4 Stray Katz: The HUGHES Cruises - Dolphins AND Christmas Lights.

We had met the lovely Hughes family (Nathan, Bec, Steph, Ashleigh and Nicole) in Coral Bay and Exmouth and were keen to take up their offer to stay with them at their house in Pinjarra. We'd visited a few weeks prior and had a wonderful afternoon so we're excited about our weekend there, and we were certainly not disappointed.

Although we set up our van out the front we actually made our bedroom for the weekend in their games room, much to the delight of the kids who had access to such a vast array of toys, including (the hands down favourite) a huge barbie house with all the accessories (campervan, motorbike, cars etc). Jackson actually complained one evening about how exhausted he was saying 'I've just been playing and playing and playing, I'm so tired'. The challenges of life as a 2 year old!

Anyway we had an amazing, action packed weekend. On Friday night Bec hosted a pool party for Steph who'd had finished grade 6 that day. She had about 12 of her class mates around and they certainly made the most of the pool. On Saturday Daniel helped Nathan with some boat trailer maintenance whilst Jackson and I checked out a local cafe we'd been recommended. Emilia chose to stay with the girls and Bec did baking and cake decorated with them. After a huge play in the afternoon we loaded up Nathan and Bec's boat and headed for Mandurah. They took us cruising the marina then as it got darker we cruised through the canals looking at the amazing displays of Christmas lights put on by the clearly very wealthy people who lived here. It was so great with lots of ohhh and ahhh moments. It was clearly a very popular way to spend the evening as there were heaps of boats out. After a short drive home there were more Christmas lights to see on Nathan and Bec's street so by the end of the evening I had definitely indulged my inner child.

On Sunday we decided to go on the boat again and they took us to up the Murray River (the WA Murray) to Coolenup Island, a small island with an historical flour mill built in 1843, a playground and walking tracks. The kids enjoyed playing on one of the large old trees whilst Nathan cooked up a lovely bbq lunch. After a walk to see the old mill we headed off for a tour of the estuary. It was a lovely afternoon lazing on the boat putting up the estuary when suddenly we spotted a mother dolphin and her calf frolicking in the water near us. The dolphins ended up staying beside or in front of us for at least 10 minutes, at some times swimming right under the boat. The calf put on a show for us, jumping out of the water and performing tricks. It was so incredible and such an amazing experience. Poor Jackson missed out on it all as he was asleep in the hull with Ashleigh!

We were so pleased that we had got to experience the two touristy highlights of the area (Mandurah Canals Christmas Lights and Dolphin watching) without the tourists but with our lovely friends. The Hughes Cruises definitely get our recommendation!

Reluctantly we left the incredible hospitality and generosity of our friends on Monday morning (it was a struggle to drag the kids away from their play with the girls) and we headed to the Blackwood River National Park. We were both so anxious hoping for a spot for Christmas and had no idea what to expect when we arrived. Would the grey nomads have already flocked in to the cheap camping and taken all the spots or would the lack of satellite coverage keep them away and mean the place would be empty until the school holidays began on the 17th????

Stay tuned for the next instalment..............