On our last day in Perth we did ‘jobs’ – we packed up all our rucksacks and cases, we sent a box of bits and bobs back home and we returned library books.
Today we also attended the birthday party of Isaac’s friend, and the kids reported it was the best party ever – bowling and arcade games, sushi (Sam now likes this!) and pizza – thank you to Clare’s friend for inviting us, we had a blast!
We’ve had a lovely three weeks in Western Australia. Thank you so much to Clare and her family for their hospitality. It was so good to see Clare again, and meet Alfie, it’s been lovely having a family base between trips, and the kids have loved playing with Isaac! We will miss you all!
Next stop is the east coast – Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast.
We left our holiday park at Gracetown and drove to Busselton and saw a long jetty. (Note from parents: it is the longest timber-piled jetty in the southern hemisphere at 1,841 metres long.)
Then we drove back to Perth and went to Hillarys Boat Harbour with Clare and Isaac. We went on huge inflatables and we went on it for my birthday party! We wore life jackets. It was like a ninja course. I jumped in. I fell in. I jumped off a tall platform. There were monkey bars. It was fun!
After we had tea we went back to Clare and Isaac’s house and they gave me a doughnut cake!
By huge coincidence our dates for visiting Perth and Western Australia coincided with the annual Motor Neuron Disease conference being held in Perth.
I was very excited when I first realised this months ago and booked my ticket to attend. So for 4 days this week I have commuted into the city centre and attended the Allied Health Professions (AHP) day and the main medical and research conference.
I’ve learnt such a lot about current research in current practice, cause and treatment of MND: when I return to the UK I’ll hopefully be able to share lots of interesting information with my fellow AHPs at Airedale NHS Trust.
I was thrilled to see Emily Plowman presenting as I have been following her research and trying to promote it in clinical practice within my West Yorkshire networks.
And it was lovely one lunch time to be able to go out and meet Mike and the kids for a brief play before heading back in!
I met some great people during the conference, one doctor lives in Sydney and we’re hoping to meet up for a walk when we visit there in February! I also bumped into a Consultant Neurologist who I used to work with at Airedale before he emigrated to Australia. He was also at the conference and it was lovely to catch up with him and reminisce! I spent a lot of time at the poster session and through good luck managed to get a personal explanation from Nora who went on to win the Biomedical Poster Prize.
On 4/12/19 it was the innaugral Global Walk to D’Feet MND, raising awareness with a sea of MND t-shirts walking 5 Kms along the Swan River! Martha joined me for the walk and was my special reporter on the spot!
We got a train in to Perth city centre and had lunch. Then we went to a fire station. We dressed up as firemen and then went in a fire engine. There was a climbing wall and a fireman’s pole.
Next we went to a water park at Elizabeth Quay. We got very wet. There was also steam.
Today we went to Fremantle Prison. It is a stone prison and is no longer in use. We got a tour to show us the cells and inside the building. There was also a chapel and a library.
Today we went to Mullaloo Beach and swam in the sea. It was cold. We did body boarding and built sandcastles. It was fun!
Then in the evening we went to Hillary’s Boat Harbour with Isaac and we saw an entertainer. He did handstands and juggling and fire eating. He balanced and juggled.
