Our Bucket List Travels

Dear Fam and Friends, We left Ben, Victoria and boys at Benger after having had a fabulous time at their farm.   We were so sad to leave, and this made us realise that we were missing our own families more than we had realised.   The weather had turned very miserable with freezing winds and rain, all of which added to our feelings. It was only a 100km south to Busselton, taking a pretty drive in from the main coast road (Highway 1), rather like Gippsland’s rolling green hills, although I’m sure it browns off in summer.  As mentioned previously, there had been extraordinary rainfall throughout the region and the paddocks were saturated; a mix of dairy and stud cattle farms predominantly, with plenty of lush pasture.   At Busselton I had booked through our time share a two-bedroom Sebel apartment south of the city, beautifully located on the beach, if only the weather had been more hospitable, we could have enjoyed the walks along the beach front, but the cold weathe...

Hello Fam and Friends, we left you at Carnamah in the mid west wheat belt, with farmers expecting a bumper season of wheat, canola and lupins. Prior to reaching Perth on July 21, we spent a day/overnight at New Norcia, a destination on our bucket list as we have been to Norcia, Umbria on our first trip to Italy many years ago.  On arrival we were quite stunned by the ecclesiastical buildings, both in number and size.  The monastery was first set up as a mission to educate young aboriginal boys.  The excellent information centre and museum/art gallery were full of interesting history and artifects relating to the settlement, which has had a chequered life following settlement by two Spanish Benedictine monks in 1847.  There are now only 7 monks in residence, and the village relies almosy entirely on tourism.  I would highly recommend a visit, it can be a day trip from Perth central, approximately 126km and is a pretty drive.  There is no caravan park per say...