The Mandalay Country Club

Caravan parks and the people who visit them are, as I have said, a world unto themselves, and, as I have also said, a world we were blissfully unaware of 3 months ago. A reliable looking chap we met in the park in Traralgon when we picked Kimmie up, wondered aloud to me how parks get their star rating. He'd stayed in ones that had blocked toilets, no plugs in the sinks, and dogs defacating on the denuded grass sites, but still they had 4 stars! Imagine!  However, he assured me in a conspiratorial you're one of us now even if your van is shiny and you drive a LandRover tone, that the Mandalay Caravan Park in Busselton was worth every one of it's 5 stars. And so, based on this chap's obvious experience and wealth of knowledge, (he did show us how to change the anode in our hot water service), and because we don't like to disappoint people, when it came time we booked Mandalay.


Bombing with JB



I did refer to Mandalay in my last post as being like the Augusta golf course. I was very prepared to not like it. It was expensive, the activities they had promised didn't happen, the kids didn't really make new friends as all the kids knew each other from previous sentences, and it was  very sterile. However, as I walked  with Ivy to the ablution block, not toilet block coz that's not classy, for the last time, I realised I would miss Mandalay. I'd miss the atmosphere more than anything else. It really did feel relaxing even if we barely said boo to our neighbours.

Jen and the Goodge

I'd enjoyed watching West Coast smash the Melbourne team on the big screen. I'd enjoyed watching Oli talk to the pierced, tattooed, blue singleted bloke about Dean Cox even more. The oval was perfect for barefoot footy and watching Ned's drop punts. The kids did have the run of the place, disapearing to the pool(s) or the jumping pillow or the playground(s) or to do laps of the place on their scooters. We'd had great company, first Joc and Tony, and then Jen, JB, Kitty, Billy and Alice (aka the Goodge or The Fat Controller). We'd toured the district, sampled the local produce, visited the beaches and walked the jetty. I was hailed as a genius by several blokes who thought that putting grease proof paper over the top of the BBQ so that the person who had used the BBQ before you didn't poison you with his underdone chicken satay strips, was the greatest thing they had ever seen (thanks Tan). I did meet other inhabitants. Jamie who thought Oli was a remarkable kid and that Ben Cousins was too..., Jaiden the jockey who only eats 4 chicken nuggets for dinner, and Jeff who recommended a couple of 5 star parks in Queensland for us to visit.

 

Ivy and Kitty in Snuggle Cave



We left the park on Monday and headed north to Fremantle. Jen and JB had already escaped under cover of darkness very early that morning. They said it was because the Fat Controller refused to go back to sleep at 12:30am again, but I think the real reason was because JB hadn't paid for Jen or Alice! Our first stop in Perth was at Curt (ex NY Magpie) and Leonie's house in Swanbourne. The first house we'd been in in 3 months. Great spot, and to be welcomed with cup cakes and home brewed ginger beer softened the Hawks loss to Geelong a little bit. Curt parked the van in his front yard so easily it was as if he'd been reversing tractor trailers in Illinois all his life, and we left for Jen and JB's house in Fremantle via the coast road. Not sure their house is quite 5 star at the moment, but I'm certain the company will be.

H

PS Photos of the Goodge to come