Well it was the second day before Christmas and I thought to wear down the kiddies I would give them a trip into Perth, and as you can see the first thing we saw was this ripper Christmas Tree.
Just the kiddies at Perth Mall.
At Perth Myers they have a place called Christmas Land so this year I thought I would take them there, so with their little hopes high we walked into Christmas Land and got two tickets on the Christmas Train.
Here's the Christmas train.
Fairdinkum it was over before it began as the train only went around in a frigin cycle! But as you can see the kiddies loved it.
Sarah received her fairy wings and while Harrison n' Sarah were on the magical Christmas train, Jacko was able to play with some Lego.... so all were happy.
Then as we were walking through Perth we came apon another Christmas Tree, so it was time for yet another photo opportunity.
My little fairy Sarah.
My little ratbag Jacko!
My little neville Harrison.
And before we caught the train back to Middle swan we had to have a gander at the future tallest building in Perth, thats right the BHP tower with Sarah sticking her nose into the photo.
Well it's that time of year that we say something good about my company, which just so happens to be Midland Brick which as you should know by now holds a Christmas Party each year. And this year we are back again to Hillarys The Great Escape Waterslides, and as you can see we dropped off two kiddies.... yeah okay they might of missed a beaut day but we can't all fit into the commodore and to be fairdinkum, it's just so much nicer to be able to just relax and keep an eagle eye on one kiddie while putting the feet up and just zonein' out!
Here's Sarah just showing off her day pass thingie, it was her turn to sit it out while the boys hit the Wild Rapids slide.
Then it was the little fellas turn to dry out in the sun as his sister hit the Hydro Tube with the old girl, but he didn't worry to much as it was almost tucker time so he's happy.
Here's a photo of the misses up the stairs on her way for a slide with Sarah.
Then after a beaut feed of fast food it was time for the fat fella (well maybe not in this case), to pop in and say 'Ho Ho Ho' and make all the kiddies faces smile up.
MerryChristmassanta!
Then it was back to the slides and here's Harrison coming down backwards, trust me he did do that on purpose. He surprised us this year as he wanted to go down by himself... What a big brave boy he is!
Then down came his offsider Jacko who had his bestest Day EVER!
But all good things have to come to an end, so we had a nice little walk along the beachside and had a squeez at Sorrento Quay.
And here we are crossing the bridge into Sorrento Quay to have a gander at the rich fellas boats, then it was time to get back to the commodore and back to pick up two more little nevilles.... what a beaut day out!
With the temp hovering just over thirty it was a ripper day for a drive up into the Perth hills, and for the first time your's truly decided to part with some mooha and pay for a day at The History Village in Kalamunda. And it turned out okay with only a little cost of $6 for oldies and $2 each for the nevilles, and straight away the kiddies were happy with a chance to climb over an old steam train. The Train an old G class 4-6-0 locomotive was built in Glasgow in 1897 for the government for 2620 pounds (a fair wack of money back in those days), it worked it's nuts off between Port Headland and Marble Bar until it was written off in 1968 (beaut year that!) and sold to the village for $390 in 1970.
Here are the nevilles next to an old saw pit, these pits were used extensively in the Kalamunda area during the pioneering days of the timber years.
A fair dinkum ridge-didge old aussie thunder box, I bet ya it's seen a fair few newspapers over the years!
The mob outside one of the many old homes that are in the village, this one was built by henry McCullagh in 1898 and stood on Railway Road near the present day Village. It was home for three Generations of the McCullagh Mob.
Well it just wouldn't be a fair-dinkum aussie bush village without a ripper windmill hay, and this one with it's water tank is just what the doctor ordered mate!
Inside one of the towns sheds was a bunch of wagons and here are Sarah n' Jacko showing you what kids can get up to when ones back is turned, a firm talking to and a swift kick up the cracker and I don't think they'll do it again.
Now for the auto shed as you can see it's a bit more up-to-date but still a beauty, and now to see what is in there....
Here is a BSA M21 motorcycle with a ripper sidecar was one of the last civilian motorcycles built by the company in 1939, after this one it mainly built cycles for the army I reckon me old man 'Victor' would of loved to get his hands on this thing in his day.
Then we come to a couple of tractors and a little ripper roller, Sarah is modeling the Hard working Workhorse Ferguson Tractor which was built in 1951. It was a petrol motor driven and could run on kerosene, with a 23.9 HP it worked in the Piesse Brook orchards for many years. Jacko is driving a Fordson N model tractor which was built in 1935, with it's 21 HP it also worked the local orchards. And finally we come to Oscar who is working on a 1951 McDonald Diesel road roller, which worked the towns roads and footpaths throughout the shire. From 1970 it mainly rolled the local cricket pitch and from what the locals say it did a beaut job of it.
Farmer Osk sitting on the old Fordson Tractor.
Now heres a ripper old track hay it's a Ford Marmon Herrington Truck built in 1942, This heavy duty truck was used during the second world war as a gun carrier. It was then sold to a local garage as a recovery truck, then in 1951 it was sold to the Kalamunda Bush fire Brigade. It was the Brigades first ever fire unit and had a 3.6 litre 30 HP V8 petrol engine with a 4 wheel drive conversion. It's the sort of truck my old man 'Victor' would of been proud to have ridden.
What a bloody little beauty hay...
This is the Austin 3 ton truck with a 4 litre 6 cylinder petrol driven engine, it worked around the local area and was owned for a time by the Travicich family. Now this was built in 1953 when trucks were built to last, not like the plastic sheilah trucks that are on the road today. Now okay the plastic sheilah trucks might run about 110 kilometers faster then this one, but fair-dinkum they just don't have that killer charm like these old girls.
Next we come to the old ridge-didge working orchard shed which still works like a ripper.
Here's the old fella who showed us how the size machine worked in the sheds, the kiddies worked as pickers and had a beaut time.
Chambers house which was built in 1921 and sat on Railway Road until it was removed to the Village, just a fine ripper example of a beaut aussie built house and a great chance for the kiddies to see what the oldies would of lived like.
The nevilles on an old tree stump but not just any stump, this Jarrah tree stood for 400 years (crikey) until some space cadet crashed into it in 1980, now you can have a sit and just wonder what this majestic tree would of look like.... poor bugger!
Then we come to the old Kalamunda state school which was used from 1905 until 1970, the old school class room is one of the most loved items in the village as the oldies can sit down and wonder back to the good old days.
Heres the big fella Oscar failing his class again (chip of the old block) but at least his having a beaut time failing!
Above the black board was this photo of our old King George V, I poped that in as it should have fond memory's for my old girl 'Maureen'... strewth it's been a fair while since we have had a King.
But all beaut things have to come to and end at some point, and this was the end of our walk around the Village. The kiddies had a last climb on the old locomotive and a quick run around and it was time for the drive back down the Darling rangers. The Village was spot on and we recomand it to anyone who is interested in what the old days were really like.... you know before The Simpsons!
