Well, this blog will probably cheer you all up as we have had a 'challenging' time here in Perth and Fremantle. Firstly, let me say that both places are delightful, especially Fremantle and the Perth beaches, and we have spent longer here than we planned. However, certain things have conspired against us whilst here and we thought you should see the 'other' side of travelling life!

Firstly, the weather has not been good. We seem to have been plagued with colder weather and rain since arriving at Margaret River about a month ago (going back to the Gold Coast for the Games was a welcome break!). According to the locals it is unseasonably cold and wet - cold being about 22 degrees on average, but we have had a lot of rain. We have had to prolong our stay in Fremantle as the weather was so poor and we had to postpone our trip to Rottnest Island (famous for the Roger Federer quokka selfie!). We had the most horrendous thunderstorm - it started at 7pm and ended at 10am the next morning. The whole sky was lit by the lightning, and the thunder was so loud that I jumped even though I was expecting it. Apparently that was a short storm, they can last for 2-3 days!! We didn't get much sleep in Winnie as the noise was just so loud, and the lightning lit up the van despite the blinds being closed! Despite the thunder and lightning stopping the rain continued all the next day. We decided to stay put, as sightseeing in the rain is not that enjoyable, and spending a whole day in an area smaller than most people's bathroom, is an achievement in itself. Luckily Bob and I get along so well that we managed to laugh and we even caught up on some reading!

So we rearranged our trip to Rottnest, and also a Stand-Up Paddle Boarding (SUP) lesson we had booked. Rottnest is tomorrow, fingers crossed. We then turned up at the rearranged time for our SUP lesson - 8am which meant getting up at 6:45am, not my best time! We waited and waited, phoned and phoned but gave up. The guy had forgotten! He was very apologetic and we have now rearranged that but it's meant an extra night in Fremantle!

To be honest we had planned a few days here in order to get ready for our journey up north. However, I got an email from HMRC reminding us to do tax returns. No time like the present, as they say, so we spent a day sorting that all out. At least it's done now, and while we were on wifi, but hardly what you want to do on hols!

And then, there was the loo saga. Bob went to empty said loo - there is a cassette which you pull out from the side of the van. Its very simple, you wheel it to the dump point on site, take cap off, push valve to let in air and pour the contents down the dump point. However, on this occasion, the valve disintegrated and fell into the loo!! I did suggest that Bob could recover said valve but, for some reason, he was not keen. Being Sunday I did an online search, but delivery to Western Australia was going to take a week or more so, on Monday morning, we phoned a local caravan repair place. They put the order in immediately, it was delivered to them by 10:30am and we had a working loo again by midday. Awesome service!!

Other things have needed repair too. A button above the bed fell off and had to be recovered from the storage area below the bed! It is now glued back on. Two handles have also come off the front seat. Judging from the gunk on them it is obvious they have been glued back on before and they will be glued back on again!!

But probably the saddest thing we have seen happened here. When we arrived at the site we noticed some 'pigeon-like' birds that were quite different and beautiful. We looked them up and found them to be Laughing Doves. We watched them and they seemed to stay around us, and then we saw them in a tree right by Winnie. Then we noticed a small nest, and then we saw a dead chick on the ground underneath the nest. Well, with the thunderstorm and high winds, we were mightily relieved to see that the nest was still there, and even more pleased to see the parent on the nest with a remaining chick. And then, as we watched, the nest disintegrated, the chick scrabbled to hang on but fell onto Winnie, bounced off and fell to the ground by our feet. We were horrified! We fashioned a makeshift nest from an eggbox, placed the chick in it and Bob then went tree-climbing! He went as high as he could, and wedged the eggbox in a fork. It is still there, but we haven't seen the parent birds there today. Saying that, we have been out most of the day and it is now dark so we have everything crossed that the chick survives.

So, there you have it - the not so glamorous side of our life style. Today was a distinct improvement though. We went to Reabold Tennis Club, managed by an old friend, Kirsty, from David Lloyd, Basildon. We got to play on a lovely grass court and the sun shone - perfect. Tomorrow, after our trip to Rottnest, to see the quokkas and snorkel, we hope to meet up with Kirsty again and enjoy some more Fremantle hospitality!

We loved the optical illusion in Fremantle, the Arcs d'Ellipses. At first glance you think certain buildings have been covered with random yellow graffiti. It is only when you walk to a certain point at the end of the street that you can see it for what it is, six large yellow ellipses arising up over the street. Very clever! Freemantle Prison was another highlight, only closed in 1991, and the closest we have ever seen to Porridge, lol!

Perth is a great city, easy to get around and based on the Swan River, as is Fremantle. Smaller than we expected though, given it is Australia's most isolated city, closer to Singapore than it is to any other Australian City! We loved walking through King's Park to see the views, and had a bowl of Pho in Hay Street Mall to celebrate a year since we left home and were in Hanoi! The Swan Valley was delightful - we did a self-drive tour and had the most delightful lunch at the Ugly Duckling vineyard.

So, in all, our impressions of Perth and Fremantle are really good. We just wish the weather had been a bit warmer, with less rain, and that not so much had gone wrong, broken or needed fixing!! Oh, and tax returns, but at least we can forget about them now!