Cape. Mammoth Cave had a lovely self-guided audio tour to describe what we were soaking up as we walked through. Over 10,000 fossils had at one time accumulated inside this cave. Many of these remains were found to be Australian Megafauna (giant animals) that became extinct around 46,000 years ago. We even saw the 50,000 year old ‘zygomaturus’ jaw bone embedded in the cave wall. If there is enough rain during this time of year (winter down under), you can see a stream flowing. This Western Australia area around Perth is just now coming close to their average rainfall for June as we close out the month tonight. However while we were in the cave we saw evidence of a stream but no flowing water. We walked along sturdy walkways and up and down various stairs to reach different areas. It was quite the walk and the end was on the other side of Caves Road with over 100 stair to climb to the surface. Not at any time did we feel claustrophobic. It was an amazing journey!

One formation is called Cave bacon and it was appropriately lit up to look just like bacon!

As we climbed the stairs we were greeted by Eucalyptus trees including the Marri which is also called the red gum tree. The Noongar people collected red ooze that was pushed out by the tree when insects burrowed into the tree and damaged it. This Kino (botanical gum) was used as an antiseptic and also used in a tea for diarrhea. Its amazing how there are approximately 900 types of eucalptus species and the USA only brought in a few. Like the redwood tree, the eucalptus tree uses fire to procreate.

Eucalypts typically let through a lot of light, allowing other vegetation types such as scrub and grass to grow beneath them. They can live for maybe 700 years. But they won’t regenerate, Kirkpatrick explains in Wildfire News Today, if what is growing beneath them over the years becomes too dense. Most eucalypt species, therefore — there are more than 600 in Australia, have evolved traits that allow them to survive and prosper in the fires that will clear that undergrowth.

The myriad bright green buds that sprout spectacularly from the trunks of other eucalypts in the aftermath of a big fire are another kind of regeneration mechanism, bursting through the scorched and blackened bark within weeks of a blaze.

At the center of it all, though, is the eucalypt. Because these trees do not just resist fire, they actively encourage it. ‘They withstand fire, they need fire; to some extent, they create fire,’ Bowman says. ‘The leaves, the bark, don’t decompose. They’re highly, highly flammable. And on a hot day, you can smell their oils.’

Grasstrees or Xanthorrhoea, commonly know as Blackboy is a uniquely Australian plant, which epitomises the Australian landscape and can live for 600 years and are among the oldest living plants on the planet. They embody the spirit of the Australian bush. They are so well adapted that they can flourish on poor, sandy soils, resisting drought and fire. Bushfires will burn the foliage and blacken the stump, but then it regrows. In fact often a bushfire will encourage flower development.

Cowaramup is a town north of the town of Margaret River and it has adopted “cows” around the town and locals are known to call it, Cow Town. The townsite was gazetted in 1925, and the name is believed to be derived from “Cowara”, the Aboriginal name for the Purple Crowned Lorikeet.

We have enjoyed meeting some of the locals in Cow Town at a coffee shop and local art stores. Everyone is extremely friendly and learn to deal with what is and isn’t in the town. The best Margaret River Bottle Shop sells only Margaret River wines. Coffee shops, simple cafes, used and new clothing stores, a tasting room in a bike and garage shop, a pharmacy, the best computer store around that helped Michael when he trashed his computer, a post office, but alas no grocery store. One of the Cafes is also a tea shop on one side and a chocolate shop on the other. Some of the stores will bring in a few staple items in case you don’t want to drive 15 minutes to Margaret River to get flour or butter or laundry soap. Cow town deals with issues as do almost all Australians and we love their attitude and of course are still loving our time in this marvelous area.

Many of the beaches along the coast of southwestern Australia are UP’s include Yallingup, Boranup, Indijup, Boodjidup, and of course Gnarabup.

Towns and areas include Wyadup,Wilyaprup, Carbunup, Quindalup, Quendijup, Kalooraup, Metricup, Kudardup, Nilup, Darradup, Jalbarragup, Barrabup, Cundinup, Nannup, Peerabeelup, Beedelup, Calicup, Yeagarup, Channybearup, Quinninup, Dingup, Balbarrup, Manjimup, Palgarup, Yornup, Benjinup, Winnejup, Mordalup, Chowerup, Mayanup, Perup and even more! It is always pronounced like Up as in up and down not oop.

Boyanup is an Aboriginal name, having been first recorded by an explorer in 1852. It is also on the main road south, and is shown on a road survey in 1869 as Boyinup. It is said to mean “a place of quartz” – Boya means “rock” or “stone”. Many locals think “up” has always meant a place of water but the aboriginal’s used it to mean the place OF something.

Dwellingup is an Aboriginal name said to mean “place of nearby water”. The town was burnt out by a bushfire in 1961 but was rebuilt. The name Nannup is derived from Nannup Brook, a stream which flows north westerly into the Blackwood River just south of Nannup. It has been shown on maps since first recorded by surveyors in the 1860s. It is of Aboriginal origin, one source giving the meaning as “stopping place”, and another as “place of parrots”.

 Yongerup is derived from the aboriginal word “yonger”, meaning the male kangaroo, and means “place of the male kangaroo”. Quindalup is an Aboriginal name meaning “the place of quenda’s”. The Quenda is a small bandicoot common in the area.

The rain showers continue to pass through our area along with 30-60 mph winds. Yesterday we all took a quick hike to the beach. I was even hit by a sleeper wave but kept my footing. Today I did another quick jaunt to the beach as this was our last day on Papadakis and we will be further up a hill from the beach. I took Bilbo Baabins to his photo shoot. Little did I know I’d be rained on and nearly blown away as I headed out to the beach. The wind was relentless!

What we love about this winter weather is when a fronts move through, you may have showers on and off all day but it comes replete with rainbows and a white water churned up ocean and huge breaks of blue skies. We are also very happy that fog does not raise its cold grey head here! We are two weeks from spending the Fogust summer in Dillon beach!

Happy July and Happy fourth for all our American Friends. Stay safe and healthy and for Pete’s sake wear a mask when you’re out in public.

If you read this on the real website it will look better…but here goes…There are many days we go for short walks or long walks, beach walks, forest walks or for me, a solo stroll through a cemetery. I have not posted many of these fun photos. Before we are in a rush to get home, I want to share some of my favorites. Injidup Beach is one of our friend’s, Scott McWilliams favorite beaches on our SW Western Australia, Margaret River coastal area. Michael and I had a grand day finding it and walking a little on the beach. It was early on for the V and there were not many people. The expanse was stunning. The sand deep and difficult to walk in.

Gracetown is on Cowaramup Bay and has some beautiful rock outcrops. I found it on one of my “I’m taking a drive” in the early morning alone days. I took Larkin back to Gracetown later to see these rocks.

I also took a very long walk one day to the local cemetery which is almost to Caves Road. I got caught in a light sprinkle which just made the day more apropos. I’ve always wanted to stroll through a cemetery and that Monday, I felt part of this Margs community when I walked the path. It was the day after mother’s day and oddly enough I didn’t notice any fresh flowers on the ladies graves. The last two graves were the parents of someone Michael knew back in the states and I have met David their son here. That was unexpected! Many graves were uniquely decorated!

“Life is mostly froth and bubble, two things stand like stone, kindness in another’s trouble, courage in your own” by Adam Lindsey Gordon. The quote on John Hohnen’s gravestone. Food for thought!

Larkin and I drove to Moses Rock early one morning and took the hike to Quinninup Falls. It was a special aboriginal area with these unique rocks.

Ellensbrook homestead area also has a nice set of rocks and an unnamed beach a little further to the north. I left Larkin contemplating the lovely rock outcrops and I walked to the beach. We couldn’t understand why there were so many cars in this car park. When I rounded the corner and saw the beach, surfers of all ages had braved the little walk to enjoy the bombies at this location. One older man, okay my age, like our fisherman friend at Quinninup Falls beach, love to stop and chat. They stop their fishing or pulling out their board and have a chat. Whether its fish, surfing, life, travel or the American news cycle, these Aussie folks are delightful!

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Larkin and I have done two walks where we started looking for mushrooms. Why? Because they are there after the fall and winter rains! They make fabulous composition photos. One was the trail past Ellensbrook’s Meekadarribee Falls and one was in a beautiful area of the Boranup Forrest.

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Since my last post we have enjoyed dinner with new friends from here, new friends from California and friends of Michael’s cousin Kathy! We’ve had dinners at our home, dinners out, wonderful lunches at winery restaurants and special wine tastings.

Delicious food from restaurants and asian food and Anzac cookies prepared at home!

There are ALWAYS dogs of all breeds on the beach and the seagulls are everywhere.

The sunsets continue but it is winter here in Margaret River and we are having many more delightful windy/rain storms which we love! Rainbows are an aside we also love when they show themselves! We have seen a handful of green flashes but now seems as if there are many more clouds on the horizon. It does not freeze here at night and the days are always in the 60’s. Nice weather we are enjoying.

Some days all I see are shoes, single or in pairs…other days Michael misses the view when he doesn’t want to go walking for the sunset with me!

Our backyard resident invasive century plant blooming like crazy. The birds and bees are loving on it!

We are winding down now as we plan our trip home we hope in July. We will be at this delightful home until July 1st with its view of the waves and closeness to the beach. We head up the hill to Marmaduke Street and our next rental home. There was even a man whose first name was Marmaduke in the cemetery. Must be a local name for sure! We do not look forward to the fear of the V but are ready with masks so we are prepared when we arrive. Until the next blog, stay safe, stay healthy and for pete’s sake wear a mask in public! It could save your life!

Today was the day! We were suppose to sail under the Golden Gate Bridge, dock in San Francisco and even see the Bay Bridge in the distance.

Instead we wll celebrate our 52 days at sea on the Regents Seven Seas Mariner, 7 days in Perth and now 73 days in Margaret River, Western Australia. Need I say the V has caused the entire world to be shaken up in a blender, poured out in everyone’s glasses and absolutely undrinkable?

Our first segment included the Hawaiian Islands and French Polynesia. When we landed in Papeete, Tahiti we exclaimed to each other how we couldn’t imagine having to leave after two weeks. Egads no!

Our second segment included detours like an extra day in Fiji since the Samoa’s didn’t want cruise ships, New Zealand with friends on the ship and friends in Napier, and then sailing into Sydney with all our new friends. Life was changing as we headed south around Australia instead of north toward Singapore.

Our third segment was from the Blue Mountains outside of Sydney to time in Tasmania, Philip Island, Port Fairy, Geelong, Kangaroo Island, Adelaide…you name it we loved the Southern Coast of Australia. We had dinner with friends and crew, we were serenaded in our cabin by our resident guitarists Pat, Ben and of course Michael. The V kept changing our itinerary from avoiding India to going around South Africa to CRUISE CANCELLED along with Esperance and Albany. We were not sure what awaited us but we would be into the unknown!

After a week in Perth with friends who were frantically scrambling to acquire flights for the crowded flights to repatriate into the USA, we wanted more of Western Australia like Rottnest Island and the Pinnacles. We realized that we weren’t expected home until today, June 4th, so why not spend the rest of our time sans cruise in Australia. After trying to get a few friends to join us (Ben, Gail and Russell), we ended up just the three of us in Margaret River, not realizing how the world had changed in just a few weeks.

The Prevelly Beach, Margaret River adventure began. Sunsets, beaches, take out food from great restaurants, 4 wine shops to keep us stocked and then we found the 5th which specializes in Margaret River wines. Great produce and meats. Packaged meals that made it easy to enjoy a tasty meal. The entire experience has been delightful. New friends – some fellow statesmen (David and Julie), chance encounters with surfers or fishermen as we walk new beaches or Surfers Point once again. Plenty of locals happy to help us with whatever we needed.

Winter weather that is very much like southern California, storms to knock our socks off or 25c days to make us smile, we continue to enjoy our Sheltering in Place. A lime tree at our rental home that we can’t keep up with is a side perk!

Sunsets are still majestic as the clouds over the Indian Ocean paint the sky every night with a new canvas. No fog creeps into the coast which is a new experience for us. We often walk to a little bench between our rental home and the White Elephant at Gnarabup, have a seat and absorb the change in colors as the sunsets. Some days I meet up with Julie from Lake Tahoe and just chat about our day as the sunsets.

Unfortunately we now have only 41 days left until we climb aboard a plane home to the USA. We finally were able to make flight reservations that we believe will stay in place for our trip home. Our RSSC Mariner ship is currently docked in Oakland, CA …wish we had been able to sail in that way! We miss our sailing mates and all the crew…sadly some still need to remain on the ship.

You say, 41 days, that’s forever! But folks, it really isn’t. We now have the ability as of Saturday the 6th to eat at any restaurant and taste wine at any winery, even though I am the Skipper and can’t drink until I get back to our rental home! Western Australia with its zero V has begun to open up – and celebrate a new life!

We were here last October with a friend and only had two days in Margaret River. Michael and I realized we wanted to come back and spend more time here. Never did we realize we would be here for almost four months

Our friends Patty and Todd spent six months in Barcelona a few years back. When they did that, I told Michael I don’t think we could spend that much time in one place away from home. I can’t judge now, I’m ready to go home, but yet I’m not. Margs is a delightful place in the world, far and away from so many of the negative issues American’s have to deal with right now!

Tomorrow begins our count down to the end of our wonderful adventure. We will also count up the days until maybe we can plan another World Cruise – hopefully with many of our new found cruise friends. Regardless of the worlds new normality we will enjoy every day as it dawns, love those around us and count our blessings! Have a great June!

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.

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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.

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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!

I want to leave it all, and go back to normality; yes that is the better option. The problem is I don’t know where to find it.

Was it lost because of “broken ness” and “hopeless ness” or will I find it by “blessed ness” and “joyful ness?”

Was it the world at home in Northern California as we packed to leave on a world cruise? A wonderful suite and new friends that were supposed to be our normality until June 4th. Food, drinks, entertainment and laundry taken care of as we circumnavigated the globe. A retirement dream we have planned for for 2 1/2 years!

Perhaps it was stolen when Covid-19 was named and made American Somoa decide to not allow our ship to dock? The devastating news and a hint of an overwhelming feeling of the sadness to come to us and our shipmates. We kept a stiff upper lip hoping that the new normality at that time would take us around the world on a different track than we had planned!

Would I find normality when Regents told us that Singapore was a no go so we had to sail around Australia along the Southern Ocean and the southern coast? Or did it dissolve as soon as the news broke on the Diamond Princess being docked in quarantine in Japan?

Did it disappear when some of our cruise mates headed home when we weren’t heading to Singapore? There was a sense of fear and dread as we tried to keep a positive outlook. We were excited to see new ports with our new friends.

Maybe Covid-19 took it when it was simply spread around the world via ship, planes, public transportation, and celebration of lives and in houses of worship? I didn’t want to admit it was affecting all of us the world over? Did everyone else feel the way I did?

Was normality eliminated by borders closing within Shires in Western Australia as well as Aussie state borders? Was it when all international and national flights were banned? Was it lost when sport’s shuttered stadiums and a sea full of empty seats saw the last few footy games? As the tv stations played old footy games for the locals to enjoy, I learned to love Australian Football (Footy). I had no skin in the game and no knowledge of even who would win the game on the tv in front of me. But that was not my normality from the past.

Where did I truly lose my normality?

Would I find normality with my family while we Shelter in Place in Margaret River since we decided it just might be a safer and healthier bet to stay in Australia? Covid-19 took safety with it but it left our Margaret River with no virus, of course with which we are thankful.

I searched for it everywhere; in the food, in the wine, in the Aussie evening news, in my suitcases, in the books I’ve found to read that have delighted me, to watching NCIS reruns as a family every night here in Margs – which was close to our normality at home. Maybe when I fall asleep one night, I will find it.

Then after a feeling of lucidity following a restful nights sleep, I saw it close by, just there with me, clinging to my skin. Normality wasn’t in the days I’d left behind; it was in whatever fortune placed in my path each and every day.

Whether at home in California or on a cruise ship or in our Margaret River, wherever our family chooses to direct our course, that will be my new normality. For now, it is amid the beach, the crashing waves, the forests, the geology and the sunsets that smell of seaweed, to my new Aussie friends and their use of words which make me smile every day! (Don’t forget to wash your smalls!)

Normality is simply whatever I will, our commitment as a family which is why it will always be with me. For me to look for it somewhere else or try to retrieve it from yesterday makes no sense at all!

The Karri trees in the Boranup Forest part of the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park have long pale trunks, and can grow over 250′ tall. They are the third tallest trees in the world. We took a right off of Cave Road and started our approximately 15 miles drive on dirt roads. We had no idea what to expect. We only saw four cars on our trek along with an older couple sitting in chairs outside their caravan on one of the few pull outs. They were drinking coffee and made sure they waved and smiled at us! Don’t forget to go to the website to see this blog laid out correctly!

We stayed on the road and found a sign pointing to the “Boranup Lookout”. I guess I didn’t imagine we had gone up this high in altitude and I did not expect such a stunning view.

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As we left the lookout, I tried to take a right and head over the horizon to the beach off the dirt road but Michael and Larkin weren’t too happy to be on a four wheel drive dirt/sand road with no 4wd! I turned around after barely squeezing past the last car we saw on the dirt track.

As we came toward Caves Road on the south side of the drive, there was a nice turn out where we could take a hike in the woods. It was a delightful trail full of earthy smells. Karri trees are a type of eucalyptus but they didn’t seem to have the powerful smell of the ones America imported into the states. It might be we were used to the smells too! Sun filtered through the “rejuvenation” forest and the forest floor was full of calla lilies starting to push up through the dirt.

We want to go back next month to see the Calla Lilies in bloom. The caves along Cave road have opened but as Larkin said, next week is suppose to be all rain and it doesn’t matter if we are in a cave. The nice thing also is that they are only 30 minutes from our home. That might be our next adventure except for the ability to eat at a sit down but social distanced in a real restaurant. We have at least 4 bookings on the books! Three at lunch and one dinner. Woo Hoo…and there is zero V that shall not be named here!

Next we decided to drop by Firetail winery for our favorite rose, late discourged sparkling wine and a stunning semillion as well as a take out lunch from The Berry Farm. Even after the 30 minute drive home, the wagu beef burger was stunning! I’ve been craving a burger since we arrived in WA….

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Today was stunningly blue so when it came to the sunset I was ready for a hike to the point. Since restrictions have been lifted, folks from Perth began to stream down south as soon as Monday morning hit. They were at Firetail at 11 am on Monday morning and the streets and highways have been much busier.

I want to include a few photos of our tasting yesterday. It was a gin tasting along with lunch. We left Larkin at home since she seems to really like staying at home and Michael and I only shared one tasting. I was driving home from lunch and gin isn’t my first choice of beverages! We were their first clients in two months! They quoted W.C. Fields as saying, “Always carry a flagon of whiskey in case of a snake bite..and further more always carry a small snake.” We didn’t follow his advice today! ..and we didn’t see any animals but heard a few ravens in the forest.

For the sunset hike, I was by myself but I was trying to meet up with our friends Julie and David from Lake Tahoe. Julie misplaced the car keys so I just enjoyed keeping my iPhone camera out taking photos…

Some of the kids in Western Australia learn the basics of surfing by riding on a skateboard. This kid was a hoot. If you note in the third photo of him, a bird was scooting across. The birds were going after each other like crazy. I felt I was in the Birds, the movie. It was an odd feeling!

The German Shepherd was waiting for his share of the chips. The birds were waiting to fight each other over any food left behind. The bikes have hooks to hold your surf board so you can bike it to the point. Every night a parking lot full of people of all ages await the sunset with chairs, blankets, utes backed in with tail gates open and they are all enjoying food and drinks. Life is fun in Oz land!

Another day in Oz and we are still thrilled we have at least 7 more weeks to enjoy their hospitality.. Stay safe and healthy as you catch the wave into your weekend! Hugs from the Three Martini’s Traveling!

It started simple enough, our day that is. A grumpy family because I was going to leave the house at 9:30 am for Cape Leewin Lighthouse. I assumed it was 1 1/2 hours away…in actuality it was only an hour away. The family told me I needed to give them 48 hours notice for an adventure that took place THAT early! Go figure! If you’re reading this on email…the photos won’t look as nice as if you click to see the blog then you can see the layouts etc.

I was going to go to the Cape regardless…it is close enough to do it again if we want to! On Monday the 18th the road to Perth will open and the folks up there can come down and visit us for the first time in over two months. I figured the roads will be packed with more tourist in the coming weeks. There are only about 7 active V cases in all of Western Australia!

We didn’t load up and actually leave until ten am. As we headed south down Cave Road we passed very few cars but lots of signs to Caves that were still closed due to the V. We are hoping some of the caves are able to open over the next two months! During that short drive we drove partly through Boranup Forest which was amazingly stunning with its very tall skinny trees and bush underneath. Larkin told me she wants to join me on a hike through those woods. There are not many trees on the coast. Only time will tell as the days get shorter and we head toward winter down under. At the furthest south along Cave Road, the road veers right and its easy to miss the left turn to continue to the lighthouse so you end up in Hamelin Bay. Well, since we wanted to visit the Bay we stayed on the road to see where the Ray’s live!

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We walked from the near empty car-park to Hamelin Bay. Stunning calm blue waters and very few people. We didn’t bring our suits to try our hand at snorkeling with the Rays…but we thought – hey, its only 30 minutes away, we should try that adventure on another day. They have nice toilets and changing rooms! That always helps! The map said there was yet another lighthouse if we walked a little further south over a rise along the Cape to Cape walk which is about 76 miles in total along the coast. Maybe I’ll do that walk on my own later! The Bay used to have a long jetty that took Karri timber out to be loaded onto ships for export to England, South Africa and India. Many streets of London are still paved with Karri from Boranup and Karridale. The jetty was abandoned when the demand for jarrah timber became higher than for karri. Over time, the jetty succumbed to Southern Ocean storms and the harsh coastal environment. You can see the remnants of the jetty in the photos above.

From Hamelin Bay to the lighthouse is another 30 minute drive or so. Once again empty roads but because we had departed from Cave Road with its caves and forests and headed east then south to the cape, we enjoyed the vision of beautiful pastures including a few with sheep or cows. To get to the Cape Leewin Lighthouse we drove through the town of Augusta which is located on the very southwest corner of Australia. Charming, small and inviting and reminded Larkin and I of a few other towns we visited during our cruise along the Southern coast before our world cruise was so rudely interrupted by this uninvited V.

I knew the lighthouse would be closed but it is the concept of the lighthouse which is at the convergence of the Southern and Indian Oceans that I wanted to experience. The Leewin current is drawn south down the western coast of western Australia from the equator with its nice toasty 68 degree water and mixes with the Southern Ocean whose current comes up from the Antarctic! I’m not sure of the temperature of the Southern Ocean but it is definitely colder…the oceans were fairly calm on both sides yesterday. The skies were perfect for photos.

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Needless to say Larkin was mesmerized when we found the rock formations on the Indian Ocean side of the Cape. They were magnificent and the photos don’t do them justice. I added sand collections from the erosion of the rocks between the horizontal layers, sand near the water on the Indian Ocean side and as we drove back toward Augusta I gathered sand along the Southern Ocean beach near the light house. We missed sand from the rest of our cruise around India, through Arabia and the Med…but we have just enough sand for some nice displays with our collection from Australia!

After our short visit we headed back north through Augusta and decided to go up the main highway 10 to Margaret River. A nice two lane road where you can sometimes drive 110 kph or almost 70 mph. It was only about a 45 minute drive. I’d hoped we could do fish and chips at a local restaurant in Augusta but none of us were really hungry at that time so we headed to Squid Lips in Margaret River. Unfortunately, it was closed as the owner hurt his neck during the hectic Mother’s Day rush at the restaurant. An hour and a half wait for his fish and chips. We really enjoy takeout there once a week! So much for lunch there but we stopped by a local meat shop and picked up chicken for dinner. Fish and chips would wait.

By the time we were home it was still early afternoon and we enjoyed the afternoon to chill and putz around. As the day started to wind down we glanced out and figured there wouldn’t be a sunset because of the misc. clouds so we stayed tucked into our living room and didn’t venture out for the five minute walk to the beach. Right about sunset Larkin said, oh its getting pretty outside. OMG. We rushed upstairs to our little balcony off our Master bedroom and took in the spectacular sunset. Here are some of the photos in order…

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We were mesmerized by the powerful colors. The subtle changes as the minutes passed. The left side is surfers point…the tree is at one of our neighbors. The rays shining up were through the clouds that look like boulders next to Surfers Point. We have never seen a sunset that left us breathless and almost brought us to tears! We have some fabulous photos of sunsets especially in the winter at Dillon Beach but none quite like this one so far….we’ll be looking for a sunset like this when we finally get home!

It wasn’t just us though…today we talked to the manager of our property, the owner of the local general store, another neighbor and even the folks at Squid Lips where we finally got our craving fed tonight, who all mentioned “did you see that sunset last night? wasn’t it spectacular?”

Never in a million years would I expect our little iphones could take stunning colorful shots like these with zero editing to enhance the color.

Have a Colorful weekend! Tomorrow is Friday here!

A shout to all our sleeping American friends. Its Mother’s Day so its a shout to all the moms – virtual hugs to all!

Tomorrow will be the end of our seventh week in Prevelly Beach, Western Australia. I have never lived anywhere other than the states for this period of time. I think all three of us feel very blessed and delighted to experience this beautiful little area of the world. From the food available in the stores and for takeout, to the wine at cellar doors or the five bottle shops we know very well, to the people it continues to be a grand experience!

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We had our biggest storm of the season this week and loved the wind and the rain and being able to watch the waves from our perch on the hill. Hurricane force winds howled for 48 hours or so it seemed. Southwestern Australia usually has a storm like this once or twice a year. It was basically the storms we missed at home this year…except I don’t think they have had these type of storms in 2020! Drought here we come!

The Margaret River area had power outages too but we were lucky and never lost power. When Larkin and I went driving to pick up important things like more yarn for her knitting,(See the photo with the scarf she knitted me from our back porch), we drove up to the chocolate factory…girls just need chocolate! It was the first time we’d seen other people and families in this factory. It made us smile. The roads had leaves and branches piled up on the sides of the road and many downed trees including some that rested halfway across the road. Not enough traffic to worry about the ability to go around!

We can now see other people up to groups of ten. We have seen the changes in our little Rifflebutts Park on our walk to the beach. Families celebrating mothers day weekend. Gathering in groups. Couples with their dogs, big tire push bikes (bicycles) for grown ups or kids. Our lime tree continues to produce and we keep trying to make margaritas. Sunsets are still a nightly ritual from a five minute walk to the beach or our master bedroom balcony to capture the clouds!

We realize that we speak the same language but that the Aussies know how to make it fun…Have you ever thought of going for a tea bag in the arvo? Tea bag is for swimming and arvo is afternoon. …and men can wear their budgie smugglers if they wish (Speedo). I rather like a budgie smuggler on the right body!

The prime minister wants states to open things up in their own time and slowly because we need to get out from under the Doona (blanket). Don’t forget your sunnies when you get out or you might hurt your eyes. Kids who are part Indian or African are called chokko’s – they call themselves that and its popular as they love their skin not being as white. Gulah’s like the birds above are not bright so if you’re called Gulah I guess your not bright. I love Mozzies! They don’t have any here in Margs at least this time of year but you guys at home will have them soon enough! Its for mosquito! I guess you can’t be alarmed if they say wear your thongs to the beach…its means what we used to call them when I was growing up but we call them flip flops now.

From picnics in Rifflebutt Park to twenty eights in the bird bath, to a moose attached as a car hood ornament…the most fun is watching the kids! After we talked to this mom and her determined son, the other young son and dog waltzed up and the kid said, “mom how do you know these people?” Everyone is friendly. We spent a sunset chatting with a young couple who had moved back to Margs and were walking their little dachshund. He is mottled black and has one blue eye. I think his name is Finny. On his back was an All Black dog warmer…we love the All Blacks from New Zealand. The woman vowed to never move back but when she had the ability to move into her moms(deceased I think) house she jumped at the chance and loves being home. We understand her enthusiasm. Not a single stop light in town. The old days of St. Helena in maybe the 1950’s.

They have fun ads. The first month we were here every TV ad seemed to be for a Goat named product like a moisturizer. The jingle had a cartoon goat dancing around people while they used these products in their bathroom singing, “get your goat on!” Seriously. Do you know what its like to wake up in the middle of the night with “get your goat on, get your, get your goat on”, running through your head?

A new series of a Farmer Wants a Wife is starting up sometime this fall (fall is now down under btw). These women are excited to meet their farmer hubby. They show all the previous winner being married and their new families! I wish it was still that way in the USA, well sometimes. They have all the home type remodel shows and the dancing and food shows. Movies of some sort every night. Another new season we are looking forward to is Outback Truckers. Not quite sure what that one is! It reminds me of being in New Zealand for two weeks and realizing national news was pleading for the person who stole the llama to return it as his llama mate is deaf and blind and needs him! Of course national news was also the sheep shearing contest.

We forget Australia has about 25.5 million people or about the size of Florida. The state we’re in Western Australia or WA is only 2.76 million. It is slightly smaller than Arkansas in population – size wise it is huge from about Colorado to the west coast or about a third of the USA! Most people live around the coasts which makes total since because the entire mid continent is a dry desert and hosts mostly mining…right up Larkin’s alley. I did not realize the state of Victoria which is near Melbourne actually has ski slopes in the winter. I didn’t realize it was so far south or that the hills were that high. They just hope to have some visitors sometime this year!

We Americans lament that the USA has not done enough for the virus as you just look at numbers. People forget to add up the major EU states until they have America’s population and realize we have actually done a better job. Not good enough – not as good as WA with only one new covid case in 10 days and she was a 20 something woman who was quarantined when she flew back into the state from overseas and brought it with her.

Their news stations are non-partisan and the two parties have been in unison so far in this Virus cycle. It is not an election year for them. Thank goodness. They say they are going to start having argys and bargys now which I assume means arguments and bargaining. By the way if you wish to pilot a boat you have to have a license. Seems like a rather wise option to me! They have signs that say don’t drink and drown. Another smart sign…If your injured you might have to be picked up in an Ambo. They have Bondi on TV right after the news on one station which is about Bondi Beach lifeguards. Its a popular TV show but it is real not fake like Baywatch which I never watched.

There is an ad whose product I have no clue but it has this couple naming their child Calum which is a name you hear down here…but as the kids grows he is made fun of as his last name is Mari. Calum Mari will you take this women to be…and then they fade back and give him another name! It would help their product if you could remember it!

Some nights we see a green flash. Between our house and the Rivers mouth there are two public restrooms. Always clean and inviting. As you age, this ability during a 30 minute walk is critical. The photo of the sinks from our Tahoe friend Julie! Thanks!

The Indian Ocean is about 18 C here and although the surfers usually wear wet suits here the kids and adults in the water usually just don a swimsuit. The kids love the water. Yesterday it was delightful to see them play in the rock pool and seeing the huge waves crash further out in the ocean in front of them. As we walked home we noticed all the folks. Single women chatting in their portable picnic chairs on the lawn facing the great surfing breakers. Middle age folks just sitting in their cars awaiting the sunset. Hippy dippy type caravaners. The guy getting out of the surf was in his 60’s – all ages! I noted a couple of upper 80’s folks driving their car up to the point also. Everyone loves their Surfers Point and its vibe and sunsets. We noted a fish n chips truck which stays until after sunset many weekends. That just might be dinner tonight! A Mother’s Day with a couple of nomads from Lake Tahoe, Julie and David. Its legal now – we can gather in groups of 10!

Happy Mothers’d Day Mama (and grandma) Peggy from your Bunkie!