CATCHING UP AT CAVERSHAM

In The Pink

Mauve Reflections

Well, I suppose I should really say, Happy New Year, but truly, it’s more like “what on earth happened to the last couple of months?!!!”  I know time passes more quickly as we age, but this is ridiculous.  Wasn’t it just yesterday I was anticipating Christmas and all that entailed?

Oh well, Happy 2014 everyone.  I hope that this blog finds you all happy, healthy and looking forward to a fulfilling year (what is left of it).  I know that some of you have had some sad times over the past couple of months and want you to know that both my love and my prayers are with you.  Some of you have welcomed new members to your families too and that just shows that life goes on and the happiness and the sadness somehow merge and balance over the years.

Some of my own nearest and dearest are going thru’ inordinately difficult and sad times and I have been faced once again with the heartbreak of not being able to help on any ‘real’ level and the realisation that our children have to work thru’ the challenges that life places in their paths just as we did on our own journeys.

Many families endure moments of drama and trauma over the festive season and ours is no different.  On the whole however we had a pleasant Christmas spent in part with ‘my lot’ and in part with ‘his lot’.  The whole day passed without any major hitches and of course with way too much food.

Having spent basically the past 12 months away from family it was wonderful to see everyone and to find that all the grandies had literally ‘shot up’ whilst we were away. Both DD’s daughter and my grand-daughter were home from London for Christmas making the time even more special.

Do You Think It Might Get A Tad Windy Here

These Humbled Trees Were At The Convict Ruins

At this point I could bore you all silly and regale you with the tales and tribulations of our families, but you know what, scratch the surface and you would find that all of our situations are uncannily similar; all our families and close circles of friends are enriched with all the human frailties along with the better aspects of personality and humanity.  We all know heroes and villains some of them are our own offspring!   We all of us have difficulties, personality clashes, personal loss, traumas, joy, laughter and tears within our families and friends.  Why not simply say, we understand what each other is facing and embrace and rejoice in what it is to be human.

SO..................moving right along – we did all the other things while we were in Caversham – you know the stuff, Dr’s appointments, dentist appointments, visits to the opticians, hairdressers etc, etc.  The real good news is that DD no longer has to take Wharfrin.  A full range of blood tests showed our lad to be basically pretty healthy and as a result of this, his heart specialist was happy to swap him onto a different type of blood thinner, one that operates in a different way.  The upside of this new med is that DD no longer has to have monthly blood tests to test the viscosity of his blood and he no longer has to stint on eating certain food types.  As the types of food he had to watch out for were basically all the healthy dark green cruciferous types (broccoli, spinach, etc) that is particularly good news.  The Doctor did feel that DD could do to lose a few kilos, but apart from that, he was very pleased with his progress and lo and behold, he doesn’t have to go back to the specialist for another 2 years!!  Joy!

I mentioned in my last blog that I was going to pursue a procedure involving a ‘stem-cell’ type treatment for my knee – my appointment is in March when we return to Perth – I will keep you posted on how that goes.

We spent roughly two months in the Caversham Vines CP and the good news was that since our last stay 12 months ago, they have fixed their long standing power problems.  This was wonderful as it meant that during those super hot days we were able to boil a kettle whilst running the air-con, something we had not been able to do previously.

The joys of being back in the metropolitan area manifested themselves pretty quickly.  During the first week home, someone had the audacity to bunt Zed in a car-park and I caught some sort of weird bug.  The good news was that the young lady who bumped into Zed with her blue car had the decency to leave her contact details etc on the windscreen and the damage was negligible.  We did think at first that the camera had been damaged, but a slight jiggle sorted out both that and the slightly bent dooverlackie that holds the electrical connections for towing the van.  The bug moved on quickly and generally all was returned to normal fairly quickly.

Hot Dry & Desolate

We did have one other little hiccup – Zed finally blotted his until now perfect record.  The very evening we were to take Bree (DD’s daughter) to the air-port for her return flight to London, the poor old lad (Zed not DD) started acting up.  It was quite funny in retrospect as I clambered into the passenger seat, DD turned on the ignition.  I turned to him saying “Can you hear that dog howling somewhere?”  Turned out the ‘dog’ was actually poor old Zed.  Aside from the very strange noise he was making he seemed to be performing normally.  Like all good motorists, we phoned the RAC who duly sent out a ‘knowledgeable bloke’.  This fella, along with all the available males in the near vicinity, seemed to think that the power steering was at fault.  An appointment was duly made for Zed to go to the Dr’s for fixing.  As this happened just before the Australia Day long week-end, we were basically Zed-less for the 6 days it took to get him into the auto-drs.  Eventually the day arrived however, and DD with some trepidation drove Zed the some 60 odd ks to the mechanic.  Long story short, whilst everyone thought it was the power steering, it evolved that it was instead the alternator that was at fault.  It would appear that the power steering pump motor rarely wears out in the 100 series Cruisers!!

I had distinct pleasure in spending much of the last two weeks of our stay in Caversham with my youngest son’s children Chloe and Cooper.  This was a treat, if not for the kids, at least for me.  We had some fun, particularly when I took them both to a painting work-shop for children.  The lesson for the day was painting ‘pop-art’ style and the subject was a vase of flowers.  Both kids took to the lesson like ducks to water.  We already knew that Chloe is an artist (better than her gran) but now we also know that young Coops has some latent talent also.  For those of you who are artistically inclined, it was an interesting aspect of the morning, watching the girls and the boys paint.  Fascinating in fact!  The age bracket was 7 – 11.  The girls all were very careful painters, listening carefully to what the teacher said and doing their best to emulate her techniques etc.  The lads on the other hand, went boldly ahead, bold brush strokes and brave colours – not quite so much attention to the teacher – and lo and behold, their results were, I think, far better. Their work had what we might call flair, whilst the girls work was generally stinted and too cautious.  I wonder what, if anything, that says about the genders folks.  Not sure I want to know the answer to that!!

This Glorious Deserted Coastline - Just a Couple of Ks Away from the Ruins

Just to finish the housekeeping, so to speak, you probably need to know, that as my son Brett, still has need of our home in Swan View, we will continue to live our disgracefully decadent caravanning lifestyle for a little while yet. We are not sure at this point for how much longer we will live in the van, and nor are we sure as to what we will do once our home is available – whether we sell, fix or whatever, still is unclear.  What is sure however, is that while we can, we will continue to enjoy this wonderful nomadic lifestyle.  Sure, I am ready to do a little ‘nesting’ and sure, I am getting a little ‘over’ some of the aspects of this wandering way, but you know what, there are so many upsides, I’m sure I can cope for just a little while longer. 

Depending on what happens with the house, we plan on first of all spending the next month or so in cool and comfortable Denmark on the south coast (already there) and then perhaps if Brett still needs the house, we will head north with the rest of the greys to perhaps even the Kimberley.  What is sure is that we will be spending the latter part of September thru’ to December at our favourite Kalbarri site.

Pretty In Pink

It Only Gets Pinker

Speaking of Kalbarri, I did promise to show you a little more of that paradise.  On the coast road into Kalbarri the ruins of a small convict settlement clings to the side of a rocky incline.  There is not a great deal left now to evidence the hardships that would have been endured at that then very remote hell.  We do have a few reasonable photos of the ruins and you will see by the aspect of the trees that the winds there are not the least of the problems.  There are two fishing villages along that road, Horrocks and Port Gregory.  Both of these hamlets are very pretty and both are now starting to see a little movement in the way of new homes and slightly improved facilities.  Both these places sport Caravan Parks and both, we are told, are worthwhile.

GreenHead - Limestone Coast

Limestone Sculptures Fashioned By God and Nature

Early Start To 'Pull The Pots'

Along this run too, is a pink salt lake, simply known as The Pink Lake.  Salt is ‘mined’ here and the lake system is quite large.  The ‘pinkness’ of the lake is notable and when the light is in the right aspect it is quite stunning.  I noticed a strange phenomenon on the day we trundled out of Kalbarri alongside that pink lake.  The day was slightly overcast and there was a blanket of soft grey clouds above the lake system.  I was stunned to see that the clouds reflected back the pink of the lakes, lighting the sky above the lakes with a delicate yet distinct pink pearl-like sheen.  It was quite special and I confess I had not hitherto realised that clouds reflect the colours beneath them just as water reflects the sky above.  Just goes to show you are never too old to learn something new.

Basking In The Sun

Stormy Weather Coming In

Well my friends, that pretty much brings us to the end of this issue of the Lives of Doug ‘n Steph, I will endeavour to put up some of the better photos of the pink lake and Greenhead for your enjoyment.  We are currently happily ensconced on the banks of the river mouth in beautiful Denmark.  The next blog will concentrate on this region.  I know that like Kalbarri, Denmark has featured in previous blogs and that many of you being West Australian are personally familiar with this area,  but I think that new mates from the ‘far east’ might enjoy seeing what WA has to offer.

Sunrise Across The Bay

Until next time, my friends, I remain your perpetually amazed and somewhat befuddled friend, Stephanie.

PS  I forgot to mention that when we arrived at the Caversham Vines CP, all the Tipuana trees were in full bloom – their golden blossoms collected in great drifts all along the narrow park roads – it was quite special, not to mention somewhat irritating as well, as not only did they collect in picturesque drifts, they also found their way into absolutely everything, including clean washing, annex, awnings, etc, etc.  – Beautiful tho’!