After a disappointing year travel wise in 2020, the optomist in me hoped that 2021 would be better as vaccines for Covid-19 were developed and rolled out globally.

We thought we'd start small, aiming for a short break over to Queensland, Australia with the family for the second week of the July school holidays. Things were looking hopeful until suddenly they weren't. A third (fourth?) wave of Covid swept through neighbouring NSW, case numbers went into the thousands of new cases per day and internal borders quickly went up again. Here in the West, our Premier has kept us on a very short leash when it comes to restrictions, which has had the effect of keeping us safe and living a relatively Covid free lifestyle - going to shops, pubs, sports events, dinner, etc all without restrictions. We've had small sharp lockdowns and some lingering mask wearing but generally we've been ok. It has continued to keep us locked inside WA though.

We optimisically rebooked QLD for October school holidays but those pesky border restrictions quickly put an end to that. So, we have now rebooked for a third time, this time for the end of January 2022. At the time of writing this, toward the end of October 2021, WA is approaching 80% single vaccination and have passed 60% double vaccinated. Myself, I've been fully vaccinated for a number of months now, as has all of my immediate adult family members. There is light at the end of the tunnel with the Eastern States sharing their roadmap out of these travel restrictions but we're a little behind in WA in formalising a similar plan. As it stands today, travel between QLD and WA is open and unrestricted but that relationship is hanging on by a very thin thread.

Not much else to report travel wise. I'm taking some leave at Christmas but will likely just chill out around Perth. We have QLD at the end of January 2022 and Exmouth in April 2022. Fingers crossed they can both happen (Exmouth should be a certainty at least). Whilst sitting at home, we have decided that we would really like a new one, so be sure to follow our build progress in my other blog.

Keep safe!

Well, 2020, what to say here that's travel related.

Not.

Much.

2020 was meant to host our first overseas holiday with the children to Singapore in April, but some guy in China decided to eat a bat and suddenly the world caught the Novo Coronavirus 19. International borders closed, hell, internal borders between Australian states closed and suddenly Perth, the most remote capital city in the world found itself feeling even more isolated. A world in lockdown.

Fortunately, being remote does have its pluses. We never really got Covid-19 over here. Sure, I didn't go to the office for three month and sure, we couldn't travel beyond the walls of our own houses for a period, but then life slowly started getting back to normal, sans travel.

We skipped town and went south down to Margaret River and stayed on a lovely farmstead where the kids collected fresh eggs every morning for breakfast, fed the pig Oinky, saw the horses, cows, sheep and goats and generally just enjoyed being out of the big city for a small break.

Beyond that, we didn't go anywhere. Great for my annual leave balance but wearing on my mental health and my desire to continue to travel. Even the kids are asking when we can next go on a plane and when will the virus go away. 

Here's hoping the borders open (safely) soon and we can venture a little further than our own backyard (which is currently booked solid with Australian's "wondering out yonder". Still very keen to start showing the kids more of this beautiful blue planet.

So, 2019, simply a summary posting for this year as no overseas travel.

Following the birth of our daughter in April 2018, 2019 saw us largely stay at home. 

We had a surprise visit in Perth from an old friend from my Germany working days in Sigi in April. Unlike our time in Germany in 2006 where we were both single, this catch up saw us both married with two children in tow (similarly to myself, Sigi had a boy and a girl, in that order). It was great to catch up after all this time and show Sigi and his family around a litle bit (mainly Kings Park and Elizabeth quay)

We did travel up the Western Australian coast back to one of our favourite spots, Broome, in June. We travelled with my Mum and Dad and stayed at the Pearle of Cable Beach in a three bed unit with its own pool. It was a very nice place to stay. My Grandmother also came with us but stayed at Cable Beach Club. This was pretty handy as Cable Beach Club has some great facilities such as a large playground, including water playground, and beautiful pools, complete with pool toys, which the kids (well, Josh at least) absolutely loved.

Christmas was spent in Perth, hosting my family at our house, while Amanda's family satyed at the Eastern coast. 

Ambitiously, Amanda and I agreed to spend Christmas with Amanda's family at Amanda's Dad's place in Merriwagga, New South Wales. Never heard of it? I'm not surprised. It's a town so small there isn't even a general store, post office or even a petrol station. Pretty much the only thing there is a pub (more on that later)!

To get to Merriwagga, we'd have to first fly Perth to Sydney, then swap planes onto a Regional Express (REX) flight on a small 20 row prop plane and fly to Griffith (with a brief hop via Narranderra), where we'd then have to get a car and drive an hour (~70kms) out to Merriwagga. This would also be Imogen's first plane ride at the tender age of 8 months. 

As luck would have it, I was able to use some frequent flyer points to upgrade our Perth to Sydney leg to business class. Given Josh was over 2 years old, he required his own seat. So there he was, 2.5 years old sitting in his own skybed business class seat while full grown adults walked past him on their way to the back of the plane. Having the extra space was a God send as it meant the kids, and Imogen in particular, could move around without bothering others. 

Of course, what goes up, must come down, and after leaving the luxury of business, we were quickly brought back down to Earth for our REX flight, where the aircon couldn't run unless the plane was plugged into ground power or the propellers spinning. Needless to say, it was hot on board and during the brief stop over, we spent most of the time using the onboard safety cards to keep ourselves cool.

Finally we arrived. The kids were, on the whole, great. Straight to the pub then! Given you've probably never heard of Merriwagga, you'll also not be aware that Merriwagga claims to have the tallest bar in the Southern Hemisphere. You've gotta see this thing to believe it. You need to climb your bar stool to sit at the bar and the you can barely see the publican behind the bar. You can see in the pic to the left it comes up to my armpit and I'm 6' tall. It certainly is unique. Naturally, being a small country town, everyone knew we were coming and we pretty much met everyone that afternoon.

We arrived a few days before Christmas and used that time to catch up with Amanda's Dad, go to a zoo out that direction (Altina Wildlife Park - it's really really good!), visit the closest main township for supplies (Hillston) and of course, at the pub. It was pretty bloody hot in Merriwagga so the rest of the time we simply tried to keep cool. 

The rest of Amanda's family eventually arrived. We all stayed at the "Old School Caravan Park", which is owned by Amanda's Dad in onsite vans. Mercifully, they were also air conditioned. At one stage, Amanda's Dad brought around the town's fire engine which the kids loved. They all went for a drive around town (doesn't take long) and played with the fire hose. Great way to stay cool.

Christmas Day itself was a great day with lots of great food and family. The kids, as usual, got spoilt with presents. We departed faily promptly on Boxing Day, returning to Perth to see my family for Christmas and get ready for 2019. No business class on the way back but the kids were largely well behaved for the flights home thankfully. 

I'd love to report that I've been silent on this blog because I've been too busy travelling the globe but the reality is I've struggled to leave the state, never mind leaving the country.

When my AFL team, the mighty West Coast Eagles, found their way into premiership contention toward the pointy end of the AFL season, Amanda generously gave me a leave pass to travel to Melbourne should they make the grand final. Well, after a successful finals campaign, that's exactly what happened! After booking flights and accommodation prior to the Eagles even making the Grand Final, Mikey and I were very excited that our gamble paid off. However, we missed getting tickets in the GF ballot and for a while there thought we might not get to go. Lots of calls, messages, texts and emails later, we managed to secure two standing room tickets so off we went!

Red eye horror flight to Melbourne on Friday morning had us land in Melbourne in time for the AFL grand final parade. We pretty much went to the pub on arrival and actually bumped into a few people we knew and get into our beers. The parade was great and it was nice to see the boys relaxed before the big day.

Saturday we arrived early to the MCG as we were told that standing room areas pack out quickly and we wanted a decent position, which we managed to get behind a couple of short ladies. Our area got very packed and by the time bounce down came, we were well and truly sandwiched in.

The game itself was epic. West Coast got off to a very shaky start, giving up the first 6 goals of the game within the first 20 minutes, but steadied and started eating away at the deficit over the next two quarters to square up the scores at 3/4 time. The last quarter the Eagles and Collingwood trades punches, with the Pie getting out to a 2 goal lead before West Coast stole the lead within the last two minutes of the match with a brilliant goal from Don Sheed in the pocket (after a great intercept mark by Jeremy McGovern, a good mark and play on by Nathan Vardy and a ripping grab and play on by Liam Ryan). That goal ultimately won the game and the 2018 premiership for the West Coast Eagles.

It was great to be there and be part of the 100,022 strong crowd. We stayed at the ground after the game for the after party where Jimmy Barnes played live for 30 minutes before the boys came out to meet the crowd with the premiership cup. Was a great day.

Sunday we rose a bit slowly and after some food and some shopping, eventually found ourselves back in a pub to watch the match replay over a quite beer and reflect on a great game of footy. We eventually headed back to Perth first thing Monday morning, where parent duties resumed immediately!

Seriously, where does the time go?

All of a sudden I haven't posted since the birth of my son Joshua in 2016. Good grief. Well, it's been a whirlwind being first time parents and a few minor niggles with Josh over the last few years. However, I'm very blessed to report the safe arrival of Joshua's little sister, Imogen Anne, who came to this world nearly 6 weeks early at 10:27pm on 17 April 2018 weighing just 2.47 kgs.

We thought one child was hard work but two is utter chaos but we couldn't be happier, especially for our second to be a girl, which is the first new girl in the family for nearly 30 years.

From a very young age, I was lucky enough to nearly annually take a family trip north to Broome in winter. With Josh now one and a half, we decided that we'd take a family holiday to Broome in June with my parents.

We organised to get two one bed apartments at Blue Seas Resort for a little over a week. We didn't have many plans once we got to Broome, which was sort of the point of the holiday - just to unwind, slip into Broome time and relax by the beach. On the whole, Josh was great for the flight up and the flight passed uneventfully. The weather in Broome was perfect upon arrival and we got our hire car and headed out toward Cable Beach, where Blue Seas is located.

The next few days we visited the markets, the beach, town and generally chilled out around our resort, swimming in the pool and enjoying sunset drinks at Cable Beach. About day 4 Dad and I had organised to join a fishing charter and do some deep sea fishing. It was another sunny day but the swell was quite up. It took a while to find the fish but we soon got on them and pulled in many a pink snapper and red emperor. The old knees took a beating bracing against the side of the boat as we rocked about in the swell but it was a great day out. I even managed to hook a mackerel whilst trawling on the way in, which was a bit of added fun. That night we, of course, had a delicious meal of fish and chips, eating the fish we caught that day.

More relaxing, more beach followed over the next few days. Before we left, Amanda and I took the car and headed out to Willie Creek Pearl Farm for a tour around and some education on how they farm pearls. Was an interesting morning, with Amanda trying on some very expensive jewelry (but not getting any). We also managed to catch a movie at the outdoor cinemas, Sun Pictures, before we left, which is always a cool experience, especially when the planes fly overhead as they land or take off. Mum and Amanda also managed to do the Broome Hovercraft one afternoon too!

All too quickly, our Broome time came to an end. We had the return flight booked for 6:50pm, which was pretty much Josh's bedtime. We planned it perfectly, following our usual routine of eating dinner and getting him into his PJs in anticipation of him sleeping the whole way home. Unfortunately, Josh had other ideas and spent the majority of the flight climbing over us, visiting mum and dad and running up and down the aisle smiling at people. Best laid plans...

Overall, it was a very enjoyable, very relaxing (well, as relaxing as having a 1.5 yo with you can be) family holiday and it was great to be able to share it with Mum and Dad.