We went away for Australia Day with the Beesons and stayed in a shack at Jurien Bay. Was a luxury after the van! We had a lot of fun at Jurien. Jumping off the jetty, swimming and snorkelling at Sandy Cape, drinking too much and having a late night beach swim....... you get the guist, fun times. Then we went to the Pinnacles, an iconic tourist attraction in this area. They were weird sandy hill, lumpy things. Was like you were on Mars or something. Of course Jake thought it was a good idea to see if he could chuck his toy lion onto the tallest pinnacle. Lucky Mark was able to put Jake on his shoulders and grabbed it down.
Mark and I took the kids one weekend to Horrocks. A small quaint beachside town north of Geraldton. There are these rows of little shacks that gave the town a very holiday feel. We had a lovely morning swimming at the beach, until the wind came up, of course!!
Mark took the kids to the Museum one day. They had a fabulous time exploring all the exhibits. There was lots of info on local history and animals. Mark particularly liked the ship wreck displays.
Greenough, just south of Gerladton has an old settlement. We took the kids to explore one day. It was interesting to see the old church, schools and houses. Even the kids enjoyed it. Charlotte particularly liked the stables and Jake liked a large stick he found and played with! Charlotte even found a pasta machine, like on the cooking shows (it was a butter churn), was pretty funny!
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| big kid |
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| see how windy it is in Geraldton! |
Our friendly friends the Cronans found their way back to Geraldton after heading south for a while. We had a great couple of days hanging out and catching up. Then it was sadness when we said goodbye, maybe see you on the road somewhere or back in NSW when we're on our way south.
Mark has a lovely wife who organised for him to go out in her friends hubbys cray boat and do some fishing. He found it very interesting learning about cray fishing. Plus I think it was pretty nice being out on a boat again, even with the crazy early morning wake up. Nick was even nice enough to drop us off some of his crays and we had a very yummy cook up.
Mark had his birthday, I wont give a number but its pretty darn close to 40!!! The kids made him gifts, Mum and Dad sent him a pet dog and we gave him a water proof video camera. We went out for a meal at the Camel Bar, a bar with lots of camel statues. Not sure why in Geraldton??
Next birthday was Jakes (and mine), but his party first. We had it a bit early due to school holidays. He invited a bunch of friends from school and had a party at the BBQ area. Was great, they ran amuck, ate heaps, played games and it was super easy to clean up. He loved it as well which is great. He and Charlotte designed his cake. Its a very dangerous snake pit!
Then to follow up his party in the morning, we took him and Charlotte to see the Lego movie with the Beesons. I'm not sure I've ever seen him so excited or so noisy throughout a movie. He may be growing up and has turned 8 but he's still a vey excitable little kid! Apparently its the best movie ever.
Hands down the best day we had in Geraldton was going to Abrolhos Islands. Its expensive but so worth it. You go for a scenic flight from Geraldton to the islands and have a great look about. Its such an interesting place and seeing the shacks on these tiny little islands. Then you land and do a short walk to the beach. It is such a stunning place, a sheltered little bay, crystal clear blue water, boats bobbing about, white sand, you get the picture. Then we spent the day swimming and snorkelling. The fish and the coral were amazing, as good as the barrier reef even. The kids did a wonderful job with snorkelling and had a really great time.
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| look close and you might see our van |
Jake and I had our birthday on Good Friday this year. We woke up early and a had a few pressies and then drove south to Yanchep to spend Easter with our mates Vicky, Craig, Zane, Zoe and Lily. We hadn't seen these guys since Tassie 2 years ago. We had such a great weekend with them. So nice to spend time with old mates. The kids all got on so well, so nice to see. We explored the beach, went to Yanchep National Park and generally had a good time. And of course easter bunny paid a visit.
I've included a few pics of us just hanging around the park and Geraldton after school and on weekends. We took Jakes remote control car down to the water front and had afternoon tea at dome for a special treat.
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| we swapped the kids bunk around and the first night Jake got a little confused and climbed in with Charlotte |
Whilst in Gero the kids have gone to the little local school called Beachlands. They've had a great time here, learnt a lot and made some great friends. Its a lower socio economic school and different from their previous schools, but they embraced it and really enjoyed the experience. This term both the kids got selected to be part of the BOLT program, a special program for the smarter kids. The kids are going to miss their teachers and friends a lot.
I've had a great time working in Geraldton. I've mainly worked on the Day Surgery ward, then a little in Ambulatory Care and a few shifts on the ward. Its a great team on Day Surg and I made some fabulous friends, who I will miss now I've left. I enjoyed going to work everyday and even got to be a Clinical Nurse for the last three months. We went out for morning tea before I left to Dome and I got spoilt with cards full of lovely messages and a beautiful present.
Mark worked hard at Truck Centre. He met some great blokes there. But i'm pretty darn sure he was pleased to leave and head north to go fishing!
Just a few more pics of our last days in Geraldton. It's been a good time but also a hard time. We found it pretty difficult living in the van in the windy weather without having the space of living outside and using our annexe.
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