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Published: August 15th 2006
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Petrol Stations.... that is how WA will be remembered...after 2912km in 10days!
Had a fantastic flight with Quantas from Singapore to Perth. With Video-On-Demand (which allows you fastforward/pause the different films/programmes), and served the finest West Australian Wirra Wirra Shiraz by a flight-attendent who looked like he would be more at home on a rugby pitch than squeezing down the narrow aeroplane aisles, the scene was set for a comfortable journey. The icing on the cake was the quality viewing, from National Lampoons Wally World to Monty Python. Heaven!
So arrived in Perth, and after considering a number of different tours up the West Coast, (and having experienced near heart-failure at the prices, after 3 months in Asia!) it was decided that the "sensible" approach would be to hire a campervan and do it ourselves...... And so the route was planned (while relaxing in the complementary hot tub in the hostel - they do hostels here in style!), the Hiace was hired, the pasta, bread and nutella purchased and off we went......Holidaayyyy Rooooooooooooooooooooooad (and as a matter of fact, one of the first tunes on the radio as we pulled out of Perth was the Chariots of Fire... da-da-da-da-dAA-DA!).
Pinnacles II
Limestone pinnacles in the desert Now it must be remembered that, although I have my drivers licence for almost 8 years, I haven't actually DRIVEN in that past 8 years, but after 10 minutes stalling/coasting round a carpark, with a few 3 point turns thrown in for good measure I was ready for the road. 35minutes out the road, and I'm stopped by police........for a breathalyser test! I was in stitches - 8 years no driving, half an hour into the drive and I'm breathalysed!
With our first stop at Fremantle, south of Perth, we had noted at this stage that there was no CD player, only cassette (with a worn-out tape of Madonnas Immaculate Collection) and a very dodgy radio that could only tune 3 stations. Fremantle was a fantastically quaint town, and you kept thinking that a Southern Belle was about to step out on a verandah, or some wayward cowboys thrown out the saloon doors.
As we pushed further north, the 3 radio channels faded to 1 AM channel, which was the Outback version of Adrian Kennedy's talkshow (you know it's good when the presenter opens with "Call in if you could be bothered"), with the locals whingeing about
Pinnacles III
.no I don't know what was going through his head. everything from losing lollipop ladies to shooting 30-50 kangaroos a night for pest control purposes. With this as background, the lonely Great Northern Highway, No 1, stretched before us with ne'er a sight of traffic for company. Well, unless you count the frequent "Road Trains" (which were multiple-trailered-trucks with a length of 53.6metres) which would bear down upon us, run us off the road and continue on at speeds of 120kph.
After 2days, and over 1021km on the clock, the strain was beginning to show. The "big-sky" feeling was breathtaking, and the trip certainly impressed on us the scale and distance of the state of Western Australia, but honestly, we had spent more time in Petrol Stations than actually getting to see the National Parks that we had planned! Petrol prices ranged from 1.37 in Perth to 1.55 up north in Monkey Mia (which is where we had decided at last to turn around, and head for nearer pastures!), and we were putting about $80 worth in a day travelling. So after 5 days of travelling the Wild West, we decided to head to the South to the wineries (Thomas wanted to come too, I promise!), with a minor
speeding incident on Thomas' watch! We had the obligatory incidents on the road, where we nearly ran over kangaroos and emus, but on the whole, it was pretty uneventful.
Margaret River was to be the setting for my birthday, so at 10.30am, off we went on a Wine Tasting Tour for the day. 4 wineries (with 38 wine tastings which amounted to about 5 full glasses of wine, plus a free bottle of wine for me....because it was my birthday) and 1 Brewery (with 7 local beer tastings amounting to about 1 pint....plus a free round for me because it was my birthday) later, I was sufficiently vocal in my newfound knowledge of wine. There were a few obligatory stops to a cheese-factory, and of course a chocolate-factory, after which the new found "Rachel's Birthday Bash Gang" decided that the local pizza place was the perfect place to round off the day. Perfect, because one of the girls on the tour works there, and ensured that I was provided with free cocktails and chocolate mud pie.....yes..you've guessed it....because it was my birthday!! Ended the night in the local bar (you know the type of place....dodgy band playing, local tattoo-loving
bearded rockers slow dancing on their own, pool-table brawl kind of place!).
You can imagine the tender stomach the following morning, so the only cure was a roast barbequed stuffed chicken hot off the roasting spit from the local supermarket. Food for the gods. Decided to try to get back to Perth to see an Aussie Rules match (West Coast Eagles were playing Kangaroos), but we were informed that it was unfortunately sold out, so instead we listened to Tadhg playing with the Swans on the radio. However we DID make it back in time to catch the Mayo v Laois match in Rosie O'Grady's on the Sunday night, which was very emotional listening to Michael Lyster and crew on the Sunday Game. Watching the game just put the nails in the coffin on any idea of living abroad....too far away from Croke Park!!
Just before flying to Ayers Rock, met up with Malcolm Cowell to catch up since I had last seen him on our AIB job last March. He very kindly brought me over to his new house to meet the family, where his wife Alicia insisted on showing me the art of consuming TimTams with
tea! A quick tour of the city at night, and the view from the office on the 31st floor in Perth CBD, and I was back in the hostel, packing for the flight.
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Daithi
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Bringing it all back.
AAh, those shots of Perth, Freo and the perfect glassy surf bring it all back. I'm getting teary now... Who in their right minds suggested you go north of Perth, there's sweet FA up there! Margs is class though, did you go down to Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, probably not? Weird to be out on the edge of the oceans. Pity you missed the AFL game, if it had been a few years ago there would always have been empty seats at Subiaco! How frequently does Thomas shave his head??? And also you'd be a while paddling in that wee boat before you came into Clew Bay I'd say...