Articles by Verne Maree

Born and raised in Durban, South African Verne is a writer and editor. She and Roy met in Durban in 1992, got married four years later, and moved briefly to London in 2000 and then to Singapore a year later. After their 15 or 16 years on that amazing island, Roy retired in May 2016 from a long career in shipping. Now, instead of settling down and waiting to get old in just one place, we've devised a plan that includes exploring the waterways of France on our new boat, Karanja. And as Verne doesn't do winter, we'll spend the rest of the time between Singapore, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand - and whatever other interesting places beckon. Those round-the-world air-tickets look to be incredible value...

Flight of the Covid-19 Refugees, 1-14 February – Part Four: Glamping in Yallingup

Good morning, campers!; surf, turf, and Kim’s multiple skill sets; spectacular spelunking at Ngilgi Cave; Cape Naturaliste lighthouse trivia; big lunch at Little Fish; the culpable kookaburra at Caves House Hotel; of coffee and chillies in Commonage Road; post-mask postlude

I may have mentioned before now that Roy is not a happy camper. I don’t mean it in the sense of his being generally miserable and grumpy (not in this instance, anyway). I mean he doesn’t do camping.

Upscale refugee tent in Yallingup

He doesn’t like caravans. Or even campervans. This is inexplicable to me – I love these things, always have.

Let alone those portable shelters made of fabric or other material stretched over a supporting framework of poles and secured to the ground with cords and stakes. In the 29 years since we met, I had never known him to darken a tent flap.

Yet here we were, camping out for two nights in the grounds of Lynn and Kim’s holiday home in Yallingup, Margaret River.

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Flight of the Covid-19 Refugees, 1-14 February – Part 3: Denmark & Augusta

Cabins and kangaroos in Jerramungup; power (and coffee) to the people; weather philosophy and the rejigging of Roy’s internal thermostat; Denmark’s tradie tavern; pelican brief and apostrophic catastrophes in Augusta

Esperance to Jerramungup

“We have a nice caravan park,” the cashier at the local IGA supermarket had said, when we stopped in on our way east to Esperance. And it is nice, as far as caravan parks go – it’s spacious, has plenty of shrubbery, and when I went for a walk around the perimeter I had my first-ever encounter with wild kangaroos.

Wild kangaroos – but I confess to having taken this particular picture a week later in Yallingup, not in Jerramungup

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Flight of the Covid-19 Refugees 1-14 February, Part Two: Esperance

Jerramungup, a toddlin’ town; getting lucky at Lucky Bay; there’s a tavern in the town (of Condingup); Cindy Poole, heart of a glass artist; I say Esp-eh-rance, you say “Esprintz”; three firsts in one day; reviews and summation

This trip was all about Esperance, a destination that boasts some of WA’s – or even Australia’s – best beaches. Albany, Denmark, Augusta and Yallingup were lovely to revisit, but we’d been there before.

Preview: Lucky Bay, Le Grand National Park

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Flight of the Covid-19 Refugees, 1-14 February: Part One

Why am I still Down Under? – travel is just so 2019; a mani-pedi moment; fleeing Perth – lockdown narrowly averted; York (again); sheep-centric Wagin; Durban and Umhlanga, the end of an era;  Elliot House, Albany – any port in a lockdown

While much of the world has been in  crisis, Roy and I have been living the good life in Western Australia. Aside from several months of restrictions from March 2020, it’s been relatively normal. (Relative, that is, to the questionable dismissal of basic human rights, albeit in slightly different ways and to varying degrees, in most parts of the world.)

Living the good life in WA – me, Roy and daughter Blaire at Mandoon Wine Estate on my birthday

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Historical York, WA, 13-15 October 2020

A tale of two tiny towns; canola blossom prequel and a soapbox moment; Day Trippers, yeah! – York Motor Museum; Burnley House and Settlers Cottages – this and other cases of apostrophic abuse; where to eat, if you’re lucky

“You should spend a night or two exploring the olde-worlde historical Avon Valley,” son Carl had recommended – not once but several times. York had a great motor museum for his dad, and we should try to catch the spring wildflowers.

So, eventually, we did. I booked two nights’ mid-week accommodation at York’s Burnley House and Settlers Cottages through agoda.com. I’d fancied three nights, but Roy thought two would be enough. So now, not having seen everything there is to be seen, I have an excuse for us to go back there.

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Margaret River Trio, 17-21 August 2020

Temper Temper chocolate factory; ginger, chilli and other addictions; equal-opportunity Eagle Bay: microbrewery plus vineyard; escapee lilies at large; Commonage Road Food & Wine Trail

*While at Temper Temper Fine Chocolate Factory, why not visit the Margaret River region?

(*With acknowledgement to the oft-quoted: “While at Raffles, why not visit Singapore?”, attributed – to the best of my knowledge – to that famous hotel’s equally famous guest Noel Coward.)

#1 Temper Temper Fine Chocolate

Top of my agenda for any trip to the Margaret River region, 200km south of Perth WA, is to visit the Holy Grail of chocolate, Temper Temper.

Restocking my supply of chilli dark chocolate at Temper Temper

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Busselton Break, 17-21 August 2020

The WA History Channel: Moondyne Joe advancing Australia fair; Broome or Busso?; Jolly Jetty Tour; Review: Bayside Geographe Bay Resort

It’s now nearly months since Roy and I have been forcibly confined to Western Australia – without one of us even having nicked a loaf of bread or a side of ham. And we’re gradually getting to know a bit about this aspect of local history, courtesy of granddaughter Mia (10).

Moondyne Joe, local hero

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Tea for Two at The Green Tea House, Subiaco – July 2020

The tea-tabulous Tsutomo Iwasaki; flashback to Kagoshima 2009; of catechins, monks and samurais; a long story; An Innocent Man; Sam-san the barista-in-training

Tasting green tea at the tea-tasting-tabulous Green Tea House, Subiaco, Perth

One Wednesday afternoon in July, after a light bite of lunch at Cranked in the buzzy inner city suburb of Leederville, my new friend Debbie Uller drove me to the Green Tea House (www.greenteahouse.com.au). (Find it at Shop 17, 375 Hay Street in Subiaco; call +618 9388 7425).

Debbie at the Green Tea House – a suburban shopwindow hides a little corner of Tokyo

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Margaret River Getaway 7-11 June – Part 2: Yallingup

Our forest friends; Indijup Beach; Swings & Roundabouts; terrific coffee and a lighthouse; Peccavi (I have sinned) – No Regrets

Visiting a place where you have friends  is great – you get to see it through their eyes and benefit from their insights. And they show you their favourite  things.

We’re lucky that Kim and Lynn Sadler, whom we first met as fellow-expats in Singapore, have a forest home in Yallingup. He’s Western Australian, she’s English.

 

Flashback to June 2017 – at Sillery Relais Nautique, Reims, with Kim and Lynn Sadler

In fact, this lovely couple were two of the first visitors to our Dutch barge Karanja during that memorable cruise from England cross-Channel to Calais and through France in the summer of 2017. They met up with us in Reims [say Rance] for a drink on board followed by lunch in the city.

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