Australia Day.

Wednesday 26th. Australia day. We started the day with a bbq breakfast then went to Little Boat Harbor for the day. Again with a picnic lunch & a nice bottle of champagne. Got a bit sun burnt & Bryon caught a King George Whiting but sadly that was the only fish for the day.Fabulous weather for a day on the beach & the awning on the Nissan is at last getting some more use.

My Birthday

Monday 24th. Another birthday at Bremer Bay! This one was a lovely day & the four of us, Bryon’s brother Steve & his wife Sue who we are still freeloading on, went to the Pub for a leisurely lunch of course accompanied by several or more bottles of fine wine. The food was excellent and naps were needed after we got home.
Had a lovely surprise on Tuesday when Chelsea & the kids came to visit from Albany for the day. We had a lot of fun at the playground, then the caravan pack & lastly a couple of hours at the beach with a picnic lunch, then Maddie & Ben played in the water for a while. Thanks Chelsea for coming.

Bremer Bay

It’s a rainy day in Bremer Bay where we have been for the last week. Have been having a quiet time with a few walks on the beach & around the town and just settling into the van as well as spending time with Steve & Sue who we are staying with while here. We went back to Albany yesterday with them to attend the funeral of Les Edwards who was the father of a friend of the family’s. Of course we had a little shopping fix while we were there & visited Chelsea & our cats to see if they were missing us yet. Our house sure looks a bit different as all the tiles through the house have been ripped up & the new ones will be laid next week. It’s amazing how many people we have caught up with this week as the Bay is full of holiday makers, but most of the non permanents are going home this week.
Tomorrow we are going to the hotel for lunch to celebrate my birthday & our 7th wedding anniversary.
We are just starting to look at maps to plan where we are going to next, which will still be a couple of weeks away, so lovely to have the time to go slow. Sorry there is not much to put up here yet but have included a few shots of Bremer Bay & also our van parked at the side of Steve & Sue’s brand new house.

The caravan & Nissan

A shot of the caravan taken from the balcony, & the Nissan nearly ready to go.
Off to Bremer Bay tomorrow morning.

Our empty house.

Bryon with Chelsea & John who are getting excited about babysitting our house for the next three years. A slight delay for them in moving in as we are having all the floor tiles through out the house replaced while it is still empty.

Wow, its time!

Finally the time has come for our new lifestyle! We moved into the van on Monday 10th Jan & the removalists came on Tuesday to put all our belongings into storage. What a huge day, both Bryon & I packing all the last minute things such as TV, computer, Pictures & many things that were overlooked as we did the main packing, 9 hours& three trips later it was all packed away & the removalists had their hand out for a good paycheck. But they earned every dollar, hard working & very obliging as well.
Moving into the van has been fun with a few dramas along the way. Even after a couple of shake down trips we still have had a few problems. Bryon has in the last week been fixing the water system as we all of a sudden had no hot water in the shower, but still had hot in the kitchen, so after many phone calls to the dealer then the manufacturers over east, Bryon had to dismantle part of the pluming under the van where a safety device had been fitted to regulate the temperature of the water in the shower which resulted in a trip to town & a plumber to redesign & modify the faulty part.
Tuesday morning bought the next problem when we went to cook toast on the gas cook top & guess what? No gas! The regulator which had been in use for all of two weeks died so off to town again for a new one. Didn’t even try to do it under warranty as it wasn’t worth the hassle for a $20 part.
Here we are Wednesday night & come tea time Bryon lit the oven for the very first time as all our previous cooking had been on the bbq outside, within seconds we had smoke & flames coming out of the oven, lucky Bryon was quick thinking, turned off the gas & grabbed the paper that had been behind the burner at the back of the oven & raced outside. So, no damage, just a bit of smoke in the van but with some diligent fanning with the tea towel by me the smoke alarm didn’t even go off.
The next few days will be a little quieter as we are catching up with friends to say good bye & last minute food shopping, planning to head to Bremer Bay on Sunday & hopefully will get the Spot Satellite Messenger set up before then. I will take some photos of our empty home tomorrow after the carpet cleaner has finished, amazing how much bigger it is with no furniture!