We were now very close to Perth. We had been to Perth a few times and were not that keen to see it again, but we had arranged to catch up with some friends. The first one was Joan, the mango lady we had met in Kununurra. She lives in the northern suburbs of Perth and had told us to let her know when we were coming there so we could catch up.

The second was James and Jane Duff, the pastors from our old church, who had moved to Perth six or seven years ago. We had not seen them since our last trip three years earlier, and were keen to catch up and see how the boys had grown.

Joan was free on the Tuesday and the Duffs on the Wednesday. That meant we had one night to kill on the way. We stopped at another small town on the coast called Lancellin, which boasted a pub with the best beer garden in WA. It opened straight onto a glorious beach, and made for a good stop and relax.

Soon after we pulled into a rest area for the night, and although it was not quite 4 pm the place was almost full. There were three couples who had been there a few days already and got to know each other, and another couple pulled in with a bus. Soon we were joined by a few French backpackers as well. There was a very friendly and convivial atmosphere.

After a while one of the ladies told us about a fan which she had bought quite recently, but it had stopped working. Her husband had tried to fix it, but something had blown up in his face and he had given up and put it in the bin. George's ears pricked up - a project! He offered to try to fix it again. It was duly fished out of the bin, all the bits and screws were scrounged, all the tools came out - and the surgeon started his work. The other men got excited and each brought out a few more tools, and soon it became like a Men's Shed workshop. The battery was working, and the fan was working, but the bits in between (switches and lights and things) had blown a fuse. This was fixed, but something else blew up, so they decided to bypass the whole thing. The fan was connected straight to the battery, with a makeshift 'switch' created by plugging the wires together. The lady was so happy, and the men had bonded and were very proud of their achievements.

The next morning we got the generator out and invited them all to 'George's Café' - BYO mug. Even the French backpackers joined in and it was great fun. Half way through Felicity, the Canadian lady from Jurien Bay, turned up. She was driving in to Perth and had seen our van, so stopped to say hello. She brought along her mug and joined the coffee crowd.

We were due to meet up with Joan and her husband Bill that afternoon, so had some time to kill. As we drove in we saw a sign to the Gravity Discovery Centre and decided to check it out. There was an observatory and research facility there that belonged to the University of Western Australia, but next to this had been built a hands-on science display with many interesting and interactive exhibits. George loved it, and picked up a few good ideas for school.

Joan and Bill were amazing people, and we heard their story from their work in India as missionaries, and then as fund raisers for projects that were happening there. This was how they first got involved with the mango picking. One of the people they had worked with had married a woman who developed cancer and died. There were no palliative care facilities in the country, so he set one up. It was a very long and convoluted journey of training, building and developing, and the mangoes funded a lot of this.

We spent the night parked on their front lawn, sleeping in the van, then George made pancakes for breakfast, and we reluctantly moved on. Spent the day in Fremantle and did a few touristy things, like trying out a tasting paddle at Little Creatures Brewery, then met up with James and Jane for dinner.

Will had grown to fine young man in Year 9, Angus was still a sweet boy in Year 7, and Hugh was the most adorable and cheeky cherub, now six. It was a wonderful night of reminiscences and hearing of future plans.

That night we picked a spot close by with a wide parking area in front of a block of flats, settled in quietly and went to sleep, then drove off surreptitiously early in the morning with no one any the wiser. Just got through another capital city without paying for accommodation.

GeorgeY's Bit

We reluctantly left the cute sea lions and pushed on to the next rest area. Found the last available spot and were greeted with happy hour with many grey nomads. Shade, clean toilets and friendly people are the mark of a good free-camp area. Next morning Felicity rolls up and tells Eva she could have brought her hat if she knew we will meet again. As we travel, totally unplanned events are becoming expected.

Shortly after we were exploring Perth and Fremantle precinct. Perth is a large and intricate body of water girt by some housing estates, mostly gated and manicured. Fremantle is not the only water front but the most happening one. Little Creatures Brewery offered a tour that included sampling all their products. As we could not fit the tour within our parking permit we opted for just the sampling board, one to share. That was very wise because with 10 samples on the board, even by going "halvies" reading the tasting notes was becoming progressively harder.

Fremantle marina, water front and boardwalk are bordered by restaurants mostly serving fish and chips and identical menus. The only variation is in the sun/shade seating and the viewing angle of the water, and possibly the intensity of greasy/frying smells. The sunny fresh weather though makes it all worthwhile.