Winter in Perth...

Rein checking in -

"It's been a few days that we're back now in Perth, after out amazing road trip.

View from Kununurra's look-out

Our trip back from Kununurra was uneventful, yet as stunning as the way up. Even though it was for 90% the same road us we used to drive north, in reverse, we did enjoy the scenery again, and from a different perspective.

The first day of driving took us right through the Kimberley on the Great Northern Highway, a stretch of road we hadn't done yet. This is one of the most remote areas of Australia, occasionally passing through mainly Aboriginal communities and the scenery was beautiful. 

That night, even though we didn't realise it at the time, we had our last camping night. We did the whole bush camp thing again, pulling up beside the road (somewhere between Derby and Broome), setting up our tent and starting a fire to keep warm and realised how expert we had become at all of this :-) Within 30 minutes we had the billy on the fire and a bowl of hot food in our laps!

The following morning we set off early as we wanted to make it in time to a beach side camp site near Port Hedland, realising this would probably be our last chance to swim in tropical waters. We did stop for lunch though on 80 mile beach, which we assume is called this way of its length. Well, however long it is, it is a beautiful white beach as long as the eye can reach. 

Of course, I had to take advantage of the occasion to dive into the crystal clear waters before delving into my sandwich. And in retrospect it was good I did, as it would be my last dive up North. As, when we arrived at our planned camp site later that afternoon, we were very disappointed with the fact that it was overrun by fellow roadies, spoiling the idea of a swim and a bush camp. Instead we decided to hit the road again and try to reach Karratha  and see if we could crash at Simon's uncle's place there. So said, so done and that evening we had a nice catch-up over a pub meal with Brian, Simon's uncle and a good night's sleep in a bed under a roof!

To our surprise on day three we woke up to a grey sky and spitting rain. We crossed the beautiful Pilbara region, through to Coral Bay, in the hope that we'd be hitting better weather on the West coast. That was in vain; the sad weather stayed with us all 1000 k. so when we arrived we decided not to brave the pending thunderstorms with our little tent but instead to check into the local backpackers' for the night. Who would've thought that I would spend my first ever night in a youth hostel at the honourable age of 46!

Due to the miserable atmosphere of the beach resort in the rain and flooded by Perth suburbanites with their kids for the school holidays that just started we decided to make a run for it the next day. We set off early again and just kept driving until we made the safe haven of m. & d. Andrew in Rockingham that evening. It was good to be reunited and to celebrate we drank wine and played our own family game of cards, "Moroccan Rummy", the rules of which we concocted while on our family holiday in Marrakech.

That was a week ago today. Since then we have spent most of our time cleaning, advertising and selling our car as well as reflecting on our next move.

After 6 months of living like nomads we feel the time has come to start rebuilding a home somewhere. I have reestablished contact with my work and to our delight there are several opportunities for reemployment in the firm, ranging from Europe to India. Of course these things cannot be decided overnight by either side, so at the moment we are waiting for the go ahead to book our tickets and set-off again for a meet and greet with my colleagues in New Delhi.

Cottesloe Beach

In the meantime, I am enjoying the joys of a Perth winter, which frankly reminds me of the better summer days in Belgium! Lots of sun in a stark blue sky and temperatures around 20°. While most of the locals think I am crazy, I think this is perfect weather for a nice day at the beach. I have been taking the opportunity to drive up the coast to one of Perth's most pristine beaches where yesterday I even braved a refreshing dive into the surf...

In spite of this though, the waiting game is asking its toll and we both hope to get some resolution soon. Here's hoping to hear back from Delhi sooner rather than later and being on a plane heading west!"

- Rein checking out