We packed and left Augusta in a squall of rain, which seemed fitting, and drove out to investigate the gorgeous farmland and stands of old-growth timber around Nannup and all the other "up" towns. The "up" suffix is from the Noongar language meaning "place of", so we reasoned that Nannup was obviously the place of Nannas! In our usual organised fashion, we bumbled into Bridgetown and noticed that it was quite busy for a small town on a Friday. It turned out that Bridgetown Blues Festival was on that weekend. We were thrilled - we have missed rodeos, festivals, openings and celebrations all over the country until now! There was no accommodation available in Bridgetown, not surprisingly, so we drove on to Boyup Brook, which is co-incidentally WA's Country Music Capital. There are some wonderful musical sculptures in the main street.
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| The Haystack Mountian Hermits and Friends |
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| Howdy Pardner! |
Jackson Street and some more tall musicians led us to a wonderfully relaxed and almost empty shire caravan park on the river, where the sign said "If office is unattended, make yourselves at home". We took them at their word and Marcus soon had a fire lit ready for a BBQ and some music playing. We were plagued by the most flies we've come across anywhere, and he had to take drastic measures to stay sane!
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| Marcus and his fly net |
It was a lovely evening of music making by fire and moonlight once the flies disappeared at sundown. The caretaker dropped by to say G'day and stayed to listen awhile.
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| Beautiful Bridgetown Blues Festival |
Clouds were threatening as we drove back into Bridgetown for the Blues Festival on Saturday morning, but the rain held off and we had a brilliant day. The main street of the very attractive, historical town is closed to traffic and there are two free stages offering entertainment all day. Market stalls add to the festival atmosphere and we couldn't believe what a fabulous, family-friendly event it was. The big names were in the ticketed marquees and venues around town but we were more than happy wandering the street between the free stages and buskers.
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The Bad Piper - played his bagpipes
with panache, not to mention his
suggestive sporran wiggling! |
Juzzie Smith (a Byron local and Bluesfest performer) was busking in the street between gigs and we had a great chat to him. Chris, the harp player from Homebrew was another lovely guy who chatted to us and then presented Marcus with an A harp when he learnt that he was a harp player. Marcus was chuffed. Dave learnt heaps from a local bluesman Martin Lee Cropper, who stopped busking to show us his resonator guitars and equipment. We treated ourselves to Margaret River Wagyu Burgers, Margaret River coffee and the kids (well all of us, to be truthful!) were very excited to try Simmo's Ice Cream - all gourmet treats we had not had time to find during our stay in the Margaret River area.
A fantastic day was had by all. Byron Bluesfest could learn a thing or two from Bridgetown!
Stay tuned ...
1 comment:
Another great account of your latest adventures, well done Kerrie! 'Loved the tree climbing stories. 'Don't know what it is about getting older I used to love climbing as high as possible but now changing a light bulb up a stepladder is enough putting me firmly in the Dave 'parrot feeding' category.
It's just a pity the boys couldn't have taken a few of our politicians up the tree and nudged them off at the top. The pre election frenzy here in NZ would then be helped immeasurably.
Take care, have fun and keep up the good work. and glad to hear the musical education continues!
Cheers, Neil
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