An update...

Monday Nov 27

Hi there,

We’ve been having fun the past few days, staying in our quiet little caravan park at Safety Bay next to Rockingham. On Saturday morning we met with Marcus and Tarni and went to the Fremantle Markets which was fun- lots of excellent and well priced fruit and veggies so we stocked up. We then checked out a few windsurfing stores for some of the new gear Adam is after, but no luck so far.

On Saturday afternoon I had a windsurfing lesson, which went for just over 2 hours and the wind was quite strong. I had fun and was exhausted at the end of it. It was worth the money as my teacher, Pat, pointed out a few things about where to balance my weight more effectively etc, which has made it easier for me to sail more smoothly using a harness and with my feet in the footstraps. While I was having a lesson Adam was out sailing as well, having a blast in the strong wind. After we came in we were both tired and hungry, and happy after having a good sail, so we treated ourselves and went out for an excellent Thai meal in Safety Bay.

On Sunday we went for an early walk and swim and then drove back up to Fremantle to go to the weekend markets again and get some more fruit as the first lot tasted so good- especially the peaches! It was really hot and sticky- about 33- and the cafes were crowded so we went for a walk around and then came back- it was too warm to sit down for a coffee. Fremantle has some lovely old buildings and architecture, a dominant outdoor café culture (a bit like Melbourne) and is a good place to wander around and people watch, even though the port area has a fairly industrial feel and isn’t especially scenic.

Yesterday afternoon the seabreeze was blowing, but wasn’t as strong, so Adam caught up on some emails etc while I went out for a sail and practiced a few of the things I had learned the day before, which was easier to do in the lighter wind. Then last night I made Adam set up our antenna so I could watch the final of Australian Idol…hehe…go Damien!

We’ve had an excellent day today- warm and sunny, with a light breeze and the water here is so aqua and clear, with white sands. We took a boat trip across to Pelican Island, where there is a colony of little penguins. We then boarded a short boat cruise to nearby Seal Island, home to a colony of sea lions. They were fantastic to see, resting on the beach, or wrestling with each other in the water- some of them even swam up to the boat- they are huge! They go out to sea fishing for days at a time then come into the island to rest and regather their strength.

After that we returned to Pelican Island, which is very pretty, with rocky shores, white sands and clear water, and lots and lots of nesting terns, seagulls and pelicans! There must have been thousands of birds on the tiny island, with chicks everywhere. The pelicans bills were a bright pink, as that is there breeding “plumage”. We took a walk around the island (it reminded me a bit of the coastline in SA) and went to the Penguin Discovery Centre where they house injured and orphaned penguins and feed them at certain times of the day- very cute little things. We didn’t spy any in the wild though, as they all would have been hiding out of the sun apparently. We then took the ferry back to Rockingham.

Back at Rockingham we jumped in the clear water for a swim, before having a cake and coffee on the main café strip. So an excellent day with a real holiday feel today.
There is a bit of wind but we’ve decided to give sailing a miss this afternoon as we both feel exhausted and have had so much sun and wind lately. I think I have windsurfed about 26 days out of the last 30! My back and shoulders feel strong as a result, but they are nevertheless also very tired and Adam also feels all over tired.

Tues

We are down at Mandurah today, having a look around and some lunch. Bit cloudy so we might catch a movie later. Setting off for Bunbury tomorrow.

We are adjusting to being in our caravan again too, slowly but surely.

Hope you are well and happy- miss you and sending our love, Emma & Adam xx