Holidays round two

The second of our two closely timed holidays was now nearly a month ago; where does time go?! I remember a friend telling me when E was very new that when at home with a small one the days can drag but the months whizz by, and it is true.

Anyway, our second trip involved going to Margaret River for a friend's wedding. So that we could accomplish the ceremony and reception sans toddler, my Mum, Dad and Dad's sister K were kind enough to come with us. We stayed in a chalet about five minutes drive from town. It was one of three chalets on the property and the other two were occupied by the groom's brother and friends which was very pleasant and convenient, as the bus provided by the bride and groom picked us up before and delivered us after. The house was surrounded by bush and came complete with its own dam, duck and resident kangaroos who visited at dawn and dusk. 

Aside from the obvious wildlife attraction, the timing was great as Little E's (and our) bedroom was very bright, so she decided wake-up time was as soon as it was light and was able to eat her breakfast at the kitchen window whilst watching for kangaroos.
 

We visited Sunflowers Animal Farm which even the adults enjoyed. Dozens of farm yard animals, plus kangaroos and emus. We spent a fair bit of time at the playground by the actual Margaret River, engaging in some covert and very un-PC duck feeding. We even fit in a winery or two, plus a visit to the olive oil factory.

The wedding itself was beautiful and we got to catch up with a bunch of people whom we were friends with at uni but only tend to see when B & R are in town. 

The sad after-story is that the week after we left, a massive bushfire went through the area, destroying about 40 houses. It was so close to where we were staying; in fact we're not actually sure if the chalets are still standing, although we think based on the descriptions in the media of the affected area that they were probably just outside it. We felt so lucky to have been safely home as the chalets are/were surrounded by heavy bush, and the roads in/out were all closed during the fire. The thought of having been there, let alone with precious Little E, is truly frightening.

Anyone wanting to assist the fire victims can do so via a donation to the Lord Mayor's Distress Relief Fund: http://www.appealswa.org.au/currentappeal.html

Incidentally, there are some more photos on my private blog for anyone who is interested.