Trip 53 – AU is gold

It’s December 19th and we’re driving south along the Kwinana Freeway when we’re over taken by a car with the number plate starting with “AU”. This is the regional registration identifier for Augusta, which is our destination, but is also the element identifier for “gold”. This corelation sparked my creative juices as I realised that Augusta is our gold holiday destination.

With high expectations and much keeness to slip into holiday relax mode, Jules and I were just pulling into town when we recieved a call from Mads, who was a bit ahead of us, to advise that they didn’t have a campsite…

On arrival to Flinders Bay Caravan Park, we learnt that Mads and Georgia failed to formally advise Flinders of their intent to rebook their site, nor did they leave a deposit to secure it, so it had been released. Understandably then, Flinders have relet the site. What pissed us off though, is we’ve been coming to Flinders for over twenty years, and for the last 5 or so, we’ve had both sites 92 and 92a, which are adjoining sites under the booking name of Budge. Why someone at Flinders didn’t choose to double check with us, is really annoying. We know that Flinders have recently significantly increased their automation and formality and application of “the rules”, but they’re substantially lacking any personal touch or care.

Understandably, Mads was upset and Quade angry, but there wasn’t anything they could do and the error ultimately did lie with the girls.

So this year, rather than being comfortably spaced out across our two sites, we had to set out our gear on one site, making FULL use of the available space to fit in our van, tents, gazebo and camping accoutrements. In the end it hasn’t turned out too bad, but the girls are going to have to hope they can resecure their site for next year – this will be dependent on our new neighbours requesting they roll on their booking. Note – things are looking good, Mads has managed to resecure the site from the 19th through to the 1st Jan, and we’re just waiting to see if the last tenants rebook their days (2nd to 6th).

As always, our Augusta trip is a chance to relax, unwind, chill and do all those other adjectives that describe a laid back way of living. The weather was good, and across our 19-odd days, we only had 4 or so that were windy. Christmas Day temperature set a new record, reaching 39.6C at Cape Leeuwin, breaking a 120 year old record!

Trip activity highlights included:

• Having both Mads and Quade, and Georgia and Nick come down. George couldn’t make it last year due to her work roster.
• Coffees and cake, or scones, at Thousands Suns, Ragged Robin and Berry Farm.
• Lunches at Nannup Brewing Company, ColourPatch, FishBone and McHenry Hohnen.
• Wine tasting (and restocking of our wine cellar) at Glenarty, Firetail, Mr Barval and Hay Shed Hill.
• Riding the new Marina to Lighthouse track on the e-bikes, followed a couple days later by a trip to the Augusta hospital (see lowlights below).
• Swimming and chilling with the dog at the beach.
• Spending a lovely, relaxed afternoon on the riverfront, with takeaway pizzas from ColourPatch and BYO wine for New Years afternoon. This was followed by a very relaxed evening at P&T’s and then BJ’s, with a couple staying up to see the new year in, but most opting to retire early.
• Some beautifully cooked campsite meals including Quade’s rib-eyes, Jules’ gourmet Spaghetti Bog and Tony’s slow roasted Lamb Shoulder with a Marmalade Glaze.
  • A very relaxed Christmas Day at the campsite, accompained by many Mimosas
• A couple of photography and drone sessions by Bushy and Tony.
• A couple of yak fishing sessions, and a beach fishing session – some fish caught, but all released.
• Finding a new spot to explore! Even after 30 odd years of coming to Augusta, we’re still exploring and finding new spots. This time it was the Ellensbrook House and beach, a wonderful piece of our history and a beautiful location.
• Fun campsite and driving games with the kids and partners.
• But, as always, best of all is hanging out with our family and friends, having a chat and a laugh – as per the MasterCard advert – Priceless.

Trip lowlights included Jules hitting a sandpatch on the e-bike and falling off, into the bush, landing on her ribs onto a log. She received a bunch of cuts and scratches, but we think she’s broken a rib, or two, and we attended the Augustra Hospital a couple days later for an opinion and some stronger pain relief.

With this trip coming to an end, Jules and I are in the enviable position of working out what we want to do this year. My role was made redundant late last year and Jules isn’t currently working, so we need to decide if we’re going to keep travelling for a bit (until my redundancy payout runs out), or bank the payout and get back into the workforce. Current plan is to finish some house reno’s, and then keep travelling, likely spending a couple months exploring the Apple Isle – Tasmania. But before then, we’ve got a couple quick, local trips to do, so keep watching this blog for the continued adventures of Jules and Budgie!

Obligatory trip photos follow!