"We're all going on a....summer holiday"

Friday

Someone had a crazy idea of leaving at a very crazy time, so I woke up at 6 and we left at 6:40. I withdrew money first, cos I figured there would be a lot of spending.

Went to 13's house, and left as a two car convoy - I was in some BMW thingy. Stopped off at good old Bunbury and had breakfast - $8 for a ham and cheese croissant, but it was nice.

After hanging round the house for a bit and unpacking and what-not, went to Flutes at Brookland Valley for lunch. The plan was to use the entertainment books to get a discount, and instead it was a public holiday, so they couldn't use them, and there was an addition 15% surcharge on top of the normal prices. So, yeah.... I had some lamb shank thing, which was good. But not cheap, as you could imagine.

Went back home, cos some more people had arrived. Hung around a bit, then went to Simmos for icecream. I had some mars bar one - wasn't exactly very reminiscient of a mars bar, actually.

Went to Meelup beach after that. The water looked cold, so we just stayed sitting around and sent VC in to check. He stayed out a while, then wandered back saying "its really nice, actually". Well, of course, it wasn't - actually, it was really freezing.

Went back home and I tried to fix some computer stuff while others were starting dinner and making fire. Managed to get the Atari console working - very easy. But the power kept flicking off, so I stopped and went downstairs. I figured there might be a blackout, so I made sure I knew where the candles were. Then there was a blackout.

Played some bridge, which worked pretty well and helped pass the time - about 2 hours.

Played the murderer game after dinner, then played it a few more times. Finally slept about 1:30.

Saturday

Tried to sleep in. Didn't really work. Was deliberately woken up at around 9. Ate a few scones for breakfast.

Went to the Chcolate Factory first. I had a coffee - didn't really help, but it was quite a good one.

Then went to the Cheese Factory. I stayed outside mainly, cos it was crowded.

Went to Margaret River next, cos apparently they wanted to do shopping. It was very crowded, so it took a while to find parking, and then it was far away from the shops. Bought some uninteresting stuff.

Went to the Berryfarm next. Attempted to book, but only half an hour's notice, so didn't really help. I got to sit down at a table anyway. Had a beef pie that was $19. And, no, it wasn't that big. The sauce was nice, but there wasn't much beef. Anyway....

Went to Leuwin and Voyager after that. Yeah, wine....Great.

Then went to Lake Cave. A few people went in, and the rest of us stayed outside. I drank coffee and played bridge.

Back home, I went and fed the chickens. Then I did some more computer stuff, and resolved that the headphones must be faulty.

Had BBQ for dinner. The Perera boys were hanging around, so I tried to convince them that my chickens were invisible at nighttime and walked around the house. Then the oldest told me lots of stories involving his pets dying or killing other animals.

It was time for the proper Bucks and Hens stuff after that. Now, obviously, this is SMB, so I'll have to be a little hazy on the details. Needless to say, 13 was wearing some clothing which he seemed to like but shouldn't, and did a lot of walking.

Went to Busselton and managed to find some pub that was open, but fairly quiet. They all sculled a middie of beer at the end, and so I don't drink I was given Coke - but it was a pint. Still, managed to get about 4/5 way through. And thus did the Apu 'I thought I was a humingbird of some kind' along the street afterwards.

Went to the Busselton jetty afterwards, cos VC had this idea that it was a 'right of passage', or some sort. I think there was some deep meaning behind it, but noone else could figure it out. We all had some cigars just before, but there were cigarette sized very cheap ones. Tasted absolutely foul, like eating a bonfire, or something. I needed to take someones Corona to wash away the taste.

We went back after that. Since 13 was walking at the time, we had to wait until he came back.

Was forced by Pereras to play twister. But I managed to beat VC, so thats OK.

13 managed to make 3kms in about half an hour. But than o kinda spoiled it by unlocking the doors.....

Slept about 2.

Sunday

Woke up around 10.

Filled the birdbaths, and went with Pereras to see chickens and fill their water.

Then went with their whole family, plus o and her friend from overseas on some random drive. Eventually ended up at the Candy Cow in Cowaramup. Unfortunately, they'd moved their candy making facilities to Perth somewhere....but at least we saw them making fairy floss.

We arranged lunch then. The original plan was to go to Bootleg, but it was insanely crowded as I thought it would be. We thus decided to go to Wicked Ale, which ended up being a 50 minute wait for food (and not too fancy food, neither) out in the freezing cold and sometimes raining. Still, the food wasn't bad when it arrived....

Played some game like pictionary but with playdoh - I wasn't that good with making pictures, but we staged a big comeback at the end by using the doh as a prop instead.

Went to Seafood Grill in Dunsborough for dinner. I had ribs (?). They were very good size-wise, but I thought they could've done with more sauce - it was a bit dry.

We went to Busselton afterwards, cos o's friend needed to get out more. Went to McDonalds to buy icecream - I had a caramel sundae cos I thought it would be warmish (it wasn't) then to the Busselton jetty again (never then twice in two days). I walked the full length this time - very tiring.

Went back after that and I went to bed almost straight away. Slept with the lights and my glasses on at about 11:30.

Monday

Woke up at around 10:30, thus making it about 11 hours sleep. Don't know if it really helped, though.

Had a big cooked breakfast thing to try and use up the food - sausages, bacon, mushrooms, pancakes, etc.

Cleaned the house, then went down to Watershed for lunch. It was crowded, so we had to sit outside - which was freezing. I got a hot chocolate and some pasta. Luckily, it didn't take anywhere near as long as Wicked Ale, so I didn't have to wait too long and thus die of cold.

Popped across to Voyager (again). Perera kids had lots of fun ringing the bell, much to the annoyance of everyone else there.

Drove home after that. Left at 5 and got to 13's house at 8. I went home after that, cos I was tired and not hungry.

Unpacked, did washing, etc. Went to bed by 10:30.