Off road from Lancelin to Cervantes

John fancied a 'short drive north', as he puts it, so some 300kms later, we arrived at Lancelin, which was the start of the beach driving trip to Cervantes!!!
Brill fun, as driving on soft sand is quite a challenge. You have to drop your tyre pressures quite a lot to start with and then KEEP MOVING. As soon as you stop, you're bogged, so John kept high up on the dry stuff, with his 'New Ute' that he's stoked about! just in case Jen Jen felt a bit tired, but she was having none of it and coped admirably!

This first photo is the tourist bus that takes you up in the dunes if you don't a vehicle of your own, so you have to watch out for that (not that you could miss it!) but the dunes are so big that even the bus gets swallowed by the humps n bumps!Once we made it down to the beach, we just kept going!


The views are a bit rough, but I took a shot to show you just how ugly it gets! lol
The small dot to the right is John - that's how much sand is here! If I was a brickie, I'd want to wait around for the cement!It just goes on and on...
Must be 'beer - o'clock'

Fed up with it all now....NOT!!!
Going there again, definitely, but will take PP and girlies next time!
Cheers!
JCP

Mandurah visit

A liitle trip to Mandurah was overdue as we're after more ideas for the house we're building (We did our 'pre-start' today, which is the first official meeting with the builders) and Jessica was brilliant!
We finalised all our decisions, from colour of house bricks to kitchen benchtops to driveway blockpavers and even taps design, so that needed a little 'reminder' from our show home in Mandurah!
But Mandurah is so close to the beach, we had a little visit after we looked around the show home.

Girlies on the beach
There was a stagedoor bar and cafe that served GUINESS, so it would be rude not to wouldn't it?After that 'exhausting day' we had to go home for a splash in the pool!

1st Aussie Xmas...

Happy Christmas and a Merry New year 2 you!
We have had a wonderful Christmas and a great new year. (I know it's only 1/4 past 10, but we're home after a short party at Andy & Gail's as we're all cream crackered and want to see the new year in in our pool with a glass of something nice!)

We start with our traditional Xmas eve dinner at home, where we all enjoyed a beautiful turkey crown with all the trimmings and a sparkly Xmas pud before we made reindeer food to spread on the front lawn.

We were all to bed early, so Santa could visit, as we all know he comes here first!!!
and he DID, but I managed to get a quick photo before we opened any???
We took just our stockings to the beach for a Xmas day Barbie with Charlie, Tracey, Will and Tom, where we saw another group on the beach with a blow up tree!!! Now we've seen it all!


We then had a cracking Boxing Day with Mike, Sandra, Matt, Tom and Jen, our friends from KL!
They were here for Xmas so we HAD to have a few days together to catch up and have a few bottles of something nice!?!

Temperatures started to get higher - up towards the high 30s, so a pool party and few more bottles of something nice??? with Linda, Murray, Tiannah, Carly and Georgia.

Cricket was so bad with Aus being thrashed by South Africa that we thought we'd have a little game of our own on the fron green...
Problem was, we only had a tennis ball with a racket to use as a bat! Such is life!
Yesterday was PPs birthday, so we went to Hillary's boat harbour for lunch, a dip in the sea (as it reached 39 C!!!) and it's a nice drive anyway! We came home to a warm pool and glass of something nice!
Cheers! and a Happy New Year!
J,P,E n C xxxx

A birdie at GOLF!!!

Just had to take this pic last Sat whilst spoiling the usual walk around Mari Park Golf Course.

It'll be the only birdie I get!!!

Amazing Suzuki

And we call these 'hairdresser's cars' ???

Top Fuel Drag Racing

Wow!
I was shaken, not stirred by these wicked machines

Did you know …

… that the nitromethane-powered engines of NHRA Top Fuel dragsters produce approximately 7,000 horsepower, about 37 times that of the average street car?

… that one cylinder of the eight cylinders of a Top Fuel dragster produces 750 horsepower, equaling the entire horsepower output of a NASCAR engine?

… that an NHRA Top Fuel dragster accelerates from 0 to 100 mph in less than 0.8-seconds, almost 11 seconds quicker than it takes a production Porsche 911 Turbo to reach the same speed?

… that an NHRA Top Fuel dragster leaves the starting line with a force nearly five times that of gravity, the same force of the space shuttle when it leaves the launching pad at Cape Canaveral?

… that NHRA Top Fuel dragsters consume between four and five gallons of fuel during a quarter-mile run, which is equivalent to between 16 and 20 gallons per mile?

… that NHRA Top Fuel dragsters can exceed 280 mph in just 660 feet?

… that from a standing start, NHRA Top Fuel dragsters accelerate faster than a jumbo jet, a fighter jet, and a Formula One race car?

… that it takes just 15/100ths of a second for all 7,000 horsepower of an NHRA Top Fuel dragster engine to reach the rear wheels?

… that it's desirable for an NHRA Top Fuel dragster to race with its front wheels inches off the ground for about the first 200 feet of the run? This ensures proper weight transfer to the rear wheels, a crucial part of a good launch and quick run.

… that the nitromethane used to power the engines of NHRA Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars costs about $16 per gallon?That's about £35.00!!! and we complain about fuel prices!

Christmas in OZ

Our first Xmas here and things are weeeeired!
We went to buy our tree last Saturday and it seemed wrong to be enjoying high 20s and brilliant sunshine whilst looking for a Christmas tree?
We're used to freezing rain and blowing a Hooley near Newton Abbott, so this was a welcome break.
The tree farm has it sussed, as they give you a trolley, saw and carpet square (for kneeling on) and off you go to find your tree. PP was brave enough to hold the saw but you can guess who did the actual hacking???
The houses around us are all in the mood with thier decs too - reminded us Courtfields in Milverton? (without the snow!)

Getting hotter

Whew - what a scorcher!!! Nearly anyway!
It reached 32 today, after a dodgy start - It nearly RAINED - The cheek of it! but as usual, it turned out nice again - Or was that a saying that George Formby used to say? Now I'm showing my age!

32 deg C was enough to start the clothes pegs melting! Well - the cheap ones we buy anyway!
The pool was LUVERLY though! Thats been THREE days running that PP has ventured in. I'd show you a photo but have yet to get 'permission' !!! So enjoy the girlies having a spot of fun - Oh and Nutty swam 10 lengths today - that's 200 metres, about 500 ft!!! for you whom are yet to go metric. You'd better get used to that before you come here as EVERYTHING is metric - you can't even buy a PINT - you ask for a 'schooner' or LARGE glass - That'll be MINE then!!!
CHEERS!
Jcp

Summer is nearly here!

I know it's blinkin' freeeeezing in the UK, but we're really looking forward to having OUR summer soon. It's getting warmer now and we've been in the pool. Even PP was in yesterday, now that means it's warm!!!

Typical Aussie Humour

MAKES ME PROUD TO BE AN AUSSIE:

'Hello, is this the police?'

'Yes it is. How can we help you?'

'I'm calling to report about my neighbour, Wazza. He's hiding Cocaine inside his firewood!'

'Thank you very much for the call.'

The next day, police officers descend on Wazza's house in great numbers.

They search the house and then go out to the shed where the firewood is kept. Using axes, they bust open every piece of firewood but they find no cocaine.

They swear at Wazza and leave.

The phone rings at Wazza's house. 'Hey, Wazz, Did the cops come?'

'Yeah!'

'Did they chop up your firewood?'

'Yep.'

'Happy Birthday, maaaaaaaaaate...!!!

A busy day...

Getting into the Aussie way of life well and truely now - playing golf, relaxing by the pool, drinking beer and going to the drags!!! (NOT men dressed as women, running down the road, as you might think??? but, reportedly, the best drag racing strip in the world!)
Life's tuff!

Andy, his father in law and I playing golf at Marri Park, a public course seems to be a ragular thing now, so it'd be rude not to wouldn't it?

The pics here are a bit grainy as they were taken on the phone again - sorry 'bout that!

This is why I nearly missed last week's game! Had to wait for this thing to pass as they closed the road to raise the electric cables across the road.

Charlie G, Nige and I went to see the top door slammers comp, which runs once a year in WA as we have the best strip in Australia, so boys with their toys all 'rock up' from all over the world to compete at this event.

Last night, a bew record was set by the door slammers (ZapRat pictured here), which are not true drag cars. They are just 'toys' with 5 litre V8s, producing almost 3000bhp and reaching the end of the 1/4 mile in 5.6 seconds!!! They're doing over 300kph by then too! Wicked!


Looking forward to next month's meet - when the BIG boys bring their BIG toys - The top-fuelers, so watch this space!

The Footy

It's a bit late, this one as we've been a little 'busy' with the move, but are well and truely in a nd settled (almost) now, so was trawling the photos and found this one of when we went to 'Subi oval' to watch the International rules, Ireland vs Oz. Guess who won???

We had to support BOTH sides of course, so we drank Guiness from stubbies and held them with coolers!

That'll make sense when you come see us!
Cheers.

We've MOVED!!!

Well, We're here! We moved last Monday, JUST before it started to rain! (as usual, when we move - EVEN in Oz!) Above is a landscape shot of the other side of the street, as Google maps, streetview doesn't have this street in yet!
Like Father, like Daughter...s. They couldn't wait for ME to build their beds, so they did it themselves!
Just a shot of the kitchen.
And the lounge.
This was PP on the day we moved - I think she's thinking "Here we go again" She says this is the last time, before we move into our OWN house next year, then that's it!! NO MORE piggin MOVIN!
But the pool is nice... ... now! It was a little "unloved" before we came!
How's this for a G n T tree?
Just add ice, oh, and Gin and tonic! but the meringue pies are goooooood!
Nutly in the pool - "It's 2metres deep!"
Ans a shot if where we are now! Jen Jen and all! the balcony is for the G n Ts I mentioned earlier. I'll have one for you Allan P if you're watching!
Cheers!