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Published: November 16th 2016
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Perth
Elisabeth Quay Sometimes you need a holiday from a holiday, and sometimes you are forced to take a holiday from a holiday. I had to take a break from my travels. My visa required it. I had gone for a free visa on arrival when I touched down in Indonesia. It is only valid for 30 days and can’t be extended. I knew this when I got it. I could have opted for a more lenient option, it would have cost me a few bucks, but the bonus would have been that I could have extended the visa. However, I had other plans. It occurred to me that I hadn’t seen my best friend for a very long time. He lives in Perth you see, which is rather far from Holland. It also occurred to me that Perth isn’t that far from Indonesia. And finally it occurred to me that since Bali is such a popular destination for the Australians there might be cheap flights between the two. And indeed there were. A return from Bali to Perth set me back a measly two hundred dollars. It was these series of thoughts and decisions that led me to opt for the free 30
Perth
Kangaroo statue and Saint George's Cathedral day stamp, knowing that I would have to leave the country at the end of those 30 days.
And so I found myself on a flight from Manado to Denpasar, followed by an uncomfortable night at aforementioned airport before boarding my next flight to Perth. My holiday from a holiday had started. Twelve days of not having to think about my next meal, my next bed, or where the hell I wanted to go to next. Not that I needed it. I had only been on the road for a month, I wasn’t weary of the travails of travelling just yet. But one must make the most of an opportunity when it arises. More importantly, after more than 3 years I would see my buddy again. He had not been idle since I last saw him. Apart from starting his own consultancy firm which is doing very well, he had produced a son in the meantime as well. A son I had only seen on pictures and in the occasional Skype call. Eelko had also moved to a new house, with a garden, which is always a positive thing in my eyes.
Eelko has a daughter, called Mina
Mundaring Weir
View from the dam and a son called Zeger. And obviously a beautiful wife who helped him produce those offspring. She is called Kathy. For a while they had a bum called Ralf living with them. As a reward he drank their beer and ate their food. He also hung up their laundry every day. It turns out kids produce a lot of laundry. Go figure. I’ve had a grand time here. It was great seeing Eelko again and his family. Luckily the kids took to me and didn’t run away scared out of their wits. Kathy and Eelko both had their jobs to go to during the day, but every now and again they took me out for a little trip or a lunch. Fortunately I am a low maintenance kind of guy and am quite happy to amuse myself.
I had lunch in King’s Park with Kathy and the kids, went to Mundaring Weir with Eelko which is a heritage sight as well as a functioning water reservoir and pump station, set in a gorgeous surrounding. Eelko showed me the newest pump station, not because it is a super exciting building to see, but because he helped design it. And we
Mundaring Weir
Eelko at 'his' pump station went to Rottnest Island. Eelko, Mina, Zeger and I, that is. Kathy stayed at home enjoying a children-less day. I had never been to Rottnest, it is quite pretty, with sparkling blue water, white sandy beaches and sweet little critters called quokkas. Now quokkas are the reason Rottnest is called Rottnest. This might seem odd, since Rottnest doesn’t sound at all like quokka. But then again the guys who named it thought they were rats when they first saw them and decided to christen the island, Rotte Nest, which eventually became Rottnest. They were Dutch and this was back in 1696. In old Dutch rotte means rat, and so we have come full circle to the why’s and how’s of Rottnest being called Rottnest. I’m sure you are glad about this little piece of information. You can use it to impress your friends.
As for me, I have come to the end of this here story. It has been a splendid twelve days, ending with a nice dinner in town, so I am all stocked up food-wise. I am now ready for my next 30 days in the Indonesian Archipelago. 30 days in which I will be floating from
one island to the next, into the sunset, in search of… new horizons.
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