|
Walpole
Friday 29th December
Everyone had a lazy start except for Wes who took the teenagers sightseeing
until the mid afternoon. The rest of us played cards, talked, ate, read and
fixed radios. We also had our first happy hour and later Duncan scaled trees
to rig up pretty lights for New Years Eve. People stayed up much later than
the curfew of 10 pm!
Malcolm & Lizzy
Saturday 30th December
 Most
people had arrived by now so the men went out fishing at 6:30 a.m., but only
caught a few fish. The women left at 9:15 to walk through the track to
Walpole markets but also disappointing with very few stalls. A nice time at
the Cafe and then back to camp by 12:15. A quick lunch and then we left at
1:15 for a trip to “Blue Holes”.
We drove along the beach
to the right and stopped for a spot of unsuccessful fishing but a great game
of cricket. Sam and Frank went back to fish at Blue Hole and the rest of the
convoy went on to the end of the beach (the mouth of the inlet where the men
fished this morning). Dianna was first in, then Wes and Paul and others
followed. Some collected shells and others sunbathed. Terry rounded us all
up at 4 pm and we watched a small pod of dolphins before getting in our
vehicles again. Back to camp for happy hour, tea, and a nice chat.
Malcolm & Lizzy
Sunday 31st December 
The day was fine and
sunny with virtually no wind, a rarity in itself for Walpole.
In the morning Terry and
Stamps took the kids out on the inlet where they played on the biscuits for
several hours whilst the rest either lazed around or started getting in
supplies and preparing for the “New Year’s Eve” bash.
After
much prompting Terry finally announced an impromptu trip through the forest
bordering the Frankland River. For such short notice it was great to have
11 vehicles on the trip which set off at 3:30pm (thank goodness for daylight
saving) along Monastery Road, Tingle Drive, Brainy Cut Off and Outer Break
Road. The scenery along the Frankland is amazing with a variety of huge
trees, in particular, Karri and Tingle. The normal UHF banter prevailed
with particular interest in getting lost on trips with special reference to
an occasion in the city when one committee member was late for a meeting as
he was driving his wife’s car and didn’t have his formidable array of
electronic gadgetry, so got lost on his way to Nedlands! The convoy wound
its way through the forest crossing the river at Sapper’s Bridge which was
rebuilt in 1982 by the RAE following flood damage in Jan 82. Shortly after
this John B was awakened from his slumbers…...I assume Sue was driving at
the time…... to find Sue grovelling on the ground trying to remove an
offending branch from under the car. A pretty steep climb saw us leave the
river precincts and not long after we were back on the South Coast Hwy,
heading back to camp, arriving at around 5:30pm.
As indicated this was a
scenic drive with very little 4WDriving but really pleasant and would be
quite interesting after a good fall of rain. Thanks very much Terry for
doing it at such short notice.
Preparations for the
evening’s event started at 6pm and a proliferation of tables of all shapes
and sizes were arranged in a line. Some even had table cloths whilst the
less prepared members made do with newspaper.
 Festivities
started at 7pm with the Crazy Hat/Hair parade which was judged in 3
categories for Ladies, Gents and those under 20. An amazing variety of head
gear was on display (pics on the web site) with Daniel with his
impersonation of a peacock wining the Under 20’s, Diana, the Ladies with her
Teflon Removal Company’s shining helmet and John B the Gents as a garden
gnome supporting an all talking, all flashing, luminescent road cone as a
hat. Paul failed in his attempt to win as the “Fox Hat” was all too
obvious.
 Sam
and Pasc doubled our numbers by inviting relatives from all over the south
west which extended the length of our table setting by many metres whilst
Guy and Wendy holidaying at Peaceful Bay also joined us.
Many BBQ’s were fired up
and steaks, sausages, chops, prawns and fish were soon sizzling away to be
consumed along with great volumes of salads, etc. Desert followed and then
we all settled down to drinking and talking whilst awaiting the New Year.
“Mr Grumpy” had allowed us an extension to after midnight so we could
actually talk after the normal 10pm curfew! Music was loud although there
was considerable debate over the introduction of Kenny Rogers, etc. to
replace Pearl Jam, etc. Based on the general age of the group, Kenny R won.
Unfortunately the fire place was not conducive to all sitting round it as it
was a concrete affair that only radiated heat from one side so the 30 metre
diameter circle resulted in many heavily jacketed members until the Conga
Lone started and warmed us all up. Spin the Bottle failed in its infancy.
11:59:55, 56, 57, 58,
59………midnight and January 1st 2007 and another trip notes author.
Keith & Chris
Monday 1st January
“HAPPY NEW YEAR”
After countdown to midnight we all wished each other Happy New Year, kissed
hugged & had champagne showers thanks to Wes. Most people went to bed after
our curfew of 1.30am imposed on us by our resident caravan Park owners.
Wes, Paul & Sam stayed up until 3.00am to quietly discuss secret mens
business.
At
approx 8.00am the next morning we were awoken with a “COCK A DOODLE DOO” by
our own pet rooster John King. At approx 10.00 am that morning Terry
decided to draw names out to determine who was going to do trip notes for
the week, Sam & I drew the short straw for today (Personally I think it was
rigged). While sitting around our Happy hour circle & sharing a big box of
chocolates we all decided to have lunch & then go down to the Blue Holes for
a spot of fishing & swimming. 10 Vehicles set off {I think} by the time we
arrived at our destination the wind had picked up & it
 was too rough to swim
but Sam, Terry, Stamps & Luke decided to do some fishing. Terry was the
first to get lucky, followed by Sam. Stamps & Luke were unlucky but said
they were happy just to try out a new rod & lures. We also had the
excitement of seeing 3 dolphins playing just off shore. After an enjoyable
afternoon of sun, sea & sleep we headed back to camp for a shower & Happy
hour. We all had another great night around the camp fire and started going
to bed around 10.30pm .
Wes, Paul, Macca, Keith, Terry, Stamps, John K, Duncan & Diana stayed up for
secret mens business.
Thanks Terry, Teresa, Liam , Kelina & all the group for another great
holiday.
Sam & Pasc
PS. Also thanks to our boys Rocco & Christopher for spending a few days
with mum & dad, we loved every minute of our bonding session.
Tuesday 2nd January
 The
only day it rained so it was just as well Terry had us going a long drive
along the coast. Eleven cars took off on a journey that firstly took us to
Mandalay Beach, it was here that we let our tyres down and had a brief
relief stop and a gander at the shipwreck Mandalay. As you can see from the
accompanying photo the wreck is buried deep at the moment. Apparently it
resurfaces every few years to show all its glory however not this year. We
all had a quick read of the crews diary and then proceeded on towards
Banksia Camp.
Once we reached Banksia
Camp our adventurous trip leader called out that the camp area was chocka
block and that we should just drive through, even at 5 km/h some of us
managed to loose sight of the car in front, so ensued a discussion about
marking corners and keeping an eye out. The Banksia Campground seemed very
well provisioned but I would say you need to carry 10 rabbit feet and a salt
shakerto
get a spot there during the busy season.
Morno's
was held at Cliffy Head which afforded us a fantastic view of the rugged but
spectacular coastline, John S reported we were 153 metres above sea level,
not bad considering we were right on the edge of the coast. Parking was at a
premium but we just managed to squeeze everyone in but at departure time it
was like a mechanical Swan Lake (well more like a under 6 soccer match) but
we made it out unscathed.
As Broke Inlet came into
sight we came across a genuine fishies shack. Diana completed the visitors
book and we all got out and had a quick look around. As we drove towards
Coal Point that damn rooster that we kept hearing back at Coalmine Beach
struck again, it screamed across the airways several times and was a welcome
change to the radio silence that settles in later in the day.
 "Terry Long Gone"
reported black swans to the right on the water to which Sam replied "I dunno
Terry you keep mentioning swans and water but all I can see is hills and
trees" leading Terry to think that he had lost the convoy or that he maybe
was stuck in a time warp on another planet (see earlier comment about
marking corners and keeping an eye out).
In keeping with his
reputation John B managed to become forward motion challenged, he let some
more air out and put a  bit more lead on the right foot and he was on his way, did he have
it in 4WD? that is for him to know and everyone else to cringe about. Lunch
was a wet affair as John S, Guy and myself struggled with our tarps in the
wind and rain only to have the entire group gather around us, eat lunch and
then take off following old Long Gone down to the cut. Some left so quickly
they left their Tupperware and empty beer bottles behind, it's OK Rosalie I
slipped it into your annexe when John wasn't looking.
The
drive down the river to the cut was very nice and some of our more senior
"pillars of society" had fun in the shallows, Sam was concerned for the
shiny new vehicles but the driver who's name will not be mentioned said
something like "you're only old once" and drove on with a cheeky laugh (well
that's my story and I'm sticking to it).
Fishing unfortunately
was a non event with the Maestro (Sam) only managing 2 which he released before we
left. Would love to go back there when the weather was nicer and spend some
time swimming and fishing.
Back to base for a 6.30
dinner at the Walpole Hotel, which in itself was an event to remember,
running out of food, freaking out when sweets were ordered and being asked
to leave because they needed the room tells us that booking for 50 is
probably not a good idea for next year. Back at camp early after our short
dinner, the night was still young, the crowd was still sober, yet it was
raining and that dammed rooster was getting restless again. Up go the tarps,
burn goes the fire and flow goes the wine. Terry cooked up an award winner
recipe of damper with apricot (Liam's prize recipe from Ninghan) but the
highlight of the evening would have to be the camp oven handle impressions
that Terry has permanently branded on to his fingers (ask him to show them
to you) an effort he was able to repeat at another time.
Secret Men's business
was discussed by the hard core fire watchers until 2.00am and yes we were
quiet, what did we talk about? you'll never find out.
Paul & Louise
Wednesday 3rd January
Frank & Michelina
Thursday 4th January
Today was the day that
the “Storm of the generation” was supposedly coming. We had earlier braced
ourselves with extra ropes and dug small channels around our vans and
campers. (Or in some situations a substantial mote – later named Ryan
River). We awoke to another magic day, a little overcast, but no sign of the
storms. Latest forecast is that they had past to the east but expect some
wild weather later in the day. There had been a forest run planned for today
but with consideration of the forecast it was cancelled in the interest of
safety. Some of us were still keen to go exploring make use of the day.
Under the guidance and direction of John and Viv, Luke & Jess, Rick, Nancy Blake, Duncan,
John, Sue, Frank, Michaelina and the girls, Keith, Chris, Malcolm, Lizzy, Daniel, Niccy,
Jade, Sam and Pasc took off and decided to take the day as it comes and be
guided by the weather. Wes, Laura and Cody were to catch us up
later. First stop was to be Mt. Frankland which we all climbed to the top
(411m). Some needed oxygen to keep going while others (those under 15) ran
all the way to the top and back again. Once at the top it was spectacular,
even on this grey and overcast day you could see for miles. It was
incredibly windy on top and after the group photos we now had to make our
way down again. On the way down we passed Wes and Cody who were on their way
up, and once at the bottom we waited for our group to all come together. Sam
took this opportunity to instigate a group hug. (Lizzy took the opportunity
to be environmentally friendly and also hugged a tree.)
 By this time it was about 12.30 and had decided to go to Fernhook Falls for
lunch. When we got there we met Diana and Frith who had spent quite some
time exploring around the area. Facilities were great and included a
substantial shelter with tables and barbecues and well laid out walk trails
down to the falls and Rowls Pool. The kids had a great time skipping across
rocks like frogs and surprisingly none got (very) wet. On our way out we had
a look at Fernhook Falls campsite which was well set up with secluded
campsites around a central common facility which included toilets and
another large shelter with barbecues and a camp kitchen.
The local tourist map had a road marked “4WD only” and curiosity got the
better of us so we decided to take this track to our next destination which
was to be afternoon tea at Thurlby Herb Farm and Café. This track although
was a longer way around was very interesting with some stunning scenery.
Some of the tallest, straightest Karri trees you have ever seen. We soon
came to a river crossing which we all negotiated quite easily under some
direction for wheel placement as it was
 very rocky. We arrived at Thurlby a
little after 4pm and began wandering through the shop. The lady suggested
that if we were going to order any coffee or food, could we do so now as
they closed at 4.30. I am not sure if she was expecting the response she got
when about 15 people queued up at the counter with wallets in hand. To their
credit they served up as many coffees in half an hour as they possibly had
done all day. Blake and Duncan consumed the worlds biggest iced chocolate
and others devoured some delightful cakes. Some made purchases of local
crafts, jams and produce from the shop before we left and made our way back
towards camp for happy hour.
We arrived back soon after 5pm and easily settled into happy hour formation
around a fire when some of the others had come back and we all compared
stories. Terry, Teressa, Liam, Kelly, John, Rosalie, Paul, Louise, Matt and
Sam had retraced a trip we had done earlier in the week, and they also
discovered a river crossing and the more the story was told, the more severe
it became.
Happy hour stories continued as people came and went as they prepared their
meals. (except Terry, who used the fire to cook Jaffles and burnt his hand.
Again!! see Jan 1st notes). We all wondered what happened to the storm that
never came as another day slipped into darkness and the rooster let out one
last cock-a-doodle-do at 10pm just before the Noise Nazi was due for his
rounds.
Thanks to all our fellow campers and special thanks to John and Viv for
leading us out for the day.
Rick and Nancy.
Friday 5th January
John & Viv
Saturday 6th January
John & Sue
Sunday 7th January
Terry & Teresa |
