3 WEEKS AND COUNTING!!!!!!!!!!!

The countdown has begun................I will be home in 3 weeks........I am so excited!!!!!!!!.............but, I have a magnificant trip to go on first. My wonderful husband is taking me to BALI for our anniversary. We are so excited....8 days of pure relaxation. White water rafting, monkey zoo and elephant rides....to name a few. I promise lots and lots of pics. JT and I hope that everyone had a great week and weekend........A snowstorm in October on the east coast??????? What's that all about??????????? John took his first
trip to Onslow this week. He flew to Karatha on Tuesday - a 2 1/2 hour flight and then a 3 hour drive
to Onslow. The pipeline that he is designing will be built in Onslow. Absolutely NOTHING THERE (see pics)!! However, Karatha is famous for RED DOG (it is a true story about a red dog) and it is wonderful. I don't know if it made it to the states yet, but when it does, IT IS A WONDERFUL MOVIE.  JT and I had a great week-end. We went to Swan Valley on Friday to a winery called Cape Lavender......It was absolutely beautiful. Wild lavender everywhere(the air smells wonderful) and the weather was amazing. On Saturday,
we took the train to Claremont. It is a quaint little town that reminds me of Old Town near D.C. - Once again, the weather was magnificant. We spent Sunday morning watching some football and then........
we went to the BEACH!!!!! - The weather was gorgeous so we went to Scarborogh Beach and the Indian Ocean..........The water was freezing, but the sun was so warm......It was magnificant.....Check that off 
the "Bucket List".....   

North West Coastal Hwy. - on the way to Karatha

Do you know the way to Onslow?

Northern Indian Ocean

The view is beautiful

Ant Hills

Some are 5 ft. tall

John's on his way!

RED DOG

Monument dedicated to RED DOG

 JT and RED DOG

I hope that you enjoy the pics and now on to "OUR CHALLENGE" - Thanks to all of you who participated

in the fun!!! - The answers were - FAVORITE WINERY - CAPEL VALE ........

NUMBER OF BOTTLES - 39.................................. AND THE WINNERS ARE>>>>>>>>>>>>

ASHLEY TRUHE HEHR - FAVORITE WINERY

COURTNEY TRUHE - GUESS OF 38 BOTTLES

NICOLE TRUHE - 1ST TO PARTICIPATE

John and I hope that all of you have a "GREAT WEEK" - Stay safe, stay well!!!!

Miss everyone very much!!!!!

Much love as always......

John and Sharon

OH WHAT A WEEK-END!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We had a terrific weekend and hope that all of you had one too!!!!!!! On Friday, JT played golf at
Joondalup (June da loop) Golf Course which is one of the top 5 golf courses in Western Australia.
The weather was wonderful and he did not hit any of the roos on the greens. See the pics. Saturday
was a low key day because it rained. We ran some errands and went to our  favorite Vietnamese 
restaurant for dinner. Sunday was AWESOME............................we woke up to "OUR" LSU TIGERS
beating Auburn - 45-10 - GEAUX TIGERS - We could hear them roar on the other side of the world......
We were not able to watch the game, but we were kept posted by our  personal "SPORTSCASTERS" - 
What a win!!!.....not only did our "TIGERS" win, but TEXAS TECH (Jeff's, our son-in-law's) team CREAMED #1 OKLAHOMA - 41-38..........Way to go "RED RAIDERS" - and that was just the beginning of the day!!!! - John and I drove to Cohunu Koala Park and I held a 10 mos. old baby koala - the pics say it all..............they are the most cuddly, soft little babies........and all they want you to do is hold them close and feed them eucalyptus............from there....on to the roos........see the pics and look for joey's tail poking out of mom's pouch.......Never in a million yrs. did a girl from Washington, N.J. ever dream of this........
This is truly " OUR TRUhE AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE"! -  

RED TAILED COCKATOO - EXTINCT

WHITE TAILED COCKATOO

IT'S KOALA TIME!!!!!

EATING IT'S FAVORITE FOOD - EUCALYPTUS LEAVES

THIS IS HOW THEY SLEEP - 20 HOURS A DAY!

 THIS IS CINDY  - 10 MOS. OLD

IT'S JUST LIKE HOLDING A BABY!

SOMETHING I NEVER THOUGHT I'D DO!

 LOOK AT THAT FACE!!!!!!!

JOHN AND I AT COHUNU

SHE LOVED LISTENING TO MY VOICE

I FELT LIKE A KID AGAIN

THE EUCALYPTUS SMELLS GOOD!

SHE DID NOT WANT TO LET GO!

LOOK AT THOSE NAILS!!!!

ANOTHER BABY SLEEPING!

YELLOW CROWNED COCKATOO

POLLY WANT A CRACKER!

I DON'T WANT MY PICTURE TAKEN LADY!

CHECH OUT JOEY'S TAIL POPPING OUT!



AMAZING HOW CLOSE YOU CAN GET

UNBELIEVABLE!

AN ALBINO PEACOCK

VERY FRIENDLY OSTRICH

ANOTHER ALBINO PEACOCK

JOONDALOOP GOLF COURSE

ANOTHER VIEW OF GOLF COURSE

QUARRY ON THE COURSE

ZOOM  IN TO SEE THE ROO 



 John and I love sharing our adventure with all of you and we hope that you enjoy it

as well.......Have a terrific week-end and a wonderful week! Stay safe and stay well!!

Miss all of you very much........

With our love always,

John and Sharon

It's Springtime in Australia!!!!!!!!

and it does get hot here!!!!!! - 90 degrees today.......the only difference... NO HUMIDITY.....Long walks
along the Swan River cool you off very quickly and the scenery is beautiful. We had a very low-key week-end here and JT and I hope that everyone back home had a great one...Unfortunately, LSU was not televised, so we could not watch our TIGERS beat Tennessee. We did, however, watch Auburn beat Florida!!!!! Football on Sunday morning on the other side of the world....gotta love it..... We bought John
a grill (barbie here - see pics) on Saturday. He has been going crazy not being able to grill anything. Saturday afternoon was spent assembling it and on Sunday, Chef Truhe was grillin' fresh veggies.! We found an 
International market near the train station in Perth and, to our surprise, they had Jif peanut butter @ $19.95/jar, Welch's grape jelly @ $14.95/jar and Betty Crocker Angel Food cake mix @ $6.95/box.
When you gotta have it, you just gotta have it......Just a reminder....since our CHALLENGE has had an
overwhelming response, we are extending it another week......so....get your predictions in by next Monday,
October 25th. Remember you must guess the winery we bought most of the wine from and the # of bottles purchased. ONCE AGAIN, GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

JT'S NEW GRILL

JUST ABOUT AS WIDE AS THE BALCONY

THE CHEF IS READY TO COOK!!!!!!!!



  We hope everyone has great week. Stay safe and stay well. Miss you all very much!

Always,

John and Sharon

Margaret River Week-end @ The Basildene Manor

John and I hope that you all had a great week and week-end! John has begun riding his bike to work 2-3
days a week. He joins the other 100+ Chevron riders out on the streets of Perth by 6:30am. The Chevron 
contingent is visible everywhere you go.....
  
GEAUX TIGERS!!!!!! - Even though we were unable to watch it........LSU kicked some Gator butt!!!!!
It must have been an exciting game........LSU 41 - FL 11 - Way to go TIGERS!!!! Hopefully JT and I
will be able to catch next week-end's game on tv. 

John and I had a great week-end.....We went to the premier wine country of Australia - Margaret River......
What a beautiful place...It is Australia'a version of NAPA and SONOMA - white and white blends only....they are not known for their reds...however, JT did find some wonderful Shiraz and Shiraz blends.....
We left on Friday morning and drove 3 hours. Our first winery was Vasse Felix......wonderful
whites.....We stayed for almost 3 hours because we met a very sweet American girl, from Florida, who is
now living here with her husband,who is a chef at one of the restaurants. The wine was great toooooo..

I have a challenge........a two-part challenge.......whomever can guess how many bottles of wine were bought  and which vineyard we purchased the most from (see list of winery's below) will receive a bottle of Australian white or red (whatever your preference) from the Truhe's Wine Cellar when we get home.....THIS WILL ALSO PROVE HOW MANY OF YOU ARE ACTUALLY  READING MY BLOG!!!!!! :) :) :) You must email us with your answers by  Monday,October 24th. JT and I will personally deliver your bottle of wine, at our convenience (of course), unless you plan on visiting The Woodlands any time soon!   

We took lots of pictures and I hope that you enjoy them as much as we did visiting Margaret River.
There are over 80 wineries in Margaret River, so needless to say, JT and I will be visiting again. We
stayed at a beautiful B&B - Basildene Manor - an early 1900's - Old World Charm - residence.
It was simply breathtaking...The weather, however, did not cooperate. It rained all week-end.
Oh well.......Stopping at the Margaret River Chocolate Factory helped alot. The names of the vine-
yards we visited are: Vasse Felix, Cape Mentalle, Leeuwin Estates, Capel Vale, Voyager Estates
and Xanadu. Good luck!!!!!

VASSE FELIX - 1ST WINERY

BASILDENE MANOR - CONSERVATORY



FRONT ENTRANCE

SIDE LAWN



BACK YARD VIEW

LEMON TREES EVERYWHERE

WHISTERIA VINES

 WHISTERIA  OVER RECEPTION AREA

VIEW FROM CONSERVATORY

VIEW FROM DRIVEWAY - FRONT OF MANOR

LEEUWIN ESTATES WINERY

CAPE MENTELLE WINERY

VOYAGER WINERY - LOTS OF BEAUTIFUL ROSES

JT and I hope all of you have a wonderful week......Stay safe and stay well.....

Miss you all very much....

All our love always,

John and Sharon