Weekend in Perth

We finally got out of Kal for a few days over last weekend and headed to the big smoke.  It was my first time in Perth so very exciting...

little Chip went to a workmate of Mals place for the weekend - he had 5 adults to himself and got thoroughly spoilt by all of them....so much so that when we picked him up he wasn't his usual over excited to see us self..infact I think he would have been quite happy to stay there instead of coming home...

The drive to Perth, although a good 6 hours, didn't seem as boring as we were expecting.  There are quite a few little towns that you drive through and its only one stretch before you start hitting the outskirts of Perth that is a bit barren and boring.  Having said that, I don't think I would want to drive by myself all that way in one hit, it gets very mesmerizing driving along and easy to start nodding off so it was good to share the driving with Mal.

After getting over the initial shock of driving in a big city again our first stop was the Caravan and Camping Show being held at the Claremont Showgrounds.  It was a bit disappointing, in that it was no different to the other shows we have been to in Brisbane before and we actually left empty handed  even though we had a list of things we wanted for our caravan makeover.  It was humorous though watching the overweight oldies (of which there were many) trying to squeeze their large frames in to caravans..how they think they could live in one is beyond me when they can hardly fit through the door!!!

We then drove through the City to find our accommodation which was on Adelaide Terrace and then headed off to Fremantle Beach.  One good thing about Perth is that the beaches and it seems everything really, isn't that far apart.  Fremantle is a very nice area and we sat at one of the restaurants at the Pier and had some fish n chips and a beer enjoying the day...that was after getting some lovely sand beneath our feet again...we so miss the beach and the sea...

having fish n chips and a beer on Fremantle Pier

around Fremantle

around Fremantle

sculpture at Fremantle Beach

driving around Perth

in the City

driving around Perth 

the Swan River

heading down towards the Swan River 

around Perth

We had a lovely dinner at one of the local restaurants close to our hotel on Saturday night.

Sunday we were up early and headed off to Scarborough.  We had a list of shopping to do at Bunnings, Ikea and Spotlight for the caravan reno which were all out in that direction.  We hit the Scarborough Beach first for a look and to have brunch.  Scarborough is a lovely area too and the beach was just beautiful

beach

beach

thank god we didn't see any snakes!

beach

brunch yum yum 

After finishing our shopping and getting all that we had on our little list, we headed for Cottlesloe Beach for a look - and that was absolutely packed!!!  There was a sculpture display spread over the beach here like at Fremantle so I am not sure if the beach is usually as packed as it was, or was especially so due to the exhibition.  Again, a lovely beach and lots of little cafes and drinking spots alongside the beach

Cottlesloe Beach 

sculpture

sculpture

sculptures

sculpture

ahh sand.....the water was lovely and warm too

On the way back to the Hotel we headed for a drive around Subiaco which is prime real estate but where all the main hospitals are.  I wanted to see where we refer our women and babies to - I could definitely work and live around this area, however its really expensive

King Edward Memorial Hospital

King Edward Memorial Hospital

Royal Perth Hospital

main shopping street in Subiaco

We then drove around Perth again alongside the Swan River which is a lovely blue river unlike Brisbane and on a beautiful day its just gorgeous

Exhibition Centre in Perth 

one of the lovely parks..lots of these all around the city

Swan River looking across to the City

interesting building alongside the Swan river 

driving alongside the Swan river 

Sunday night we went to an Irish pub for tea which was down the road from the Hotel.

Monday morning we headed off to a place I found online that sells carpet and lino squares and got a really good deal for the flooring in the caravan and then found a Clarks Rubber to buy some more squab cushions for the seating in the van - then with the ute loaded to the brim we headed home.

All up it was a lovely weekend and we both absolutely love Perth!

Stage One of our Caravan Reno

Well we finally both had a day off together yesterday (being a WA public holiday - labour day I think??).  So despite it being bloody hot (35 degrees) we got stuck in and stripped out all the crap from the caravan.  Mal being the cheeky bugger that he is, dumped all the rubbish round at work....

It was good though to be able to finally have a look at what we have, what we don't, and what needs fixing.

So the good news:

- the windows and insect screens are all okay - at first I didn't think the windows were opening or locking properly and most of the insect screens weren't fitted properly so were hanging off...but they are all okay

- the little fridge/with freezer compartment, is both 240v and gas.....we just need to check out the gas system and make sure its all okay - the actual gas bottle that came with the van is as old as the hills so that is for the dump!

- we only found two areas with water damage up the front of the van, which given all the heavy rain we had last week isn't wet or soggy so obviously old damage (that had been cleverly disguised).  We have a very cunning plan in mind for hiding that ourselves.....

- the cushion swabs are all in good nick so I can easily recover those with some nice new fabric

- there is plenty of cupboard space so with some clever storage ideas (thanks Ikea & Bunnings) we should be able to easily fit all our stuff in the van

- we had a quick look at the annexe that came with it and despite not loving the colour scheme, it seems in pretty good nick.

the to do list:

- we pulled out the existing built in double bed and have decided to buy an ordinary base and mattress to put in the van so that we can pull it out from the wall to make it - should be a hell of a lot lighter than the bloody heavy configuration that was already in there

- I have begun bogging up all the holes from various hooks and screws and damage ready for the undercoat, I am painting over all the brown laminate including the roof

- we are going to cut out a new benchtop and get a local joiner to laminate it for us - we are going to cut out a bigger cut out on the top (thats the only way we can access the cupboard space below) so that we can fit all appliances in there - it will be quite a nifty way of accessing them

- I have found some neat chrome pull out storage baskets to use for our pull out pantry which will go in the hole under the cooker

not to mention blinds, carpet &vinyl tiles, etc etc....my laptop has just about blown a fuse today with all my internet shopping...but boy have I found some neat stuff!!  And can't wait till we hit Perth in a couple of weeks, I have a huge list of shopping to do.....

anyway, now that I have bored you all...here are some photos of our progress....

our new project - the new van

Well we picked up our new caravan yesterday - an old Windsor van..circa 1980!!!!  We decided that we wanted a bit of a project on our off days here in Kalgoorlie and found this advertised in the local rag a few weeks ago, after a bit of tooing and frooing we got it for a good price ($8500).   Yes a bit of a come down from the lovely big Jayco, however its nice to not have so much money tied up in something sitting outside for the majority of the time unused.

So our plan is to do it up and use it for the odd weekend trip this year and for the coastal trip to Perth we plan at the end of the year and then the long trip back to Qld next year maybe stopping off in a few places along the way.  Structurally it seems pretty sound and does not leak which is the main thing, and for a much smaller van than the Jayco its really quite roomy inside.  We are going to put it in to the garage asap and check out the frame and get the wheel bearings sorted and probably a couple of new tyres fitted, then next job is for Mal to check out the wiring and the gas and water systems.   It towed really well round to the flat and you could hardly notice it on the back of the ute...so different from towing around the huge Jayco, so I may even start driving and towing it when we are on the road.

We are heading to Perth in a couple of weeks for a weekend there which coincides with the big Caravan and Camping exhibition so we hope to pick up some ideas and goodies for the van there.  I have already made a list of what I want to do to the van (much to Mals disgust) but the first task will be to clean it all out...there is a load of crap in it which we just don't want so will cull it all out and do a big clean first.

Apart from that life in Kalgoorlie is pretty much work work work at the moment.  Mal is working 6 day weeks with only one full weekend off in every four.  I have been doing a lot of night shifts lately and extra hours which is a real pain but the ward is so short staffed and its probably not going to change any time soon.  There was a front page article in the local paper last week (planted by the union I suspect after some phone calls from stressed staff) regarding how short staffed we were and how stressed we are all getting.  Prompted some lovely local catering firm or cafe to start dropping in food for us randomly.....nice to know someone cares!!

I got a promotion to Clinical Midwife which means a lot more hassle but a bit more money.  I am enjoying it though and means I get to boss others around...LOL.

The weather is still pretty warm with temps mainly in the late 30s.  Today its raining for the first time in a long time - the aftermath of cyclone Rusty which hit northern WA, and the temp is a lot cooler.  I never thought I would hear myself saying this, but its nice to have some rain and cooler temps, though we are sure we will be moaning when winter sets in and it becomes more the norm.  Little Chip is being extra snuggly today as its cooler which is nice.

Here are some photos of our new van in its original state.  We will make sure we take lots of progress photos as we do her up...