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For those that don't already know, MAD stands for Mum And Dad, although the customary use of the word could also apply here. For me, having MAD come out to Australia to see me created a mixture of emotions. having been away for 10 and a half months, the longest i have ever been away, i was very excited to see them again and, unlike the last time i went to New Zealand back in 2003, i was keen to share part of my experiences with them. It was a shame that they couldnt come up to the station and see that side of my travels, but we still had an amazing time together. Despite being 22 years old, i still count being "away from home" as being the time since i last saw my parents, so catching up and having a holiday together here kind of "reset the clock" and banished a lot of my travel fatigue.
I flew down from Derby in the north, to Perth on the Thursday so had 2 days by myself before MAD arrived on the Saturday. The flight was very easy with no turbulence, and i spent most of it talking to a guy who was changing jobs from being an ambulance driver in Derby - quite a job and he had a good few stories to tell, especially involving the use of the Kimberley Safety Boot aka the flip-flop! I think he took pity on me, looking rather upset, thinking i didnt like flying, but actually i was still recovering from leaving the station. But he did an admirable job of cheering me up! I hadnt booked any accomodation in Perth, as its low season, so used the free airport phone to call the first backpackers i saw on the noticeboard. big mistake. dont get me wrong, the people were lovely, almost all English and there was a great atmosphere, but it was sooooooooo shabby and run down! everything was grubby, the carpets were stained and coming up, there was only 4 forks in the place and hardly any other kitchen equipment and it was freezing at night and they only gave you a sheet to sleep under! Ah well, i did meet some nice people though, spent and evening watching CSI with a guy from NSW called Glenn and a morning-after breakfast with an Irish girl called Romy. I was really looking forward to seeing MAD and sleeping somewhere comfortable though!
I arrived early at the airport, via a scenic tour of the city on the airport shuttle, and got myself rather lost and confused for a while despite there being only 2 termal buildings! finally i got myself a good spot where i could see people arriving coming down the escalator to the baggage claim. having not seem them for so long, i wondered if MAD would have changed much in 10 months and whether i would recognise them from a distance. I spotted Dad first, slightly taller than everyone else on the escalator, but hid behind a secuiry sign so they wouldn't spot me until they came through the door. Dad beamed at me as soon as he saw me, but Mum walked straight past!! it was so good to see them again, i think i had missed their hugs a lot!! It was kind of surreal to suddenly have them right there, like it had been ages but again like i saw them yesterday! We were to spend the week together with friends from Bunbury but i hadnt spotted them yet (not that i could really remember what they looked like!) but Mum somehow managed to do the same thing again, walking straight past Anne!! First stop was Kings Hill for a nice view of the city, which did look very nice approaching sunset. Dad and John did the usual "men walking off talking thinking they know where they are going but dont" thing, before we headed to Fremantle, or "Freo" as it is known locally, to stay in one of the wardens' cottages at the old prison! It was very cute and quaint, and clean! with nice warm beds! and even an electric blanket!! yay! though i did have to share with MAD, inc BOTH of them snoring!! After the obligatory cup fo tea we headed into town, which is a port and all old and historic and stuff with nice buildings, to Scisserello (cannot spell that!) for "the best fish and chips in town!" - actually pretty good. The next day we hit the markets, promptly lost Dad as he got to chatting to just about anyone and everyone, as he does! I did manage to somehow persuade him to try wasabi flavoured peanuts, without telling him what wasabi was!! he he! and slightly took advantage of the "but i'm your youngest daughter and you havent seen me in ages" line to get him to buy me stuff! Things had definately changed pace from my previous travelling, exploring and excursions as we stopped for coffee after only about 2 hours in the market, before a nice wander around the maritime museum - full of bits of old shipwrecks and stuff - then a beer at a boutique microbrewery called "little cherubs" or something equally random, then back to the market for lunch! I was wishing i had worn looser pants by now he he! it was lovely actually to just chill and drift about rather than being on a schedule. Dad was very dissapointed that we didnt see any kangaroos on the drive down to Bunbury, but did enjoy seeing boats in the estuary, that back John and Anne's house. The olds went out for dinner with friends that evening but i was shattered and kind of needed a break from meeting new people and time to get over all the changes so i stayed in, curled up on the sofa, watching DVDs and rather thankful for missing the 3 course dinner the others had!
Monday was a bit of a chill out, meeting their non-quite-a-real-dog Jasper, a standard poodle, though Dad and i did attempt to get lost in town going for a walk after i got a bit cabin feverish. It was quite a pace change for me and i was kind of itching to do things, while still pretty tired from the station and having so much to talk about with MAD, though Dad somehow thought student loans were a suitable topic of conversation! Anne is an awesome cook so the food all week was great, and it was quite nice not to have to do it myself or to live off backpackers pasta! We also met Christian a fellow doctor and friends Neil and Jenny who own an avocado and tomato farm. Anne and John had to go back to work so MAD and I packed up their 4WD for 2 days in the Karri Valley down south. We stayed in a lovely chalet thing, complete with woodstove, which caused us to set off the fire alarm twice before i figured out how to get the thing lit properly! Its all huge forrests down there and nice driving, so we took our time getting there, stopping off at a sheep cheese factory for fruit cake with cheese (thats an English thing surely?!) and i of course found a couple of dogs to play with while Mum made friends with a ram who she thought was a milking sheep! The best part for me was climbing the Gloucester Tree (named after the duke of, apparently!). There are 3 of these trees in the area, where they have inserted pegs into the trunk so you can climb to the top. They used to be used as watchtowers for bush fires but are now just a tourist attraction. Its a pretty hairy climb though - the pegs are fairly well sapced apart and some of them wobble and there is only a light mesh to the side to stop you from falling off! It was a fairly windy day when i went up so the top of the tree was swaying a little, but it was worth it for the view and hey, i miss the mountaineering club! Back at the bottom we got mobbed by parrots after Dad's bread, mostly Rosellas and 28s (think the proper name is Port Lincoln parrot or something!). It was rather surreal to be in the middle of nowhere with 8 or more wild parrots sitting on your hands, arms, shoulders and head! We then went for a bit of a walk, looking for huge trees with hollows in them, which we renamed "mummy holes" as they seemed to fit Mum perfectly! Late lunch was at a really beautiful woodwork gallery where i would have bought half the shop if i was a millionaire! i love unique and unusual pieces where you can see the grain and they havent made the edges all smooth and boring. The next day, after a walk around the lake, some more tree and funi spotting, and me falling off a tree stump trying to show off my (lack of) climbing ability, i got to drive, though lots more lovely woodland, with Dad now obsessed with emus, having seen 20 or more kangaroos at the chalet, though he didnt ask me to stop the car until AFTER we had passed them! Balingup is some quaint little hippy town where we stopped for coffee and cake. strange place, mix of cafe, art gallery, organic and gluten free grocery shop and pretty much anything else...Dinner that night was awesome, at a local Thai restaurant, where Dad got a bit distracted by the Thai girls in authentic dress!
Having seen the good bits of Bunbury and surrounds we then headed down to Quindalup (everywhere ends in 'up' - it just means 'place of' in Aborigine) where they have a holiday cottage on the coast. Here John came into his own, insisting we go crab catching as soon as we got there, "before it gets dark and (too) cold!". Dad volunteered to go in the boat while Mum, the dog and I watched, mildly concerned but mostly just amused, from the beach and enjoyed the sunset. It wasnt the most promising start as they lost an oarlock within the first 5 minutes, so that John was rowing and Dad was paddling more like a canoe! not sure how they were managing to steer like that, but they got the nets out complete with cow spleen as bait!! seemed to work though as we got about 5-6 good sized ones. John wasnt that impressed when the neighbour came over just after we got back with his bucket of about 20 that he had got in 10 minutes! Not to be outdone, john when back out at 5 am the next day to try again! It was Aussies vs Pommies that night in trivial persuit, though i really didnt stand a chance until we started allowing clues, as almost all questions were based on events at least 5 years before i was born! That said, i did come 2nd after Anne in the end, though i cant believe Dad didnt win, he got that many easy physics questions! Friday was a day of being posh, as we had lunch at a nice winery, toured all the nice local beaches and looked at million dollar beach apartments! Of course, i managed to get myself soaked walking along the beach, though i maintain that it was a freak wave, whereas Mum got wet despite the warnings! i could have stayed at the gallery for ages though, some really amazing paintaings of bush landscape, looked just like the station. Attempt 3 at crab catching was frankly hilarious. They laid out the nets, having never recovered the oarlock, but when trying to get them back in John leaned out too far and fell in! In trying to get back in, he knocked over the crab bucket, containing the only crab they had caught so far, which attached itself to his toe! John fell back into the water adn the crab went flying with him! After that they decided that scoop nets might work better as there were loads of crabs along the shoreline about 5 feet in from the edge. Why we did this in barefeet i dont know, and i wasnt that keen on the call of, "Vikki, just stand here with the torch, where there are about 20 of them, so i can see!". John got so over excited he actually ran into a group of them, most of which scuttled off, but of course one went on the attack and got his foot again! I think the hunter-gatherer instinct may be a little strong in him!! Having said that, they did taste awesome so it was worth the effort in the end.
Having left the station to see the rest of WA and holiday with Mum and Dad, i realised i now had about a fortnight longer than i had planned for left in Australia, so after lots of discussion we thought it would be good to see if i could find a job to keep me occupied as i had the time but not the funds to add another destination to my plans. So on the Saturday i said goobye to MAD as they headed home to England while i went to lunch with Jenny and Neil (the avocado/tomato growers) and friends of theirs who have a nearly racing stud and cattle property. It was a lot of fun, they were very nice people and had been all voer the Kimberley including Liveringa so we discussed stations and cattle and so on. It didnt turn into a job but it was nice to meet them and swap stories. The rugby was on that afternoon and evening so we spent the rest of the day at Jenny and Neil's, after walking the dogs ( i fell in love with their daschund Stella). I am ashamed to be British or any other local nation - England, Wales and Ireland all lost (and i was $5 out of pocket!), though the games were good. Back at Anne and John's i got on the internet, failed to find a job but did manage to line up some work experience with the RSPCA in Alice Springs, my next stop, and thus taking care of my extra fortnight. So my last 2 days in Bunbury was mainly chilling out, booking flights and doing laundry. We had a mini tornado sweep through around 6 am one night, throwing branches around on the banks of the estuary, blowing over a few bushes in the garden and taking out the neighbour's verandah! it seems we were lucky not to suffer any damage but some other houses had roofs missing and all sorts. it was pretty powerful and dramatic. the poor dog was outside getting a soaking, but the wind blew the patio doors in with a massive crash!
And so, the end of another chapter in my travels as i boarded the train back to Perth and on to a flight to The Alice. I am definately now winding down, looking forward to the last few stages and getting home. Seeing MAD was awesome and i think they did an amazing job of including me amoung all the 'olds'. I met a lot of nice people too and Anne and John were so welcoming and good fun. i should probably apologise for siding with John and winding up Mum and Anne, we just seem to have the same sense of humour! If i do get to go back to the station next year i will definately have to call in again, even if it is just for another crab salad sandwich!
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