It was really nice to get away for a couple days last week.

We left late Thursday afternoon and camped at Honeymoon Pool, near Collie which is about 1 1/2 hours south of Byford. Magic spot in the middle of the bush on the banks of the Collie River.
Friday we headed further south to Pemberton where we climbed the Gloucester Tree - something I've always wanted to do :-), checked out the Cascades and drove along the Heartbreak Trail, a scenic drive along the Warren River. We then headed a little north to Nannup, another small town where we stayed at the Blackwood River Cottages for the night.
On Saturday we took our time heading home, going through more little country towns like Manjimup, Bridgetown and Donnybrook. It was just great not having a routine or schedule to stick too and just being able to stop in these towns to check out all their cute little stores and all the weird and wonderful things they have in them.

Next year again...

a map with some of the towns that we visited on it

everything nice and green

cheesy

our campsite
you can see our sleeping quarters in the back of the Patrol
Rod made the set of drawers from scratch as well as a cargo barrier that can be
laid down...throw a mattress on top and you're all set!

aaahh the serenity!

Gloucester Tree
I didn't take a photo of the tree from the ground, so I stole one from the internet

go Rod!

yay, made it - 61m above the ground!

it's a long way down

The Cascades and surrounds

Heartbreak Trail

tall tree country

some strange looking tree

Blue Wren Cottage - aptly named for this little guy that
flits around here and there

warm and cosy inside

private gazebo overlooking the river

fruit trees in blossom - very pretty!

The kids have been dropped off...

The car is pretty much packed...

Just waiting for Rod to get home now
and we'll be off for few days down
south for a little getaway :-)

Celebrations!

25 years ago, a brave couple by the names of Mr and Mrs Cees and Margaret van der Veen along with their 4 children, Ingrid, Paul, Erica and Annette, packed their belongings, jumped on a plane and left South Africa for The Land Down Under!

We celebrated this event last Saturday with a delicious breakfast at Dad and Mum's place followed by a fun game of 10 pin bowling.

Renee's cool art work

Food, food, glorious food!
...bacon and eggs, scones, muffins, yogurt, croissants, pikelets, fruit platter...

Cheers! To the next 25 years...

go Annette!

Marcel's got style

mmm, whose bump is bigger?

the whole gang

~ some of the photos are from an email so the quality isn't so good ~

and a few more

Devon's new favourite face to pull...

haha, I'm soooo funny!

and he is :-)

such a goof!

anyone for some corn?

Winter 2010

Sooo, what have we been up to? This and that and a bit in between. Mostly relaxing and playing outside...

...and enjoying this beautiful winter weather

the very important boots that must go on when one goes outside

I've also been to IKEA with Kathryn during the school holidays to get another toy storage system...

there's two here, side by side

also got this cute bookcase for the play room

Roseanne was up in Perth for a week during her mid-semester break. She celebrated her birthday while she was up so we had her and Mike and Kaffa round for dinner.

Hooray!


We also went to Rockingham for lunch and a play on another beautiful sunny winter's day. Ingrid and girls and Mum and Renee joined us too.

June Long weekend...

We've known for a few weeks but we (Ingrid really) decided we should have a little celebration gourmet dinner for this lovely couple...who, as you can see, are very excited to be expecting their first baby at the end of December, DV!!!! YAY, I'm going to be an Aunty again :-) And now we can give Annette some child-rearing tips for a change, seeing as she's always quick to give them to us!

the happy grandparents-to-be

our lovely hosts - Ingrid and Paul

mmm, a delicious omelet in the making

and the beautiful Renee

The photo of Marcel was not suitable for posting and no pic of Charlene seeing as she is off gallivanting in South Africa at the moment, trying to win over Willem's heart...they met and started going out when he came over here, but the romance sort of sizzled out soon after he went back...from his side...they're still friends, so we'll see what happens :-)

it's all a bit too much for the old man

Sunday's are always good for building all sorts
of wonderful things out of the Duplo
(guess who doesn't want to be on the photo)

Monday

Late Monday afternoon we decided to go for a drive down to Dwellingup, a little town in the bush, along a river, about an hours drive south of us. There are lots of 4WD tracks down that way so we did a bit of exploring both in and out of the car. We'll definitely be heading back there one day, it's such a nice spot!

guess who doesn't want to be on the photo again!