I'm sitting in a camper on a form in the middle of nowhere, writing this on a piece of paper.
I woke up at dawn, camping at Point Road near Boranup. I have no idea what time it was. But it must have been rather early still, since none of the neighboring four wheel drives had started their diesel engines yet. So I went back to sleep. Tent life is good.
A little later we got up, still early, had a müslibar for breakfast while driving the 4WD track, and went to Contos to catch some waves in the morning. But it was flat, so we continued to Redgate, which luckily was a lot nicer. We arrived as the locals left the water to go to work, but before the tourist crowds arrived.
After making sure I'd covered any visible skin with some good ol' 30+ suncream I waded into the water and spent the next two hours trying to surf. It's mostly a frustrating experience, though it's worth it for those few split seconds of joy. I was ofcourse tired as hell for the rest of the day.
Being tired and having breakfast together with a few million flies wasn't a very good combination. The later main event of the day was also something that probably would've been easier with a little less fatigue. Anyhow, after hiding from the flies in a boiling hot tent in order to eat in peace, we got our shit together and hit the road again.
We dropped Augusta and did the shortcut straight through Karridale, which pretty much is one shop on a intersection. We stocked up on fuel, ice, and food. All expensive. But no water, they needed that for themselves. Also they didn't have any alcoholic beverages, but hey, that's what wineries are for. We even scored some water. Thank you Hamilin Bay Winery. And to top it off I also got to visit Blackwood Meadery, my first meadery. It's like a winery, but with honey instead of grapes. And the loveliest owners, a retired Australian/German couple. Pay them a visit if you're ever in the area. (Really, there's a few hours of driving till you come past anything else.) The tastings were very rich, he lined up 8 bottles for us to try, half of them leaning more towards liqueur. We ended up with 3 bottles after some careful consideration.
4WD track to Black Point.
We had checked our newly purchased 4WD map, our camping guide, the surfing spot book, and asked a few other surfers/offroaders in the previous camp spot, and reached the conclusion that our trusty Subaru could take us Black Point.
We went through some rough spots without trouble, deflated the tires as the sand got softer. Then - BANG! BANG! followed by some more bad noises. A flat tire. Not to worry. I can change tires, I had even checked the air in the spare tire before we left. But first we had to empty the trunk to get to the tire. In the middle of the bush. Only 1 hour before sunset. With the spinny-thing to jack the jack missing. A few broken twigs and a broken spoon later the spare tire was in place. And somehow also flat. Then a German family in a offroad camper came to the rescue. I hauled them down and borrowed their air compressor. Now we were ready to continue.
Or rather, turn around. We made it back to the bitumen road, where the bad noises became even more clear. Closer inspection revealed the rear wheel to be busted as well. Now was the time to call RAC. Except we were about 1 hours drive from any kind of place with mobile coverage. Well, we wanted to get lost, and we were. Inching our way at 30 kms/hour we came to a farm. While standing in the driveway discussing what to do, the farmer came back from his work and asked if we were lost. A short explanation later we had the other wheel off, tried to fix it with a hammer, but that just made all the air go out.
The nice farmer, Stu, let us stay in a caravan, with more spiders and bugs then I've ever cared for. But also with a shower, kitchen and a comfortable bed.
Good night.
