Thursday 3 December 2009

Moving on

After nearly a week of bus journeys, kangaroos (alive and dead) bunk beds, boxed "wine", toilet stops by the side of the road, emus, dolphins, pelicans, stingrays, sharks and sunsets, I have arrived in Coral Bay, 1132km north of Perth.

The best thing about the bus trip I chose was that it had a jump on, jump off option. And yeah, alright smart arse, I know most buses generally offer the option of getting on and off, but most tour buses don't. Usually there's a bit of apprehension as you reach the pick up point; desperately hoping the OAPs, odd balls and Germans standing nearby aren't headed for the same 8-day, no escape bus trip as you. Luckily, the small group waiting outside Perth station last Tuesday morning were predominantly 20-something, friendly and speaking in my native tongue: crude English sarcasm.

Aside from the possibility of Germans (fact: did you know that more Germans have been killed by saltwater crocodiles in Australia than any other nationality?), there's only one other thing that could set a bus trip on tenterhooks: couples. At first I was slightly miffed to find that four of the six initial passengers were travelling with their other halves. This is because generally, couples aren't that much fun. They think they are, but they're not. Apart from me and my boyfriend that is. Couples are all in-jokes, stolen kisses, 'ooh, I don't mind, what do you want to do?' and sneaking off to bed early. So when one couple jumped off at the first stop and was replaced by two blokes, eighteen and nineteen years old, I was pretty relieved. The fact that they were both badly sun burnt having spent the hottest hours of the day before on a windy beach with no suncream, and had both lost their new mobile phones and Aussie SIM cards less than half an hour after buying them screamed blatant irresponsibility. "Woohoo", thought I. Within minutes, the 'Your mum' jokes were flying across the bus. I had found Bill and Ted from Devon (only one of those names is made up); my first travel buddies of the trip.

Since arriving in Coral Bay on Saturday, my daily schedule has been rather hectic. In order: Get up. Eat. Snorkel. Eat. Snorkel. Chill. Drink. Repeat. And I absolutely love it. I'd have told you sooner but as you can imagine, internet is limited and expensive in the pretty end of nowhere, and something's got to give.

Finally, it's good to know that no matter where I go in the world, some things will never change. As I boarded each bus and entered each hostel, I was met with the same familiar greeting which, as ever, seems to have materialised out of thin air.

"Ahh, hello. You must be Joanne?"

Bah. Can't have it all.

6 comments:

Robbie said...

Those bastards! You should go and email/call all the places you're booked in to in the near future and check the spelling.

Good to hear your enjoying yourself. I will miss snorkeling. But I'm guessing Oz has well loads cooler fish then South coast of Spain.

PS if you see a platypus, can you please send it to me. Pretty please. It would make my Christmas/birthday. (Theres a few months in between the two so no rush ;-) )

not twitter said...

Ah, the adventure begins. Ain't missin' much from these isles. It's been wet. Then windy. Then windy and wet. Then bone numbingly cold....and wet. Sounds like a nursing home doesn't it?

blueskies2day said...

Ooh good - I'm very glad you've found some buddies. Do they say "Bish Bash Bosh"? I ask only because the last 20 year old I met said that and I'm not sure what it means.

Glad you're having a good time x

Anonymous said...

Aaah so pleased to read such a positive post!

From Devon? It's gota be Ted.

Grump said...

Now how did it go Get up. Eat. Snorkel. Eat. Snorkel. Chill. Drink. Repeat. Burp Fart and rest must be in there somewhere. I am really happy for you that you have found you the warm waters WA. When do you head down our way?
Happy Times
Woof x

Please Don't Eat With Your Mouth Open said...

Robbie - You have my word, if I find a platypus it will be winging its way to you via Royal mail asap. (you may have better luck asking for a turtle though. just a thought)

not twitter - Indeed my adventure is kicking off to a good start! English winter is sounding scarily similar to english summer. Ahh, nice to know things are the same.

blueskies - No I haven't heard them say bish bash bosh, they do say "tits" "arse" and 'sluts" alot though.

Roseski - Wrrrrronnnggggg :-D

 

Blog Template by YummyLolly.com - RSS icons by ComingUpForAir