(To the tune of Steppenwolf's "Born to be Wild". Obviously.)
Get your hire-car runnin'
Head south on the highway
Lookin' for a hostel
And any freebies that come our way
Yeah darlin' gonna check the map an'
Take the road at a gently pace
Take all your iced buns at once
And shove them in your face
To nerdy to be wild
We were born, born to be mild
We could climb so high
But only if we judge it to be safe
Born to be mild
This is an apt anthem for Anne and me on the road, I'd say. We've really enjoyed having a hire car for a couple of weeks as it gave us much more freedom than the Greyhound bus. Even if some of the things we went to see were closed. The nice thing was it was low season, meaning quiet hostels - yay!
We left the good Stirling Range Retreat at the crack of dawn (9.30am) on Friday, and drove up towards Perth. We were looking for a nice town in which to stay the night, before returning the car to Perth on Saturday. We drove through a few towns with not a lot in them, though many made some effort to attract tourists: "There's plenty to keep the traveller happy here, with ample parking and a modern toilet block." Priceless. One town (Wagin) had a giant fibreglass ram outside the tourist centre and billed that as an attraction. Er, yes.
After a picnic lunch in an unpleasant park Narrogin, next to a stagnant river, we carried on up to York (just north of Beverly - they like to cling to ol' England here). We looked at the hostel there (Kookaburra's) and found it to be very welcoming. We checked in and had the place to ourselves the whole night! York has a nice high street, and a timber furniture shop at which Anne could have spent several lotty wins. We had chilli for tea (yum!) and watched British TV (My Family, NCS Manhunt and Spooks!) It was like we had a big house all to ourselves. Which we did.
The hostel provided a free breakfast, including fruit, cereal, fruit juice, bread and eggs! I whipped up some scrambled eggs, we stuffed our faces, and then we drove to Perth and dropped off the car. Thankfully the car hire place didn't notice a small dent I'd put in the car. Yay!
We're doing chores in Perth in preparation for tomorrow. Tomorrow morning we catch a train from Perth to Adelaide. This will be a 39 hour journey and we don't have a cabin. We just have seats. I am dreading this. Anne thinks it will be romantic. I can't see much romantic about sitting in one seat for 39 hours with kids running up and down the aisles. The leaflet says there is video entertainment, but the photo on the leaflet shows a happy traveller with a guitar standing in front of the TV. I hate people with guitars who inflict their "talents" on other travellers. Gits.
Anyway, before this nightmare we're meeting up with yet another former member of The Economist's staff (Noreen) and are going to ex-Economist Lisa's birthday party! How cool to be going to a party at someone's house after so much hostel-living. Anne's had her hair cut v. short in preparation and looks like a boy. (Actually she looks nice. She looks like a nice boy.)