Perth - Friends and Family fun!

After a quick ride around the caravan park with his new friend Dusty, and another lengthy skate park session for Ben, we left Busselton for Perth.  Our buddies Buzz, Jo and Lana were also visiting Perth from Melbourne that week so we picked a caravan park near where they were staying.

It was a great park even though it was surrounded by roadworks which kept confusing our GPS.  Twice the car navigation took us out the gate, left, down the road 1km, all the way around a roundabout and back 1km past the caravan park and down the road in the direction we actually should have taken in the first place.  After that we never trusted it without corroboration from Google Maps.  It was nice to finally find something with a worse sense of direction than me (Lou).

Being in a big city was nice and we were able to stock up on essentials and just hang out for a while without having to go anywhere in a hurry.  The caravan park had a great pool, playgrounds and lots of speedbumps, ramps and stairs for Ben to ride over.  One morning he yelled "look Mummy!" and I popped my head out the door to see him riding his bike past me whilst standing on the seat!

Stunt riding

We were lucky that our Perth visit coincided with so many great things.  Firstly, we went to Cottesloe Beach to see the Sculptures by the Sea exhibition and marvelled at how enormous our car looked parked in suburban Perth with all the sedans and hatchbacks.  It was not hard to spot in the carpark!  The sculptures were weird and great, and it was a hot day so Ben had a swim in his undies and then had to sprint/dance across the scorching sand to some shade before he could put his shoes and clothes back on.

Can't expect those two to pass a giant nose and not pick it..

We also hit town at the same time as the Camping and Caravan show, which was super handy because we needed to buy some new towing mirrors to replace the ones we had bought on the recommendation of the caravan dealer.  The original mirrors drove us mad with wind noise and rattling and we were also sick of taking them on and off all the time.  Jenny went to the show while Ben and I stayed with the van which was getting it's first service.  She got new mirrors fitted (enormous ones that replace the existing side mirrors) and a bunch of other little things we needed, saving money because of the show specials. She also did her bit for inclusion and basic civility.  When she arrived at the show, she parked behind a ute that had a big "F&%k off we're full" sticker on the bumper bar so she looked around and while no-one was watching, peeled it off.  Too bad she didn't have a 'Magic Happens' sticker handy to replace it with.

After driving across the country, we can assure you that we are definitely NOT full.

Our third awesome timing thing was catching up with our Melbourne friends Buzz, Jo and Lana who were over in Perth for a girls' weekend.  Lana and Jo have family there and we met them at the beach for a glass of wine and beautiful sunset before heading back to Lana's sister's place for a yummy dinner.  Ben played with Lana's nephew and they both ended up crashing on the couch around 9pm, watching Bambi.  It was so great seeing our friends and it was weird because it didn't at all feel like we had been away for 6 weeks.

Lou and Lana!

Sunday, March 20th was dirt go kart race day at Wellard and a chance to catch up with my Perth based Aunt and cousins.  What an awesome day!  They are a motor sport family and my cousins have built and raced go karts since they were children.  My cousin Luke's brilliant nieces (11 and 9) have taken up the sport and they are totally amazing young women.  Ben had never met his (2nd? 3rd?) cousins Hayley and Elissa but they connected right away and the girls took him under their wings immediately.  We had to sign release forms and wear wrist tags to be allowed in the pit area where all the karts are readied for racing.  It was noisy and hot and super interesting.  My Aunt and other cousins came along too as this was the only day we could all meet up.  My cousin Luke and both girls raced in multiple events and the heat, noise and flying mud as they sped around the track was a really new and exciting experience.  I can't stress enough how amazing the girls are.  Seeing them fully kitted out in racing suits, neck supports and helmets, maneuvering around the track (and all the other go karts) and avoiding collisions was just so impressive.  I wish I'd been that cool when I was their age.  Ben idolised them and wanted to know when he could start racing go karts too.  There is a 5yo category so he saw kids his age racing and wanted to have a go.  Hopefully he will get over that desire by the time we get back home :)

Ben with his cool racing cousins.

The next day Ben nagged us to find a local skate park and we found a good one not far from where we were staying.  Being a school day, he had the place to himself and channeling his brave cousins, rode down a steep ramp that he would previously have avoided.  We've made a point now of finding out where the nearest medical facilities are when we arrive in a new town - just in case ;)

He REALLY wanted this.