Saturday, 23 January 2016

There are Good Days, Bad Days, Good Days and then Today

This is it! The beginning of the end, today we start our journey back to Perth and the journey home.  Two weeks today and I'll be singing "Happy Birthday" to someone who will be starting a new decade and hopefully making breakfast.....
We head off early hoping to get to Hopetoun before everyone else, that way we can look at the two campsites and decide which is best.  There are two routes, one on the main South Coast Highway and the other on the scenic Southern Ocean Road, we decide on the latter after reading that the Scenic Southern Ocean Road was in the process of being sealed ten (10) years ago and checking the tourist maps of both routes which clearly shows the roads as a solid line, indicating they are a sealed road. Seventy Three (73) kilometres of sand, dirt, gravel later we get to Hopetoun an hour and half later than had we chosen the other route, why do I constantly believe the Australian publicity, why do they always exaggerate?
Again if you notice I used the word Scenic in describing the said route, that is some blatant plagiarism from the tourist brochure, Scenic my ar*e, it was the same old trees, shrubs, bush that we have seen all over Australia only on a white sand heavily rutted road. Road, that's a laugh, at best it could be described as a path, it was the noisiest most uncomfortable bone shaking journey either of us have ever undertaken.
Now just in case some of you think, God forbid, that I am prone to a slight bit of exaggeration, I should point out that, the lady next to me, proof reads every blog and if she does not agree with something, it gets discussed and then taken out, unless it's so obviously over the top only a dummy would take it as real, you know the sort of thing don't you!   So all that you read, well 99% is pukka and as soon as she has stopped shaking from today's journey I'll get her to proof read this so as to authenticate it as almost the truth........
We arrive in Hopetoun and go to the first Campsite, where we are greeted by a Jed Clampett impersonator only with a long grey pony tail, he can accommodate us, so we agree pay him and he calls his mate to take us to our site, whilst he books in two more Clampett look a likes......
We get to the site and the guide starts burrowing and scrambling about in the bushes looking for the electric supply, whilst telling us to watch out for one of the four poisonous snakes they have here........ He cannot find it so we go to another site and set up after declining a site next to some really sorry looking people, it's then as we look around we realise we are basically camping in the bush, it's just a piece of land that has had some trees cut down to make paths....... We decide being this close to nature is fine for two nights as we should be out all day tomorrow and go in search of the bathrooms, which we were told were "over there with the roof on".  A hillbilly male approaches us enquiring what we were looking for and for the next ten minutes, helps us with local knowledge and anything else we questioned, he could not have been more helpful or considerate if he had tried and had it not been for him spitting out his chewing tobacco, we would have invited him back for a drink..........
We go in search of the Seals and find them basking in the sun on the rocks just off the jetty, the sea is so clear you can see the bottom clearly at 20-25ft and the fish nibbling at the bait on the fisherman's  lines.
Next stop, coffee in the cafe we saw as we entered town, sorry Closed.  We walk further up and find a hardware shop with tables and chairs outside, a sign states coffee etc we go in and there is a young girl vacuuming and another lady sat eating a pizza at a table inside, I ask my tea total partner what she would like, "Orange Juice please" at which point we hear the lady eating the pizza say to us, "you can't, I don't have enough oranges"   Now you may want to skip the next two lines..... We turn around and see the half chewed contents of pizza lady's mouth and a piece of pizza escaping from her mouth hanging on her chin, whilst she is explaining, not enough people want fresh juice so she is going to stop doing them.  We turn away and notice everything to eat on display is cling-filmed, so subconsciously send each other subliminal messages, don't order anything, there's a good chance it's not fresh........  We have already asked for an iced coffee and a bottled drink, so I ask for a glass to drink the contents of the bottle from as we are going to be seated at a table, she replies whilst chewing "No but we have a straw"..........
We get back to camp via a walk along the beach and through the bush and check out the ablutions block, 'What the ......'  They are cleaner than a lot of others we have seen at this time of day, so I'm hoping I won't get called Stinky, tonight...........
    This is Whistling Rock, personally I think it's more Dog, than Dog Rock......

   The Australian Countryside...........

    Hopetoun Beach

    Basking Seals might get a visitor tomorrow with waterproof camera.

   Yesterday's Beach Kangeroo.