Bunbury - Adults only!

A couple of weekends ago, Rob and I headed south for the weekend with three other couples and NO CHILDREN!  That was a first for us since arriving in Perth and we had the best time.  The six of us had clubbed in to give Mark and Di Zwitser a weekend away as their 40th birthday present and then invited ourselves along too!  We played a murder mystery on the Saturday night and all dressed up in the dress of our designated character.  We played Bananagrams, had walks, breakfast out, slept in and read books.  It was a wonderful break from the reality of our busy lives and it really recharged our batteries.

We stayed in a wonderful old home on a wine farm in the Ferguson valley called Kingtree Lodge.  It only has four double rooms and a collection of ornaments and artifacts that would get the Antique Roadshow excited.  There is an eclectic ensemble of all kinds of bric a brac on every surface and in every corner.  Our bedroom was home to a very large porcelain doll who stood on a corner table staring blindly across the room at us.  In order to get some sleep she had to be blindfolded with a sock!  A large bronze dolphin graced the edge of our bath and numerous gold framed oil paintings covered the wall papered walls.  It is such an interesting old federation style home overlooking the valley.  At night, as we sipped on our sun downers, hundreds of kangaroos came out of the bush to stare up at us in the last daylight.

The rain didn't even stop us from having a picnic under cover at the Wellington Dam.  We loved having lunch out at a brewery and drinks at the local pub.  Everything was done at a civilized adult pace and conversations flowed uninterrupted.  Bliss.

A weekend like that needs to become a regular in our plans but the reality is that three busy boys are not that easy to leave behind at this stage.  Ondine and Chris looked after our boys after school until Saturday afternoon and then they went to Liezl and Jaco until Sunday afternoon.  They had as much fun as us and were spoiled at both homes.  We are so grateful that we do have such awesome friends who we can trust to take great care of our boys to allow us this glimpse of another kind of life.

When our friends have recovered, we may have to do it all again.