I'm Back...

Blogger Tag is back after an absence of over a week!  Rob did the circle from Kalgoorlie and brought Shufaa and Ghuhen to Margaret River for a few days - Rob and I played tour guide and our visitors had a ball!  Day One we drove south to Margaret River; Cape Mentelle Winery; Prevally and the Rivermouth; through Boranup Forest and Gallery; and Augusta Lighthouse.  Day Two we headed north to Bootleg Brewery; the Wyadup Aboriginal Centre; Busselton Jetty; Dunsborough; Meelup; and the Naturaliste Lighthouse.  Shufaa shopped till she dropped and Ghuhen sampled everything - he says we are obsessed with "tasting" down here - wine, beer, coffee, chocolate!  On their final morning we did a quick trip to the Chocolate Factory (boy it has grown!) and the Grove for Liqueur and Coffee (being only 9am we skipped the liqueurs).  Have to say I was disappointed in the reception from both these places - I hope the region is not losing its "cellar door" feel and succumbing to mass production and over-commercialisation.  I have made my commitment out loud... we will TALK with every single visitor who enters our door at the Silk Road!

Sadly, the time had to come for me to drive Rob and our visitors to Perth for their flight to Cairns and onwards to Africa and Bulyanhulu.  We had an early dinner at the Sicilian in Subiaco and then straight to the airport.  Rob was very downhearted and I felt terrible to "send him away" but eventually I had to leave him to board and fly on his way. 

After a night at Grace's, I drove away thinking this was to be the start of my lonely quest to build the Silk Road but only minutes down the road, Maree rang to say their sailing trip had been cancelled due to weather and they were just coming down to Margaret River instead.  So they stayed a few days and we had a great time - bit of farm work, bit of eating / drinking (Saracen / Cowaramup Club) and a bit of relaxing / walking (North Point and the waterfall).  We chopped and cleared the fallen tree in the back yard and while Rob mowed the lawn, Maree carted the debris to the burn pile on her new favourite toy the quad bike!  She also potted about 30 tubes.  Later I lit the bonfire with one tiny Jiffy Firelighter and burned every last stick from the yard.  We visited their block where i will plant a few trees for them before the winter ends.  On the last night, Haydn, Donna and Ollie joined us for a great dinner and The Boat That Rocked!

Theresa and Rodney popped in (after we ran into them by coincidence at Bettenaes) and we walked down to the house pad.  They stayed a while before heading off to Settlers for dinner.  It was really good to see them out and about!

Finally on Saturday morning, our visitors left and I sent Rob a text to say I was available for a nice relaxing conversation!  But it was not to be - next minute Ollie knocked and we spent some time over a coffee talking about his dilemna in getting sponsorship; then no sooner was he out the door than Kaye and Ted and Hannah rang with an invitation to lunch in Margaret River with her family.  So off we went and had a lovely time at Clairault - it was great to see "Big Hannah" and "Big Ted" again!

So my "lonely quest" to build the Silk Road starts today!  Have had a mad morning - cleaning visitor rooms; washing sheets; cleaning and mouse-proofing all the cupboards; cleaning out the freezer / fridge!  Believe it or not, I have enjoyed it immensely and really look forward to having the whole house in order for my next five weeks and return in December.

Thats it for today....