Paddy & Jen Adventures

On October 31st 2025 I was finally given the all clear to leave Perth following my surgery. Paddy had returned from his work in Hong Kong and after what felt like a lifetime we hit the road and headed 5 hours north of Perth to Geraldton. Paddy’s eldest brother Kev lives there with our beautiful sister in law Eve and we were keen to spend some time with them before we start to make our way home. We had a lovely weekend at their place, some great meals, plenty of drinks, interesting chats and lots of laughs.

From there we headed back to Perth to pick up our caravan and then on to my cousin’s place in Perth. My cousin Fran and his wife Caroline had kindly put on a great meal for us all. We enjoyed the time spent with them, my cousin Steve, their cousin Brad and Suz, Jesse (Caroline’s son) and his partner Jaz. It was a fun gathering at Fran’s lovely home and I was sad to say goodbye to them when we left.

From there we headed back to Busselton, this time to collect our middle son Lachie and his partner Emily from the airport. They had flown in from Melbourne to have a week with us and it was so good to see them. We have not seen them since May when we made a surprise trip home for Mother’s Day.

We stayed with them just out of Cowaramup (“Cow Town”), about 10 km’s out from the town of Margaret River for a few days then moved to Busselton to spend time there with our good friends Rosie, Bren and Conor Welsford. I was the self appointed tour guide and we packed so much in to the whole week. We visited so many wineries, bought way too many bottles of wine, shipped home way too many bottles of wine, ate the most amazing food (Amelia Park was the highlight), enjoyed the stunning beaches and sunsets, danced on the beach with the Welsfords, sang a few tunes whilst Paddy played the guitar, were ultra competitive playing Five Crowns and were super exhausted at the end of it all! Regardless, we made the most beautiful memories and ones I will cherish forever. Makes you feel so good when your adult children & their partners enjoy spending time with you.

It was Conor’s 20th birthday on November 11th and it was so special for Lach and Em, Paddy and myself to be with him to celebrate. He is an incredible man who just makes you feel so loved. Every day spent with him is gold. It was so much fun watching him find his presents as part of a treasure hunt Rosie had organised for him. We had a lovely dinner at Conor’s favourite place “Tonic by the Bay” in Busselton. A day later I took Conor to the Dunsborough Fun Park and watched him enjoy hours of fun on the waterslides. He has no fear and loves the highest waterslide as he gets to come down them really fast.

We farewelled Lach and Em on November 12th and a few days later said our farewell’s to the Welsford’s. Great thing is we will see them all again at Xmas time in Melbourne, only 5 weeks away. We are starting our journey towards home, although we still have some great new places to stop and visit along the way.

Update re my surgery: I have been experiencing some dizziness and hearing loss since the op. I have been told this takes time so I just need to be patient. I found a brilliant nuero-physio in Busselton who has given me some great tips to fix my balance. I can already see the improvement. I will have on-going follow-up when I get back to Melbourne with a specialist to make sure the skull based surgery has done its job. Little reminders each day that I have had a big surgery (especially when I have done too much!), but overall things are good. I have been very humbled by the lovely messages from so many people checking in to see how I am doing.

Now for our new adventures to begin on our travels towards home…