Wandering Scotsman

How good is this? Need to get more booze?  No need to leave your car to shop! Pablo in the drive through bottle shop.

Yesterday was a pretty chilled out day with even more plans falling into place.  I was a bit slow after trying to drag Pablo into having a few beers at his BBQ the night before (he drastically needed the hair of the dog after his works night out on Friday).  They treated me to my second BBQ this week, and I managed to toss a few things in there, so have passed my aussie test.

  Pablo took me into Fremantle for a look, then I met Gill at Cottesloe beach after a swim.  I got a call from my mate Karen in Sydney so she could re-acquaint herself with my Scottish twang….needless to say I had to s-l-o-w down until she got up to speed.  So it’s all sorted, if I get to Sydney by Sat 10th I will go to a travel writing seminar with her for the afternoon.

(Pic : Pablo and I at Cottlesloe beach)

Scottie in Adelaide also got in touch and has amazingly taken a day off next Sunday, so I’ll arrive there after doing the red centre of Australia, and hit the bars (although hopefully not quite as madly as we hit them during my one night in Adelaide last year!).

Alan in Melbourne also got in touch so despite his absence from the city (working abroad again) I’m going to crash his place with his housesitter/buddy/whoever is living there just now,and have use of his Jeep!  And when I hit Sydney I have a place to stay with a Brit who was on my Whitsundays boat. 

I’m also writing this in Perth at a mate’s house, overlooking their pool in the garden while the forecast rainstorms are quietly sneaking in around me.  I’m just going to chill out today and tomorrow catching up with personal ‘admin’ (emails, downloads, the joy of broadband wifi).

I also met up with my old department boss from Edinburgh for a couple of beers last night.  He moved over here 18 months ago so was good to catch up with someone else in town.

Yaaaa, dont’cha just love friends!

As I could do wine tours from Dunsborough I saved myself some grief and decided to stay at the YHA for my three nights in the area.  It’s a pretty good hostel, 2km out of town, but free bikes, snorkelling stuff, and boogie boards (not that there’s much surf until you go round the coast).  It’s a neat beach here as well – no waves like others, and you’re pretty much on your own on the beach except the odd dog walker and fisherman.

It was another leisurely start today, not getting picked up until 11am by Bushtucker tours.  It was a bunch of oldies on the bus, but I still got into the 5 sets of tastings over 5 wineries around Margaret River, most of which were small outlets with minimal if any export wines.  There must have been 40+ wines to taste, with me buying a bottle of port at the first one (I never seem to resist port at these tastings, although this bottle was for a gift).  The lunch was great with loads of breads and pestos, with some local delights such as kangaroo (quite nice).

I had pretty much sobered up with my twenty minute sleep on the bus home, however I had no excuses not to go and listen to some tunes on the beach before sunset, with another swim.

I’ve never got into this backpacker thing in Australia of carrying cooler bags of food around from place to place – largely helped by managing to crash with friends and go on tours, so I did the only decent thing a flashpacker could…..jumped on a bike into town, ordered a coconut soup takeaway and have a beer in the ‘trendy’ bar in town while I waited.

Tomorrow it’s the first 7am bus up to Mandurah to meet Pablo, ready for him to laugh his ass off at me trying to kitesurf for the first time.