Hi everyone, hope you're all well. Sorry it's been so long since our last blog, we've been quite busy.

We're back on Rottnest now, got back here on Wednesday for my birthday. We're back at work now and trying to save hard for our travels. We're only working here for 5 weeks. I know already it's going to go fast. You'd think living on an island it would be easy to save but it really isn't so wish us luck.

Last time we wrote our blog we were in Margaret River. Shortly after writing it our friend Okie came and met us for a couple of days and we went surfing at Redgate on Wednesday afternoon. It's been way too long since I last went so I didn't do too well but it was nice to be back in the waves. James caught a few good ones. That evening we went to the pub in Margaret river town for a couple of drinks and games of pool.

The next day Okie got up really early for a surf but James and I decided to have a lie in. We all went for a surf late morning though at the River Mouth. The waves were pretty powerful. I was mostly bodysurfing… well, sort of, I spent most the time getting sucked under water and thrown about. We had a pretty lazy afternoon but then decided to go for a drive to the Margaret River Chocolate Factory but when we arrived it was already shut so we headed back and got Fish and Chips and drove down to Surfers Point to watch the sunset.

On Friday we headed down to Albany. We had planned to spend a little more time in Margaret River but it was a pretty dull morning and quite windy so we moved on. When we got to Albany the weather was even worse. It was pouring down with rain and really windy. At least it wasn't as bad as the last time we went there when it was hail stoning. We didn't do much in Albany. When we arrived we wondered around the shops then went up to Marg and Karl's and spent the evening there talking and watching TV. It was nice to catch up and see Rhys now he's back from the UK.

The next morning we went in to Albany town with Marg, Karl and Rhys and went to a café then we went to the Albany Farmers Market and I got some beautiful strawberries. We said our goodbyes then James and I hit the road to Esperance. It was a pretty long drive but we made it. When we arrived we checked in to our caravan park then went for a bike ride to the jetty. We were both quite tired so we didn't do much. The airbed in the van had been really comfy but on Saturday night James accidentally over-inflated it and it burst so we had to sleep on solid wood floor. It wasn't one of our best nights sleep.

The weather on Sunday was beautiful so we went to Twilight beach. The water there was really blue and the sand really white and there were loads of interesting rocks to explore. The water down there is much cooler than around Perth, being the Southern Ocean rather than the Indian Ocean, and we both had to wear our wetsuits. The waves there were great for bodysurfing. We were in for ages playing in them and we went for a climb on a huge rock. We got out for about 10 mins, had an ice cream and a drink and then took the boards in for a bit. It was a great day.

Because it was Sunday there were no shops to buy a new airbed from but we managed to borrow a couple of mattresses off the site manager to sleep on. It was a much better nights sleep.

The next day was a bit dull again but we went for a drive in the morning to Cape le Grand national park, about 60km from Esperance and the furthest east either of us have ever been. We had a walk around and found Lucky Bay. It was all really pretty but it wasn't really beach weather so we didn't spend long there. We continued on our journey and ended the evening in Hyden where we cooked dinner and watched the film, 'Bend it like Beckham' on a caravan site.

On Tuesday morning we saw Hyden's main attraction, Wave Rock. I can't remember the exact size of it but it's pretty big and very impressive. There wasn't much else to see around there so we continued back up to Perth. It ended up being a very hot day. It reached 41 degrees and was really humid and horrible. I drove the van for a bit on our trip too. Getting used to it again now.

Back in Freo we booked into the caravan park then did a bit of shopping then headed up to Scarborough for a swim and bodyboard to cool off. We were in the sea for ages then James took me out for dinner to the Thai restaurant in Scarborough. It was a lovely meal and we sat outside under the canopy watching a huge thunder storm pass by.

Wednesday was my birthday so first thing I opened my pressies then James and I wandered round Freo and had some breakfast. We then went back over to Rotto. We've left the van in the secure ferry car park in Fremantle now so we don't have to get the bus up to Irene's every time we're off now. It was much cheaper than we'd been told too. It's supposed to be $9 a day but because we're island staff we managed to get it for $40 for the rest of our stay here.

We didn't really do much for the rest of the afternoon, it was just pretty chilled but in the evening we had a nice BBQ with lots of our friends then went to the pub for a few drinks. It was a nice night.

The next day we started working again and have worked every day since we got back. The week days have been really quiet but the weekends pretty busy. We haven't really done much when we've not been working. The evenings have been spent with our friends just chatting and chilling either at the house or at the pub. I went for a nice bike ride the other day but my tyre popped on the way back and I still haven't got it fixed. James' bike is broken now too so we have to borrow other peoples. It's been a bit too hot to spend time on the beach but we've been for a couple of swims and jetty jumps.

We're off tomorrow and Thursday this week so we'll post some photos up tomorrow of our trip around the South West.

Apologies again that it's been so long.

Hope you all have a good week and we will update our blog again soon.

Lots and lots of love

Laura and James xXx