A bright and sunny morning here in Lake Clifton held great promise of a sensational girls day and night away. Judy spent last night googling to her hearts content and booked us a room at the 5 star Duxton Hotel in Perth. 5 Stars. I could hardly contain my excitement. Not that our 106 days on the road so far had been like travelling in a washed out sardine can. Our Windsor Rapid has all the luxuries of home, but I also know that The Duxton will have little pieces of soap individually wrapped in the bathroom, a bed that someone else will make and load and loads of time for girl chatter and catch up.
Emma arrived from Bunbury and we piled into her Subaru and set the GPS for arrival at the Duxton. Pronto! Ray waved us off. 106 days of being in each others space 24/7. I knew I was going to miss him!
The Duxton is a 5 star hotel newly built within the shell of the old Perth Tax Office. Our room was stocked with Peter Morressey bathroom products, Margaret River Chocolates, and local flavoured nuts. Exquisite! It was still undergoing finishing touches to the renovation in their Bar and Grille. This meant a periodical jack hammering noise from underneath our feet in our room. The noise seemed to surround us, but Emma ascertained that it was indeed coming from below us by putting her ear to the floor. While her ear was attached to things she decided to try the old glass against the wall trick to get the gist of the conversation coming from the room next door. Not very successful, but great for giggles.
Our room had 2 queen size beds and I was granted one all to myself as it was my first “real” bed in 106 days! I did snowflakes on the sheets in excitement.
After our arrival, the afternoon loomed ahead, so did Perth, but the pull of the room was too much. Our “Sugar Mumma” Judy organised drinks and nibbles and after toasting the absence of Kaz ( the 4th Musketeer), we commenced reading “The Best Auto Correct Text Message Bloopers”. Hilarious, we laughed til we cried. It’s the small things you miss in the company of each other.
I got a sensational rendition of the road trip song, Michael Bolton’s “How Can We Be Lovers”, by the girls. It got stuck in my head (as I was warned it would) and I hummed it all day through.
We decided to change into cossies and headed to the outdoor pool and spa. There were already a few occupants, although none as excited and noisy as us! Poor people. After a swim, spa and sun bake we headed into the saunas. Not sure of the difference between a wet and dry sauna, we decided we had to try them both out. One was wet heat more steamy, one dry heat, no steam and much hotter. We debated the point of each and decided we didn’t much care.
We bypassed the gym, deciding that it looked like too much work and returned to our suite for our second round of drinks and nibbles. We mellowed out, reading and chatting, catching up and I for one really soaked up the “girliness” of the afternoon. I’ve missed these girls (only Kaz was missing now). We considered playing some Bon Jovi in her honour but admitted it just wouldn’t be the same without her there, so we continued to toast her with wine instead.
Dinner time came around all too quickly and we decided that since we hadn’t left the hotel all day, why start now?
We changed, got spruced up and went down to drinks in the Lounge. Our champagne came with a free bowl of nibbles so we were set.
Tummies soon grumbled for something more substantial than nibbles and alcohol. The Ballroom was hosting dinner, so we settled ourselves on plush chairs amongst linen tablecloths and serviettes, candles and a huge variety of glasses and cutlery for each of us that it was almost overwhelming. A quiet night in the Ballroom, we received excellent food and personalized service. Delightful. After dinner we again returned to our suite (the Lounge had closed for the night) ordered liqueurs from room service and enjoyed them while lounging in bed.
The value of having this time with the girls is immeasurable. I feel very special that they arranged to give me this gift of time and companionship. We laughed til we cried and made new and special memories.