'And So To Sleep, Perchance To Dream'!

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Thursday 12th was just a “preparation” day. We did some shopping at the local hardware store – the tube in the light above the dining/lounge area had been flickering for the last week or so and finally gave up the ghost. Luckily the hardware store had just what we needed so it was no problem to replace it. Next stop was the garage to fill the tank and the two spare containers with diesel, as the price in Forrestfield was as competitive as we have seen for the last couple of months. Then it was on to Woollies to stock up with foodstuffs. We resisted the temptation to eat out after what has been a very extravagant couple of weeks. Our new frugal approach is aimed at keeping our spending within reasonable limits and perhaps saving towards a special trip later on in our travels. Graham put a new sidelight bulb in the nearside rear light of the caravan. After all this time travelling, we had only just realized it wasn’t working. It wasn’t the rear end one that I always check before we drive off from a park, but one of four side lights that light up if PIE’s lights are put on. The mechanic who did the caravan maintenance check had spotted it wasn’t working and we were able to buy a couple of spare bulbs quite easily.

Our next planned stop is Cervantes so I rang them to make sure there would be room for us. They said there was no problem and they didn’t even want a deposit which was nice. I also arranged the RACV breakdown cover over the internet which actually ran out today. So now both the car and caravan are fully insured for another year and also have total breakdown cover – thank goodness all that is sorted out! I had forgotten a few things whilst shopping in Woollies so we cycled back there in the afternoon to finish off my shopping and to post some cards. Otherwise, we just checked various things over and relaxed for a while before Graham put a few things away (awning, washing line, seats etc) to give us a bit of a start in the morning. We will have about 260 kilometers to cover and anticipate arriving in mid-afternoon and we plan to stay there for three nights. We won’t be in a rush to get away in the morning but at least the car and caravan, following their services and insurance/breakdown payments, should be fully fit for whatever the journey throws at us.

So Friday 13th dawned, not that we’re superstitious (touch wood), and we got ready to hit the road. A Happy Birthday today to Kev in Tewkesbury (Charlie’s Dad – hi Charlie!) and also a belated Happy Birthday to Simon, Claire’s hubby, also in Tewkesbury. Simon’s birthday was on St George’s Day so I don’t know how I could forget that!

Things progressed quite well and we were ready to go by 9:00am. The weather was good and the traffic proved to be quite light. The journey through the suburbs of Perth was a bit stop/start because of the traffic-light network but most of them were in our favour so we were soon out in the countryside. We had in mind stopping for a break at Lancelin which Graham thought he could recall as a stopping place last time. When we eventually got there we realized we had never been there before so Graham was totally confused and still can’t think of where he actually meant! It was a pleasant enough small town – an ideal stopping place for our mid-morning break. It was also an ideal “diversion” as, since our last trip, the Indian Ocean Highway has been constructed linking Lancelin with Cervantes our intended destination. Apparently this new highway saves about half an hour on the previous trip between the two towns along the Brand Highway. So by 12:30pm we were pulling into Cervantes, a place I remember well as it was here that Graham did his “streak” along the beach. Needless to say there was no-one else about at the time or he wouldn’t have done it and I wouldn’t have let him! We didn’t stay at the caravan park last time so we decided that, if we didn’t like the look of it, it was early enough to carry on to Jurien Bay, a place we recall quite fondly. As it happened it looked OK and was very close to the beach so we checked in for three nights.

The site we were allocated was very roomy but a bit sandy. We didn’t want a repeat of the problem in Perth where the hose couldn’t reach the water tap so Graham parked up very proficiently (with my help of course) in the centre of the site and we were soon set up and eating our sandwiches. The lady next door (very chatty but very nice) tried to encourage us to go on a trip with them tomorrow swimming with sea lions. It sounded fabulous and was very tempting but, because of our recent run of financial out-goings, we decided to resist for now and consider doing something similar when our credit cards come back into play. We went for a little ride to visit the Information Centre and to check out the many beaches, one of which we hoped would do for a bit of snorkeling. Most of the beaches were covered in sea-weed although, at the water-line, the sand was lovely and the sea was quite calm. But one or two were sea-weed free and I did my usual paddling to test the water temperature. The chatty neighbour had suggested that the sea temperature here was normally high because of the Leeuwin Current, but it felt pretty cold to me.

Back at the caravan, we strolled down to the nearby park/beach just in time to catch a brilliant sunset. We lingered after the sun had disappeared to see a spectacular red sky which, hopefully, augured well for a fine day tomorrow.

Cervantes was named after an American whaling ship that went aground at Thirsty Point in 1844. Strangely, many of the street names have a Spanish theme: Seville Street, Majorca Street, Malaga Court, Picasso Place, Santander Way etc etc. Maybe the Spanish connection is the author of Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes.

We have a couple of short trips in mind but we’ll go armed with wetsuits and snorkelling gear in case an opportunity arises to get in the sea. We didn’t go to bed as early as we had planned as we first watched a very exciting footie match on the TV between Collingwood (the Pie’s) and their close rivals Geelong and Geelong came out on top. Then I caught the last half of the film ‘Nights in Rodanthe’ which starred Richard Gere (I didn’t take much notice of who else was in it!). Coincidently, Graham has recently read the book and I shall be reading it soon. The film had a rather sad ending but I went to sleep dreaming about Richard! (and Graham went to sleep dreaming about Pies [Collingwood of course!!]).

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