Once Paul had decided to settle down in Australia we visited him and his partner Aly several times. We had some amazing trips and saw quite a bit of Western Australia. One place in particular we loved was Monkey Mia - still one of my most favourite places.

Feeding the dolphins in Monkey Mia

Another place we loved was Kalbarri where a huge pelican would arrive on the beach every day to be fed.

Kalbarri

A huge pelican would arrive on the beach every morning for a feed of fish, much to the onlookers’ entertainment.

Then an absolute highlight and something I’ve always wanted to do was when Paul treated us to a hot air balloon experience followed by a champagne breakfast.

Our hot air balloon experience

Paul’s family grew with the addition of two gorgeous boys, Mitchell and then Fletcher two years later. I’ve included some photos of our visits below. We loved spending time with the boys.

Ten pin bowling

Monty and Paul always fitted in a game of ten pin bowling. They were very competitive!

And then in summer 2023 Paul and the boys made it to Da Rock for a holiday! That was very special as we were all together as a family, joined by Mark and his kids too. We even had a visit from Wendy and David Bourne, Mitchell and Fletcher’s Australian grandparents, which was a real treat.