Australia 1
9 April 2011
Short story: I’m in Perth and I’ve just had fish and chips and mushy peas…
Long(er) story…
The first few days have been spent in a mad whirl of shopping for food, shopping for kit and picking up our wonderful Toyota Landcruiser ‘Troopy’, which is a 1993 Diesel engined beast, kitted out for proper outback camping. Troopy will need a little care and attention, a little re-filling on the oil front, but we are assured that there is at least one dent on each panel, so we know she (I’m not sure Troopy isn’t a he?) has seen a bit of life.
I’ve now slept in my new swag, and picked the wettest night in Perth so far. It’s small, easy to set up and roll up, but Troopy’s mattress is very comfortable, so Jen and Tim may have to kick me out to get their breakfast in the morning.
Pigeons are replaced by white cockatoos here, whirling and screeching in great clouds around the campsite. Most of the people I’ve met are French.. (?) and I love being in shorts and sandals all day…
The weather up north (we are headed for Broome, then the Kimberley and maybe Darwin) has been very wet – the longest, wettest wet season for ages, so we will have to see whether our planned route is under water or not, but that’s all part of the adventure. I’ve made one batch of wheat-free bread in a cast-iron pot in a regular gas oven, the next challenge is to get the heat of the coals right.
The connection is poor, and I have to get back to my campsite to get in a good night’s sleep before we start off on our trip tomorrow.
(That message didn’t send, so here’s an update…)
First stop Dongara- utterly beautiful white sand beach with dolphin that popped along just after I got out of the water at 6.30am, looking in on the pinnacles at Cervantes – a whole entrance, pathway and ‘interpretive centre’ have been built since I last came, oh, and a new road which isn’t on our map – then onwards to Kalbarri, kangaroos in the campsite, spectacular sunset and mating butterflies fluttering all around the campsite – and after tomorrow on up towards Ningaloo. It’s now 31 degrees and sunny, we’ve found just about everything we need in Troopy and all is well.
I’ll write when I can.
Sending much love to you all. Sorry in advance if I don’t reply to you: I’ll be a week between internet access at best.