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Hi everyone, great news about the rugby! Sorry this update is a day late, we tried to upload all the pictures at the midland library where the internet is free to use but we couldn't. Shows us for being cheap-skates!
Not been too lucky with the camper this week, we found an oil leak and took it into the garage, a VW specialist in Fremantle. The leak was coming from between the engine and gearbox and meant taking the engine out to fix - expensive! Also the oil that was in it was too thin which didn't help. They did an oil and filter change in the hope that the thicker oil would stop the leak. We plan to do a test run up north to find out, to the Pinnacles on Sunday, so the next blog may be a little late too depending on when we get back. Another problem with our beloved Kevin - we lost power on the way home from the garage, coming up the hill to Irene's he just slowed right down, much slower than normal. We only just made it to the top before the engine overheated. Going to take it back into the garage again and hope they can sort it out for our travels.
On the upside, we've picked up a couple of surf boards. A 6'6" Mark Ogram Fish, and a 38" Body Board for whoever's got hold of the waterproof camera. We thought it'd be a good idea as it meant we could spend a bit more on the surfboard and get exactly what we wanted. This one is second hand but if you were to peel the wax off it'd pass as brand new, there isn't a scratch or ding to be found anywhere on it! We tested both boards out on Friday and even though the surf was poor at the time they both performed quite well.
We've spent most of this last week kitting out the camper ready for our travels, the most daunting task was making the curtains, but it turned out to be a much quicker and easier job than we'd first thought. The afore mentioned garage supplied us with a very rare and very useful roof rack, which has given us somewhere to store the essentials; spare wheel, spare fuel, the BBQ and the hammock, to name a few.
Last Wednesday we went into Fremantle with Stuart with a view to visiting the prison there. We got there a little later than planned so grabbed some lunch first. Fremantle is renowned in WA for its award winning Fish and Chips, so we decided they had to be tried. We went to a place in the harbour called Cicerello's, which had been recommended in the travel guides. Stu and I had the fish and chips, while Laura had a Thai fishcake salad and highly recommends it, especially with a strawberry milkshake!?! After lunch we went to the prison, it was really interesting learning about how prison life changed in the time it was open, the inmates still shaved outdoors in cold water in 1991. Fremantle prison was the last Aussie prison that took British criminals, which ceased around 1870. When the guide found out we were poms he started firing a few corny jokes around ("another boat's just come in" etc), but they were bearable.
We've picked up some snorkel/flipper sets each, so now when the surf is non-existent, we've still got some sort of water sport to keep us occupied. Laura's looking forward to Finding Nemo… (she made me write that). Among other thing's we've bought for our travels, we've got a gazebo for shade on hot days, and we've bought a hammock, which Laura has enjoyed testing out for me.
On Sunday we took part in a local event, I think we mentioned in a previous entry about the "ZigZag", a 4km stretch of road which zig zags down the Perth Hills just the other side of Kalamunda, it follows an old railway track. Well, the local community hold a walk down it every year, a couple of thousand took part this year. There was lots to see and do on the walk, they had set up points with activities along the way. There were bands, art, camels, snakes, owls, and cute baby kangaroos, along with food and drink. There was a great atmosphere to it all.
Got quite a bit planned for the week ahead, it's my birthday on Friday and we're visiting Rottnest Island to celebrate, fingers crossed the weather will be good for it. Also hoping the camper's ok for our trip to the Pinnacles near Cervantes on Sunday.
Enjoy the photos, hope you're all well.
Lots of love Laura and James xxx
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