Down South Cappuccino (3/7), Thursday

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Some of the others places we visited in Albany on Thursday were the whale station, and other view points along the coast and bays of Albany:




This little fellow seems to be present all around WA (at least the parts that we have been so far). Looking in the birds of Australia book we found this is called the New Holland Honeyeater (yes, new HOLLAND):


And of course we went to see the Gap and the Natural Bridge in Albany. This photo-text explains:

Some of the shots Peter took there:


At this photo you’ll get an idea of the scale (can you see the couple on the rocks halfway?):

Some more shots


In the afternoon of that day (still Thursday ;-) we walked the Bird Walk around lake Seppings:
Can you find us both on the first picture? ;-)




This night we went to Restaurant Venice. We have to tell you, if we were allowed to assign a Michelin star to a restaurant, this would be the one. Between the two of us we had pizza, chicken schnitzel, chips, sunday-ice cream and cappuccino. There was really nothing that was not perfect!! This restaurant really is THE place to go for dinner in Albany.

Some final shots from Albany:

Down South Cappuccino (2/7), Wednesday

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Next morning we drove further along the highway, and did go to the Dutch Lily Mill. Unfortunately the Mill and restaurant are closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays! So much for our ‘broodje kroket’ and good coffee!!
Nothing to show here except a photo of the Mill:


Next stop the Stirling Ranges. From the Mill you can already see the ranges at the horizon:


Originally we thought to maybe do a walk trail in (on?) the ranges, but when looking at the sign at the ‘park’ entrance we realised we were not prepared enough (warm clothing, water and available time). We decided to save the ranges for another time to enjoy the beautiful surroundings and then spending a few days there to do several of the walking tracks. We did stop for a coffee. Unfortunately there was again no decent cappuccino to be found here:
The closest we came to the ranges was this:


By this time we decided to stay for two nights in Albany. The first two motels we called told us they were fully booked. Luckily enough the 3rd motel still had some rooms left. The big bushfire in Porongurup National Park which was burning for a few days already was being fought by lots and lots of firemen. A lot of them needing places to sleep.

(Note: This next photo is a pretty big panorama shot, can take a bit longer to load ;-)

On our way to Mount Barker we made another little detour, to have lunch in Mount Barker. This town looks a bit more modern and lively than Katanning did:

They even had guards at the Public Toilets:

Finally we arrived at the motel in Albany

One of the first places we visited was the viewpoint on Mount Clarence, the highest in Albany (186m). There is a ANZAC memorial on there. Some photos:


This last photo also shows a man that used to live in Albany for the first part in his life. He told us a lot about what to do and what to see in Albany ;-)

On top of the hill Peter’s phone rang. Cousin Eric had also arrived in Albany with his dad (Eric Sr.). We agreed to have dinner together that night in a Chinese Restaurant. Only by the end of the evening we found out they were in exactly the same motel as we were ;-)

On the way back down from the hill we saw this not so friendly looking fly (?) on the side of the stairs:

Down South Cappuccino (1/7), Tuesday

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As most of you know we have been on a holiday. Below is a report of this holiday. Because of the number of photos we will publish only one day at a time, giving us the time to process and upload the photos and (more importantly ;-) giving you the time to read it all without having to sit for hours and hours behind your pc….

In the morning (February the 13th) we started our big (;-) trip down South. We started following the Albany Highway (from Perth more or less straight to Albany).
Most part of this highway is just two lanes, with some overtaking lanes every 5 kilometers. Those overtaking lanes are necessary, since some big trucks with wide loads travel along these roads too. Unfortunately we had to stay a long while behind a specific pair of ‘wide-load’ trucks, because even on the overtaking lanes they took too much space to be able to overtake safely. Only at the 4th overtaking lane we were able to pass them all.


Around lunch time we stopped in the first little town on the map called North Bannister. At least according to the map it is a little town, but it really looks like just a roadhouse along the road. No other houses or anything to be seen ;-). At this roadhouse we stopped for a quick lunch (meat pies, wedges and a drink). Unfortunately they did not serve cappuccino.


A good hour later (on the road again) we had to wait a few minutes for ‘work in progress’. Peter decided to make a photo of the work, but at the moment he pointed the camera to the cherry picker the roadman turned the STOP-sign to SLOWLY. So, he had to snap quickly and then get the car moving ;-)


Our first overnight stop was in a motel in Katanning


After putting all our stuff in the room we drove around the town, but we found it to be a very, very quit little town. So we decided to have diner at the motel’s restaurant. Tomorrow we will drive to Albany, and were planning on the way there to have a coffee break at the Dutch Lily Mill and have a ‘broodje kroket’ (a Dutch snack). Also we were hoping they might have some good coffee there, since as of this morning we have not had any decent cappuccino (yes, we are a bit picky when it comes to coffee ;-)).

Seal Island

On Saturday the 3rd of February I (Ellen) went canoeing to seal island together with cousin Eric and one of his friends (Tim). Seal island is a very small island before the coast of Hillary’s (14 km North of Perth city) and about 5 km out of the shore. You can park very close to the shore and we carried the canoes to the waterline and filled them with all the gears we wanted to bring. Eric and Tim brought their light diving gear and took my snorkel gear.
After only a few minutes on the sea Tim’s rudder at once didn’t function anymore. He and Eric first tried to repair it on the water, but then saw that a metal pin was broken and the rudder was beyond repair on the water.

Eric and Tim went back with his boat and changed it over to another boat Tim had at home (about 10 minutes drive from the shore). When they came back the trip could start to seal island.
It is a very small island and we saw one seal laying on the beach.

We went snorkeling and diving and one seal looked regularly what we were doing. When I was struggling with my flippers, one of the seals was looking very close by to see what I was doing. I think he didn’t understood why my feet and flippers were separated :-). One seal was curious about our boats and approached me when I was eating my bread.


A lot of motorboats had anchored in the neighbourhood and people were swimming and fishing.

After a while we back to the shore were Eric and Tim stopped for some snorkeling at some rocks close to the shore. I went back to the shore to paddle back a long the shore in a slow manner. I passed doggy beach where dogs were playing around and some horses with their riders took a see bath.
When I came back on our leaving point Peter was waiting for us and took some pictures of our arrival.
Here you can see some more photos…..

Bells rapid walk

The fourth of February we had another walk, this time organized by Sandra and Xander. The route is called the Bells Rapid walk. As you can see clearly in the pictures, it definitely does not look like any rapid ;-)

Reason for this is the lack of rain (well, maybe not total lack, but clearly not enough of it). The yearly kayak / canoe event (The Avon Descent) almost did not go through because this Bells Rapid is part of the track...

More photos here.

Hot Australia day

Hi all, today is Australia day, meaning that everyone has a day off! So do we ;-). We do not go to the fireworks display tonight downtown because we like a day of rest, it is going to be very busy there and last but not least... it is very, very hot! Close to 40 degrees during the day. For tomorrow 41 degrees is expected. We are very, very happy that we have our (evaporative) airconditioning, we manage to keep the inhouse temperature at 26.

As far as news: the only news we have is that we have signed a contract to get a (concrete) lap-pool built! We are looking forward to that. The building should start in April and be ready about July. Then about 2 months later the paving around it should be done. So, next summer we will be swimming...

Beginning of January we had another walk with the walking group:


More walking photos here.

Then there was McNaughts comet that comes by every 40 years or so. I have been able to make some photos:


More comet photos here.

Finally Ellen went out on another kayak trip. Cousin Eric has bought a boat of his own and they went on a river trip with Tim and his girlfriend.


More kayak photos here.

Merry Christmas & a happy New Year

Hello everyone, the day before Christmas, time to give you all the best of wishes from us. Although it is a little bit funny to have this weather (29-33 degrees) at Christmas, we think it is a lot better than the cold, foggy weather back in Europe ;-)

As you will all know there have been and still are a lot of bushfires in Australia. Luckily not so much around Perth. One house has burnt, which was situated in 'the Hills' which is about 15km east of CBD. On the news they told that the main reason why the house burned down to the ground was that the evaporative air-conditioning was on, which was 'inhaling' burning bits and pieces from outside.

So far about 500.000ha have been burned in Australia, which is about 1/10 of Holland. To give you an idea, this is whole of NoordBrabant or so.

Anyway, over to us:
Next week we have the whole week off. We realised that this is our first Australian holiday!!

Talking about bushfires, in the bushfire season people are supposed to be very careful, and there are rules (laws) in place that should help to prevent fires from extending. The block of land on the right and the left of our house is not built up yet. The owners have to make sure that at the beginning of the fire-danger season (half of October) they cut all the weeds on their block, so if a fire starts, it will not easily expand. The owners of those blocks had not done that (by the end of November) so we called the county to ask what is supposed to be done. The county then told us that they had already been given fines (AUS 750,=) for not doing it, and given one week to prevent the county having to do it (and than paying far bigger fines).
As of last week they both have done that.

Two weeks ago the photoclub had their end-of-year function. Again a photo competition, but this time with food and drinks. Entries for the competition had to be photos that have been entered before (in one of the monthly competitions). Of course Peter has entered some photos. And one of his photos won the 2nd price (aud 20 voucher) in the 'slide'-competition.
The photo that won was this one:


And one other photo that we would like you to see is one Peter took a week ago, just in our backyard. The photo is named "David & Goliath":

Kayaks and Planes

Another mointh has gone by. Fortunately this last month was (again) not all work and no play ;-). After a test paddle Ellen has chosen a kayak to buy. And today she joined a group-paddle and had a ball...

Some more pictures here.

Peter's boss has extended his contract for another 4 months (last week requested 3 months and made 4 months of it this week). We will be taking a few days off between Christmas and New Year, and we have planned a holiday for 3 weeks in February. We are not going to plan anything for the holiday, we just want to get in the car and drive in a generally south direction.

Another one of Peter's pictures 'won' a competition. The photo won the 2-weekly 1st half of November competition with this photo:


For the next weeks competition I have entered this one (a view from our backyard ;-):


Last week we have enjoyed the Red Bull air race in Perth. I made lots of pictures and it took me most of my spare time in the last days to sort them out and present some of the better ones on the photo site. I know there are people out there (Jan !!) who might have wanted to see all that.. Good news for them (again, Jan !!): The Red Bull air race will be back in Perth in 2007 and 2008. Nice to see was that the Black Swans were not all worried about the big number of people (> 200.000) and not frightened of the noisy planes.



More photos of the Air Race

Well, as said last week, pictures say more than a thousand words. I hope you're enjoying them.