Day 16: Travelling on: Off to Margaret River (Tue. 7/1/14)

It was time to move on. As we only had to go as far as Margaret River, we did not really have to make an early start. Saying goodbye was easy too, because we would see them again in Albany on Friday, all being well.

It is quite remarkable how a 4-night stay makes you forget about what needs to be done to get on to the road again. However, by paying attention and cross-checking we got the job done and made our way down the freeway in a southerly direction.

The road was good, the weather co-operated, the caravan toddled on behind without a murmur. We breezed around Bunbury, Joke checking in on Facebook on the way. The next time we had reception, there was a message from Helen Jonker, inviting us for lunch in Bunbury! Oh, the power of social media! We declined with regret, having passed Busselton by then and into the home stretch for Taunton Farm Holiday Park near Cowaramup.

Once there, we settled in and vedged out. We had been here once before, in a cabin that time, and we had promised ourselves to bring the caravan here. The park is spacious, quiet and pleasant, part of a working farm. There were a lot of young families with kids there, but this did not cramp our style in any way. Dinner was to be pizzas – not home-made as home was too far away – but our favourite thin ones heated up on the Weber.

Day 15: Visiting day and/or chore day (Mon. 6/1/14)

Today, Miriam had to go back to work. Up at sparrow’s, off to the train, off to Perth while we were still thinking about waking up. We were full of sympathy for the poor girl. So Joke was going to cook her (and the rest of us) a meal.

Adam had plenty of things to do in relation to upcoming jobs, so we went off to visit Gerrit and Jeanette Groenewold. We had arranged for 10 a.m., but successfully underestimated the distance to travel from Singleton to Armadale. So it was closer to 11 a.m. when we rocked up in Wungong Road.

Warm greetings ensued, including commiserations from our side at Gerrit’s very recent retirement. The sympathy extended was, of course, patently false and we did not hesitate to ask him the singlet from the hole*, as the Dutch would say, regarding his experience of the retired condition to date. As is always the case on our sporadic visits, much discussion was had. Romola came home, Sebastian came and went and lunch happened.

At a certain hour much later than the one originally planned, we suddenly remembered the chore component of our day’s plan. Adam and Miriam’s house being on septic, we had to find an RV dump point to empty our portapotty into. Our Camps 6 guide, and various aids on the I-phone pointed to the (dodgy) Armadale Hillside Tourist Village, a hop-skip-and-jump from Gerrit and Jeanette. With less than optimal unanimity of purpose we drove into the place, looked here, looked there, looked everywhere, but the dump point was not to be found. The park must be at least 85% permanents, not really a fit place for Grey Nomads to be, and we decided to beat a retreat when the suspicious stares became rather obvious. Next off to the Kelmscott Caravan Park. Same story, same result.

I-phone came to the rescue with a public dump point app, which nominated the nearest to be at an address in Melville. So there we went, driver inviting navigator to find any plausible alternative en route. None were found and neither was the dump point at the nominated location. What we found were some very upmarket public toilets – soft mood music (how do they choose the songs??) and a message which said that the door would remain locked for a maximum of 10 minutes. No reading magazines, then, or afternoon naps! We considered that these kind people would be honoured to receive our effluent, so we gave it to them to the accompaniment of sweet music. Job done, feathers de-ruffled, sunny temperaments restored.

We had a date to pick up Miriam at the train station, but got slowed down on the Kwinana Freeway. Ultimately she did not have to wait too long, not that she would ever complain!
* hemd van ‘t gat

Day 14: Sunday in Singleton (Sun. 5/1/14)

The weather was going to be warm for Sunday. We were not as worried about that as we might have been had we flown in from chilly Tassie, as our acclimatisation was coming on nicely. We went to the new Baldivis church where we met an array of familiar faces, starting with Mike Eilander usshing us into our seats. The (visiting) minister turned out to be none other than Rev. Cornelis Kleijn, last seen by us as a young adolescent broekie visiting us as Luuk’s friend many years ago. We did a double take, and so did he. He was on furlough from Papua-New Guinea where he is working as a missionary.

In the afternoon we had Rev. Steve tHart, also a first for us. We have read quite a few of his sermons in Launceston, where they are well received. It was interesting to hear him deliver one in person.

The Baldivis church is very well set up, light, spacious and airy, with good use made of modern means such as projectors etc. We spoke with a number of people, old acquaintances and new. I had a conversation with John Visser, whose uncle we had met in the Box Hill Reformed Church at the beginning of our 2012 trip. I also failed to recognise my old schoolmate Corrie Brolsma (Sibum) with whom I shared Grade 6 at East Launceston Primary School in 1960!

Renske went back down to Albany on Sunday afternoon, and we watched the sunset on the beach. What a nice place to live!

Day 13: At home in Singleton (Sat. 4/1/14)

Our trip has suddenly undergone a change! From caravan park and free camp we have suddenly graduated to the front lawn of Adam and Miriam’s place. Well, front lawn is a bit of a misleading description: it was the ex-garden which Miriam and Renske had attacked with great gusto a couple of months before. Adam had supplied us with a bit of artificial lawn and we had added our groundsheet and we could cope just fine with that.

We continued our reconnaissance of their house and its environment. Adam has already begun to clean up the backyard with the intention of letting in more light. He had also started ripping out the spare room in the large shed at the back. This will make it a much more useful place for his work purposes. Inside, the lounge and main bedroom had been carpeted and painted. We agreed with them that the changes they had made so far made the house very liveable, and so they could take their time with next stage of improvements.

Renske was also in residence so we made a trip together to Mandurah for some shopping, lunch and sight-seeing.

It was good to be with our kids, it was warm, the beer was cold, the beach was close and we hardly had to drive anywhere. What more could we want?

Day 12: Down the Great Eastern to Perth (Fri. 3/1/14)

‘Twas early morning in Kambalda
when the Veltkamp household stirred,
and arose from comfy bed to greet the day.
They checked the camp surroundings
and they listened to the birds
knowing soon they must be up and on their way.

The Afric’ came off duty
and his blond mate went on shift
as breakfast and ablutions both were done.
Then it was the usual routine
of pack in ordered haste,
and before we really knew it, we were gone.

We drove down the Goldfields Highway
drinking coffee on the run
wond’ring what would be in store for us today.
And at last we came to Boulder
and its sister Kalgoorlie.
Then we knew the Golden Mile before us lay.

We climbed up to the lookout
of the awesome Superpit
and looked at all the workers so far down.
Then with “Ooh” and “Ah” we turned,
and our nose t’ward Perth we set
certain that today we’d be sure to reach that town.

It was a long and arduous journey
down that boring bumpy road
‘til Southern Cross was reached and forest ceased.
After that it got less bumpy
and the fields were prettier too
and the worries and the tension were released.

Soon we crooned along with Abba
as we drove through Merredin
and the sights of Perth were “almost” set to awe us.
We still had to go past Northam
and through the windy hills
then finally the city lay before us!

With some foolhardy abandon
we forged through traffic thick
‘til at last the great south Freeway we did reach.
From there ‘twas but a doddle
to get to Singleton
and Mim and Adam’s house close to the beach.