We decided to take a few days away from perth, hire a car and head down the south coast and our first stop was the beach town of Bussleton. We had chosen to have a couple of nights here as Carrie Anne was taking part in a beach volleyball tournament and we felt it only right to cheer her on. That and it gave Michael a chance to watch a bunch of scantily clad girls jump around in the sand cleverly disguised behind his newly polished mirrored sunglasses!! We collected the car and enjoyed a nice chilled out drive south. On arrival we had a walk around the small town, Michael got a haircut and we sat at the beachfront watching the world go by and the setting up for the tournament.
I forgot to mention that having signed up to be the chief cheerleaders, booked the car and hotel we then discovered that of Carrie Anne's two games the first was at 6.50am and the second at 7.50am and so for the first and last time EVER Michael and I were at the beach before 7am! The tournament was good fun, the sun was shining and there were hundreds of competitors so there was plenty of beach volleyball to watch. Carrie Anne was competing for the first time in one of the higher leagues and so unfortunately lost her two games however it was only a narrow defeat making for a couple of really exciting matches. With her games done by 9am we headed back into town for some breakfast before going back to the beach to watch some more volleyball. By late afternoon we were all sunned out and had watched more than our fair share of volleyball so we packed up and headed back to the hotel to get ready for the evening. Some of the teams and Carrie Anne's friends were having a night on the town and having not had a night out in a while we dressed up and went to meet everyone at the pub. The agreed meeting point was chosen as it had a karaoke much to Michaels delight!!!! We sat outside for a while and had a couple of drinks before feeling brave enough to head inside for some karaoke action. It didn't take long for the book of songs to make its way into our hands and needless to say we were very reluctant to sing in front of all these strangers. After another couple of drinks I was feeling a bit braver and between us Carrie - Anne and I decided we should pay homage to our homeland with none other than The Proclaimers and that old classic 500 miles! I have no idea what I was thinking and I had assumed nobody in Australia would know the song and they would think we were a couple of nutters. Within a couple of seconds everyone was cheering and singing along at all the right parts, it was absolutely hilarious and such a buzz. Everytime I looked over at Michael he was laughing his head off at the reaction in the pub as everyone was going crazy, it was like being at a concert with everyone jumping around and cheering. By the end I was swinging the microphone from me to the crowd in time to the da dadada da dadada it was so much fun and I am so glad I was talked into it. As Michael was driving we stayed for only a little longer and couldn't believe where the night had gone as it was already nearly midnight! We dropped off a few people who were staying near our hotel before collapsing into bed ourselves.
The next day was yet more volleyball however I am pleased to report that it was a more respectable 10am start for the first game. Our team was defeated in the first game however managed to win the play off match so that will allow Carrie Anne and her partner to continue to compete in this higher league! We spent most of the morning and early afternoon chilling on the beach watching some of the semi final matches before grabbing some lunch and hitting the road to head further south.