Well, it’s been almost four weeks since we arrived. While we were disappointed with the condition of the house, we do love it here.
The walk to the beach is a quick and easy one; Stephen goes for a quick dip a couple of times a day, most days. We walk along the beach once or twice a day, though for the last few days our morning walk has been around town.
The doggos do love the beach, but running up and down the dune, running on the beach, and jumping the waves, have proven to be too much for Anzac’s arthritic hip. One day recently he was in a lot of pain when we got home. He curled up in his bed and slept a while and stiffened up, then had trouble walking when he got up. He was limping badly so I contacted our vet in Perth to organise a script for some anti-inflammatories, then contacted a local vet and had it filled. We knew his hip might cause a problem and that we’d have to take the beach walks slowly, but we obviously didn’t count on how enthusiastically Anzac would embrace the beach. So we had a few days of dog-rest, and then started easy walks around town. We’ve now started walking back on the beach but we’re avoiding the steeper part of the dune and are mostly keeping to on-leash walks for a while. For Anzac, anyway. Jet doesn’t have a problem with running up and down the beach, chasing the bubbles along the shorebreak. She’s even getting more courageous and has been following Stephen in a little deeper.
As for Stephen and I, we’re loving the new environment and the wildlife. Most days, whether we’re out walking or in the car, we see kangaroos around town. We’ve seen dolphins playing in the surf and we’ve seen a turtle wander through our yard. There are green frogs and geckos, native solitary bees, and so many different kinds of birds. One night we had a frog inside; the first we knew of it was when it jumped on the bed at 1:30 in the morning.
We’ve been keeping a list of the birds we’ve seen and identified, and taken photos whenever we could.
In addition to these we’ve seen the following (and a few others that we haven’t yet identified).
| Corellas | Pied Currawongs |
| Dollarbirds | Galahs |
| Blue-faced Honeyeaters | Magpies |
| Osprey | Silvereyes |
| Red Wattlebird | Eastern Whipbirds |
| Ravens | Masked Lapwings |
We’ve been taking advantage of our furniture not being here and getting things done. We’ve been strong supporters of the local Bunnings, having to buy some outdoor furniture on our first day here (we sold our big old outdoor setting before we left Perth) to use indoors until our belongings arrive, a lawnmower (sometimes you can just about see the lawn growing), and some other necessities to make life easier.
We’ve had the carpet pulled up in preparation of tiling the bedrooms and lounge. The tiling is definitely easier for everyone involved while there’s no furniture in the house. It’s being done this week and our furniture is due to arrive on Monday (Feb 1st).
The electrician has been here, changing switches and installing bathroom fans. The plumber has also been to fix a couple of leaks. The carpenter is in the process of making some minor repairs outside and a couple of modifications inside, including filling in one of the doorways from the main bedroom into the en-suite bathroom. Mostly small stuff, though I do have some slightly bigger stuff planned for the next few months.