From beach to wheatbelt - Western Australia

We have had two completely different weekends the last two weekends. One at the beach and one in the Wheatbelt.  Two completely different locations, one under an hour from our home, on the coast, and one 4 hours from home, inland. Western Australia is a land of contrasts!

They may have been at different locations, but they both embraced the love and importance of family through shared experiences and emotions.  For isn't the love and closeness of family the most important thing of all in this life?

Two weekends ago we took our Grandsons down to Busselton - a place that has been favourite a summer holiday place for families for years. My husband's family used to holiday in the caravan park near the jetty every summer.

The Busselton jetty is 1.8 kilometres long -  the longest timber-piled jetty in the Southern Hemisphere.  Construction began in 1865, and the jetty was extended several times, and was used to service shipping until the Port closed in 1973. Cyclone Alby in 1978 blew one arm of the jetty away, and a community group was formed to raise funds for restoration and maintenance.

The jetty is popular for fishing, swimming or just walking. We took our grandchildren on the train ride out to the end to the Underwater Observatory.  At the Observatory steps take you down under the jetty, but unfortunately the water clarity was not fantastic due to a summer storm during the week.  We had fish and chips for lunch under the huge Morton Bay Fig Tree on the shore, and an icecream afterwards. A good day out.

There was a sailing regatta on Geographe Bay. As you can see, it was a sparkling day on the water at Busselton! 

In the image below I have played around with a bit of selective colouring -

This is my grandson - 4yr old Mister "I will do what I want". Hence walking away. My husband has just reminded me that the "coming back" is because he got a splinter in this hand off the jetty, which is why he is holding up his hand to us. Nice to know we evidently have our uses. (smile)

I thought that the bright blue of his jacket stood out well against the black and white. And the grey tones have added an "alone" look. (although it was a sunny day!) Desaturated in a layer to B&W, then brought back the colour in the jacket with a layer mask.

This last weekend we went with my Dad out to Corrigin in the central Western Australian wheatbelt to lay the ashes of my mother at the cemetery. Mum passed away peacefully at home on 19 July 2012.

Her family moved from the small railway siding town of Bilbarin to Corrigin in 1937 when Mum was 13. She met my Dad in Corrigin, and she worked at the Post Office and lived in Corrigin until she was married. Her parents are buried in the Corrigin cemetery and it was Mum's wish that her ashes were taken back there.  We then went on to Bilbarin where Mum spent her childhood, and we scattered a few of her ashes under a huge gum tree which overlooks where their house once was, now part of a farmers paddock. We had a picnic afternoon tea, and then went on to my sister's house at Bruce Rock for an evening with family, and on Sunday morning went out to see some of the harvest before returning home.

I hope my mother is now resting peacefully. Below you can see the tree with the paddock beyond. The verse is part of a poem Mum had written in her memoirs. It is the first verse of a song she learnt at school and sang with her class on the stage of the Corrigin Town Hall at a concert. It must have had a lot of meaning to Mum for her to have remembered it and written it down in her memoirs. We read it at her funeral, and when we scattered her ashes. 

Post-script - a dear friend has just sent me a link to the words and music for Comrades of Mine from a music score - "Six Australian Bush Ballads" 1922 - Words by Richard Baylis. Music by William G James.   Six Australian Bush Ballads
I am looking forward to having a friend play it for me on piano.

I used to make Melting Moments with my Mum. It is a happy memory I have from my childhood, pressing the top of the biscuits with a fork to make the pattern, so I made them for the afternoon tea picnic.

And below is the beautiful Mottlecah - Eucalptus macrocarpa. It is an unusual plant with huge silvery oval shaped leaves, and grows throughout the wheatbelt. I hadn't seen one flowering in the wild before. We found this one in a little patch of re-plant bush at Bilbarin. In the picture below you can see the cap coming off to expose the flower.

Harvesting barley on my brother-in-law's property at Bruce Rock.

Thank you for joining me. I look forward to hearing from you.
What are your memories of childhood?

Have a wonderful week. I am linking up with the wonderful contributors at Mosaic Monday - please click on the link here to see there work - Mosaic Monday at Little Red House

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Central WA Wheatbelt

Busselton Jetty