Out of time and out of place

Hello there all my faithful readers.  This entry is out of order in my timeline and I have since left Western Australia very far behind me.  I struggled writing this in how to capture the vast amount of fun I had just driving around with Cat and I also enjoy telling some of these stories personally rather than in writing so I have opted to censor out the most exciting event.

Cat and I decided to rent a camper to tour the South West region of WA together.  A Company called "Wicked Campers" rents them fairly cheap and they have crazy paint jobs, ours was the Harry Potter van, with his name blazoned across one side and the boy sorcerer casting a spell on the other.  On our first day we wanted to drive from the city to the Stirling Range national park camp sites.  Unfortunately our van wasn't able to go much over 80km/h so we managed to be late, driving at dusk, in a national park.  Since it was dark and we were hoping to rely on signage we also were unable to find the campsite within the national park so we ended up driving for 2 more hours after the sun went down through a national park in pitch darkness.  We found our way back to the main highway and pulled off in the first picnic area we found, cooked some dinner by flashlight and then I discovered that we had forgotten to buy me a sleeping bag in our rush to get out of the city.  Even though we had stopped at an op shop to pick up some cheap extra blankets because we knew it would be really cold I managed to forget the sleeping bag.  It was a cold night.

Cooking dinner our first night, at a rest stop on the side of the highway in very cold weather

The next day I got up at dawn because I was so cold, and started driving, we opted to give the Stirling national park a miss because we didn't want to backtrack and went hiking in another national park, after having some breakfast, instead.  Even though we did the longest hiking loop the park had to offer we were back to the van for lunch.  That afternoon we made it to Albany where I promptly bought a sleeping bag.  Cat had been stressing all day, about what she was going to do next so she spent some time figuring on that, and using the internet while I had a coffee.  This went on for most of the rest of the trip and she kept apologizing.  I mostly laughed about it and tried to help her because I went through the same process a dozen times and I’m sure I’ll go through it a few dozen more before I make it home.  We opted to stay at a Caravan park rather than freecamp somewhere.  The major benefits that swayed us were the hot showers and woodstove for less than a hostel between us.  The warmth of the fire was a blessing after the chilly night previous.

What I did the second I got the new sleeping bag...

The next morning we rented a canoe from the camp and paddled up the river that ran down behind it.  It was a very peaceful and relaxing, especially all the breaks I took while Cat continued to paddle.  We stopped in a town called Denmark to sample some of their award winning pies.  Apparently the bakery from this little town often wins the top honours at the Perth Royal Show (not unlike the Stampede).  There was a man playing a recorder, or similar instrument and had two little dogs running around, one that seemed very old and the other just a puppy.  Upon hearing my accent he struck into “Stars and Stripes Forever” to rankle me.  After he came over to let me know he was teasing me and he also told us that he had previously performed with his old dog in one of the Cirque du Soleil shows.  I forget which one he said because I was distracted by his pirouette.  Apparently he plans to train the pup to appear in a future show with Cirque du Soleil.  I’m doubtful, but we’ll see.  We proceeded to the treetop walk in ???.  It was rather unspectacular despite being an impressive design, definitely more of a tourist trap than anything.  The trees that were hollowed out by fire were much cooler, I think we spent more time on the grounded portion of the walk than the tree top even though it was shorter.

Mandatory picture with the van

The next day we went to check out the Millenium Tree.  No it is not 1000 years old.  In fact I forget why it is named as such.  The reason we went there is because they used to use it as a fire watch tower.  Originally this meant someone would climb up a very tall tree that would reach above the canopy to check for fire.  To make this easier, steel rods, 4cm thick, were drilled into the trunk in a spiral that is climbed like a ladder.  The last 15 meters up there is a series of platforms and ladders.  There was no safety gear, no cost, nothing but you, the tree and the steel.  This was my favorite activity of the trip, and best value for money to boot! 

Climbing down the Millennium Tree

Unsure what to do with the rest of our day we plotted a course to the coast.  Upon arriving we headed straight to the beach, unfortunately we were a bit out of season and it was still unpleasantly cold and windy for bumming around on the beach.  I was so dejected I even started complaining about the trip.  Lucky for me Cat is awesome and recognized I was just sick of the rainy and cold weather.  She managed to cheer me up and immortalize our friendship (whether she likes it or not) with the classic line
“Well there’s nothing for it, we’ll just have to get drunk then!”

We found a caravan park on the map that was located conveniently close to the Margaret River Chocolate Factory.  While it couldn’t hold a candle to Willy Wonka’s they did have free chocolate to sample and we even bought some truffles (also Royal show award winners) to savour.

A lunch stop we made - Maiden Bush

That night we had a ball just sitting about chatting and somehow finishing off the booze we had brought on the trip. 

After a good night’s rest we arrived back to Perth, dropped off our van and then Dazz and Sharon the one legged wonder came, to meet us for a joyful reunion at the casino (it was right next to the Wicked office, I haven't developed a gambling habit just yet).


Endnote – Even though I had a solid selection of CDs to rotate through we mostly listened to the Jimmy Eat World album “Bleed American” since we both loved it and could sing along to virtually the whole album.  This led to the trip slogan being decided as “Every good roadtrip needs a little JEW”.