Here's the travelog for Thursday and Friday:
We slept well Wednesday night and got up early on Thursday due to jet lag. We had to close the windows due to bugs getting in after dark since there are no screens, so we ran the AC until the middle of the night. We had our regular breakfast and then headed off for the day.
To leave the garden we walk past the verandah which is used as an outdoor living area, including the main dining room for the house so we ended up joining I and T (our hosts) and J (her cousin visiting from France) for tea and a visit before heading off to find the 'non-tourist' shopping area.
We picked up some snacks and a prepared salad for me to have for lunch and then walked down to the beach to eat.
Before the sand was a large area with shade trees and grass so we set up there to rest and just stare at the water and our surroundings while eating. The shade of the tree was so deep, I was actually cold from the breeze off the water despite it being a hot day.
We walked home along the beaches until they ended, enjoying watching the dogs play at their beach. Once home, I settled in the garden with tea and a mincemeat tart. T joined me (and I had tea to offer him) and then his sister and wife joined and more chairs were dragged down from their part of the garden and we had a lovely visit. They invited us for dinner which we accepted.
After they left I had a time reading while dh watched a movie and then went to the verandah for a lovely cheese fondue with fresh fruit for dessert. It is stone-fruit season here and the peaches are very good.
For photos of our cottage and the garden, view the photos from the AirBnB page:
https://www.airbnb.com.au/rooms/16770537Friday we woke up early after another good sleep, this time without AC at all. We scrambled to get our breakfast before leaving at 7:40 for coffee down by the beach. There is a huge coffee culture here with 2 or more independent cafes on each block (or so it seems.)
We had coffee with an assortment of people, the table expanding and contracting as people came. It is summer holidays here so a grandchild came as well and had a babychino (just frothed hot milk with a sprinkle of chocolate on top.)
We walked back via the grocery store and then after a short break headed off to pick up the rental car for the weekend.
First stop with the car was up in the Gooseberry Hills where we retrieved the passport. It was so different up there compared to by the beach. The beach area reminds us of beach communities in Southern California. Up in the hills it felt more like the hills around Aptos.
From there we went on to Perth to visit with our cruise friends. We met them almost 10 years ago on a cruise from Miami to Los Angeles and fell in love with them on that trip. We visited them at their home in Perth about 6 months later, actually staying with them for a few days. And then we visited again when we were here a few years ago. Despite going from 91 to almost 101 in that time, L has hardly changed, nor has B. They have given up their home and moved into a wonderful senior apartment complex. We are envious of their apartment and amenities in their complex, especially their large terrace complete with tap and electricity so they can fully use this outdoor space. They also have an exceptionally well designed kitchen. I love good design.
We had a lovely visit that included a wonderful afternoon tea of sweets, fruit and cake. I was shocked when dh gave me the time signal and mentioned we'd been there for 3 hours already. The time had flown by. We dragged out the goodbye a bit, not wanting to leave when we know it is so long between visits. We do love this part of the world as well as our friends here so will try and get back next year.
We needed to pick up fly nets for our hiking at Uluru so looked up an outdoor shop but it was right in downtown Perth and we drove by without seeing it. We kept going and parked at Kings Park to walk around and take in the view of the cityscape on the banks of the Swan River and plan our next step.
It was chilly there with the wind so we passed on walking to a restaurant not too far away and instead drove to another location of Grill'd. It is a healthy hamburger chain that ds introduced us to in 2015. We enjoyed our burgers greatly (and I had another ginger beer) and then we headed back to Fremantle. There was a grocery store at the mall with Grill'd and so we picked up bacon for the morning meal.
We were into bed not too late because we knew we had an early start the next day. It was chilly and through the night we were cold and put on our pjs from Qantas.