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Published: January 25th 2011
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Perth, what a contrast from Brisbane. The dry mid thirty degree heat was well welcomed by me after the rains of Brisbane. After a few days in Perth I was making plans to head south. My friends Karis and Nikki, who had just returned from 5 months on the road, where home and restless. They decided to join me for a few days on my trip south. We all had a tight budget, so we brought a tent and camping gear.
On Tuesday morning you could have found a little silver Holden Astra full of camping gear, food, backpacks, guitar, cosmetics and other random things. The highway south of Perth displays dry sands at the roadside, dry fields, thin gatherings of trees and farm animals that look like they could use more shade. The landscape did change however. By the afternoon, after visiting some seaside towns, we were passing forests and vineyards en route to Margaret River. Margaret River is a cute little town, with a few bars, restaurants, tourist shops and more importantly a placed called The Fudge Factory that gives free samples of their wonderful confectionery. Now the girls have grown up in Perth and have vacationed south
many times so they knew all about the free fudge samples and were eager to take me there. We over-consumed on free samples and left with our tummies feeling funny.
Due to our lack of commerce we were set on camping and for as cheap as possible. We found a site about 25 km out of Margaret River on the scenic Caves Road. Now I have little camping experience in my lifetime and I failed miserably at holding down the male role of our group and setting up the tent. The girls did a wonderful job of setting up the tent and an equally wonderful job of teasing me for being of little assistance. It was early on Tuesday afternoon and I had just signed up to be in a tent for a few days with two 19 year old girls (already known for their hormonal dominated behaviour). I was thinking to myself that this could go really well or this trip could go south in a bad way.
Over the course of the next few days we toured the neighbouring coastal towns of Yallingup, Augusta, Dunsborough, Bussleton plus a few more. We swam at beautiful beaches, caught
a really good band in Margaret River, watched the sunset over the Indian Ocean, had a great guitar night at the campground with the Danes and Germans. The girls prepared me some un-appetizing vegetarian meals (I really appreciate the effort and the thought). Then there was the chocolate factory. I'm not the type of person to get embarassed about much but Nikki found a way. There are free samples that are left unattended, and Nikki brought a plastic bag in her handbag. In a busy shop Nikki was throwing handfuls of chocolate into her plastic bag while onlookers gaped with shock while Karis and I ran off red faced.
Now sharing a tent had its downfalls. The snoring, farting, bad jokes, the lack of comfort, lack of showers and the personal jokes that got carried away. What can I say we had loads of fun. After 3 days of being joined at the hip with these two girls I was headed to the bus station with the realization that I got closer to two friends I've know for a while now.
At the bus station the gameplan was to head to a town down south called Denmark and
relax for a few days then head back to Perth. Instead I took the bus to a seaside town farther south called Albany. After a 5 and a half hour bus journey and a walk up a little hill, I found myself in a cozy little hostel.
I didnt spend much time in the beautiful, old town of Albany. In the garden of the hostel I met many a people. One person, an English girl named Sarah, was planning a scenic drive back to Perth and looking for some company. I decided it was a good option for me to hit the road in the morning and see more of Western Australia.
We drove to a place called William Bay for a morning swim in the clear waters of the Indian Ocean followed by a dip in the waters at Elephant Cove. We took our time driving northbound, chatting, laughing and singing to Alanis Morisette's Greatest Hits. The plan was to stay in Margaret River, catch some live music and party, after all it was Saturday night. All the hostels were fully booked and even the campgrounds we called had no space left. With the aid of a
lovely Aussie girl who worked at one of the hostels she found us the last two dorm beds in a nearby town of Augusta.
Sunday morning brought some clouds and the plan of visiting some breweries on the way home. Now since I met Sarah she had been raving about the chocolate beer she had a few months back at a place called the Bush Shack Brewery. So at a quarter past 11, I was enjoying a 7.1% Raging Bull beer from the Bootleg Brewery. A half hour later I was enjoying a pint of delicious chocolate beer (it was a s good as she said it would be). The rest of the afternoon I drank in the passenger side of the demon (Sarah's car), while Sarah navigated us safely north to Perth. Sarah lives near Freemantle and Karis (where I'm staying) lives on the opposite side of Perth. Sarah was off to a party in the city so I waited around at her place, then she dropped me off at Perth Central Station where I jumped on the train out into the suburbs. Karis was kind enough to come fetch me at the station. And when I arrived
back at the Erceg household I was greeted by hugs and a welcome back barbeque (I had been gone for 6 days). This house with the lovely garden and the warm people feels like home. There has been talks of the Erceg family signing some adoption papers and acquiring their first son.
Being in Western Australia has lead me to a feeling that I've had for the first time on this trip. The feeling of being short of time. There is so much more I want to see out here plus spend more time with the lovely people that I have met. My one year visa expires and I am leaving the country in less then 72 hours time. Two weeks ago in Brisbane I was close to leaving the country instead I sporadically chose to come out west and I already know that it has been one of the best choices I have made in some time. My trip is semi planned the next 8 weeks of my life will be fast paced, so I will enjoy my last few days of being part of the Erceg family, feeling loved and enjoying the comfort and peacefulness of it
all.
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