Weekend

The beautiful weather continues and luckily the wind has calmed down.  We had been disappointed because we thought we would not see Gavin’s friend Saul, his wife Jen and son Hugo, and were pleasantly surprised when Gavin got a text a couple of days ago to ask if we were still visiting.  Apparently they were still in Bali when his mum died and her funeral was soon after so they didn’t have time to get to New Zealand for it but it meant we were still able to visit them.

Saul and Jen are both in IT but have fully embraced a country life and hopefully eventually ‘off grid’ living on a 25 acre farm in The Perth Hills in an area called Morangup.  They had a five acre plot in Brigadoon again in The Perth Hills but decided they needed more land.  As with Alison and David’s, it is all very dry at this time of year but we have been told that in a few weeks all will be a lot greener.

They have done amazingly well as they moved during Covid with Hugo as a baby and lived rough on the farm in a large barn, Hugo had the luxury of a trailer tent with basic air conditioning.  Saul did most of the work himself with Jen helping out where she could to build their home.  It is still a work in progress but they do now have all but any bathrooms so a trip to the loo is to the compost toilet is in the barn and that is where the shower is too.  Jen has given Saul a deadline of winter to complete one bathroom, so the pressure is on! They have had problems getting building materials which has slowed progress down.  When we arrived Saul was trying to trace a blockage in the pipeline from their well which is no easy job as pipeline very long.  They showed us the well which has a wind turbine producing pure water and is better than quality of water in Perth.  Jen insisted it was tested as soon as they moved in.

There are a few sheep and three alpacas on the farm but as Saul grew up on a cattle farm in New Zealand he hopes eventually to have some cows.  Jen would like to grow some wheat and they have a thriving veggie plot.  They also plan to install solar panels on the barn and have no electricity from the grid and also save by having no standing charges as they have none for water.  Hugo is a lovely little three year old and full of energy and he was very pleased to see us all.  They have two large dogs, one of which is allergic to something on the farm and has to have antihistamine injections and is now a lot better but it will be ongoing probably for life.

We admire their efforts and hope they continue to enjoy living on the farm.  Saul still works in Perth but Jen has just gone self employed and can work from home most of the time, they are still in IT.  Gavin loves going there and loved the idea of country living but for the moment continues to work FIFO.

They took us to their local Tavern at Noble Falls about a twenty minute drive from the farm and we had a delicious lunch before coming back to Fremantle which is about an hour and a quarter drive away from the farm.

View of ménage last owner started but never finished (grey area) Lisa would love it

House and the teepee where Gavin and Camila stayed when they visited

View from Noble Fall Tavern of Perth Hills

Barn living when they first arrived 

Rams

House

Tavern

Alpacas

On the way back we called in to a dive shop called Adreno to hire and buy diving equipment for Gavin.  He thought he could hire it all but had to purchase mask, fins, snorkel and boots and hired the rest.  The guy who served him is a Dive Master and very knowledgeable and was very helpful giving advice on getting the right equipment for Gavin and not just giving a hard sell.  We were there quite a while and Camila joined us to hire her stuff as well as they planned to dive early on Sunday morning.  She drove Gavin home while we came back and had quick showers before setting off again , this time to have a fajita evening at Laura and Pierre’s home about a thirty minute drive out of Fremantle.  We were all tired and could have stayed at home to be honest.  

We were so glad we went out this evening as we had a great time and Laura and Pierre made us so welcome and we also met their two Golden Retrievers Kevin and Luna.  More of Gavin’s friends were there and a great time was had by all.  We sat outside and I made sure I used bug spray and had long sleeved trousers and top on because when we had dinner at the house a few evenings ago, I didn’t use spray and the mosquitoes had a feast!

Sunday

Gavin and Camila really enjoyed their dive this morning at Bulk Jetty near Rockingham and all the equipment worked well.  Camila had been nervous as it is their first dive since they qualified but their friend Bear is very experienced and Nicola has done quite a few dives so all went well.  Gavin will tell us more this evening when he comes for dinner.

We walked into Fremantle to do a bit of shopping, then light lunch on the Cappuccino Strip watching guys driving their classic cars drive by, together with motorbikes and scooters. Walked back for a relaxing afternoon, yes and a snooze!  Next week we have nothing much planned as it’s our final week here, but will take each day as it comes.

House close to where we are, just love the architecture