Sunday, February 27, 2011

I can't believe I'm being paid for this..

Is this paradise or what? I considered calling this post: "Busselton-the time an emu snatched my ice cream! and finally, some KANGAROOS!", but I thought that the current title is more appropriate. I just can't believe that I was paid for last week.

Busselton is a beach town that is an approximate 2.5 hour drive south of Perth. The family shares a beach house there, but we had it to ourselves for the week. The house is maybe 1/10 of a mile from this gorgeous beach.

On Tuesday morning, we packed up the cars and drove south to Busso. Immediately, we threw on our bathers (bathing suits) and ran to the beach. It was unbelievably perfect seas and the sky was unreal. This was the pattern for the next 5 days-ridiculous weather and calm seas. They say there are usually zillions of flies down south, but this time there were very very few. (They said that I must be good luck, because the weather forecast for the week had been rainy, gray and generally yucky weather!)

After beaching for a while, we went back to the house to relax, unpack, grocery shop and cook dinner. We made leek risotto and grilled barrumundi (I think?) and called it an early night. Bella wanted to have a sleepover and a midnight feast, so we ate some smarties (which are like M&Ms) at 7pm and then she crawled into my bed and fell asleep. She was so cute and excited when she woke up the next morning and saw that we did have a sleepover. I love that little girl!

The plan for the day was beach and then for me to get to see my first kangaroos. We headed out to this place that they had gone to for years and found out that it had recently shut down! I was disappointed, but the parents were way more disappointed for me. They assured me that they would not leave Busso until I saw my first kanga. Anyway, we went to this famous ice cream farm called Simmo's, which makes fresh ice cream from local dairy. I had some white chocolate ice cream, but I'm really not an ice cream fan (unless it's Larrys!!!). The rest of the family loved it as usual. I was still eating my ice cream, when the family was reminded that there is an emu enclosure at the back of the property. Since everyone else was finished, we walked back there and a giant emu was standing by the fence. (FYI: it's e-myou, not e-moo) I walked up close to the fence to take a picture and all of a sudden, with a neck movement like wildfire, the emu SNATCHED MY ICE CREAM! The girls thought they had never seen anything more hysterical in their lives and we all had a great laugh. It actually just stretched its neck 2 feet through the fence and grabbed the cone! Unreal! When the mom gives me a disc of her photos, I'll add them on here. Anyway, by now it was later in the afternoon, so we played on the playground and then headed to Dunsborough to walk around. A tourism bureau told us of a different place to pet kangaroos, so we made plans to go there the next day. We cooked dinner again and had another early night (the girls wake up before 6am, so we are totally knackered by 9pm). The two year old, who looks and talks like an infant, learned to say "Poor Yaya" (which she thinks is her name). It is so adorable!

We woke up and had breakfast at this really cool outdoor gallery, Goana Galleries, and played around there for a while. Such a delicious breakfast of amazing toast, poached eggs, roasted tomatoes and mushrooms, and served with pesto. So so so yummy. Then, it was time for the dad to head home with the 2 year old, and we went on a Mommy, baby, Dana day (which we do every other week or so). We were off to some wineries in the region, which are gorgeous and plentiful. There are probably a few hundred wineries off these 2 winding roads. But first, before the wineries, it was KANGAROO TIME!!!! We went to this cute farm, where we met goats, horses, cows, ponies, llamas, emus, alpacas, bunnies, birds, chickens, AND KANGAS! We first met a wallaroo (wallaby/kanga mix) who was so sweet. We fed all the animals carrots, lettuce, bread and seeds. We also saw a joey and its mom, as well as a bunch of other kangaroos. We rounded the corner, and a little kangaroo was just sitting on the path-not in an enclosure!! I cuddled it for a while and we took a million pictures, and then it was time to go. I loved the kangaroos, but I was pretty excited for wine tasting and for the Berry Farm. The Berry farm cultivates its own jams, chutneys, relishes, pickles, ports, wines, olive oil, vinegars, etc. We got to try everything and also shared a tasting plate of olives, Turkish bread, feta and amazing olive oil with balsamic. Everything was phenomenal! It was such a great day, but of course, we had to head back to the baby and the dad. The parents got ready to go on a date. I watched the girls and went to bed pretty early.

We woke early to go to the beach and then out to brekkie at this place called the Goose, which overlooks the longest pier in the southern hemisphere. We then went to the park next door, which was AMAZING! They had this awesome tireswing that is probably 6 feet off the ground and spins so fast and swings you really high. Me and the 4 year old were dying of laughter the whole time, but then I was super nauseus for a few hours. After we relaxed for a bit, we went down to the beach. Then, the dad wanted to take me to all these breweries, which Margaret River and down south are famous for. We did a bit of a pub crawl and tried some really interesting beers at some beautiful breweries. We came home after a few hours and it was time for me and the mom to go get manicures. We got the gel-ish ones that are supposed to last 4 weeks, but mine had something wrong with them, so I have a voucher for a free mani when we come back to Busso in March. The manis were like 70 each, but the mom wanted to treat me! Then, we picked up fish and chips, then scooped the girls and the dad, and went for an evening picnic on the beach. It was gorgeous and fun and we swam in the ocean until nearly sunset.

Saturday we went to the beach and then met up with Granny, who was down for the weekend with her boyfriend and his friend (they are both vice presidents of Yankee Candle!!!). They were staying at this gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous resort. I watched the girls and swam in the incredible infinity pool while the parents and granny went to a winery for lunch. When they came back we went back to the pool and then had cheese, jams, wine and crackers before heading home with the girls. Another good day.

On Sunday we woke up and packed, then headed back to the Goose for brekkie. The two year old woke us all up by saying "Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness!" She must have learned that phrase from me, because people don't say that here. Adorable! Then we hit the road!

Every day I was going on great beach runs, which I loved. I wish my house in Perth was a bit closer to the water so I could do that more often. Overall, an incredible week. I still can't believe that I was paid for all the fun I had. I am really living a hard knock life down here. Poor Dana..

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