27 June 2013 - Bunbury Glade Caravan Park, Bunbury, Western Australia

Before breakfast we telephoned my mother on the occasion of her 82^nd birthday. She reported that the weather in Whangarei today was such that they would stay inside, warm and dry, until they ventured out to dinner tonight. I did not tell her that here the sun was shining and the day looked promising indeed.

Turning on the television to follow the political upheavals, we also learned that Sharapova, Federer and Tsonga had all been beaten by lesser beings in the second round of Wimbledon. This added to the tragedy of the very recent champion of the French Open, Nadal, having been thrashed in the first round by an unknown Belgian, just the day or so before. It has been indeed a night of dramatic coups.

With the washing on the line, and having watched the new Prime Minister give his initial address to the Parliament, we popped out to buy a newspaper before they all sold out, although in all fairness, not all Australians, or even visitors such as ourselves, are fanatical followers of politics.

Then over lunch of fresh bakery bread we watched Question Time televised from Canberra, tragics that we are, and continued to do so for the rest of the day, the valedictory speeches coming from one third  of the Gillard Cabinet Ministers and half of the Independents,  while I shuffled the washing from line to line, chasing the sun, spooked by the darkening clouds and weather forecast, neither of which became a real threat until the laundry was dry, folded and stowed away.

We also spent some time pouring over maps and brochures covering the Margaret River area, trying to assess the amount of time we might like to stay there, what we might have to pay having heard absolute horror stories about caravan park tariffs, and whether Margaret River really has that much to offer us anyway.

Tomorrow we will make better use of the day, although some may say, we made well of it today. Different strokes for different folks. We have extended a further three days and I wonder whether even then, that will be enough to explore the hinterland. I suspect Bunbury is really more appealing for us than the famous Margaret River.