We spent 39 days all up at the Old Townsite of Marrinup and almost got evicted for squatting! Apparently there is a 28 day limit, but we couldn't find any information to back that up. There is a cleaner that comes in once a week and he took our photo (campsite, not us personally) and told us that the ranger would be around to see us soon. We said that was fine and we'd see him when and if he came, he hadn't been in the whole time we'd been there and there are people there that have been camped there longer than us.
Fortunately, as luck had it, we got a phone call offering Geoff work at Henderson so we were able to leave anyway. We were only staying long enough to find work without paying van park fees.
If you look in the paper here, there are always around 8-10 boilermaker/welder jobs each week. I think we applied to each and every one of them and had around 50 applications in from Collie in the south to north of the river, Perth. (I say 'we' but I mean Geoff, I just do the computer work). Port Hedland and Karratha weren't even in the running, too hot and no accommodation available (houses start at $1250 a week).
So now we are in a caravan park, with an en-suite site (mandatory for long termers we are told), with a real shower and flushing toilet and a tap. This is a huge luxury for us, for the last month or so we have been bucketing water from the creek, using solar shower bags and roughing it with pit toilets. We are gradually settling in, Erin has met another girl in the park, a little younger than her but they get along well, another Queenslander. I am now looking for work for myself so we'll see how that goes, I'm trying to find afternoon or weekend work so Erin isn't home alone.
The days have been quite warm but there's usually relief when the Freo Doctor comes and cools us down again. Our neighbours are nice and one couple has already invited us to Christmas brekky with some of the other permanents.
Erin finished school a week early and WA school holidays don't start until the end of this week so she has been a little bored, I've offered her plenty of jobs to keep her occupied, but she has declined. I wonder why? She has been counting down days as she turns 14 on Wednesday and keeps telling me, as if I'd forget.
I will try and sort out photos today and get them uploaded, I know, very slack of me. I missed having power.
I hope everyone is well and not getting trampled by pre-Christmas shoppers, I haven't missed shopping centres or crowds that's for certain.
Cheers for now.
