Family - Travels with Verne and Roy

Marseillan Port, 2-29 June 2024, Part 1

A month in Marseillan port, a gorgeous spot in the South of France; avoiding confusion; cassoulet at Marseillan Plage; Here Come the Campbells… the Baragwanaths and Wendy; out and about in Marseillan; running around L’Étang de Thau; two fêtes worse than death (not really); Marseillan Cheat Sheet; our favourite restaurants; best day-trips from Marseillan

A full year ago, Roy booked us a two-bedroom apartment in Résidence Farenc in the port town of Marseillan, right on the water, for almost the entire month of June. Four weeks might sound like a long time to be in the same place. But when the time came to leave, I felt I could have stayed another month. Roy said he felt the same way.

Two Weeks in England, 15-30 May 2024, Part 1

Two weeks in England: The Plan; Singapore stopover; nothing to wear; cream tea at The Relais Henley; not visiting Blenheim Palace, Woodstock; not visiting Shakespeare’s birthplace, Stratford Upon Avon; Roy’s family birthday

It wasn’t easy for Roy to leave the house we’re having built in Perth WA, especially at rather a critical point – our cursed builder went into liquidation, remember? – but this trip had been booked a year earlier. Two weeks in England, then the full month of June in the South of France – bookended by three days in Singapore.

He had planned this first post-COVID trip to England mainly with extended family in mind. It felt well due. His sister Lyndsay and John live near Stratford Upon Avon, so it made sense to kick off with a week there. Then, not having seen Aunty Marjorie, cousin Richard and cousin Kate for far too many years, we would head up to the Wirrall and Liverpool for a few days. Finally, we’d spend four nights in London.

Getting there

We took an SIA flight from Perth to Singapore, arriving on the evening of Sunday 12 May for three days with the ever-hospitable Paul and Salinah. Thanks, guys!

Singapore, all about food and friends… and foodie friends

They do not love that do not show their love.”

Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona

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Peckish in Perth: Eating out in the CBD, June 2023

Eating out in Perth WA often means heading into the city. Our northern coastal suburbs offer wonderful beaches, lots of fresh air and a healthy lifestyle, but not much in the way of good restaurants.

Sometimes, we’ll even pack our bags and do a dirty stop-out for a night or two – like we did on the first weekend of June. It just so happened that our great friends Lynn and Kim (based between Yallingup WA and Singapore), were enjoying a touristy stay-cay in the city, complete with a walking tour and a cruise to Fremantle.

A touristy weekend – but mercifully stopping short of boarding this topless bus

They would be at The Citadines. So Roy went online and booked us a studio apartment there too. It’s conveniently located at 185 St Georges Terrace. (Is it just me*, or are you wondering about the road name? I’d be surprised to learn that there were multiple saints with the same moniker. Ah… seems the Terrace was named after St George’s Cathedral, but the apostrophe simply became too hard.)

[*Roy: Yes, dear. It’s just you.]

French Triangle Part 3: Dordogne, Carcassonne and Provence

Travel in France: Post-Plague family reunion in Saint-Geniès; dining in the Dordogne; Death Row dinner; tricked into being side-tracked to Montech for lunch, poor Roy!; canal-side in Carcassonne, and why we seldom eat steak in France; Hotel Renaissance at Aix-en-Provence; murals and Ricard at La-Seyne-sur-Mer; cliffs and calanques at Cassis; flagrant disregard of cycle-path etiquette in La Ciotat; homeward bound, with a lot of excess baggage!

Three nights in the Dordogne

As a reminder, this is the first leg of our French triangle: from St Jean-de-Losne in Burgundy to the Dordogne. (NB: There will be a test.)

The heavier line, heading southwest from SJDL to the Dordogne

South Perth Birthday Break, 19-21 May 2022

South Perth with its restaurants, cafés and ferry to Perth CBD was the perfect choice for a two-day birthday getaway.

Friday was Roy’s actual birthday, and we drove to South Perth on the Thursday morning. Having parked, morning coffee was first on the agenda. No day has properly started until Roy’s had his coffee – a long mac* topped up, extra-extra hot.

Landmark rhino sculpture outside Coco’s, South Perth foreshore

A long mac topped up (LMTU) is a Perth thing. Anywhere else in Australia, you’ll get a blank look if you try to order such a thing. That’s what happened when Roy tried it on in Queensland. No, a long mac is not a long black… that’s something different. A long mac is a long macchiato (or double espresso) topped up with textured milk. And, for whatever reason, it may not be simply called a strong latte. (Not if you identify as a Perthonality, anyway.)

This is the House that Roy and Verne Built: Part Two – Bricks and Mortar

Apologies and advance warnings; concrete proof – slab, soakpit and sewers; lonely brick storage site; Dino’s dilemma; men at work!; the sacred interstitial space; graffiti message, but not from us

Apologies if you’ve been eagerly awaiting This is the House that Roy and Verne Built: Part Two after the first in the series, Part One: Breaking Ground, which we celebrated back in April 2021. After the slab was laid in May, the site lay cold and abandoned until four months later when – spoiler alert! – the hoped-for, prayed-for and longed-for bricklayer team eventually came on site.

Now that we’re just about up to the second level, here’s the story of the build so far. Feel quite free to gloss over any dreary construction details (I know I would), and simply savour all my lovely photos of Roy.

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Two days in Toodyay WA, 13-15 October

Two days in Toodyay WA is enough to get a feel for this historic WA town – but I could have stayed longer. Here’s what to do in Toodyay, where to stay in Toodyay and where to have a drink or a meal in Toodyay… plus the connection between Toodyay town and Moondyne Joe

What’s in a name?

Surely not, responded my sister in England when I texted her that I was walking around a town called Toodyay. Toodyay may be a funny name, sure. But what about Bishop’s Ichington in Warwickshire, Great Snoring in Fakenham, Norfolk, Wetwang near Uncleby in Yorkshire, or Nether Wallop in Hampshire?

In fact, it is derived from the Noongar Aboriginal word Duidgee, meaning “place of plenty”, referring in part to the reliability of the Avon River on whose banks it sits.

Roy’s Swan Valley WA Birthday Treat, 5-7 August

Guildford and the various attractions of James Street; The Tale of the Stubborn Donkey; Colonial Building, three cafés and Terrace Street; Pinelli’s Wine Estate for tasting and beatific beef cheeks; historic Rose & Crown and its 1840 restaurant; brunch at Padbury’s; Mandoon Wine Estate tour and wine-tasting; dégustation at Wild Swan; B&B at The Colony; summing up and stocking up

After a month of record rainfall, howling gales and unusually low temperatures for Perth, I’d been resigned to our Swan Valley getaway being soggy, cold and blustery. But we needed to use Roy’s Ultimate Mandoon Experience* – a birthday gift from the kids – before the voucher expired. I booked it for a Friday night.

This is the House that Roy and Verne Built: Part 1 – Breaking Ground

Boeries, bangers and snags; sangas, sarnies and sarmies; building malarkey background; turfed from the nest; Cyclone Seroja and quo vadis?

Here we are, celebrating the breaking of ground this week at 543 Burns Beach Road, Iluka!

Child labour is allowed in WA – breaking ground at 543 Burns Beach Road with Sam, Mia and Holly

Surrounded by the family – son Carl, Carrie, Mia and Holly; daughter Blaire, Colin and Sam – we broke ground today, Sunday the 17^th of April 2021. Son Carl brought the spade, son-in-law Colin furnished the Weber BabyQ, and we supplied the snags* and the mimosas. Only Daughter #1 was missing, sadly – cheers, Wendy!

Camping at Coogee, WA: Snorkelling the Omeo Wreck, March 2021

Day-tripping to Coogee Beach; Roy’s first first sea dip in seven years; gratuitous Maldives flashback; back to Coogee; history of the shipwrecked Omeo; where to stay – then and now; feeling disloyal (again)

Is there no end to the magnificent beaches of Western Australia? I’d never even heard of Coogee Beach until a week ago. What’s more, this is supposed to be autumn – yet here we are, frolicking in the surf and bronzing our bods on the very eve of the annual collaboration between Lindt and the Easter Bunny.