Our last couple of weeks at home flew by. There were many farewells - family BBQs with copious amounts of steak and seafood; an evening Swan River cruise with a great group of boating friends onboard Pete and Mandy's beautiful launch Alouette; lunch at the beautiful Mandoon Estate Winery in the Swan Valley with two of the best ladies I ever worked with - Frances and Vicki - and their respective families; coffee and cake with dear Nadine; even a catch up with Pat & Tony, a couple of Pommy sailors we met in Malaysia back in 2011. We were even lucky enough to attend the very last Broome to Bicton sunset concert at Quarantine Park - a fundraiser for the Clontarf Foundation which features the very talented Pigram Brothers.

An unseasonal summer storm, dumping 106mm of rain over a 24 hour period, created flooding of both the Swan and Avon Rivers. Given that the average rainfall for Perth in February is just 8mm, the deluge created a unique opportunity to see the Avon Valley with a very rare lushness and to see the Avon swiftly flowing. With our Besties Bazz and Betts, we decided to take a quick road trip out to the Valley to enjoy this unique opportunity. Our first stop was Noble Falls, where we were treated to a stunning cascade of floodwater. We paused at "The Shrine" - a memorial in honour of the late motor racing driver Peter Brock (King of the Mountain). The small plinth, placed there by fans of Brocky, is located at the site of his fatal Targa West Rally crash on a hairpin bend along Clenton Road in Gidgegannup.

Next we headed for Toodyay - once the home of legendary bushranger Moondyne Joe. Known as Duidgee to the indigenous Balladong Noongars, the original 1836 settlement was called Newcastle (changed in 1910 due to perceived confusion with Newcastle in NSW). The original townsite was subjected to regular flooding and in 1859, the settlement was relocated 3km upstream to its present location. A convict hiring station was established on the northern bank of the river; many of the current heritage listed buildings being constructed using the labour of these ticket of leave men. We enjoyed a delicious lunch at the award winning Toodyay Bakery (can't beat a good Aussie meat pie from a country bakery) before taking a stroll through the Heritage Precinct. We meandered our way through the Valley, pausing to harvest wild figs on the Toodyay-Northam.
Our next town stop was in Northam, another Valley early settlement and the starting point for the annual Avon Descent. This unique paddle and power dinghy boat race, with a course of 124 km down the Avon River is run over a 2 day period each August. It's so famous, it even airs on CNBC each year! Northam was once the Valley's commercial hub - the railway station making it the major departure point for prospectors heading to the goldfields as well as a cargo centre. The remaining Gold Rush era heritage buildings tell a story of a once prosperous and important town. During WW1, local breeders were heavily utilised to provide horses for the 10th Light Horse Brigade; during WW2 the town became a strategic military base, with several camps, ammunition depots and repatriation hospitals set up in the area. We stopped by the river to observe the damage to the town bridge before checking out the floodwaters at the Northam Weir. We also took the opportunity to visit the memorial to Captain Hugo (Jim) Throssell, the town's Gallipoli Victoria Cross recipient, awarded for his bravery and courageous fighting at both the Battle of the Nek and Hill 60.

We had opted to spend the night at York, the oldest inland town in WA (settled initially in 1830). Listed today as a National Historic Town, the heritage buildings clearly project the town's former wealth and status. The area was once the food bowl of the Swan River Colony and it benefitted greatly from money made during the Gold Rush era (both from agricultural and other retail sales and from newly rich prospectors deciding to call York home). The beautifully preserved 1911 Town Hall, today home to the York Visitors Centre, once boasted the largest floor area of any building in WA; the Old York Hospital has longstanding reputation as a haunted site; and recently uncovered graffiti at the old Gaol acts provides a degree of social commentary of life in WA in the 1900s. We stayed in a one of the two self contained stone York cottages on the outskirts of town and enjoyed a relaxing evening of great food and conversation (plus a killer game of Girls V Boys Scrabble!)

After returning to the metropolitan area, we spent a last few precious days with our family, squeezing in a quick visit to Bunbury to catch up with Mummy, Daddy and Baby G and enjoying some delicious meals with our metro based bunch. I also managed to get together for a girlie lunch with my niece Bec and her gorgeous 3yo Lani. We then delivered "The Tart" to her new owner; said goodbye to our closest group of friends by hosting a sundowner in Bicton and delighted in sharing a couple of quiet days with Bazz and Betts.

Of course, there was plenty of planning for our Panama return. Having ordered new Lifeline batteries and antifoul paint back in November, we needed to co-ordinate delivery to the marina. We also had to ensure that the yard manager at Shelter Bay made arrangements for Elevation to be relocated to the works area from the secure yard and that all shrinkwrap is removed prior to us arriving. We needed to organise our favourite driver, Rogelio, to collect us from Toucaman Airport; we needed to check that our hotel accommodation was in place; we needed to arrange documentation for Customs and Immigration. Panama officials are notoriously difficult, especially in regard to returning cruisers and we needed to obtain letters from both the marina and from our soon to be Panama Canal advisor in order to circumvent entry requirements of having a return air ticket. We certainly don't want to have issues - it was hard enough when we tried to check in after sailing from Jamaica!

Very early on 16 March, we headed to the airport with B&B; there were many hugs and of course a slightly teary goodbye and we winged away to California. Love you Perth XX