Kalgoorlie

At the end of October, after the ice & snow of Alaska and the deep blue of the Indian Ocean, we thought we would revisit inland Australia. Our friend, Norman, had never been to Kal so we joined him on the Prospector train from Midland to Kal. The Prospector is a great way to travel, very comfortable and a smooth ride at about 80 k/h, even so it still took about 6 hours to reach Kalgoorlie. We wheeled our luggage over to the Railway Hotel, settled in then checked in for a tour of the town the next day. With an evening to spare we went out to the movies and saw "Kenny" a great film. Next day was great, we went to the super pit, which blew Norman away. We went down a mine and Norman poured gold, a great day alround. In the evening we joined our friends from the Goldfields Rep and watched a rehearsal for their Christmas show, it was great fun and should be a terrific show. We promised to come back in February to see Kevin's first major direction - "Journey's End" (must remember to find him some helmets.) Next day we prowled around town finishing up at the fascinating museum where we spent at least 3 hours absorbing the history of the goldfields. A big pub lunch at de Bernales the caught the train home to Perth.

Rottnest Island

Early October we took a few days off and went to relax at Rottnest (Unfortunately so did half of Perth, together with their bikes & food etc.) However despite a late departure we had a lovely trip across to the Island and as soon as we landed we raced over to the bike hire and got a couple of bikes (and the ugly helmets) Daughter Carrie and Grandaughter Isabel had brought theirs on the boat and they had pink helmets. They say you never forget, and it is true. After a shaky start we cycled like professionals, next year Terry will be in Lycra!!!! We stayed at Kingston Barracks, which is now the YHA hostel, only 10 minutes ride to the centre. Isabel loved the free ranging quokkas, some with babies in their pouches. She and her best friend were also able to cycle freely around the parade ground with no fear of traffic. We cycled and climbed down to the Basin, Geordie Bay, picnicked on the beach next to the blue sea and under the blue sky, and had a wonderfull relaxing time. We enjoyed ourselves so much in this little paradise that we booked ourselves up for the same time, same place next year.