Hey guys,
Well, we just came back from a little holiday to Perth... and here is the run down in chronological order....
First, someone didn't appear to want to go...
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24 August - 01 - Joseph asleep.jpg [ 171 KiB | Viewed 9329 times ]
Then we arrived in Perth. I had booked a "VE Commodore or similar" but I had to admit, I preferred the Holden (or at a pinch, the Ford). They had to do some dodgy deals as the Holden had just ticked over 60,000k's and needed to be traded, but the girl behind the counter liked Holdens as well, so she was happy to help me out.
For all the negativity people lay on the Holdens and the Fords, I was super impressed. It had enough room for all our crap (two suitcases, porta-cot, baby seat, ourselves and occasionally two passengers, was quiet and full of beans when pushed (it was the 3.6 litre with the SIDI injection system). It used less juice than the 19yo, 4.0 V8 Lexus LS400 we have while returning better power. It didn't rattle, shutter, squeak or carry on. The 6-speed auto was seamless through the gears. It was a seriously good tool.
They actually asked if I wanted an X-Trail. I NEVER would have fitted our stuff in an X-Trail.
I bonded with Big Red. It was even a really nice red!
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24 August - 05 - Hertz Holden VE Commodore SV6 with Sarah and Joseph.jpg [ 187.01 KiB | Viewed 9329 times ]
The first stop was to the shops, where I found the PERFECT iced coffee...
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25 August - 01 - Mullaloo - Koorana Rd - Mullaloo IGA - Dave with beardy iced coffee.jpg [ 165.4 KiB | Viewed 9329 times ]
The next day, we went to grab some lunch and I spotted this Jaguar S-Type running the bizarrest wires I've ever seen; not large like a pimp-spec 100-spoke you'd see on a lowrider, but certainly not vintage looking wheels given their width, offset and diameter!
Not sure I liked them...
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25 August - 04 - unknown location - Jaguar S-Type with big wire wheels.jpg [ 104.04 KiB | Viewed 9329 times ]
After staying with friends in Mullaloo, we went to Bateman (inner South), back to the house I lived in from 1989 to 1990. My Mum moved us to over to be with this guy, but it didn't work out. He was the closest I had to a step father and has always welcomed us back to his house. I stayed in my exact room; it was weird; familiar but not at the same time. Joseph checked out the view I last saw when I was 12...
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26 August - 01 - David's room - Joseph.JPG [ 179.7 KiB | Viewed 9329 times ]
We went out the back. The J-Man saw something exciting....
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26 August - 17 - backyard - Joseph.JPG [ 175.67 KiB | Viewed 9329 times ]
The next day, Joseph seemed a little off colour. We went for a drive down to Rockingham just for a look. I found a vintage KFC that had closed down. When was this last done up? I'm certain they've had an update since then....
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27 August - 02 - Rockingham - vintage KFC closed down.jpg [ 134.17 KiB | Viewed 9329 times ]
The next day we went to Kings Park. Joseph was really off colour, which was disappointing. Kings Park is a large, beautiful parcel of land overlooking the city. We got a photo, but not everyone was happy with that...
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28 August - 01 - Kings Park - .JPG [ 234.87 KiB | Viewed 9329 times ]
I also got a shot overlooking the old Swan Brewery. Last time I was there, it was an empty hulk waiting for demolition, but someone saw an opportunity and built apartments and shops out of it. It was on prime real estate and was sandwiched between Kings Park and the Swan River. It was rad!
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28 August - 04 - Kings Park - .JPG [ 184.38 KiB | Viewed 9329 times ]
We cruised around the south Esplanade and saw THE MOST AWESOME CAR EVER (after Belletts).
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28 August - 18 - South Perth Esplanade - Excalibur.JPG [ 254.91 KiB | Viewed 9329 times ]
But most of the day, Joseph had been sleeping, which is weird for any nearly 2-yo kid, so we decided to check into St John of God hospital, near where we were staying in Bateman.
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28 August - 28 - St John of God - Sarah and Joseph.jpg [ 113.69 KiB | Viewed 9329 times ]
I thought he'd get some fluids and we'd be outta there by 10pm, but they admitted him overnight. The next morning, I spied this R35 Nissan GTR in the car park. The sign reads "RESERVED - DOCTORS EMERGENCY PARKING ONLY".
I have to admit, I hope that any doctor of mine has a Nissan GTR. In fact, it should be mandatory that all emergency staff have one! Then they'd get to work quicker when things go wrong!
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29 August - 01 - St John of God - Nissan GTR.jpg [ 153.65 KiB | Viewed 9329 times ]
We were in that night too....Joseph had 'bronchiolitis' which mainly affects kids under 2yo. He's 23 months and turns 2 on the Bay to Birdwood!
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29 August - 10 - St John of God - Joseph and Dave.jpg [ 95.63 KiB | Viewed 9329 times ]
With a tube up his nose feeding him fluids, another feeding him oxygen and my wife covered in blood and other random fluids following a botched blood-taking exercise, Joseph was feeling much better then next day. He was even sitting up and reading a Street Machine magazine I bought just for him!
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30 August - 04 - St John of God - Joseph reading Street Machine.jpg [ 128.03 KiB | Viewed 9329 times ]
Later that day, I spied a cool, daily driver-spec BMW 840 coupe!
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30 August - 08 - Murdoch - South St - BMW 840.jpg [ 120.16 KiB | Viewed 9329 times ]
I went back to the hospital later and Joseph had decided that there's only one thing better than a dummy...
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30 August - 22 - St John of God - Joseph with two dummies.jpg [ 124.67 KiB | Viewed 9329 times ]
Alas we were stuck there for another night (3 in total). The next day, I went back to hospital and found ANOTHER cool car in the doctor's car park!
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31 August - 03 - St John of God - Lotus Europa.jpg [ 169.7 KiB | Viewed 9329 times ]
I also found a soft drink I used to drink occasionally when I was a teenager, albeit in cans rather than bottles.
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31 August - 06 - kitchen - David drinking Sarsi.jpg [ 78.02 KiB | Viewed 9329 times ]
Finally we managed to escape; this was the first time Sarah and Joseph had touched the sunlight in almost four full days! I know that there are plenty of families who have it worse-off and spend a LOT longer in hospital, but three nights was more than enough let me tell you!
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31 August - 07 - St John of God - Sarah and Joseph escape.jpg [ 170.75 KiB | Viewed 9329 times ]
That night, we went back to our friends' place in Mullaloo. Our mate Aran has just moved from Manchester in the UK and has brought with him his enthusiast cars (an Lancer EVO and a Triumph 2000 wagon!), but he felt he needed a sensible daily driver, so he bought this!
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31 August - 13 - Mullaloo - Aran's Chevrolet Silverado.jpg [ 135.7 KiB | Viewed 9329 times ]
We finally got on our way on time (after me ringing my boss and Sarah having to call her NEW WORK SHE HADN'T EVEN STARTED AT YET that we may not even make it!). We all boarded the plane and Joseph went INSANE with anger, throwing cars under and behind the seats. Sarah and I are both big enough units that this was a major problem, plus Sarah had come down with a massive cold, which didn't help. Burning up with a kid on her lap writhing and chucking things (..and me doing my best to retrieve things..), we were dismayed to hear several delay announcements. The plane finally backed out of the terminal almost a FULL HOUR after we boarded!
As we neared Adelaide, the fatigue took over; Joseph fell asleep and we were afforded a little piece and quiet...
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September 01 - 03 - Plane - Sarah and Joseph.jpg [ 74.42 KiB | Viewed 9329 times ]
So our holiday to Perth was a write off....we had a few good moments with our mates, but didn't get to go to the zoo or Fremantle, or pretty much anything else we wanted to do.
So we'll have to do it again another time!
Cheers,
Dave
