Yanchep National Park

Doug put Yanchep NP on his lists of things to do in WA because there is a famous cave there, but you have to take a tour and we weren’t able to visit on a day when they were running.

As it turns out, all the other things to do and see, or where you could eat or buy coffee or get information, were closed. So we did the best we could, did the walk around the wetland which was lovely, and came back to the cursed holiday house. I can’t judge what it would be like when everything was operating and open, but it’s not on my “must go back and see” list, though it was a pleasant outing on a cold, bright day when we had had so much lousy weather that week.

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Hervey Bay July 2024

We took a short break up to Hervey Bay to whale watch and do a bit of coastal strolling and we had absolutely perfect weather the entire time – cold, but bright and dry. The apartment we rented was less than optimal but that was the only issue. We took our new (secondhand) Hyundai Kona 2022 EV and it was a dream to drive. It helped that Hervey Bay has a terrific charging high speed station with four bays at one of its shopping centres – it’s unusual in that because Queensland is struggling to keep up with demand on charging.

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Adventures in cat furniture

Late last year we built a cat walk on the front of the house, and had cat doors installed for it and the catio at the other end of the house. Shula loves the catio, but the cat walk (really, just a 1.8m long, low cage in front of the window), never really interested her that much.

I saw this IKEA hack to turn a very large Kallax bookshelf into a cat tree, and thought we could try something like that. I later thought that if we put it in front of the cat door to the cat walk, it might encourage her to use it. But all I really wanted in the first instance was to give her some enrichment, and another thing to play with and look around.

I drew up a plan and Doug made it. It’s been ludicrously successful. Shula was all over it during the construction, and as soon as it was in place, was keen to explore all the possibilities. Best of all, she now goes in and out of the cat walk quite happily, whether we’re out in that room or not.

This is the plan I created:

There are multiple ways for her to get to the cat door, and there’s a shelf across the window behind the unit that lets her walk along it from the first level from either cubicle. The steps thing in front of the unit which you can see at the bottom of the photos was what Doug built for her to access the cat walk originally. She doesn’t need it, but it’s covered with mats she can use to scratch on. We put similar mats on one side of the top shelf, and a little way down the side (you can just see them in one of the photos), which she can use for scratching if she’s on the top, or on the cat tree next to this unit.

It was surprisingly easy to make with a jigsaw to make the holes – the thick top shelf is basically just melamine-covered cardboard, and Doug says he wishes it’s known that, because he would have used a Stanley/craft knife to make that one hole. (The other shelves are melamine covered chipboard, so you need a saw.)

You don’t have to have a cat door to the outside for this to be fun for your kitty.

Meet Shula (previously called Misty)

[She came with that name, by the way ETA: And we’ve changed it to Shula]

She’s a four-year-old rescue cat and has one overriding desire in life – to be the centre of all attention and love from her humans. This, of course, is just horrible for us 🙂

Doug spent 27 years telling me he didn’t want an indoor cat, didn’t want a cat who slept on our bed, didn’t want the fuss etc.

I predicted this would be the result when we got one 🙂

She 

She is beautiful, a real melanic cat with black beans and whiskers and pigmented skin. She’s also been amazingly quick to settle in – none of this “keep her in one small room until she settles in” crap for her! She used the litter tray, played with the cat tree, ate and drank normally, and slept on our bed, as if she had lived her for years instead of a handful of hours. Doug swears she must have Siamese in her. She’s not very vocal though, just has the tiniest little mew. We are keeping her in the large heated sunroom which adjoins our bedroom, so she can be shut out there when she’s being a bit in the way. Much more room than she had at the shelter!

I can’t believe she was there for 2 months. I was in love from the minute we met her, although it wasn’t until we held her, and then the other one I was having trouble choosing between, that we picked her. The other one, who was also a gorgeous, friendly black kitty, just didn’t like being held that day, so Misty won on charm.

This is the first and last cat post from me. However, I need to post the photos from our trip to New Caledonia once I don’t have new cat brain 🙂

It’s beginning to feel like Summer!

The end of a very long year is finally upon us, and time for us to make some last minute updates, and then to run away to Tasmania while our holiday guests give Lochanbar a real run for their money. … Continue reading →

The end of a very long year is finally upon us, and time for us to make some last minute updates, and then to run away to Tasmania while our holiday guests give Lochanbar a real run for their money. We put up just a couple of decorations to make the house look friendly for Xmas

That circular thing next to the Xmas Wallaby is the vent for a solar power roof ventilator installed for us by Solazone at Marcoola. The boss, Ernest, and his sidekick Baden, had already installed two of these at our house in Brisbane, and we knew this ventilator would help shift hot air build up in the cathedral ceiling during the summer and keep the house fresh. Our natives took to Ernest immediately 🙂

 

Actually, the birds were all rather cheeky and a bit annoying this time. They had become rather too used to being fed by some of our guests, and as a result, were a lot more determined to get up close and personal with us, which is alarming enough when it’s a king parrot

But when it’s a currawong or a huge sulphur-crested cockatoo (or several of them at once!), it can really be off-putting.

It was also causing the birds to fight amongst themselves

The thing is, no one has to feed the birds. We never do, and yet we see them on the front and back decks all the time. Feeding them alters natural behaviour, removes their fear of man which makes them vulnerable to people who would hurt them, and can make them sick or overbreed. So we ask that you don’t. It’s actually a by-law of the estate, and a National Park regulation.

And when they aren’t fed, they don’t hang around and poo all over the furniture. Yours truly spent hours and hours and hundreds of litres of water trying to clean the deck chairs. Not much fun, and the birds promptly soiled it all again 🙁

The deck is a refuge though. In our recent spate of wet weather, some nearly fledged King Parrot chicks hung around looking miserable

At least it was dry, and not that cold. They were all fine the next time we saw them in the dry.

The rain has brought grass, and the grass has brought baby wallabies. One young mum with a joey that had just left the house, was a source of much amusement, because the joey was at that stage when it looked like a skinny little rat with long legs, and was so adorable

Doug had a chance between showers to go for a short walk in the forest, and photographed these mighty trees

I’ll end this post with some of the lovely feedback we’ve had from recent visitors either through our visitors’ book or the accommodation centre feedback page:

Lochanbar was a beautiful relaxing place to stay. The renovations have made this a very comfortable accommodation – home away from home. All the little extras made it more so and we certainly would consider staying there again should we have the opportunity. Having the linen provided was a huge plus. Not having to fit sheets into our airline luggage was so helpful. The snuggle rugs in the lounge were great for we Far North Queenslanders. The beds were very comfortable and a great height for my disabled husband to get in and out of.
This short holiday was a 21st Birthday gift to our Granddaughter. On our first night there she said ‘This is such a lovely place, if I have a family we are coming here for holidays’. I think that is the best endorsement.
I rate everything A+

Thanks to the Lochanbar owners for sharing their home.

We have 4 small children and it was a delight to walk into such a kid
friendly place…  with lots of other properties I have to do a sweep of the
property lifting up ‘breakables’ and putting up stair gates!

We were able to unpack and immediately relax, we can’t thank you enough!  We
had a wonderful weekend of relaxing quality family time!

And this gorgeous picture recent guests left with their note

So all that remains is for me to wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a safe and joyful 2018!

More lovely feedback

The year is getting away from us so fast! We were up a couple of weeks ago, installed a new electric dryer and front load washing machine, as well as a new dishwasher after the last one turned out to … Continue reading →

The year is getting away from us so fast! We were up a couple of weeks ago, installed a new electric dryer and front load washing machine, as well as a new dishwasher after the last one turned out to be a lemon (note: Beko will not repair machines if you don’t live in a city, so their guarantee is worthless!)

We’re going up next week and that’s the last time before Christmas and New Year. We’re fully booked up from 18 December until after New Year, so I hope our visitors have a great time.

We just had some lovely feedback forwarded to us by Sue Unwin at the Accommodation centre:

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay!
Staff were friendly and efficient, property was kid friendly and clean!
Our overall stay was fantastic!
Thanks to the Lochanbar owners for sharing their home.
We have 4 small children and it was a delight to walk into such a kid
friendly place…  with lots of other properties I have to do a sweep of the
property lifting up ‘breakables’ and putting up stair gates!
We were able to unpack and immediately relax, we can’t thank you enough!  We
had a wonderful weekend of relaxing quality family time!

Which is so nice to hear. We have worked hard to make the place welcoming to our young visitors, and to everyone else, of course.

In 2018, with all the kinks worked out, we should be able to take more proper holidays up there, but we will keep working to keep the house friendly, usable, and a luxurious place for our visitors to rest and play in.