After much research and soul searching, we’ve bought ourselves a swag. The swag is big, bigger than the little pup tent we used when first camping when only 25 years old. In fact, you could easily mistake this swag for a small tent.

As we’re nearly 45 years older than we were when we first used that little pup-tent, you would be forgiven for wondering if this little venture isn’t a bit of a mid life crisis. I’m not going to lie to you, it has crossed our minds as well. Only time and experience can answer that question. If the reality isn’t what we’re hoping for, at least the planning is proving to be lots of fun.

We’ve experienced lots of different tents and camping set ups, so we had a pretty good idea as to what’s important to us. Heavy canvas is a must. Good canvas insulates well against all weathers and temperatures, and it feels sturdy and homelike to be inside. When packed up it needed to be light enough in weight to be carried around by two old codgers with relative ease. This ruled out a lot of full sized canvas tents. We did however weigh up buying a small tent as opposed to a big swag. For those of you unfamiliar with what a swag is, it’s an enclosed shelter with a mattress inside. It all rolls up together into one bundle. A tent requires a seperate mattress to be carried. We decided on the simplicity of the swag with its included mattress for ease of set up. Then, last but not least, was that whatever we chose had to have good ventilation. Good ventilation is important for minimising any condensation. The 23 Zero Outbreak swag fitted all our criteria perfectly, and especially in relation to the ventilation. Nothing compared to the ventilation options in the Outbreak.

It arrived last week, less than a week after having placed our order. Coming all the way across country and with free delivery, that is amazingly quick. We had expected it to come across country on a truck, but 23 Zero air freighted across.

Living in a unit we don’t have a garden, so having just a small patio we moved things around as best we could so as to be able to pitch the swag. It was so easy to erect, taking us less than five minutes on our first attempt. Pitching it on our paved patio though meant we couldn’t peg it down, so that’ll take an extra minute or two when camping in the forest. My biggest concern had been as to how easy it’d be to get in and out of. I have to say, it was really, really easy.

Tills thought it was pretty good, however he won’t be included in our camping trips. He’s prone to anxiety, so when away from home life with him becomes a bit of a chore.

We had a bit of a trial run on Friday night. It proved to be spacious, yet cozy, and the mattress comfortable, but not quite as comfortable as we would have liked. As we hadn’t been able to peg the swag out properly we also couldn’t open the windows for ventilation correctly. This meant we ended up with some condensation forming under the mattress. We had been debating what, if any, ground sheet we’d place under the swag, so last night’s trial run has determined that for us – we’ll use the clip together heavy foam mats that campers often use. This should add that tiny bit of extra cushioning for our hips when sleeping on our side.

We had hoped to fit everything into our small Yaris Cross hatchback, so on Saturday we had trial run at loading the car with the exception of the gazebo which hasn’t arrived yet. Whilst we plan to be relatively minimalist with our set up, and although everything will fit inside the car, we think it’ll make life much easier to tie the swag and gazebo onto roof bars, even though it’ll affect fuel consumption a bit.

As soon as we get a couple of days forecast without any rain on the radar, we’ll drop Mr Tilly at our friends place, get some wood for a fire, and head down to the forest near us to try it for real. Each day I get up and look at the forecast for the following seven days. Showers everyday so far, so we watch and wait. Will let you know if a few nights in the swag is ‘pleasure or pain’, just as soon as I can, watch this space….

Berry Springs, approximately 50kms south of Darwin, is a favourite picnic spot for both tourists and locals alike. Not surprising really, IT’S JUST GORGEOUS! We visited Berry Springs twice on our recent visit to the top end.

The water flows downstream towards the middle, main, swimming area. There’s steps that lead down to the water’s edge in all pools, with ladders into the water to make getting in and out safe.

The lower pool was the quietest of them all. At first we were reluctant to venture into the connecting waterways between the pools, fearing crocs could be lurking in those narrower, rocky areas. However, it didn’t take us long to lose our fears as we saw others venturing into the more secluded, connecting streams. The rangers do a pretty good job of monitoring for dangerous predators and have all sorts of traps, and warning devices for any Salties (Estuarine Crocodiles) that may venture into the swimming areas earmarked for safe public swimming. Please note, these areas are not considered safe during the wet season, and the swimming areas are generally kept closed. I would never venture into any of the water holes during the dry, or the wet season though until at least mid-morning after I know the rangers have had a chance to check things out, and there are at least a few other people in the water. There’s no way I want to be the only main course on offer for any big croc that’s lost his or her way in the water ways. At least if one has managed to evade all the warning devices, I can at least hope that I’m one of the less appetising courses on offer in a smorgasbord of swimmers.

Being strong swimmers, Paul and I started off in the lower pool and swam upstream, through the beautiful, and more secluded connecting waterways. We’d stop and float around for a bit of a rest in the busier middle pool before tackling the faster flowing current up the upper pool where the falls are. Then after getting our free shoulder massage courtesy of nature, we’d slowly drift effortlessly down to the middle pool, then through the last magical waterway and back into the lower pool.

On one occasion we braved a short swim a little further down from the lower pool, but didn’t go far. It was a bit to isolated for most people, us included, but we found a nice, big, half submerged branch to hang onto for 10 minutes or so. Bush turkeys were grazing on the nearby banks, and blue dragon flies were landing on the tips of the branches we were hanging onto. It was such a peaceful place, a little bit away from the crowds, a place where we could just immerse ourselves into the tranquil nature that’s Berry Springs. Our favourite spot in the Northern Territory, and what a pleasure it was to visit it twice within a few days of each other. Just gorgeous!

It’s just over 10 years since we first visited the Northern Territory, just over 10 years since our first, and only visit to Litchfield National Park, until now that is.

Our first visit to the beautiful Litchfield was a one day only trip, but in 2014 we never did anything slow. We always promised ourselves we would slow down, but at that time we still buzzed around like blue arsed flies, and our visit to Litchfield was no exception. Berry Springs, Buley Rock pools, Florence Falls and the Magnetic Termite mounds all within a few hours of each other….. Total madness!

Finally, we’ve slowed down. This time we’re spending a week camped near Litchfield with the intention of exploring the natural wonders within the park and nearby surrounds, and doing justice to each and every place we visit.

Today was Buley Rock Pools, a favourite with the local Darwin Population. Litchfield is a far more popular holiday, week-end or even day trip place with the local population that the more famous, Kakadu National Park. In fact the locals often refer to Kakadu as ‘Kakadon’t’. Having visited both ten years ago, I can understand their sentiments.

Anyway onto Buley.

As you can see Buley is a series of crystal clear pools, each fed from a short cascading waterfall from the pool above. Visitors find a lovely spot to stretch out in the cool, running, water to catch some sun, or they find a torrent under which to sit, the water pounding their shoulders like powerful spa jets, or they’ll find a nice ledge to sit on in a calm stretch of water and chat for a while.

And that’s it from Litchfield for today folks. It’s close to happy hour and I want to have a shower first, and do a few a chores (yes you still have to do washing, even when on holiday).

After spending four nights at an hotel on Darwins waterfront, we picked up our hire camper van yesterday and headed towards Litchfield National Park. Our chosen place to camp for the week is in a powered site at the Litchfield Safari Park. By the time we picked up shopping on route it was mid afternoon when we arrived. A quick sort out of our hired camper, food and clothes away, and we headed to the pool for a quick dip, and then begun to make plans for the rest of the week.

There’s quite a few walk trails in the park, along with waterfalls and swimming holes. Of course there’s always a bit of a danger of crocs, but generally in the dry season the water holes are reasonable safe, and the rangers put out all sorts of traps to ensure none move into tourist swimming areas. Any sign of them and the areas get closed quick smart until the croc is caught and re-located. Of course, the fresh water crocs are around, but they’re timid and usually keep well away from people. If I saw either in the water of course, I’d be walking on water faster than Jesus Christ and I’d be back on dry land faster than lightning. 

Today we chose the Wangi Falls walk. It was graded as a moderate walk of around an hour, and true to its description, it was in fact only a moderate walk, and it did only take approximately an hour. The walk starts at the Wangi plunge pool and water falls, and then meanders up and around the back of the falls in a circuit finishing back at the swimming hole. It’s a steep walk in places, but it’s not to difficult for a couple of old ducks like us. Mind you, Paul is a bit of a mountain goat, I definitely am not. I’m okay going up hill and can hold my own, but when it comes to the downhill sections I take my time and pick my way carefully.

The walk went through shady areas of green pandanas with hundreds of bats hanging from the trees overhead, then onto to rocky inclines with very little shade. I had been a little worried that a moderate grade walk may have been a bit too difficult (thinking back to moderate grade walks in Karijini – walks that had me wondering at the time, moderate for who, a fell runner). I needn’t have worried. The walk was indeed true to the grading assigned to it (in this writers opinion anyway). Very pleasant indeed.

Paul manages the steep sections easily. I pick my way, wearing my sturdy books and leaning on my trustee bush walking pole. I couldn’t do it without either, as well as my trusted walking companion Paul. Paul knows my limitations well and is intuitive to the places where a balancing arm or shoulder doesn’t go astray.

The walk finished, we made ourselves a chicken and salad roll in the camper, grabbed a bottle of water and headed back to the Wangi picnic area to eat it. Then into the water hole for a swim. It was cool to get in, but lovely and refreshing. I tried hard to get under the falls but they were just a tad too powerful. I got close though.

Then came the promised ice cream from the cafe. At $8.75 each, $17.50 for two, this won’t be the first of many, a one time treat only. I savoured and enjoyed every lick!

I can’t conclude this post without a bit of a whinge. Bloody WordPress has done some sort of an upgrade AGAIN. I wish they wouldn’t fix what ain’t broke! Now it’s all difficult to use again. Photos won’t go in where I want them, they go in at sizes I don’t want them to be, hence a photo of an ice-cream beside the Wangi plunge pool (I know the two don’t go together it was either that or have an image taking up a column space only on the page…… Grrrrr!!!!

We’ve now spent four of our seven nights in Bali. For four of the women in our party, this is one trip of several we’ve had to this little ‘Island of the Gods’, but it’s the first trip for the fifth lady in our party. The four who have been here previously are all familiar with the broken and dangerous footpaths through-out Bali, we’re familiar with the heavy traffic, the thousands of scooters that zip in and out of traffic, and the families of 4 – 5 people who all squash up together to travel on just one scooter.

However for the fifth member of our party the first three days of this, her first, trip to Bali created a somewhat distorted view of this little tourist haven. Having booked a Lagoon Palace Club room for each of us at the Nusa Dua Beach Hotel and Spa, we have spacious rooms in a quiet and peaceful part of a lovely Balinese style hotel. Our dining is relaxed and peaceful, our rooms well serviced, and the pool adjoining our rooms is used by 16 rooms in total only. Consequently we’re shielded from the crowds inside our hotel, and with the hotel being in Nusa Dua, we’re also shielded from any of the normal hustle and bustle evident in other areas of Bali when we venture outside into the adjoining neighbourhood.

We’ve been for several walks, one of which was down the uncrowded footpaths of Nusa Dua. The following photos were taken between around 10am and 10.45am, so for those of you familiar with the crowded footpaths through-out Bali – these photos may surprise you.

Below looking in one direction and then the other.

A few fountains along the way had statues seated around them, all with arms raised. We tried to ‘fit in’.

Being in the Club rooms at the hotel means of course we have our own small little Club room for breakfast, afternoon tea, pre-dinner cocktails and canapés, or just a decent cup of coffee, glass of juice, or smoothie throughout the day. The breakfast buffet is of course much smaller than the buffet in the main section of the hotel that feeds the masses. But It has all the cereal, yogurt, danish pastries, fruit etc that we’d be taking from any buffet, plus we get to choose our main breakfast off the menu, which is then cooked to order in the little kitchen tucked into the side of the room.

From our breakfast room we look out onto a wide expanse of green lawns, fringed with tall bamboo, and with the tinkle of fountains in the landscaped central lake. It’s so serene. Just gorgeous.

This morning I took a walk over to look at the huge breakfast buffet that caters to the majority of the hotel guests. Browsing the buffet confirmed my thoughts – whilst there is much more food on display, there’s nothing on the big buffet that I feel I’m missing out on in our gorgeous little Club dining room. I certainly don’t miss the push and shove of the multitude around the big buffet either.

No serene view, and crowds milling around the food choices in the main dining area – We made a good choice opting out of this I think (I’m not really a snob – well perhaps just a little bit).

Yesterday we had a driver pick us up to drive us to the cultural centre, and then on to Jimbaran Beach for a seafood barbecue. Our Bali Newbie chose to sit in the front seat, and had us in hysterics at her comments as she saw for the first time, the real Bali. After three and a half days in clean, sheltered Nusa Dua, and no matter the amount of warnings we had issued to the effect that, ‘what she was seeing in our little spot isn’t the real Bali’, I think she was somewhat shocked at what she encountered. The scooters zipping in and out, some carrying whole families, the broken roads, the traffic jams, the dangerous conditions as one vehicle makes way for another coming in the opposite direction, and the drivers skill as he carefully avoids tumbling our vehicle into the step drop off at the side of the road under repair. We encountered a 30 minute delay at just one set of traffic lights on our return to the hotel, a delay which seemed to be business as usual according to our driver.

Throughout the chaos of the trip though, also witnessed was the other side to Bali’s busyness. The curtesy. Yes, the Balinese are the most courteous race of people I’ve ever had the good fortune to encounter. They happily give way to oncoming traffic, in fact in one spot a driver from the oncoming side exited his vehicle, stopped other traffic and carefully directed our driver around a particularly hazardess section in the road repairs. The Balinese are the happiest of people, they always have a smile, they’re gentle and caring and their pride is genuine and well placed. They are proud of who they are, proud of their jobs no matter how menial, and proud to serve their customers. I love Bali, I love the Balinese people.

Oh and before I close – here’s a snap of one of the early morning groundsmen in our hotel. Note the broom he’s sweeping the lawn with.

A lovely, relaxing holiday with just enough time out in the real Bali to help us appreciate where we have chosen to stay. What a pleasure!

Four ladies from our Busselton walking group, plus an old friend from Perth decided to have a girls week away in Bali. I thought I’d better post a few photos so as the other ladies from our group don’t start thinking we’ve gotten ourselves lost. So here goes:

Pretending we had one or two too many(I promise we hadn’t)

Watching the beach get cleaned on one of our early morning walks.

The main pools where the masses swim

Our own private little pool- we’ve been spending a lot of time here floating around and chatting.

Booking Sunday Brunch at the Mulia after ‘just a little walk’ to get there. (Now there’s a story).

Scrubbed up for Cocktails before the seafood barbecue and fire dance show.

Tables all set up for the Seafood barbecue

Having a great time, to busy to write much but there will be more to come soon I’m sure…..

I mentioned earlier in the year that we had moved into a rental property. We had hoped to buy that little house, but it wasn’t to be. Luckily we found ourselves a little villa. It’s the rear unit in a group of three unattached properties, just a little 3 x 1, open plan place with a single garage.

The unit we had in Nova Village was actually a good sized unit, much bigger than homes usually associated with retirement villages. We hadn’t considered that move as down sizing at all. This villa though is definitely a ‘down size’, so it’s been a bit of a trial deciding what stays and what goes.

We sold off the bigger things that we knew wouldn’t fit as soon as our offer was accepted. Then followed a garage sale to get rid of an accumulation of the smaller ‘stuff’, and some of my pot plants.

We moved in last week. It’s been tough having two moves within such a short time. Both Paul and I are tired. However, the move did go well with no hiccups really, and only one broken vase (we have tile floors in the new villa, and tile floors are unforgiving when glass vases are dropped on them). We have found a place for most things, and most things are now in their place. We still have a few pictures to hang, a shelf or two to put up, and we’re waiting for a plumber to add the plumbing for our fridge, and to do a couple of minor alterations to the location of taps etc.

Our master bedroom has a small built in robe, and a rather large chest of drawers has been fitted into it. As this has reduced the available hanging space considerably, the previous owner had additional wardrobes fitted at either side of the bed, much like a caravan bed. We thought that was a stupid thing to do! However only a few days into living in the house and our plans to remove both the drawers from the walk in robe, and the robes at either side of the bed changed. They’ve proved themselves to useful, so they’re staying where they are, at least for the foreseeable future. We fitted our bedhead behind the bed, and found some small touch lights that clip onto the bedhead. It means we don’t have bedside tables, so we’re on the look-out for an idea that will allow us to add some sort of ‘fold out of the way’ bedside table for our wake up cuppa in the morning which we usually enjoy in bed. In the meantime we have little urns that tuck out of the way at the sides of the bedroom, each with a solid top that pulls up beside the bed in the mornings to serve as our tea cup stand. It’s working for now.

Although the guest room is small, it also has a small walk in robe, and it fits a queenside bed with small bedsides. It should be comfortable enough for visitors. Plus we have a third bedroom, which we’re utilising as a study, and as an overflow room for all manner of things (every house needs a junk room).

We only have one bathroom which has two way access, from the master and from the hallway. So any overnight visitors don’t have the luxury of having their own bathroom. Also the villa has only one toilet. It’s a long time since we’ve had a house with only one loo, but hey, I grew up in a house with six siblings and we only had one toilet, and one bathroom. Visitors didn’t even have their own bedroom, they either slept in the lounge, or someone in the house gave up their bed for them. They shared our one and only toilet, and our one and only bathroom. In our affluent Australian society I had formed the opinion that as a host I needed to provide almost Hotel like accommodation for any overnight visitors – I’ve since re-thought that idea. They can share!

The toilet is separate from the bathroom, and one day we may add a small hand basin so as to make that a powder room. We also may remove the bath from the bathroom one day so as to make room for a double vanity for Paul and I, and to make room for a second toilet, but that isn’t a necessity. Having lost a considerable amount of money by vacating the Retirement Village (yes retirement villages are expensive to exit, and don’t let anyone tell you differently), we now have to watch our pennies a little more than we’ve had to in the past, so we may just have to ‘make do.’

The villa is only a couple of hundred metres from the shores of beautiful Geographe bay, that’s as the crow flies. To walk there it’s less than 500 metres from walking out of our front door to dipping our toes in the waters of the Indian Ocean. Plus we’re only 1 kilometre from our front door to the entrance door of Busselton’s main shopping centre.

Our villa is small, certainly no mansion for a millionaire, but it’s clean, in good repair, and there’s certainly room for friends and family. With the shops and the ocean so close by, I think we’ve bought well. Oh, and Mr Tilly – he went to a friends and stayed overnight while we did the bulk of the moving. When Beth brought him to his new home after most things had been moved in, he perused all the rooms, plonked himself down, and hasn’t missed a beat since. I think the new place has been given his stamp of approval! And that’s a real pleasure to observe!

Many games provide fun, but Bridge grips you. It exercises your mind. Your mind can rust, you know, but Bridge prevents the rust from forming.”Omar Sharif.

Having gained a basic understanding of the card game Duplicate Bridge some years ago in Perth, and prior to moving to Busselton, Paul and I had rarely had the chance to consolidate our learning. For those of you not familiar with this card game, there are many systems that one can use to play the game. The system we first learned to play in was called, Acol. That was the preferred system played in Western Australia at the time, whilst the Eastern States played predominantly in a system referred to as, American Standard. In the years between us first getting a basic understanding of the Acol bidding system of the game, and returning to the game in recent years Western Australians have changed their preferred system and now also play predominantly in American Standard. When we decided to return to the game we undertook some refresher lessons with the Busselton Club, but this time using the American Standard system for our bidding.

The Busselton Bridge Club doesn’t have its own rooms. On Monday afternoons they rent rooms at the Dunsborough Community Centre, and on Wednesday afternoons they rent rooms at the Busselton tennis club. The club has a newish member who, like many others, has become an addict to the game of Bridge (yes, be warned the game is super addictive). Recognising the adverse effect that both Covid, and Bridge on line has been having on the game, reflected by dwindling numbers in Bridge clubs throughout the country, this dedicated Bridge Player has been diligently conducting Bridge lessons and co-ercing newbies to the game to jump in the deep end and to come over to the club sessions to play.

At this point in time I’ll relate a little about my introduction to the game of Bridge. I learned to play in Perth some years ago, and was one of more than 50 people in the class. Following on from 18 x 3 hour classes, the club conducted follow up, supervised play sessions to enable the learners to consolidate their learning. Less than half continued on with the supervised sessions. To my knowledge I was the only one from that class who eventually ventured into playing in the club sessions, and that was only because the partner of the teacher who taught the lessons saw some potential in my play and offered to mentor me into ‘real play’. Those first times of playing in normal club sessions are up there amongst the most daunting experiences of my life. I relate my initial experience so as to be able to relate the differences between both learning in a big city club and learning in a smaller regional centre, and also the introduction to playing at club level.

Because the big city clubs have their own club rooms, the rooms are constantly set up with the tables ready to play. Most of the city clubs are able to be sectioned off so as to allow normal play sessions to be conducted alongside supervised play sessions, and as the club rooms are for Bridge exclusively, multiple numbers of sessions can be held over a week. Most city clubs run approximately three week-day games, 1 – 2 week-end games, and 1 -2 week night sessions, as well as a few learners and supervised sessions. It’s these learner and supervised sessions that enable the clubs to grow, or at least to sustain numbers.

Compare this to our Busselton club. We have to pay rent to hire the rooms for our twice weekly club games. Our tables and computers have to be set up, and taken down before and after each game. If lessons or supervised sessions are conducted this means hiring yet another venue. The lessons, along with the games are literally, ‘all over the place’. It would be lovely if the Busselton Council recognised the contribution that the game of Bridge made to the mental health of many of its residents and supplied us with our own club rooms to rent on a permanent basis, as is the case in many other areas throughout the country. But alas to date that hasn’t happened.

As I mentioned earlier Covid caused a massive decline in the numbers of Bridge players, and I think this has been the case all over the world. When people couldn’t attend the sessions due to isolation rules many started to play on line, and some have never returned to play in the clubs. With many never having returned to play in the Bridge Clubs, I fear the numbers could be dwindling all over the country, if not the world. Due to the dedication, tenacity and sheer single mindedness of one particular Busselton Club member though, I’m pleased to say, our club, my club, The Busselton Bridge Club, is growing in numbers.

I applaud Linda her tenacity, her dedication and her ability to persevere when I’m sure at times she must feel like throwing in the towel, so to speak. I applaud her ability to get her learners to ‘jump in the deep end’, and with only a sketchy knowledge of the basics of Bridge, she coerces many of her Bridge students to commence playing at club level. Similarly, I applaud all of the new comers who do take the plunge and who come up to play. I appreciate how daunting it must be for you all. Your bravery astounds me!

If you’d like to learn Bridge and you live in Busselton or the south west area of WA, please make contact with our club. Our contact details are:

If however you already have a basic understanding of the game and aren’t currently playing at a club level, we’d love to see you come along to one of our sessions.

But we can promise we’ll do our best to welcome you to our tables, to our club, The Busselton Bridge Club.