And once again, just like that we’re back on the move.
As I’ve said before, it was a real dilemma to only stay at
Ayr Sailean two nights. A wonderful peaceful place (even after we arrived) we I
think you could go to recharge the batteries without losing most of life’s
mod-cons. But, it was a little too far out of the way, and after our week long
stint in Lucky Bay, we needed to make sure we stayed on the move or else actually
feel some resemblance of Winter this year, Heaven forbid.
So we hooked up and headed out of camp. Not before however
needing to engage 4WD to actually get off our site. The strange hook up angle
meant that The Rock Truck was particularly nose up (or tail down depending on
how you look at it) and The Big Green Lizard was digging it’s heels in, not
wanting to go. A bit like Evie really…
Still, the boys smirked at the light tyre spinning before
the Colorado hmphed, got serious and used all wheels to move the stubborn van
no problem. There’s no denying who is the boss in that relationship.
So off we headed, through some absolutely beautiful scenery
and forestry. It really is a truly unique part of the world. And we also knew
we were bypassing some ripper spots, obviously determined to save places like
Augusta and Gloucester Tree for next time.
We’d earmarked the playground at Manjimup as a lunchtime
spot with the intention of getting on to Busselton later that afternoon. Right
on time we rolled into Manjimup where we were met with a spectacular park
setting for one of the best playgrounds I’ve ever seen. Well, for free at
least.
The crowning jewel of this playground however was a 3 to 4
story stainless steel slide that snaked it’s way to the ground with shiny
intent. Armed with it’s own rules and guidelines, you know this was no ordinary
playground attraction.
And it proved to be.
The Death Slide in all it's tall and shiny awesomeness. What a ripper to get this piece of equipment through a business case OHS review.
And not just a playground... but educational too.
As B and I were quietly sipping our coffees chatting about
where we might stay that night, we heard the unfortunately recognisable scream
of one our kids in serious pain. It’s funny isn’t how you know the difference
between “real” pain and “I’m a PIA” kind of pain… This was real pain.
We look over and see it was James who owned the screaming
and Evie and Sam standing off to the side, quietly knowing something other than
a normal headclash or Chinese burn was to blame. We get over to James and find
him with a reasonable amount of blood coming from his mouth and his front
chompers pointing, well, backwards down his throat.
Hmm… this might require a bit more than a bandaid…
It turns out James was flying down the “Death Slide” as I
call it now, where Sam and Evie were commencing to climb it. Upon hearing James’
chuckles, Sam ninja-shadowed himself off the slide but our baby giraffe was not
as nimble. Teeth vs. knee collision occurred with knee the winner on the day.
So a rather hasty pack up of lunch, we found the local
emergency centre no more than 800m from the park, where I dropped B and James
off as you can well imagine, there isn’t much room for a 20ft caravan in the
hospital carpark.
After finding a park out on the street, I touched base with
B in the waiting room to see that normal emergency procedure had taken place.
He’d been initially seen and was now waiting for doctor to check him out.
Knowing that this might take a while, I
headed back to the park with the other two until further instruction.
This allowed us to explore the park a little further (with
the Death Slide banned) and found some awesome displays of the forestry
industry upon which the area was founded. Oh, and a flying fox. I wonder what
the big kids chose to spend their time on.
This tree on display was relocated from nearby woodlands. It was felled many moons ago, and what is on show here is the stump and half of trunk. 38m on display, this monster was 79m tall. It saddens me to think such amazing things are cut down, but they were the times. Much like whaling I suppose.
I particularly liked this part of the playground which looked like it had a heap of channels and gates for water play fun. Alas the pumps brought with it no water so it just looks cool now.
"Yee ha"
Eventually we were summoned back to the hospital where we
needed to then go onwards to the local dentist for an xray and more expert
commentary.
This time, Sam, Evie and myself sat in the car outside and
waited. To be honest, it’s not much fun negotiating away around small quaint
country towns when you’re the length of coach and a pretty limited turning
circle.
I must admit, the big kids were incredibly patient and
tolerant that afternoon. Perhaps through a little guilt, but also I think
because they knew they’d rather be where they were than where Bob was.
That being said however, I’ve decided that James is just
about the toughest out of all of us. With absolutely no pain relief, the kid
just battled on. Perhaps it was the fawning over him, perhaps he was channelling
the Hawks top he was wearing (which he seems to wear most ‘moving’ days) but he
got through no issues whatsoever.
Yep... struggling...
What a trooper and cool dude!
B and I had thought we might just be staying in Manjimup and
we’d lined up a couple of parks in town, but we got out of the dentists around
3.45pm and decided we could push through the last hour and a half to Busselton.
James was showing very little signs of distress so away we went.
Around an hour into the journey, it was clear that we weren’t
making it to Busselton, thanks to some roadworks and the incessant need of the
WA sunlight to diminish so quickly.
So onto “The Bible” B jumped. That’s WikiCamps for those not
in the know.
And we found a winery just outside of Donnybrook which
offered free camping at their cellar. We rang and arranged to call in. We were
met by Pam, the owner of Thomson Brook Wines out of the lawn and she was happy
for us to “chuck it wherever” guys. So we did. Just swung onto the grass and
stopped. Love that kind of parking!
The kids getting it know the dogs of Thomson Brook Winery and giving them a bonus run around. Not a bad setting I think...
As is the custom in these kinds of situations though, we
went to the cellar door and managed to snaffle a shiraz and a white port in
lieu of any camping fees. My kind of accommodation costs!
And there we stayed. On the lawn of a winery. Just another
strange and wonderful spot that we weren’t expecting on this adventure of ours.
It’s days like this that really show the randomness of our
life and the ability to absorb minor crisis when you aren’t stressed or pushed
for time or location.
Apparently this is a ripper drop. I'm no red drinker so I'll default to the expert. Get on it, if you see it in stores somewhere.
No comments:
Post a Comment