Adventures aboard Coco

Hello. Did you all have a wonderful Australia Day? If this trip has done anything, at the very least it has made me feel more connected to this amazing country than I ever felt possible. And listening to Neurosurgeon Charlie Teoh's speech on ABC Radio whilst travelling along the Nullarbor yesterday actually brought a tear to my eye. Did any of you listen in?

Anyway, we have finally hit that point where relaxation has become so ingrained that everything is happening in slow motion. Clothing has become optional (for the little boys that is, not me :-)) and any caravan cleaning and clothes washing can wait. The caravan does look like a dump but who cares really?Monkey Mia was the epitome of relaxation with its 60's style beachy vibe and towards the end I stopped taking photos altogether and swapped blogging for a good book. I've completely lost track of the days (and time) but apparently there were 5 days where the camera and laptop didn't make an appearance at all! Kalbarri was amazing but alas, not a single photo. Oh well.

This is all well and good. I love living in the moment but taking photos has hardly been a chore when the landscape is so breathtaking. Since this blog will probably be the only record of our adventures I really need and want to keep posting about our travels as they happen. History has proven that I forget things and we are in for a busy and exciting time when the next chapter begins in Hobart and I know there will be less time than there is now! And this is a trip of a lifetime for us that I really don't want to forget in a hurry. So I hope you don't mind me doing a couple of posts in quick succession so I can catch up with where we are today (Nullarbor Plain).

First I'll recap the brilliant time we had in Perth. Although there is so much to see and do in Perth, we actually spent the entire 5 days soaking up the love and fabulous hospitality of my Uncle G and Aunty A at their home as well as spending some quality time with my 3 cousins, one of which is expecting his first baby right this minute.

Most of the time was spent in the swimming pool or at the gorgeous beaches where the bigger kids enjoyed some boogie board action but as they are keen sailors we were fortunate enough to spend a day aboard their yacht "Coco", a Sparkman and Stephens 39.

Here we are looking very relaxed, hardly recognisable without the tribe hanging off us :-)

Little Buddy is having a go. He didn't seem to care that he couldn't see where he was going.

Oh that better. Both Little Buddy and D at the helm with Uncle G.

Enjoying some cuddles with Aunty A.

There was some serious crabbing action.

And finally after 2 months, Blue Eyes caught his first fish! A baby Bream that had to go back in but such a thrill. And I loved that all the kids were equally excited as if they had caught it themselves. 

The excitement continued. We had barely sat down for another sip of champagne when we were quickly out of our seats again when Miss Fancy brought the crab nets up and found this little beauty in it.

This fish was a keeper and there was potential for Blue Eyes to be outdone by his older sister but don't worry Blue Eyes - you were still the first to catch a fish the proper way :-)

So what fish is it? Let's have a look in the book. A West Australian Salmon maybe?

No, a quick glance by Cousin B at the dinner table confirmed it was a Skipjack Trevally - big enough to overlap the pan and provide an appetiser for the 4 kids.

So it was an exciting day all around.

Uncle G and Aunty A are expecting their first Grandchild any moment now and had a great time 'practising' with our kids and spoilt them rotten. They babysat on our last night so we could spend a leisurely evening at the moonlight cinemas at Kings Park with my cousins. We were hoping the adrenalin of Mission Impossible would help bring the new baby into the world but no such luck. We are all waiting patiently. But come on little "Nugget"!!

PS: Do you like our glasses? They were given to everyone as a promotion for the new channel 10 series "New Girl".