West Coast Trail: PART 2

After stromatolites, I decided to stay the night in Kalbarri, a little seaside delta town that is chock full of folks in the high season but was comfortably mellow when I got there. In need of a good shower and a bed that did not randomly deflate at 2am, I stayed in a hostel. The front desk lady must have thought I looked a little worse for wear and gave me a whole dorm room to myself, on the guarentee I wouldn't make a mess for her to clean up. While it was not the Hilton, the clean warm bed and shower next door were most welcome. On the recomendation of the hostel staff, I went to Farley's Outdoor BBQ for supper even though I had perfectly good canned chilli in my hatchback. Yum! I got a whole plate of deep-fried and grilled sea critters for $20- cheap for Australia -and I met a couple of old surfer dudes who I hung out with for the meal so I didn't have to resort to my book to avoid looking like a loser. In the morning I woke up early so I could see the pelicans who show up on the beach every morning. In the old days before resortification, the fishermen used to throw them fish guts, and after the fishermen left, the pelicans still showed up for food so now a conservation person comes out each morning to feed them. Well USUALLY; he didn't show that morning, maybe because of daylight savings time. It didn't really matter though, because I was sitting on the beach by myself when the pelicans arrived and I got to check them out all by myself, minus the tourist hordes (and yes I am aware of the fact that I am also technically a member of this group, but I make my best efforts to avoid them).

After grabbing a coffee I was off to Perth... or not. My car didn't start. Hmmm. Luckily I have a mechanic on speed dial by the name of Dad. After a few diagnostic questions, I was instructed to hit the starter moter with a hammer. No hammer. I improvised and grabbed a rock from the decorative pile sitting beside the parking lot. A few taps on the metal bit and VROOM! It is very handy to have a mechanic pappa. The solenoid was stuck and just needed a little coaxing- hurray! Off to Perth!

-A.