Wes gets stuck in a storm!

Friday saw quite a rainy day, Wes rang me from work to say that there was a bad storm on the way, little did he know what he was going to be up to later in the day!

Wes works for council parks and gardens, which takes him inland and up into the hills most days. Friday, a tornedo hit Roleystone. Wes was working approximately 10 minutes away and a red alert was called for everyone available to go help out. He saw cars flipped over, roofs ripped off houses and many trees spread across the road. There he was in his bright orange high-vis jacket clearing a branch and later (for those of you that he hasn't already told)......HE APPEARS ON CHANNEL 7 NEWS!

We have tried everywhere to get a clip on the internet of him clearing up, but have only found some photos of the damage. I've attached some links, if you want to have a look, but the pics above are from Wes' phone, maninly of where he was working and the dammage.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/06/27/2288363.htm

http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,23931218-948,00.html

So far we have had lightning strike the house and now a twister a bit too close for comfort.....what's next?? (Hopefully a heat wave!)

A month gone already....

It has flown by and we have been here a month already. Last weekend it was Lew and Kate's anniversary so we looked after the kids whilst they went away for the night.

Saturday we ventured to Perth Zoo. It reminded of us of London Zoo a little because it is in the middle of the city, but it is a lot greener and on a grander scale. We were lucky enough to walk through the kangaroo bushland and roam with the kangaroos. They were close enough to stroke and bounced along right in front of us, not what we expected at all. I've become a zoo member so I can get in free (well I need to go 3 more times and then it will be free) but we do not have to pay for George until his is 4, so we will be making the most of the zoo!

Sunday we packed a picnic and went down to Rockingham Beach. The weather was lovely when we left, but on arrival it was a bit too windy to play on the sand, so we worked our way down the grass land and the many play areas. After about 10, we stopped for our lunch, making sure that the birds did not eat it. The weather had warmed up so we walked back along the beach, the kids were able to paddle in the water and then we stopped for them to dig. We spent about an hour playing before the kids got chilly......Wes was cold the whole time....think he has the flu. The sun was beating down and he had his hoodie on!! Once dry, we went for another play....to wear the kids out and then headed home.

We have taken some random view pictures (NOTE: these are for you Maria!!) mainly of the freeway and how busy it is NOT, train line down the centre of the freeway (George is in his element driving next to the trains), the bottom of our road and just coming up to the house. Will take some more views for you soon!

Rockingham Beach

Perth Zoo

Stuck in the sand

Saturday did not turn out quite as we planned. We had seen an article in the local paper promoting what we thought was a kiddies fete, whilst the soccer was playing. A total let down to be honest, so we drove up north to see the show home that Lew and Kate are building (very nice!!) and once that was done, drove further north still and hit the dirt track.

The track seemed to go on for ages and over every hill there was another, much sandier than we had been on, eventually we got to the beach and that's where all the fun began. Wes decided to drive our car down on the sand, but we didn't realise how soft the sand was and the car got stuck. Lew tried to maneuver us out, but we ended up closer to the ocean. Time to start digging!! Lew tried to pull us out, but it just was not happening. It was getting pretty scary when the tide was coming in and the clouds were getting darker and we were miles from the road with no reception. At one point we were going to bail out and kiss goodbye to the car but luckily an aussie came to our help in his 4x4. He had been on this beach many times and had never got stuck so offered to help us out........

He drove down on to the beach and got stuck! At least we were not alone! He came to help dig us out, let ALOT of air out of the tyres, reversed towards the ocean (we would never of done that, common sense is telling you to get as far away from it as possible!) with 4 of us pushing and managed to free us. Lew drove back up off the beach and I can safely say that we will not be doing that again in a hurry! We then had to go help our rescuer out of trouble, but he did not seem as stressed out as we did.

Thankfully, we started back to the main road whilst it was still light and were fortunate enough to see out first lot of kangaroos run across the front of us. (sorry no pics.....wes driving too fast and the roos were jumping too quick!) We made it to the nearest petrol station to put the air back in our tyres and went home, needless to say this weekend is going to be a lot calmer!

Off Roading at Dwellingup

Last Sunday was our first experience of off roading and WE LOVED IT! We never dreamt that we would be spending our Sunday in the middle of the bush, bouncing around in the cars, stopping for some hot dogs off the back of Lew's Ute and enjoying the peaceful surroundings.

We drove about and hour and a half south to Dwellingup, stopped to use the loo (just a shed, toilet and bottomless pit.....but surprising very clean and loads of loo roll!) Then we started on the dirt tracks through the bush. The track was narrow in places and luckily we only met one other car coming the other way. If there is more than one car driving then the oncoming car should reverse....not sure where but that is the idea. After about an hour, we pulled down a steep hill in to a small clearing by the river. This is where Lew set up a little stove on the back of his Ute to cook sausage and onions for our hot dogs! Something so simple never tasted so good! it gave us a chance to stretch our legs before we were back in the cars. Lew and Kate maneuvered a tricky hill and then it was our turn. I drove Kate's 4x4 and Wes drove Lew's Ute. The best bit was driving through the bumpy puddles!

We finished the track and drove back to the local town of Dwellingup, (in the middle of nowhere), stretched our legs long enough to see the station and old train line (Note to Dad: No posters in sight!)

As you can see George and Luke were exhausted, but we had a great day and we will definitely be doing this again!

Dining out and swimming again!

We went our for dinner last weekend to a restaurant that brews its' own ale. There was a boules pitch which the kids decided to rake and we over looked Fremantle Harbour whilst having a drink or two! (Note to Garry: drink and boats!!!) Once the sun had passed over, we went inside for something to eat. We both tried Kangaroo (which tastes like steak) and George and I both tried mussels, they were nice but I still can't visualise myself eating a whole plateful for dinner. Wes bottled it, did not fancy them, but enjoyed his steak. We went to the ice cream for dessert and all froze whilst choosing from the huge selection.

Saturday, we went car hunting again, had a look at some more 4x4's and took the kids swimming to another pool. This time in Bayswater, there was plenty for them to do again, a couple of slides, lazy river, little hot pool but the waves didn't come on whilst we were there. Maybe next time. We've been to three pools in three weeks, all have had better facilities than we are used to and the kids do not want to get out.

Kings Park - Perth

We spent the day at King's Park, this is the central park for Perth city and is that big that although you can walk it, we drove round it and stopped off at carious places. First stop was the play area we visited before, but George had just as much fun rushing to all the different areas. After a coffee and cookie, it was time to get move on to the glass walkway. This is a suspended see through bridge that looks out across Swan River. We have taken a few views facing south from the park over looking the river. Once over the bridge, we saw the water gardens, which George enjoyed jumping over the stepping stones and trying to control the fountain! The grass is so green and the park is extremely clean...no litter! Next stop was another play area, but very suitable for picnics with free BBQ areas to use. It was surrounded by woodland and water, lots to for George to climb on. Each time we moved to the next part of the park, it seemed to blow our minds even more. Totally surpassed any expectations we may have had.

Birthday at the beach

Wes had his first aussie birthday on Cottesloe Beach, which is about 30 minutes from home and North of the River. We did a bit of shopping in the morning and then after lunch hit the beach. Weather was lovely as you can see, there was some seaweed on the sand, but this is all cleared for peak season. Luckily, even though it is winter here, we had a hot day for Wes' birthday. The kids loved digging and splashing around, Emily followed after school with Lew. After a few hours playing, we went up to the park at the top played some more. When we got the muchies, we came home for dinner and Wes tucked into some birthday cheesecake (half apple crumble and half lemon meringue!)

Kings Park & Rockingham Beach

Barbie Night and Swimming

Our first week in Oz

Our first week has been a busy but hectic one. Wes has been lucky enough to work with Lew for a few days. A chance to earn some extra cash and see whether or not it is something he would be interested in. As they finished work so early, we took the kids to Toys R Us to catch up on missed presents. It was similar to the UK, but everything was stacked up high and so close together, although George was still able to find the Thomas the Tank Engine aisle in record time. The kids all did well, George got his new bike from Uncle Lew and Uncle Kate (as he calls her) which you can see in the pics.

Wednesday, we went to the Licensing Office to renew our drivers licenses. As long as you do it within 3 months, there's no need to take a test. Just an eye test and smile for you photo. We drove down to Fremantle Harbour for lunch, it was really windy with the skies about to open, we caught our first glimpse of the ocean. You could see Fremantle Port where our container should unload soon.

Thursday was busy. I took Emily to school and she rushed to tell her teacher that I was there. He was very nice and came over to say hello, made me feel welcome. George was helping Emily empty the bricks whilst the rest of the class settled in. It was all very relaxed. Her school is lovely, all open, no fences, play areas, playing fields, chickens! After a little bit of shopping, coffee and baby chinos for Luke and George, we took Luke to his swimming lessons. He's doing really well, very confident in the water. Home for lunch, then over the park, the kids took scooters, although I ended up carrying Georges half way there. Wes and Lew went footie training in the evening to Port Kennedy, about 30 minutes drive, think Wes felt the after effects the next day, but said he would be up for going again and playing at the weekend if possible.

We had our first barbie on Friday and I tasted prawns!!! They were actually quite nice, think I surprised everyone including myself! A couple of Lew and Kate's friends came over, they have been here just over a year and are living their new life. Luckily the kids slept in till 8am on Saturday which was nice, but the weather was awful. Thunder and lightning, so bad that the lightning struck the house and blew up the TV. Not good! Everyone one was ok, it just made a bit if a bang. We took the kids swimming to another pool and for a Saturday afternoon, it was not at all busy. The pool was sectioned off for swimming lessons but still had plenty of space for slides, fountains, bubbles etc, not quite the same as what we are used to. Evening dinner was at a restaurant called Sizzlers, pretty much all you can eat for as little as possible, but the food was lovely. We were well stuffed!

Will put some more pics on soon, have got a camera full to sort through.

Hope you had a nice birthday Nan and congratulations Michael and Judith on the birth of those gorgeous twins xxxxxxxx