On The Road Again...

Ok, I am back….

Before I continue on with my travels I should make mention of a little dilemma we ran into during the first few days of the trip… 

Livia and I were having a hard time getting along with Mona. And by hard time I mean we were NOT getting along with Mona.  We butted heads with her anytime there was a decision to be made and arguments began over the smallest of comments. The tension was very obvious to everyone and at this point we even questioned whether or not to carry on our trip with her. We renamed her using the acronym FIGJAM and responded to her comments with DILIGAF.  As you probably guessed- neither of these phrases are very nice so i'll let you research them if you care to find out what they stand for.  I spoke to my Dad about the situation - his response: "You can tell a German, you just can't tell them much." He was dead on. It wasn't a pretty situation. BUT little did I know over the next couple of days this situation would turn into a lesson learned.  

Day 5 | February 26 | 2011

We arrived in Denmark, made the routine trek to the information center, and set off on our tour around the quaint little town. We were excited to learn that the sites to see around Denmark were everything but quaint…

We reviewed the suggested to-do list and each picked an activity. We agreed to make time for everyone's choice and our first stop was the berry farm. We were greeted by the owners of the farm and before long we were deep in the rows of raspberry bushes filling our baskets. 

  

From the berry farm we headed to the meadery where we enjoyed tasting a variety of honey, honey liqueur and a bit of honey wine- interestingly tasty!

The last activity of the day was to visit the Elephant Rocks and Green Pools. These two attractions were fascinating!

Elephant Rocks | Denmark

Green Pools | Denmark

 Unfortunately it was late in the afternoon and the sun was hidden behind the clouds so it was a quick visit before we were off to find our home for the night. We ended up at a campsite that was very obviously full of an older crowd. We strategically placed ourselves next to the youngest looking group and set up camp, enjoyed some pasta and broke out the goon.

The goon was going down as smooth as goon possibly can this night and honest words began to flow. The conversation started off a bit heated, but before long the German girl's shell began to crack. We talked friends and jobs and then we talked family.  Slowly but surely everything began to make so much sense. We began to understand why our dear Mona was so loud and why she was always right.  We began to learn why Mona was who she was.   I was quickly reminded that you can't judge a person until you really know them and understand why they are who they are.   I'll admit prior to this night, if we had been given the opportunity to leave Mona and travel with someone else we would have. We would have given up on Mona, and without giving her a fair chance. Thankfully that option did not present itself and by day five it was as if the three of us had been friends for years. 

With frustrations resolved and an empty box of goon- we decided it was a good night to hit up the pub. It was about a mile down a dark highway and we all agreed our mother's would not approve of this seemingly necessary trek. Sorry Mom, we did it anyway! We were relieved to see our neighbors from the campsite at the pub knowing they would be able to escort us home. A few beers later the pub shut its doors and we scanned the street for our escorts. Turns out we wrongfully assumed these guys were gentleman and once again found ourselves alone on this dark road. Too bad for them…revenge was in store! Once back at the campground we stopped by the bathroom to wash up before bed and had a very close (too close) encounter with a kangaroo on the way back to our tent. After calming ourselves we focused on our plan of attack. The GOON BAG! We blew up the goon bag and set it carefully next to their tent. It was Mona's turn to Pop the Goon and as the routine goes….BOOOOOM, run into the van, slam the door and erupt in laughter.  Success! 

Day 6 | February 27 | 2011

Day six brought us to Albany and another day without any agenda. We followed signs that said scenic route, ended up on bush farms and hiking to uneventful blow holes. A bit hungover, and thus slaphappy, we laughed our way to the natural arch that Albany is known for. 

Natural Arch | Albany

 After a chilly photo session on the arch we were back in the van making whale noises and any other odd sounds we could create. If anyone were watching I can assure you they would have thought we were handicapped. Things only became more goofy from there. Before long we found ourselves at another campground- too tired to cook dinner and sitting in the van taking pictures of each other making animal faces. We laughed until our eyes couldn't stay open any longer.

Day 7 | February 28 | 2011

With no reception on the radio we attempted to enjoy the Indian music that played from our only CD in the vehicle. Let me tell you- it isn't really sing-a-long/make the drive go faster/keep everyone awake type music! After a long drive we finally made it to Esperance where it was a wee bit colder and rainier than we had hoped. Tired of paying $17-$20 per person at every campsite we decided to cheat the system a bit. I hopped in the back of the camper van and hid while Livia and Mona spoke to the park ranger and claimed to be two campers instead of three. Success came easy and we immediately agreed to take our $20 savings to the pub! The Pier Hotel was our only option for a beer and it wasn't long before we were telling jokes with a few locals and some people from the mines in Kalgoorlie. We all laughed at each other's jokes, but I am fairly certain with all of the cultural differences in the room the level of understanding was low. The night carried on for a while and we left calling each other "Spunk Bubbles" - a term one of the pub regulars taught us. The walk home threw us for a loop as we confidently walked down someone's driveway only to find a big scary barking dog and no sign of our red bus! Of course we screamed and ran. Eventually we found our home and then… we found some bread.  Our excitement could have been mistaken for ravenous animals. We coated the bread with anything spreadable- pasta sauce, Nutella, peanut butter, honey, tuna- it all tasted so good at this point in the night. Stomaches full and eyes heavy we made our way to the tent feeling very satisfied with our first night in Esperance. The sun brought about day eight shortly after. 

Day 8 | February 29 | 2011

We set out to find some of Australia's best beaches after our breakfast of eggs and toast (which we considered a special treat from the norm of bread and Nutella). We went to Cape Le Grande and Lucky Bay- which was voted to have the whitest sand in OZ. 

Lucky Bay

The pictures don't do it justice. It was truly magical. The sand was almost as fine as flour and it squeaked with every step. We drove past herds of wild emus as we continued our tour of white beaches. We stopped at Whorten Bay for a lunch of cous cous and coffee and were joined by a goanna. He was a welcomed addition to our picnic until Mona tried to feed it tuna. A nice man quickly warned us to keep our distance as these type of lizards have no qualms about climbing people…oh and they bite. 

We headed back into town and shortly thereafter Mona hit a car while backing out of a parking spot! The owner of the car was sitting in the driver seat when it happened and Mona immediately hopped out apologizing profusely. The woman didn't even look up.  She did a quick scan of the accident site and, without saying a single word, huffed off - leaving us all speechless. The three of us looked at each other and couldn't help but erupt in laughter. With that…we drove away. 

It was a great day of sight seeing, but day seven also meant I needed to be thinking about my next destination. According to plan I should be searching for a ride to Adelaide at this point. Feeling a bit stressed, and not wanting to spend my last day in Esperance on the internet, I decided to scrap the plan- imagine that! I wasn't ready to say goodbye to Livia or Mona, and Esperance was a bit too small of a place to be left looking for rides. My decision was solidified over dinner as we sat in the camp kitchen with some Frenchies who, for no apparent reason, confirmed that one should never make plans. Crazy! I was heading back to Fremantle. A place I thought I may never see again! 

Side note: Livia is from Switzerland and speaks English very well. After spending over two years traveling around OZ her accent is a combination of several different countries making it difficult for anyone to guess where she is from. During our month and half together we worked on her American accent using Forest Gump's line-  "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get." The phrase was said several times a day. Oh how fitting this sentence has been! 

Back to day eight...

You'd be correct if you guessed our last night in Esperance deserved another popping of the goon bag. Unfortunately for the Frenchies, they were the only people we had met at the campsite and thus would become our goon victims. I believe Mona took charge of this one and marched over to their tent. As always she jumped on the bag- BOOM, ran back to the van, we slammed the door, but before we could break out in laughter an unfamiliar sound interrupted our routine…a car alarm! We laughed even harder than normal and considered this a supremely successful goon pop! 

Lucky Bay | Whitest Beach in OZ