Rookie mistake

On the ANZAC long weekend we went on Girl Guide camp to York.

In case you are not from Western Australia, I should say that York is a town in WA as well as being a place in the UK (and possibly other places? Anyone know of any other places called York?)

Kris all ready to go to her first Guide camp.

I totally meant to take pictures of tourist stuff.

I totally meant to get some brochures and do some research for this blog.

I was having so much fun I totally forgot.

Notwithstanding my total lack of organisation and the fact I don't have anything to tell you, I love going to York. It is very pretty.

The view from the porch at 'Our Barn'
'Our Barn' is a Girl Guide property right in the middle of York.

You can click here if you would like to find your own information, otherwise you will just have to wait until we go back.

Happy adventuring!

Cath xx

Frolic in Fremantle

We spent a beautiful Good Friday just chilling in Fremantle.

We had three missions. To visit the Elizabeth's Bookshop e, fish'n'chips for lunch, and to buy the girls' dad a belt for Easter (long story, we don't usually give belts for Easter, we usually give pyjamas).

Mission one was perfect. You could easily walk to Elizabeth's Bookshops' Fremantle warehouse from the main cafe strip area, but we drove. We drove for the simple reason that they were having a carboot sale and I did not want to walk carrying a box of books.

Look Mama! A selfie with Books.

We were a little proud of ourselves. We all stuck to our budget.

Mission two was easily accomplished ... hello Fremantle Markets, and a beautifully handmade leather belt that had holes punched while we were waiting so the holes are in the exact right spot for the person buying it.

Waiting for the girls to reappear

Tips of the day: Find an agreed meeting place for you to aim for if you lose the other members of your traveling party. I did lose the girls for a while. Which is fine at their age, and because we weren't in a rush, but there are lots of people and lots of little alleys and stalls. Picking an exit as a back up meeting place would have helped.

Also have some cash on you. Not all places accept EFTPOS. Or if you are trying to save money, don't take cash. Then if you will know if you really want something because you will have to go find an ATM to get it. This actually might be a better tip because there are so many beautiful products, it would be very easy to spend a fortune.

Three of our favourite food items at the Fremantle Markets would have to be potato-on-a-stick (this is mine by a long shot), fruit kebabs, and giant pretzels. There are lots of other foods though, including people handing out samples. Samples are always awesome.

Mission three was also easily accomplished. If you wander from the cafe strip ...

The Middling One playing tour guide

.... across the Esplanade (Which also is a fabulous place to stop for a while. Awesome playground. And on Good Friday it was great to see so many people picnicking and playing football)  ...

Perfect view

..... you will come to the Fishing Boat Harbour which has four or five places that specialise in fish'n'chips. Even on Good Friday and without a booking we only had a 20 minute wait for food. The perfect amount of time for me to enjoy a glass of wine and the live music that was playing, and for the girls to take lots of photos.

Taking photos while Mummy is enjoying a glass of wine.

For us a trip to Fremantle is not complete without a quick trip to The Pickled Fairy and a sprinkle of magic fairy dust. I still find it such a magical place to visit.

Wishing garden

These are just a couple of our favourite Freo places. Stay tuned for more a different time. There is too much to do in a day!

What are you favourite places to visit in Fremantle? Where are your favourite markets?

Happy Adventuring!

Cath xx

Will you stay or will you go?

The count down to the Easter long weekend is well and truly on. One work day down, three work days to go!

I have to confess that I tend to stay at home for long weekends. While the rest of Perth seems to go away, I love being at home for a long weekend. The extra day at home just feels like luxury. I have a few theories as to why I like being at home on long weekends, but I will save those for a different post.

Just because we are planning on being at home, this is not to say that we are not going to do things.

Good Friday, after church, we are planning a trip to Fremantle for fish'n'chips. I am not sure where yet, there are a few good options in Fremantle!

We are also planning on going to the Fremantle Markets. It is always nice to wander around Fremantle. In addition to the markets, there are always street performers in the café strip, there is a massive park, and the atmosphere in Fremantle is always cruisey.

I have to admit though, part of the attraction for Fremantle this weekend is a Elizabeth's Bookshops carpark sale. I may have a slight book addiction.

Hoping to come home with several bags of books on Friday.
If there is one thing I love more than chocolate, it is books.

Saturday the plan is to attend Perth's last remaining drive in movies at Galaxy Drive In Theatre. I will blog about drive in tips a different time. For now I will just note that it is a fun night out and a very cheap way to see movies.

Easter Sunday we will spend with my family, church and lunch, but in the afternoon I am hoping to take the girls to do some bushwalking on the way to visiting their dad in Boddington.

So as you can see, it doesn't take much to find a lot of stuff to do even if you chose to stay home. And this is even before you think about all the jobs that you could be doing around the house.

What about you? Are you are long weekend traveller? Or do you stay at home?

Happy adventuring!

Cath xx

Wild Goose Chasing Through Perth

Also known as that one time I wanted to do something and just couldn't let it go.

 

About 6 years ago I did a kids scavenger hunt through the CBD of Perth. It was a self guided tour of sorts where you started at one point, traveled through the city looking for these blue plaques, decoding the message and learning new things about the City of Perth and its history.

Over the years I kept meaning to do it again, but not getting around to it.

Until this this year!

I did try to get a hold of the map prior to getting to Perth, but the tourist centre directed to me to some different tours. So I found the 'Ground Zero' plaque and trotted off to the Art Gallery to pick up my map.

 

Ground Zero Tales of the City plaque I was banging on about.

 

"You say what" they said. They had no idea what it was, but we're very helpful in suggesting to go to the tourist kiosk and asking there.

A delightful old fellow knew what I was talking about, but said with the renno's in the city, some plaques had been removed and not replaced and the tour had been discontinued.

Damn.

So I trotted back to the Art Gallery because the cafe looked relish and I was hanging for a coffee. No pic, but the coffee was fab and the marinated chicken and salad really hit the spot. It's a great cafe with reasonable prices, nice staff and quirky decor.

Town Hall

Town Hall. A Tales Of the City plaque can still be found here.

 

Whilst there I had a mini moan about goose chasing and this damn tour on facebook.

A fabbo friend, we'll call her Emma the Google searcher hit the jackpot.

WOOO HOOO

With only about 10% battery, I did as much as could from the PDF link. Unfortunately the gorgeous old guy was correct, many plaques are missing (I found half before my phone went flat, but definitely several have been removed).

I love treasure hunting, and this was almost like a geocaching adventure! Trying to find the plaques and hoping that they were still there.

If you would like to give this a whirl, there are enough plaques available to still work out most of the code.

Kangaroo Scultures at the Supreme Court Gardens. One plaque can be found near here.

Follow this link to the City of Perth webpage where you can print of the map and challenge.

 

xxLela

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Test taste

We road tripped again last weekend.

Another trip down to Bridgetown to visit the lovely Lela and her babies. I am calling it a meeting. We met and we talked.

The view from our South West Office

We saw a pantomime (despite the way it may seem, yes I do have a other things on in my life other than attending performances), featuring my gorgeous Goddaughter (aka Lela's beautiful daughter). She was a fairy. I am pretty sure I am now a fairy Godmother!

Most importantly for the purposes of our travel blog, Lela took us on a taster tour of Greenbushes. What a stunning town! I didn't take any pictures, because Lela and the girls were taking heaps. I am expecting some will surface soon. We have made a date to go back and visit and do the walking tour properly, and I will post more then.

We had a quick stop in Donnybrook. Mostly because we saw that there was a Cafe Tiffany, and while we didn't have breakfast, the urge to visit just couldn't be resisted. Plus I needed coffee. I also had peppermint hedgehog slice which was divine, and the girls' gingerbread men passed the teenager taste test.

The girls have requested that we go back for breakfast one day. Breakfast at Cafe Tiffany (Donnybrook) is now on my travel list as well as Breakfast at Tiffany's in New York. I suspect one will happen a lot sooner than the other!

Cushion. Being held weirdly so her face is all skewy.

Some more driving tips:

• Miss 11 suggests that you find out what station plays "cool" songs before you leave.
• I suggest packing snacks so that you don't have to deal with grumpy children.
• Make sure you stop and stretch so you don't get too sleepy.
• Christmas carols will either be very exciting, or a call for mutiny. Hopefully the car vote isn't a 50/50 split.

Happy adventuring everyone.

Cath xx

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

This weekend was all about Christmas celebrations for me. I attended two local events, one massive family orientated one, and one smaller but still awesome adult one.

Firstly was the Channel 7 & The West Australian Christmas Pageant (which I have probably named incorrectly despite my best efforts, and will henceforth be referred to as "the Christmas Pageant").

An annual event down the streets of Perth, the Christmas Pageant is a free event; there is no cost to attend. That said, most parking in Perth is paid parking. Public transport would be my recommendation.

I would also suggest going early. The streets are packed. Take a picnic blanket and/or chairs to sit on. I sat straight on the pavement this year and I would not recommend it. I would also strongly suggest taking a picnic and anything needed to keep children entertained in the wait.

While it is super crowded there are also some free activities, and some pre-pageant entertainment.

The Christmas Pageant was a day time event for around 10 years, so I never got to take my girls to a night time pageant when they were little. This year we went with a group of Girl Guides aged 8 to 15, and the look in the younger girls' eyes was magical. They were so excited and were busily telling me about all the best floats. In their view the main guests were Fat Cat, the Telethon Kids, and Santa. This seems pretty reasonable to me.

Fun night! A bit of Christmas magic, and worth the effort if you have children who appreciate the magic.

Here comes Santa Claus! Here comes Santa Claus! Riding on Santa Claus' sleigh.!

My second event was not a family friendly one. However it did support a good cause, and it was lots of fun.

The Freo Santa Fiesta is an annual event that raises funds for the Princess Margaret Children's Hospital. It is also annual event where you get to dress like Santa (or an elf, or one girl was a gingerbread man) and go on a pub crawl around Fremantle.

It is an event that is lots of fun with lots of friendly people. I went to one place I had never been before, and it even included a free sausage sizzle.

This year it was a $10 to participate. I strongly suggest thinking about the weather before you don the actual full Santa suit. This year the hat was hot enough.

Information on both events could be found via Google in November.

Happy celebrating! Let us know what fun events you have found.

Cath xx

Culture Vultures

Vultures is probably a good description. I am certainly not an expert on what is considered "good". I just know what I like, and I love the theatre. While I enjoy going to see "big" productions when national or international companies tour to Perth, I also love going to support amateur theatre.

Over the last couple of weeks, my daughters and I have gone to see three plays. We like the theatre, but if you have never been before it is a great way to experience something a bit different without having to travel. If you have been before, you will be nodding and agreeing so that is good too.

There are so many opportunities to see performances. It often supports local groups, and it is usually a great night out, and often at very affordable prices.

We saw:

• Cymbeline by William Shakespeare, by Black Martini Theatre at Murdoch University, for $10;
• A Rogers & Hammerstein version of Cinderella at Koorliny Arts Centre for $20; and
• A production of Taming of the Shrew at a local high school for $8.

All three productions were enjoyable, engaging, and had fabulous costumes. Two of the three productions had live orchestras.

Tips:

• Take some small change for a program, and for raffle tickets.
• The bar prices (when applicable) are usually quite cheap.
• Google the synopsis if taking children (just in case it is M-rated. I have been caught out and I know better).
• Small theatres are great. Nothing beats being close to the stage.
• Take a jumper, just in case.

I highly recommending having a look to see what is around next time you are looking to do something in your local area. I

Cath xx