We were up nice and early, and, having packed our bags the night before, were ready to leave straight after our brekky of cereal and fruit, toast & marmalade, and orange juice.

Heather had prepared a nice chicken & avocado sandwich for us to have en route and we had some mandarins from the market to take with us. She also packed up the apple sponge she’d made the night before and a container of roast pork, gravy and apple sauce for us to take as well.

It was quite chilly when we left, Rich had to remove ice from the windscreen, so we were glad we had a car with a nice warm heater and cruise control. We had been warned by John that the road was well policed with many speed drops along the highway, down to as low as 40 in places.

Leaving at just after 7 am the road was not too busy but the sun was very glaring as we drove eastward. I did not envy Heather having to drive into it for 25 minutes to work every morning and home again each night. Fortunately we turned south at Armadale and we drove through a variety of suburban, farming and forest vegetation until we arrived at an unusual sign welcoming us to Williams.

We got out and took this snap at the top of the hill leading into the town then drove down the hill to be pulled over by the police and told we were doing 60 in the 50 zone. We couldn’t believe, after being so careful all the way, that we would miss that sign. But, because I was looking to see how the photo turned out on the camera, and it was my job to check for signs, I was very disappointed. However, the police had seen us stop and take the photo and, fortunately, told us it was just a friendly warning and let us continue without a ticket. They had pulled us up right beside their main tourist attraction which was a large building promoting the local wool industry, so we bought a coffee for Rich, and I had a diet coke from the esky, and we had our sandwich (thanks Heather it was delicious) and drink there, before continuing, very cautiously.

Travelling south we passed through Arthur River, Kojonup and Turney. We had heard about the majestic Stirling Ranges and could see them in the distance and, as we were making good time, rang John and asked if a detour through here would be advisable. He and Maggie both agreed that we would be silly to be that close and not drive through the area. As they both like to have their kip in the afternoon it would time our arrival better, so we turned off the highway to Cranbrook. There we stopped and purchased petrol and a small bottle of Coke, and were given a map which they marked with the best scenic view and the way to connect with a different highway which would take us into Albany.

The Stirling Ranges are very rugged and pictured against fields of yellow canola looked most spectacular. Their craggy peaks jut into the sky and the clouds drifting across the face of the sun cast dappled shadows on them lighting them to their best effect. This is one of the best areas for wildflowers and many were evident in the area, but the best time to see them would be in about a month’s time.

Getting back onto the road south we headed into Albany. As we were still a bit early to go to John and Maggie’s we explored a little beach and saw some seals in the water.

When we arrived at our destination we were greeted by our wonderful hosts who made us feel at home with their warm welcome. They have a delightful home with a cosy self-contained unit downstairs which was to be our home for the next three nights.

It was as if we had known each other for years, we got on so well together. John has a wonderful repertoire of tales about the very interesting life he has led. Maggie is a very quietly spoken English gentle lady and is the perfect hostess. Their house is full of treasures including two display cabinets one of sea-shells and the other of china and other toy dogs. The view from their sun deck overlooking Frenchman’s Bay and the white sandy beach below them is something I would never tire of looking at.

Over pre-dinner drinks and a snack of biscuits, cheese and salami, we got to know each other and began to learn of the history of Rich’s ancestors. John is the son of Rich’s grandfather’s sister making him our 1^st cousin, once removed. John had many letters and a couple of family tree books from other branches of the tree that were very enlightening and was full of stories and events of which we had no prior knowledge, as well as having photos of Rich’s great grandfather and great-great grandfather we had never seen.

Maggie served us up a delicious Beef & Dumpling casserole with hot vegetables for our evening meal, with Heather’s apple sponge and ice-cream for dessert. It was all very delicious, made even more memorable by the company we were with and the recollections that were shared.

It also transpired that John is quite a talented artist and we were able to appreciate some of his works which were displayed in various rooms of the house.

We didn’t really want to go to bed that night because we still had so much more to find out about the past but John gave me a pile of literature to take to bed and read and with that I had to be satisfied until the morrow.

Our bed was cosy and comfortable and we were happy to lay our head down after such a big day.

Rich didn’t surface for another hour after that, and it is so good to see him settling into holiday mode so quickly, considering the stress he was under in Shepp before he left – with all the house renovations and return of the blasted termites.

I worked on the computer for a couple of hours before deciding I was rather chilly and jumped back into bed with my book while Rich was ringing various car rental companies. He ended up deciding on the same company we had hired from when in Perth 18 months ago.

After an early lunch of the leftover roast and veggies from the night before, we walked down to the bus stop, caught a bus, then train, then another bus to the car rental, and picked up our Nissan then drove back to Kardinya Park shopping centre near Heather’s looking for a dressing gown but still had no luck. So we left there and went to Garden City at Barragoon, about 10 minutes further away. It was a much larger centre and we spent a good couple of hours browsing and this time did manage to get a nice dressing gown. We also did some grocery shopping so we wouldn’t go to Albany empty handed. We arrived home about 5 pm, just before Heather at 5.45.

While I continued to update Heather’s computer for her she cooked us a lovely meal of garlic bread, corn on the cob, mushrooms and wilted baby spinach with a touch of garlic, diced chicken in Chicken Tonight Honey Mustard Sauce served on beautiful creamy mashed potatoes. Heather also cooked a lovely apple sponge but none of us could even look at it after the very filling first course.

Rich retired to bed early after washing up the dishes with me, then I spent some time with Heather teaching her what I had done to her computer.

Time now to go to bed – only 9.30 here but a big day of driving – 6 hours tomorrow to Albany.

Richard was born in Kingston-Upon-Hull, Yorkshire, England and married Margaret Burstall in KIngston-Upon-Hull 27 Sep 1837.

They arrived in Adelaide 1st December 1849 aboard the ship Competitor with their 4 children: Margaret Burstall Hutchinson 9, Martha Ann Hutchinson 7, Adah Hutchinson 4 and his only son Richard Hutchinson who was only 1 year old on arrival.

During his voyage he kept a daily diary which is currently housed in the Mortlake library in Adelaide. It is very fascinating to read this journal.

His purpose in coming to Australia was to set up the first brass foundry in Adelaide which was situated opposite the railway station in North Terrace. He was also a lay preacher and of a week-end would hitch up his pony to a cart and spread the good word of the Lord. Unfortunately on one of these journeys he got an attack of hiccups which caused his death several days later at the age of 55.

She is looking after us so well, and after a lovely breakfast, although late due to our time disorientation, we left to visit the Fremantle market for 3 hours. It is phenomenal how many people were out in the lovely sunshine in the streets of Freo. Even more surprising considering the high cost of parking – in Freo you have to pay for parking 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

We browsed the stalls and purchased some kiwi fruit, granny smith apples, bananas, mandarins, avocadoes, 3 different types of cheese, olives & dried tomatoes, some helva & pistachio nuts.

We shared a bratwurst sausage with sauerkraut and mustard in a crunchy roll, and a berry sorbet, not that we needed it, just for the experience – but we all enjoyed both.

On the way home we called in at the new Woolworths in Freo while Heather had a little snooze in the car. We were looking for a nice warm dressing gown for me (as the mornings and nights are very chilly) and a bed lamp for Heather. We had no success with either but bought a few groceries that were required before heading home.

I tried to use Heather’s computer to do a few things on the internet but as it is dial-up I found it very frustrating and have been working on updating it for her while I am here.

While I was doing that Heather made a nice bikkie, cheese, salami, olives and sliced apple platter which we all enjoyed.

I cooked some stewed apple for the apple sauce for tea, Rich prepared the pork for the roast, Heather did the veggies and made a Lemon Delicious Pudding for dessert. Our combined effort presented us with a very tasty Roast Pork and vegetable meal which we enjoyed at about 6.30 pm.

After such a busy day I was not long out of bed, especially as the body clock had not completely adjusted yet, and I had a very interesting book to read.

Tomorrow we are going to pick up our hire care ready for the trip to Albany on Tuesday.

The abominable snowman in his asbestos removal suit. Dale & Rich demolition team

We had hoped that the house restoration would begin while we were away but the week before we left Dale discovered more live termites in the walls of the back bedroom while they were removing the asbestos sheeting. So we put everything on hold and left to go to Melbourne.

Organizing flights had not been fun – the price just kept escalating but we were eventually able to book red-eye flights with Tiger Airlines and are to fly out tonight at 9.25 pm arriving in Perth at 12.30.

Having sold all my old computer gear – all the old stuff from Vic 20′s to Amiga CD32 – this holiday was our reward.

We left after lunch and stopped in Nagambie for a while and had afternoon tea with Mum which was lovely, and then Nig called in briefly for a chat and it was good to catch up with her too. We bought a Steak, bacon and cheese pie and a Strawberry Cheesecake from the Nagambie bakery on our way through to Melbourne, arriving at Maz’s house just after 5 pm. Maz cooked some vegies to go with the pie and we had a tasty tea with Maz and David, Maz showed us the lovely photo albums she had made up of their trip to China and David showed us a video of the Schoolhouse property he had bought near Horsham. Then Maz drove us to the airport.

To catch a Tiger plane you go down through the bowels of the normal terminal, walk out the back, along a path across a paddock to a tin shed where you wait for your plane. It has a porta-loo type toilet and when you board your plane you have to walk across the tarmac and climb the portable staircase and down the skinniest aisle to your seat. I must admit the seats were wider than Virgin but the leg room was non-existent.  However we did take off on time, we both got some sleep and we arrived only 1/4 of an hour late in Perth – but no bits fell off the plane en route so that was a bonus.

Poor Heather had fallen asleep in the car park waiting for us after a big day’s work but as soon as we rang she met us at the front of the airport and drove us about 25 minutes to her duplex.

Fortunately she had a very comfortable bed for us and it was soooo good to get horizontal, neither of us took any rocking to sleep.