One month on the road!

It’s been a while, mainly because I’ve had little connections and when I’ve had them I’ve been a guest in someone’s house so can’t really hide away and write.
Anyway, here’s a brief summary of the last month (how fast it’s gone!)
After being ripped off - and I may add too trusting) for one set of Fleetwood Mac tickets to the tune of 150aud (gutted) I didn’t let it put me off and managed to find us tickets, Mac were pretty damn good and we had a fabulous evening.
Back to serious stuff the next day and we headed to visit some SA friends of Lloyd’s in Perth - Craig and Theresa and their really cool daughter Demi, they kindly took us on their boat to Rottnest Island for a day trip but sadly the gearbox  decided to play up, this resulted in a first for all of us- a sea rescue! (we were actually rescued from the island but you get my drift)
We then spent some time with some of Lloyd’s extended family Christine and her chap Jacque and soon we were ready to hit the road properly. Heading north towards Exmouth we were full of excitement and looking forward to warmer climes. We slept on beaches and in bush and built fires for cooking, watched sunsets and not so often sunrises. We saw few animals apart from the odd bird and dead roo by the roadside. The black tarmac ribbon road flagged by red soil seems endless some days.
Highlights were the stromatolites at Hamelin Pool, the incredible Pinnacles and the Pink Lake plus Coral Beach where the entire beach was made of tiny shells. We stopped at Shark Bay and saw dolphins on the beach, whales in the distance and huge pelicans.
The weather was glorious and when not driving we enjoyed sunny lunches with our feet in the sand.
Camping each night is always different- we avoid the commercial sites and usually wild camp- much more fun.
In Exmouth we met with Janine who arranged a room at a friend’s house for us, a bed really feels like luxury after a few nights on a camping mattress. Sandra - Janina’s friend has a 14mth old Dalmatian pup who was a lot of fun.
We were lucky enough to take a few boat trips and see whales and other marine life, even snorkelling with giant manta rays and turtles and seeing the colourful fish on Ningaloo reef.
After meetings with all the connections we made we headed back to Perth and regroup before the big trip east.
A night at Maria’s and more time with Craig and family were very welcome, we were back out on his boat and saw river dolphins in the centre of Perth fishing around the shoreline.
A few problems with our vehicle saw us being given a brand new one - brilliant as I can now play all my favourite music and the fuel economy is fantastic.
We began the journey east with some good experience under our belts and mindful of the cooler weather.
We stopped in Bunbury and Dunsborough and started making contacts with people. We met a fantastic few characters there Brodee a beautiful up and coming marine biologist and the bonkers Dundee and his lovely wife Dee who let us camp in their garden.
As I write we are in Albany and Lloyd is presenting his ideas to Kirsty - the local marine biologist and I’m charging everything we own and looking for a place to stay tonight and somewhere to shower!
You get used to life on the road and my mantras are ‘power and shower’ when we hit civilisation.
It’s amazing how little we have and how we manage - I’m learning so much.

The Nullabor Plains are famous in Australia, for a few reasons but primarily for being a flat endless treeless arid land in South Australia. Its supposed to be a challenging crossing where you have to be well prepared to take on 1675km of driving with little access to shops and provisions. In preparation we shopped for food and made sure we had plenty of water and fuel  and approached our task with trepidaiton. Usually drivers would start the drive at Norseman, however we were near the coast in Esperance...i found a diagonal off road route that would get us on the Nullabor quicker - across land to Balladonia, 200km off road would be interesting too! We set off and it was so bumpy you had to stop to take a drink for fear of spilling it all down your front, convesations were funny and all eyes were on the parched red ground looking out for big holes and of course kangaroos.  
About three hours later we arrived in Balldonia on one piece, boy was it a releif to get on a normal tarmacced road!
We camped a couple of times hitting rain and sleeping in the cab when the tent didnt quite deal with the deluge (to be fair we hadnt even pegged it down as we were so used to good weather!)
We both thought the warnings were a little over rated and found it barren but prefectly fine and no big task to cross the plains.
Arriving in Ceduna we had to rid the car of any raw fruit and vegetables for infection control from one state to another - so we sat at the roadside cooking everything we had! (I didnt want the fruit police getting us)


A good search of Wikicamps brings up 'Tozers Bush Camp' not free but in the right direction and looks interesting. We find it in the bush and i immediately recognise Tozer, a sixty-something dreadlocked ruddy-faced guy with a wry smile.  He's an ex-farmer who wasn't really making any money from his farm and one night with a beer watching the sunset he was considering quitting it all when he suddenly hit upon the idea of sharing the wonderful bushland that surrounded him, so he built a camp kitchen and marked out sites and now he has one of the biggest selections of orchids and some incredible birdlife and bush vegetation hes doing well, selling orchid tours and has interested parties visiting from all over the world. We had a nice evening and made a fire outside.

Soon we were back on the road headed for another tour operator in Fowlers Bay, Fowlers is a stunning small seaside location in WA, white sands and only a handful of shops.  We met up with Rod who runs whale watching tours in the bay.  Rod was very welcoming and we spent some time at his lovely beachside house talking shop before going out on a whale-watching trip.  The bay was like a whale nursery, everywhere you turned there were mums and calves curiously looking at us.  After a fantastic day Rod offered to let us stay on the stretch of beach outside his house, invited some friends over and we had a nice big fire and some food. Bliss!

Next stop was to visit Rods father Allan in  Baird Bay, not too far away. Again this was a small town with no shops or real amenities but I did find a small campsite.  We met Allan briefly and he kindly offered to take us out the following day.
To kill some time we took the ute down to the beach for a drive, as we reached the end of curve we found a small boy crying by a Landcruiser which was firmly stuck in the sand by the back wheels. Unravelling the story it appeared he had permission to drive but he was seriously worried about how to get out of the mess he was in!
We drove him to find dad who was having a beer after a hard day shearing.  Dad was Jack a local farmer, tall and weathered with hand slike spades he found the whole story highly amusing! Jack asked us to wait while he went and sorted the stuck 4x4 .
We nervously stood with the other farmers at the diesel heater outside the huge shed full of all sorts of kit.  Jack returned and thanked us and we had a couple of beers and got chatting.  We were then invited to go and see his farm and land the next day, which we gladly agreed to, its always nice to spend time with locals away from the tourist trail.
The next morning out with Allan we were extremely fortunate to see sea lions and dolphins playing with us, they each had names given to them and Allan had been the only operator there for decades, its as though they knew him!
After a fantastic morning Jack came to get us and he drove us all around his farm showing us the land and animals, then onto his shed area where there were stacks of machines and vehicles in various states of decay, his dad's old tractor, etc.  Ive seen this kind of thing everywhere where as there is no. demand for scrap metal so it just gets left.  Jack kindly let us camp on his beach area and joined us for a fire in the evening bringing   fresh farm eggs, lamb and firewood, such a kind man! We chatted and drank beers till late - a brilliant evening.

An African man and an Englishwoman

I left Marias and headed to Scarboro to collect the ute.  They gave me the keys and didnt even check my identity! Strange driving here, not unlike home and i am enjoying automatic gears, been a while!
I collected a very weary Lloyd from Perth airport at 11pm and headed to a nearby hotel.  Two nights here was enough and Lloyd started making connections with potential people in the trade and i began searching for camping gear and anything needed to kit us out for a long road trip.  Facebook marketplace and Gumtree Australia was awesome. I managed to find nearly everything we needed within the area so we did a big loop and collected it all, even meeting four French people on a car park to pick some gear up, dodgy as it sounds it worked like a charm! About 220 AUD later and we had more than we needed. Id also heard Fleetwood Mac were playing in town and we both adore them so i was looking out for tickets too.

Oz o'clock!

My last night in Legian with lots of new freinds ended up with dinner in a ladyboy bar followed by espresso Martinins and a live band, i swear the guys and gals were trying to get me plastered - finally went to sleep at 1am and had to be up at 4.30! The 7am flight from Bali Densapaur to Perth was a welcome rest slot in my day and i slept most of it in the cramped Air Asia plane.
I was super excited to arrive as i was being met by Maria, my ex boss and good friend i havent seen for 12 years! Maria and her hubby Nigel kindly offered me a bed for a few nights.
We didnt stop talking for hours and it was like we'd never parted, and she looked just the same, i think life here in Perth suits them.
Weve been on long beach walks, had some great food and wine and chatted and laughed so much. Its been really nice to be in a home instead of a hostel/hotel/homestay for a while.  I didnt realise how much calmer and more restful it is and how much easier it is day to day. Ill be forever grateful for these few days downtime because i think its about to get a whole lot more intense!

Ill be here in Oz for three months and then off to New Zealand for a month.  Thats the plan anway.
The guy i worked with in S Africa (Lloyd from Raggy Charters Eco Tours) is on his way over to tour West to East coast talking about whales etc and asked me to join him. Im picking up our vehicle kindly donated for the trip tomorrow. eeeek

Canggu and Uluwatu

Uluwatu was divine - the Homestay was minimal but very clean and the breakfast of fresh fruit toast and coffee a welcome extra for such budget accommodation. I’d found a temple a walk away so headed there for a visit, it wasn’t so special but the location was beautiful, Uluwatu Temple or Pura was on the edge of a cliff. I walked around and enjoyed the views and the monkeys. Heading to the beach afterwards was a lesson learned- another long and arduous hike down and up again.
Suppose it’s good for me. I’m getting quite used to the heat now and the nice thing is it doesn’t really fluctuate much, you adjust easily and learn to hydrate more by listening to your body.
Im also bossing the flip flop wearing - I can walk miles in them whereas before it was super painful on the soles of my feet after just a few miles.
There is a Portuguese restaurant next to my homestay and i pop in each evening for a beer (happy hour 5-7 so i can get two small beers for the price of one, plus the chef always brings me a small vegan appetiser for free as hes interested in vegan cookery, bonus!)
Most mornings the air is filled with Hindu chants and songs as its a really important religous holiday at the moment.
Next stop ive decided is Nusa Dua

me

This voyage of discovery isn't just about travelling, meeting people and discovering new exciting things, it's also a voyage of self-discovery which is only just beginning.
As I turned a corner on the side of a mountain here in South Africa today i looked back at the path and as I did I thought about the path id taken to get here.
Its been a rocky few months lately, deaths of friends, end of a long career, going it alone.  I'm beginning to see a few things more clearly.
Firstly -  Im a people pleaser, this is both a good and bad trait.  When i meet someone new that ill be spending time with it always begins with me moulding myself to fit them, i change my ways to mimic theirs, I try to 'fit in' this isn't really a conscious thing, i want them to like me, i want to be the person they approve of, admire and enjoy being with. Ive no idea at the time I'm doing this. As i step back i see it now, I'm the same in romantic relationships too, im the agreeable girlfriend who will say yes even when she's not overly keen, im the girl who is astounded when a guy shows interest and will readily go on a date even if im not that into him - i guess this is classic low self-esteem?
I need to learn
to say no occasionally
to be myself
to learn who i am
and not to be who i think everyone else wants me to be
or maybe that is who i am - some kinda shapeshifter who was put here to have fun and enhance others lives... if thats so then that needs to be a thing i can make right and ok?
Ugh