056 - Kalbarri (22/5/17)

So as another day broke in Kalbarri it was James’s turn to be spoilt with a fish down on the jetty with a bit of “Dad Time”. This allowed B to focus some school time on the big kids, although it’s safe to say that Sam was somewhat dejected that he didn’t get to go. Word has it that he finished his schooling in no time flat, with little care for quality with the intent of trying to join James and I sooner. I’m afraid that level of commitment doesn’t wash with this version of Mrs White (as I’m sure it doesn’t with the Mrs White at Notre Dame also) and he was made to stay to at least ‘tick all the boxes’…

James and I didn’t have too much success that morning, but still managed to snag a few little more bream and tailor but nothing that was remotely notable.

Once back as a posse we did a bit of a drive to the coast south of Kalbarri, to check out sites such as Blue Holes (still too choppy to snorkel) and the Red Bluff walk. It still amazes me that you can have such a variety of geography where land meets sea. Here we saw layers of sandstone like none we’d encountered dive into the sea and tell a tale of millenia of sand and sea. B and I often discuss with the kids about how the land might have looked 100 years, 1000 years or a million years ago. Something tells me this land hadn’t changed in quite some time…

I personally love our "Tailgate Lunches". It's like a kitchen with an ever changing benchtop location

I'm not sure why these guys were hiding behind the rocks but it was a funny shot.

I love this shot. This was just after getting off the phone to Pop. One of the more picturesque phone calls I've made!

Love the context of the kids in this shot.

"Layers... Onions have layers..."

Mental note - introduce the kids to Shrek or these jokes will continue to go unrewarded.

Following on from that, we headed back in to town where we lined up to have a catch up with Matt and Ellen and their kids. Remember them? The disgustingly good looking Matt with a Colorado and 3 kids travelling the country? No? Check out the Whyalla post. Before meeting them though we had an hour to kill so the girls hired a stand up paddle board whist I’ll give people one guess what the boys wanted to do… Yep… down to the jetty we went.

Not much luck at all with James pulling in the only bream in the 30min or so we were there, but the girls did paddle past which we thought was rather humorous….

This was taken from our fishing spot. One thing I love about my wife is her continued determination to do what she loves. Even when Evie wants to sit on the front of the board...

Catching up with Matt and Ellen was fantastic, and a much needed injection in familiarity in our lives. One thing we’ve come to realise is the value of friends and family in your life. Whilst we know everyone is there supporting us, and through constant Facebook, blog and phone messages we are still being followed and included in lives, it’s not until you sit down for a drink with someone other than us 5 that you realise how important it is.

And truth be told, to this point, the Whites and the Butchers have known each other for a collective amount of time of about 3hrs, but there’s a synergy, a familiarity in what we’re doing and why we’re doing it that means catching up with them is incredibly rewarding.

The kids enjoying the merry-go-round at the Kalbarri Hotel. Quite possibly the most loved piece of playground equipment in the world. Loved not only by the kids,  but also loved more by the parents having a jar just out of shot...

So a few cheeky pints were had before we had do bid adieu before we had to honour a dinner date with another travelling family who were in the van across the park from us, with through the kids, we’d struck up another chord.

This time it was Peter, Angie, Zara and Monty and Angie’s parents with whom we shared a camp kitchen table for dinner. And whilst it’s incredibly unlikely that we’ll cross their paths, it was another case of having yet another great family pass through our lives making a small but important imprint on our trip.

James and his buddy Monty. These two were almost twins if not for the haircuts. They might not ever remember each other, but they were, for the briefest of moments, the best mates you could ever have.