‘No. Come on.’ I flashed him an encouraging smile. ‘I think there’s a lookout in that direction. Let’s take a look.’

Payton rushed ahead again and as Saxon and I followed at a more leisurely pace, I tried talking to him. I asked him about his friends, about school, what he’d got up to in the first week of the holidays, but it was like trying to draw blood from a stone.

I sighed as we reached the lookout and began climbing the stairs. I’d been determined to have a good week with my kids but three days of trying to communicate with this one and I was exhausted. Half an hour of wandering around the Pinnacles and it was clear Saxon felt as if I’d brought him to hell. It saddened me that he couldn’t (or rather wouldn’t) appreciate such an iconic part of Western Australia, but then again, he was a teenage boy—maybe I was expecting too much?

When Payton started to lose interest as well, I suggested we go have lunch at The Lobster Factory.

‘Yuck.’ She scrunched up her face and stuck out her tongue. ‘I don’t want to eat lobster.’

‘I thought you didn’t like seafood, Mum?’ It was the longest non-argumentative sentence Saxon had said all week.

‘As it happens, I’ve discovered it’s not so bad.’ When neither kid looked convinced, I added, ‘Don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll have other stuff like burgers and chicken nuggets on the menu, and there’s also a museum and a factory tour.’

Payton groused at the mention of the M-word, but I bribed her with the promise of seeing if we could steal Bindi for a couple of hours after her nap.

I was surprised by the size of The Lobster Factory and the number of cars in the car park, but it was school holidays and although we weren’t huge fans of marine life, plenty of people were.

‘See how popular it is,’ I said, as the three of us climbed out of the car. ‘It’ll be great to learn a bit about the lobster industry and local history.’

Neither Payton nor Saxon responded as they walked ape-like towards the buildings. ‘Apparently we can take a tour through the actual processing plant to see what happens to the lobster when it gets off the boats. Jedda said there’s a really fascinating display about all the ships that have been wrecked off the coast.’

I was aware I was rambling; I didn’t know who I was trying to convince—myself or the kids.

‘Ugh, it stinks in here.’ Payton used her fingers to peg her nose as we stepped inside.

‘Shush,’ I said as a young woman in a bright blue Lobster Factory shirt approached us.

‘Welcome to The Lobster Factory.’ She tipped her head, then clicked her fingers and exclaimed, ‘You work at Brewed Awakening, right?’