Day 195 / 2016 - Baby its Cold Here in WA

We have returned from our Bunbury trip of 2 and a half weeks and happy to be back in the warmer weather. It has been cold to the bone in Bunbury with single and bearly teen temperature during the day but Oma didn't care there was a new baby to be cuddled.

Before Leaving Walkamin we did a quick cleanup mowing the back and front yard. Once finished we had showers then waited for the 3:50pm bus that travels from Atherton on the tablelands to Cairns on the coast which conveniently stops across the road from home. We did consider driving the car and long term park it at the airport and although the cost was about the same we felt it was better to leave the car at home undercover. The bus dropped us off at the airport (for an extra $5 each) about 2 hours before we were due to board giving us enough time to drop our bags and grab a bite eat.

The plane was an half hour late leaving Cairns and the flight over was reasonably smooth except we had a rather loud person directly behind us who talked nonstop for almost the entire flight. Landing in Perth we headed for the arrivals hall grabbing our bags before catching a taxi to the hotel. We chose the Ibis on Murry Street because it was walking distance to Central train station. Dropping us off ar half past the witching hour we made our way to our room and fell straight into bed.

Next morning we checked out earlier than planed. Arriving late last night we expected to sleep in and make our way to the train platform and board just in the nick of time time around 09:15 but instead woke up about 6:30. Deciding there was no point in hanging around we walked into town for a bite of breakfast at the Carillion food hall. Finishing of a Ham and Cheese toastie with coffee we then strolled to the train station to pick up our tickets. We learned the train was not coming all the way into Perth due to track maintenance and we would be bussed out to Armadale to board the train there. The rest of the journey to Bunbury was uneventful passing through Yarloop we once again saw the fire devastation which ripped through the town at the beginning of this year. A lot of damaged houses were now surrounded by fences to prevent access because of the asbestos contamination.

Arriving in Bunbury around 12:00pm Mic firstly picked us up then stopped to buy lunch. Arriving home in Gelorup Oma made a bee line straight for her new Grandson(GS2) Owen who was peacefully sleeping in his crib. Next she gave GS1 Blake the biggest hug before spoiling him with some new presents she had brought with her. That evening we caught up with the rest of the family gas bagging for hours before retiring to bed.

Bunbury hasn't changed a lot in 6 months there are a few new buildings but and thats about it. Mic lent us his ute for the time we were there making it easier to get around town. We also able to attend to some minor maintenance on the rental properties. We wanted to catch up with a few friends but most were out enjoying their own winter getaways around Oz or overseas.  Gina and Bruce who were suppose to be somewhere in the Kimberly but came home early due to car trouble. The engine overheated causing the head to crack and ending up being an exspensive repair. By the time it was fixed it had cost most of their time and budget leaving very little left for their holdays. The big thing we noticed at Mic and Carleys house was Jeffs boat "True Blue" had gone. He decided against selling it ending up removing the parts he wanted to keep such as the motors and crushed up the rest.

Steve, Jen(1) and the boys were down in Northcliffe on their farm so with a bit of prompting from Micdrove down there to catch up with them. When we arrived they were already out shark fishing a Warren beach. In Tandem with Jeff and Eileen and their girls we travel the track and sandhills onto the beach. This was my first real experience at driving over soft sand hills with me taking a few attempts and some assistance from Jeff to getting over. It ended up being all about the tyre pressure (didn't have it low enough). We sat around on the beach chatting and a few drinks before realising it was after midnight they had a roaring fire going so didn't feel the cold. Before leaving we set our tyre pressure lower to a cold 12 PSI which made getting out much a piece of cake. Jeff didn't seem as lucky as us and it took him a few extra attempts in his Holden Colorado to get out. The rest of us Triton drivers gave him a bit of a bagging with comments "Should have bought a Triton..." Finally getting back to the farm we retired for the night well early morning at 3am boy it was really cold by then (about 1 Deg). Up next morning we spent the morning enjoying BBQ Brunch then wandering the farm looking at all the changes that have been made since the last time we were there. Afternoon we said goodbye and headed back to Bunbury. That evening we caught up with Dr Mike and Elaine over dinner at their place.

The rest of our time was spent in Bunbury catching up with friends and spending time with the kids. We help with with a few chores around their houses. We also caught up with Leila and John where we nutted out more of the details of the second part of our trip to NZ after Frank and Alice has left us.

Mic had planned a surfing trip in the Maldives so needed his ute to get to Perth airport the last few days before we flew out. They had an Old 1998 Toyota Carolla we could use. It had been sitting for a while so the battery was flat. Once we recharged the battery it easly started and ran quite well very zippy to drive I couldn't believe it had done 365,000 km. I was a bit worried about the rear tyres as they looked a little close to worn out. I wasn't even sure it was still registered Mic had said it still was. Knowing our luck I was expecting to be pulled over for a random check and have the car put off the road.

On the day we left Eileen, Blake and Izzy took us to the train station for the start of our return journey back to Walkamin. We waved goodbye as the train pulled out and headed towards Perth. While in transit we received a message that our 11:50pm flight will be delayed untill 02:15am putting us in Cairns at 08:20am we realised then we will most likely miss our connecting bus back home could be a long day tomorrow.

Arriving at Perth Central Train Station Andy and Jen(2) picked us up and took us out for a drink at one of their local bars. They also bought us gourmet pizza for dinner from the same bar. We then stopped in at their flat for a cuppa tea before they dropped us at the airport around midnight. After checking in we asked Jetstar to help us out but there stance is they only need to get us to our destination airport missing the bus is covered by your own travel insurance. The credit card we used to purchase the airline ticket with provides travel insurance for interstate travel but it's only available if the delay is more than 4 hours. Waiting for the plane we amused ourselves with the computer and phones when we were eventually called to board the plane finally taking off as re-sheduled. The flight was comfortable and I was able to read making the hours pass quickly while Anne snoozed. We watched the sunrise on approach finally touching down in Cairns at 8:15am.

We had planed to catch the airport shuttle at 6:30am then a public bus to Cairns Central after that giving us plenty of time to get to our connecting 08:45am coach. By the time we got our bags from the plane and hopped on the shuttle bus our connecting bus to Walkamin had already left. For the price we paid the shuttle bus only takes you to the nearest public bus stop but the driver felt sorry for us and ended up dropping us off next to Cairns Central Shopping Centre where coaches departed from. We spent the next 6 hours wandering the shopping centre pushing a trolley with our luggage in it still dress in winter clothes we must have looked like a couple of homeless people pushing their prized possession from one comfy lounge to another.

Finally at 3:20pm we boarded the second bus for Walkamin arriving home around 5:00pm. We headed for the showers and something to eat and tried to watch a little TV to wind down but we were falling asleep on the lounge so opted to goto bed by 7:00pm.