It seems to double up fairly well as a windsurf van and travelling salesman's car.
Monday 28 January 2013
New Van
Just picked up our new van. Decided to go German and now have a shiney not quite new VW Transporter. In keeping with the Aussie way it came with Roo Bars and spotlights and of course it's automatic!
It seems to double up fairly well as a windsurf van and travelling salesman's car.
It seems to double up fairly well as a windsurf van and travelling salesman's car.
Birthday Weekend/Australia Day
We had Phil and Vas come over for the long weekend of my birthday and Australia Day. We started with a post work windsurf on Thursday at Dutchies in Cottesloe. Another great session and I'm now getting used to sailing back to front (on port tack).
Phil and Vas turned up at about midnight and we managed a few beers/most of a bottle of wine before we all collapsed into bed.
On Friday we headed off for Guildford to rent bikes and cycle round the Swan Valley. After a very lengthy overview of the best places to visit from our bike hire guide we were in the first winery by 12:30.
In total we managed about 4-5 vineyards, coffee tasting and cheese tasting. All finished off with drinks on the beach at sunset and a delicious dinner of peanut butter on toast.
Saturday started far too early with a train journey to Fremantle to catch the minibus to Rockingham for the kayak trip. Another beautiful WA day with a dead calm morning made the paddle to seal island pretty easy. We saw a few dolphins on the way and then there were a handful of sea lions basking in the sun on the island. Also clocked pelicans, a giant blue crab, little penguins, ospreys and lizzards (that kept trying to steal our food).
We then headed to the Little Creatures pub/brewery for a few beers and food in Fremantle before heading down to the beach in Fremantle for the Australia Day fireworks.
Yesterday we managed a lie in followed by a brilliant lazy day on the beach in true Aussie style with a cool box of beers. Oh and it was sunny too.
Great weekend and great to spend it with good friends.
Phil and Vas turned up at about midnight and we managed a few beers/most of a bottle of wine before we all collapsed into bed.
On Friday we headed off for Guildford to rent bikes and cycle round the Swan Valley. After a very lengthy overview of the best places to visit from our bike hire guide we were in the first winery by 12:30.
In total we managed about 4-5 vineyards, coffee tasting and cheese tasting. All finished off with drinks on the beach at sunset and a delicious dinner of peanut butter on toast.
Saturday started far too early with a train journey to Fremantle to catch the minibus to Rockingham for the kayak trip. Another beautiful WA day with a dead calm morning made the paddle to seal island pretty easy. We saw a few dolphins on the way and then there were a handful of sea lions basking in the sun on the island. Also clocked pelicans, a giant blue crab, little penguins, ospreys and lizzards (that kept trying to steal our food).
We then headed to the Little Creatures pub/brewery for a few beers and food in Fremantle before heading down to the beach in Fremantle for the Australia Day fireworks.
Yesterday we managed a lie in followed by a brilliant lazy day on the beach in true Aussie style with a cool box of beers. Oh and it was sunny too.
Great weekend and great to spend it with good friends.
Monday 7 January 2013
Happy New Year!
Thought it was about time for an update. Apologies it's from me again - Phil will write a post soon...
It's back to work today which has come as a bit of a shock to the system. We've been on holiday since 22nd December so it was starting to feel like the whole working thing was more of a bad dream than reality, and we were very much getting used to the sun and sea lifestyle.
As the last post mentioned, the weather in Gero got hotter and hotter with no wind, so we decided to cut our losses and head back to Perth early. We then tried to make best use of the time available to us to go van hunting. This started off as a fairly exciting venture, as spending large amounts of money on toys often is, however we're still without van (having tried to play one vendor against another, and offering very low prices... to which they both said no) and are now contemplating reconsidering our hardball attitude!
The weather has been mostly pretty amazing. There was a bit of a heatwave after Christmas, and so we spent most of the mornings inside taking it easy with the air conditioning on full whack, and venturing outside for a couple of minutes at a time, before generally heading somewhere north of the CBD to go van browsing, followed by a dunk in the sea to cool off on the way back. There are worse ways to spend an afternoon...
Not much wind for the most part, but we've made the effort to go to Peli point a couple of times, and ventured south to check out Safety Bay as well. The former proved pretty good for practicing lightwind moves, and I'm finally mastering tacking, although the sudden increase in water temperature has meant that the place is swarming with (non-stinging) jellyfish. Yuck. It creeps me out more than a little bit, even though I know that they're harmless! Safety Bay was a bit light when we went there - but more lightwind exercises for us both, and I can now tack my 88l board so I'm pretty pleased. You can tell it would be an amazing spot for freestyle if it was windier as a sand spit protects a semi-lagoon from waves/chop. It does also seem to be the hang out for local speed nuts. Took about an hour to get there though (vs 15 minutes to Peli Point in the city) so not sure how often we'll go there. Checked out Woodman's Point on the way back - it's a bit closer and looked like it could also be pretty fun and flat. Loads of kiters. At some point we may have to embrace the sport... not yet though.
We've also now moved into our flat! Such a good feeling to finally be able to unpack all the boxes and suitcases, and for the amount we're paying I think we've got a bargain considering the location. It certainly wasn't the cheapest on the market - but it is about a minute's walk to a really lovely beach, so it has meant that we can take a casual stroll in the evening whilst supper is cooking. Bliss. We have a spare room now too, so looking forward to welcoming guests. The first will be Phil (B) and Vas for Phil (C)'s birthday/Australia Day which we're really excited about! Can't wait to show them around, and Phil (C) has geeked out and produced an itinerary. Yes, that's right.
Yesterday we decided to take advantage of the slightly cooler weather (turns out the forecast was wrong - it was baking) and went for a jog to the local adult playground. Phil has told me I can't call it that or people will get the wrong idea - but basically it's an outdoor excercise zone with pull-up bars etc. Anyway, like the competitive beans that we are, we threw ourselves whole-heartedly into a routine in the midday heat... and like the idiot that I am I pushed it too far, failed to clear a 'pole-vault' (basically just jumping over a beam) and rolled my ankle. Ouch. After an embarassing and painful hobble home, I've now spent the past 20 hours with my swollen sprained ankle packed in ice, elevated, etc. I can sort of walk on it this morning, but am working from home (working hard as you can tell) allowing time to rest. What a plonker! Typically, the wind forecast has picked up this week and is looking amazing. Hopefully I'll at least be back on windsurfing form by the weekend Lancelin Ocean Classic.
Anyway, here's a pic of our local beach (North Cottesloe) - not sure we're technically allowed to windsurf here, but Phil is already making plans...
It's back to work today which has come as a bit of a shock to the system. We've been on holiday since 22nd December so it was starting to feel like the whole working thing was more of a bad dream than reality, and we were very much getting used to the sun and sea lifestyle.
As the last post mentioned, the weather in Gero got hotter and hotter with no wind, so we decided to cut our losses and head back to Perth early. We then tried to make best use of the time available to us to go van hunting. This started off as a fairly exciting venture, as spending large amounts of money on toys often is, however we're still without van (having tried to play one vendor against another, and offering very low prices... to which they both said no) and are now contemplating reconsidering our hardball attitude!
The weather has been mostly pretty amazing. There was a bit of a heatwave after Christmas, and so we spent most of the mornings inside taking it easy with the air conditioning on full whack, and venturing outside for a couple of minutes at a time, before generally heading somewhere north of the CBD to go van browsing, followed by a dunk in the sea to cool off on the way back. There are worse ways to spend an afternoon...
Not much wind for the most part, but we've made the effort to go to Peli point a couple of times, and ventured south to check out Safety Bay as well. The former proved pretty good for practicing lightwind moves, and I'm finally mastering tacking, although the sudden increase in water temperature has meant that the place is swarming with (non-stinging) jellyfish. Yuck. It creeps me out more than a little bit, even though I know that they're harmless! Safety Bay was a bit light when we went there - but more lightwind exercises for us both, and I can now tack my 88l board so I'm pretty pleased. You can tell it would be an amazing spot for freestyle if it was windier as a sand spit protects a semi-lagoon from waves/chop. It does also seem to be the hang out for local speed nuts. Took about an hour to get there though (vs 15 minutes to Peli Point in the city) so not sure how often we'll go there. Checked out Woodman's Point on the way back - it's a bit closer and looked like it could also be pretty fun and flat. Loads of kiters. At some point we may have to embrace the sport... not yet though.
We've also now moved into our flat! Such a good feeling to finally be able to unpack all the boxes and suitcases, and for the amount we're paying I think we've got a bargain considering the location. It certainly wasn't the cheapest on the market - but it is about a minute's walk to a really lovely beach, so it has meant that we can take a casual stroll in the evening whilst supper is cooking. Bliss. We have a spare room now too, so looking forward to welcoming guests. The first will be Phil (B) and Vas for Phil (C)'s birthday/Australia Day which we're really excited about! Can't wait to show them around, and Phil (C) has geeked out and produced an itinerary. Yes, that's right.
Yesterday we decided to take advantage of the slightly cooler weather (turns out the forecast was wrong - it was baking) and went for a jog to the local adult playground. Phil has told me I can't call it that or people will get the wrong idea - but basically it's an outdoor excercise zone with pull-up bars etc. Anyway, like the competitive beans that we are, we threw ourselves whole-heartedly into a routine in the midday heat... and like the idiot that I am I pushed it too far, failed to clear a 'pole-vault' (basically just jumping over a beam) and rolled my ankle. Ouch. After an embarassing and painful hobble home, I've now spent the past 20 hours with my swollen sprained ankle packed in ice, elevated, etc. I can sort of walk on it this morning, but am working from home (working hard as you can tell) allowing time to rest. What a plonker! Typically, the wind forecast has picked up this week and is looking amazing. Hopefully I'll at least be back on windsurfing form by the weekend Lancelin Ocean Classic.
Anyway, here's a pic of our local beach (North Cottesloe) - not sure we're technically allowed to windsurf here, but Phil is already making plans...
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