July 2004
I went into the cinema knowing nothing at all about the film Secret Window . I had seen the poster and knew it starred Johnny Depp who I hadn't been a fan of since Pirates of The Carribean. I enjoyed it and recommend it. It's probably best to see it with no prior knowledge so I'll say nothing about it here.
I'm 46 (today) and still keeping a diary! Birthday lunch with the team from work in Fai Kam then dinner in the more exclusive V9 wine bar in the Sofitel, Silom... Fantastic.
While the children and teachers enjoy the long summer holiday, the business staff hold their annual sports day. Not too many sports but lots of cheering and singing and dressing up!
Just one day to go till my trip to the Western Australian coast. Meeting up with Pauline and Rachael and planning on doing a lot of driving. The longest stretch will be around 750km up to Shark bay on 24th July. Plenty of coffee I guess.
I believe the beaches south of Perth are open again after the shark attack at the beginning of the week Shark repellant is the answer and I'm packing two cans this year.
At last the holiday has begun. A 5am alarm call followed by a traffic free taxi ride through the normally clogged streets of Bangkok bound for the airport. A seven hour flight passed reasonably quickly with a good book and film (Jersey Girl). Arrived at Perth, got an upgraded hire car from Hertz then drove to the Novotel Langley in the city centre. Same hotel as the Thai air crew were checking into. The hotel was celebrating Christmas in July so after a brisk walk around chilly Perth Sak and I enjoyed Christmas dinner!
The Novotel has a gym and hot tubs on the top floor. A fantastic view even if you weren't in the mood for exercise (which I wasn't). A brisk walk along Riverside Drive was a cool, fresh contrast to Bangkok. Langley Park, though deserted, was home to birds you'd expect to see in cages. Brightly coloured and quite tame.
Drive along the south coast from Albany, in a westerly direction towards Augusta. On the way took the Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk, an elevated walkway (40m high) through the tops of the huge tingle trees.
From the excellent Augusta Youth Hostel we drove north after realising that the whale watching boat trip we'd booked on would not go ahead due to bad weather. First stop was a very large cave tour, then lunch at Hamelin bay followed by wine tasting at the Voyager Estate. That evening's destination was Bunbury.
From Bunbury we headed to Freemantle staying just outside the town in the Woodman Point Holiday Park.
A short drive up the coast to the isolated village of Lancelin. Lots of stops along the way to see the beautiful coast.
Today was to be the long drive (800km) all the way up the coast to Monkey Mia, the Dolphin Bay Resort.
Just like clockwork, at 8:00am each morning the dolphins come into the beach (right outside my chalet) for their daily feed.
Driving south now to Geraldton. A town with a modern museum telling the stories of the many shipwrecks in this part of the world.
Back to Perth vis the Nambung National Park, known as Pinnacles. Limestone formations rise out of the sand like a dragon's teeth. What are they? "These are the skeletal remains of trees that grew thousands of years ago, before being engulfed and chocked to death by invading sands. As sand dunes move, calcified and silicified pinnacles appear."
The last few days of the holiday were spent with Pauline. A boat trip and wine tasting along the Swan River, A camel ride, picnic in Yanchep national park, shopping and hiking punctuated with some great food and dining experiences. A great holiday.
It's been one hell of and end of school year. That's why I haven't had time to write anything here. Looking forward to a slow easing into the holiday now.