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Noy's 4th Walkabout
This card should have been up loaded on LAST Wednesday morning, so apologies if it doesn't make so much sense now!
We forgot to mention that we enjoyed a performance of "Dusty" at the Casino in Sydney on Thursday night, thanks to the generosity of T&A. It's very difficult to make a musical out of the life of a pop star (Dusty Springfield) who died tragically, probably from causes under her control, but it was done sensitively although the English accent of the leading lady was rather unrealistic! We're not sure what reaction would be if the show came to the UK so we may end up being two of the few Brits who will actually see the show. Knowing that the morning would see us part once more no one wanted to go to bed and it was 01.00 before we went and we had to be up at 06.30!
As we said briefly last week, the collection of the second van on Friday afternoon was speedy but disappointing, especially for Jill. We'd got used to everything in the VW and anticipated a smooth transition to the second van but it was not to be! Maui Australia uses Mercedes Sprinter vans and the conversion is different and, in may respects, a bit more basic! There's no mirror, the curtains have more chinks in them than a Chinese restaurant, the sheets provided were too small, the crockery, shower and sink far from clean, all of this not noted on handover but only on a closer inspection once we got to our first base! Needless to say the white tornado (Jill) soon got to work but that left her scarcely in the mood for a meal out with two of life's beautiful people! Trent, some will remember, we met in Tuscany last September when he was working (buying Italian furniture) there and he went home to marry Lisa in the November and we met her for the first time on Friday night. They took us to a lovely restaurant and briefed us on what to see and do in the south-west three hours with them soon went and we hope to see them again as we pass north in a week or so.
So Saturday Maui rectified some of their wrongs when we went back to their offices (only a backtrack of 15 kilometres) but this delayed our departure enough for Richard to decide on a change of itinerary, so, instead of heading for Wave Rock, we went directly south to Mandurah and Bunbury. We stopped on the way for pies at Miami Bakehouse (as instructed by Trent and Lisa...and served by a lady from Weston-super-Mare, oh yes indeed!) then drove through typical bush country (saw our first live in the wild 'roos!) down to Bunbury where we camped and watched the sun go down on a placid Indian Ocean lapping at our feet. Tomorrow we hoped there would be dolphins in it for us to see...but there weren't!! Just a blue bay with massive ships coming and going - why dolphins would want live there heavens knows. Next stop, for Sunday lunch was the Capel Vale winery, No, surely not! Another winery?! Yup...AND it fought it's way into the top five best meals on the trip!! The wine was very high quality too, as a result of which we only crawled round to Busselton (famous for its 2km jetty) before camping while the heavens opened once more! The rain was back!
After studying the forecasts we've decided to truncate the itinerary south of Perth. Esperance is now off the agenda, as is Wave Rock. It's a pity but time, weather and the advice of good friends are forcing us to revamp the route. So Monday found us heading (in bursts of heavy rain) diagonally across the south-west corner of Australia to Albany, here we moored for the night but may spend a couple if the weather improves. Temperatures are, as expected, quite low (14C top today but with a wind chill bringing it lower). Today Jill did her first bit of serious camper van driving, doing the first 140 of the 370 kilometres we covered. On Tuesday we learned all about whales at "Whale World", not corny at all and really fascinating as we were guided round the last whaling station in Australia, which closed in 1978 but was retained as a museum and memorial to a bygone industry. The most stunning exhibit was a full skeleton of a Pygmy Blue whale, a mere 70-feet long (or was it more?!). We also visited "The Gap" and "Natural Bridge" which were formed by the pounding of the Southern Ocean on the rocks. The power of that ocean is awesome. Today we start meandering back to the two capes (Leeuwin and Naturaliste), between which Margaret River sits. We're staying at the Middleton Beach Holiday Park (ON the beach) on an "en-suite powered site". Nothing has come remotely close in the seven weeks we've been on the road so far. The photos say it all but if Jill had her way (as she does SOME times!) we'd stay here till due back in the UK! We have our OWN shower/toilet building on the end of the van! Lovely in the pouring rain!
We've uploaded a few photos to keep you happy while we're on a site with wireless internet access but don't be upset if we can't send up any more until we get back to Perth in about 7 days. Richard has noted that we now have OVER 4,000 photos in the computer taken since we arrived in Hong Kong on 8th March! You're very lucky he only puts a few up on the web site! Love and hugs all round from Richard & Jill xx
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