Dad's on his way Home

Packed and Ready to go!!

Asian Steam Boat

Opening the bottle of Japanese Plum Wine.
It was good!!

Packing the suitcase.  It was a 2 day plan

Time for a quick snooze before getting on the plane

CK is NOT Happy

At the Albany Airport....just 3 commercial flights a day

Luggage checked and boarding pass in hand

Bye Dad...have a safe trip

Ragz and Cody have taken residence in Dad's room hoping he will be back soon

About an hour ago Dad left Albany to return home.  We have had a wonderful time with him.  It was a blessing to have him as a part of our life.  He experienced the busyness of running an accommodation.  He did his share of taking down breakfast trays and bringing up laundry. He fellowshipped at our church, every Sunday.  He enjoyed long solitary walks to the beach on many mornings and watched the whales playing in the water.  He loved the day trips we took to Denmark and the Porongurups.  He became knowledgeable on our trees and wildflowers. He even drew a picture today of a wildflower he hadn’t seen yet and I identified it right away as a Kangaroo Paw.

On our last night we enjoyed an Asian Steam Boat and opened a bottle of Japanese Wine that we bought when we were in Japan.

The cats certainly have enjoyed having Dad around as well.  He was the knee to sit on for CK, Ragz was given the title of Regal Ragz, and Cody snuck onto his bed whenever he had the chance.

Whalers Cove, Salmon Holes and Stony Hill on a rainy day

The Lookout at the Salmon Holes

Whalers Cove @ Quaranup

Stairs down to the Salmon Holes

We spent some time today in the Torndirrup National Park and enjoyed some off Albany’s stunning coast line. 

We walked the Stony Hill Heritage Trail which has lookouts with magnificent 360 degree views.  Unfortunately it was a very overcast and misty day, so the views were not so great.  We had a downpour as we were walking, got soaked and as we were running back to the car Dad saw a huge black snake slithering across the path.  Being the gentleman he is he let the snake go into the bush before continuing on.

We spent some time on the lookout at the Salmon Holes which is named after the salmon that seek shelter in the calmer waters.  We saw a fisherman who had just caught a salmon.  After some whistling and calling out he obligingly held up his salmon for the camera.

We also spent a lot of time in amazement at the vibrant contrast of natural colours among the wildflowers.  Water droplets on the petals were an added bonus for our photographer ‘Becki’

A Day of Firsts - Kangaroo, Koala and Black Swan

We wandered leisurely through the Australian Fauna Park today.  Dad interacted with a wallaby that came and sniffed at his hand. We saw Eastern Quolls, Potoroos, Plovers, Pademelons, Tawny Frogmouth Owls, Wombats and the cuddly Koala (sleeping of course as they do for 22 hours a day)