Mighty Mouth's Travelogue - Part 3 of 3

Day 5 (Pemberton – Margaret River)

Uncle Bob made us some complimentary pancakes topped with a generous serving of yummy ice-cream before we set off for Margaret River. I felt a tinge of sadness leaving the lavender and berry farm because I had so much fun observing the miniature horses, Muffin and Milkshake, often tempting them with food. Those poor guys are too fat and are not allowed to eat more than their daily ration.

We spent a little time wandering around the beautifully manicured lavender and aromatic herb gardens before waving bye-bye to Uncle Bob. Along the way, we made a stop at a meadeary, where honey wine and other by-products were made. I had a great time savoring the different types of honey that were on display. I think the owner found me adorable coz he came over and gave me a honey-bee doll!

Well, it was also at the meadeary that we came face to face with a passing mega-storm. The whole meadeary shook when the storm hit. I felt like I was in a carwash! Well, I thought the whole experience was rather exciting and fun…but daddie and mommie didn’t think so. Anyway, the storm was gone almost as suddenly as it came.

Family Potrait at the Laveder and Berry	Lavender Gardens
Auntie Po and me!	Muffin and Milkshake
Popo and me outside the meadeary	The storm is lurking!

Day 6 (Margaret River)

Our entourage visited the Harvey Cheese factory. Like the meadeary, there was also a variety of cheese for sampling. Grand Uncle Onn and Grand Uncle Roy couldn’t stand the smell of fermented milk so they stood outside the factory most of the time. The rest of us had a jolly good time trying one cheese after another. Mommie fed me with some feta cheese. I loved it so much; I polished off all the samples. I think Daddie must be embarrassed by my little demeanors, coz he quickly made a couple of purchases before we left. But, a couple of days later, I realized that Daddie had an ulterior motive. He bought lots of nice Aussie ham and bread and made ham and cheese toast for me, and the two Uncle Baos.

The gang went off to the supermarket to stock food for our dinner while Uncle Dabao, Uncle Xiaobao, Vera po and mommie stayed behind to play ball with me. They played volleyball and I was their official ball picker!

For dinner, we had traditional Aussie BBQ with sausages, onions, pork loins, beef steaks, and, chicken wings. Daddie was in a mood for wine so he opened a bottle of wine with compliments of the owners of Losari Retreat (that’s the place we stayed at). I wanted to try some but Daddie refused to give me more than just a small sniff (not even a taste), so while he was not looking, I helped myself to the bottle. But, the bottle was really heavy and I overturned the bottle, pouring away half the wine. Thank gracious, daddie wasn’t upset with me so I figured that the wine was probably not up to daddie’s taste! (Says you! Daddie was enjoying the wine. Fortunately, I’ve got 3 more bottles of the same stuff at home, but we certainly didn’t enjoy cleaning up the puddle you left behind!)

Vera Po and Me playing cricket	Can i help you set up the sticks, please?
I'm the official ball picker	Relaxing on the deck chair
Checking out the oven	Inside our house

Day 7 (Margaret River)

Mommie and daddie went horse-riding together with uncle dabao, uncle xiaobao, grand uncle roy and grandaunt cindy. Popo and the rest of the gang took me to the sunflower farm to see humungous sunflowers (you wouldn’t believe it, but the flowers are much bigger than my head!).

I also said hello to the farm animals and hand fed the fluffy sheep, toothy llamas and bouncy joeys (It was then, did I discover that mommie and daddie had named me after a bunch of baby kangaroos, duh?!).

Back home, I wanted to play “shopping” so I started dragging mommie’s shopping bags out of the room and into the living area. Mommie caught me red handed and I quickly dropped the bags on the floor. The jug of honey in her shopping bag smashed into pieces. It took the adults some time to clean away the sticky mess. I wanted to help with the cleaning but they shoo’ed me away (Déjà vu here – I seem to be getting more butter-fingered as I grow up, first the wine, now the honey. I wonder what’s next ???)

Day 8 (Margaret River)

Another factory visit, this time to the Margaret River Chocolate factory. There really wasn’t much to do there except for trying out their various chocolate desserts. The chocolate ice-cream and hot chocolate were anything but fabulous.

Lunch was at the nearby Cape Lavender. They served lavender bread that was as light as the clouds! I’ve never tasted any bread that yummy before! (Daddie: “Actually, you first tasted it last year on your first visit at 8 months!”)

The adults later headed for caves visits. Daddie and I opted out and we spent quality parent-child bonding time at home together.

Simmo's Ice creams	Popo bought me a t-shirt and chocolates
Can i have somemore?	Sampling the hot chocolate
Our Entourage	Sharing an ice-cream with daddie

Day 9 (Margaret River – Busselton - Perth)

I haven’t had rice or porridge for a week and am craving for it. God must have heard my prayers and answered them. The adults popped into a Chinese restaurant right after their long walk on the Busselton Jetty. For a Chinese restaurant in the middle of no-where, it turned out to be surprisingly good. Daddy ended up ordering seconds although he was the one who didn’t want to have Chinese food in Australia. Anyway, I digress. The jetty is said to be the longest jetty in the southern hemisphere spanning 2 kilometers out into the open sea. Mummy and Daddy and some of the more adventurous walked the jetty. I stayed with Grand-Auntie Susan and Great-grandpa on terra firma and played with the toy car on the beach. I really don’t know what adults find so interesting about walking up and down a long piece of wood sticking out into the sea with nothing else to see except water below them.

From Busselton, the adults decided to take a drive pass the tornado hit areas to see the damage caused. At Bunbury, Daddie pointed out that a lot of trees have fallen and damages to the signboards were obvious. I noticed that the giant KFC bucket on top of one of the outlets was hanging at a drunken angle! Wow, if the bucket is that BIG, I wonder how big the fried chicken inside must be. Now that it has tipped sideways, whatever happened to big the fried chicken that got poured out of the bucket?

That night, we planned a surprise party to celebrate great grandpa’s 88th birthday. We invited Uncle Joachim, Auntie Amanda, Grand Uncle Chuan and Grand Auntie Choo. Great too!

The long long jetty	Lovey Dovey
Burrr... it's cold here!	Happy bday to Great grandpa

Day 10 (Perth - Frementle)

Daddie, Uncle Dabao, Uncle Xiaobao and grand uncle Roy went out early in the morning for a day of white water rafting adventure. Mommie brought the rest of the gang to Frementle. We walked around the markets and ate the famous Kaili’s Fish and Chips for lunch. Popo was visibily upset with the size of the oysters. She kept complaining that the prices have gone up but the oysters have shrunken in size!

We left Frementle straight after lunch to visit King’s Park. We took a slow, relaxing stroll around the park before heading to the Factory outlets for shopping! Mommie and I were disappointed with the selection of clothing at Pumpkin Patch. It’s our favourite boutique but the selection at that outlet left a lot to be desired.

Day 11 (Perth - Home Sweet Home)

Early in the morning, mommie, popo, vera po and kiew po scooted off to the supermarket for some last minute shopping for packet soup, chocolates and washing detergent… Mommie swears by a particular brand of detergent in Australia. She always stock up lots of it whenever she visits Australia. She claimed that those are the best ones she had used ever!

We spent the later part of the morning, shopping at the city centre. Mommie and Popo bought me 2 pairs of really cool nike sneakers. This brings the total number of my shoe purchases in Australia to 3 pairs. Daddie bought Mommie a pair of working pants and spent the rest of his tourist dollars in a bookshop.

Lunch was a simple affair with Uncle Joachim and Auntie Amanda before we left for the airport. Alright, I’ll let out a little secret here… I like Uncle Joachim because he’s really rolly polly, just like a big friendly bear!

So with that it’s “Bye Bye Perth, till we meet again next year!” (So says Daddy, but, not mummy. I wonder who will win?)

Big Meal!	I want to eat this!
Frementle jetty	Coffee, anyone?
Miniature tree top walk	Suburb view from kings' park
Idyllic Surronds	Bye Bye Perth! See you again!