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It was 1400 on Friday 14th
March when we all met up once more for the first leg of our trip. The
four Cornishmen, Colin, Tony, Terry and Pete were off again, this time
to Perth, Western Australia for Interhash 2008, it barely seems eighteen
months since we came back from Thailand ! Flight Connections picked us
up from outside the new Travelodge in Liskeard in plenty of time to drop
us at Heathrow’s terminal 3 around 1800. Pete had brought along a bottle
of Southern Comfort plus Coke and glasses
( what, no ice ) to provide a little
light refreshment on route so, mindful of the 100 ml rule in force at
most airports, we had ourselves a little mobile picnic thereby solving
any future embarrassment at security. Checkin progressed without any
problems and we soon found ourselves in O’Neills – same Guinness
different bar – enjoying a good old British dinner of Cheesey Chips.
Emirates Boeing 777-300ER A6– EMS had us
airborne an hour late at 2330 and following an excellent Chicken Curry
decided to bounce us around a little over the eastern Mediterranean and
the mountains of Haifa before depositing us in 28 degrees of Dubai heat
and sunshine. A short taxi ride soon had us at the hotel – The Ramee
Royal on Dubai side of the Creek which initially seemed a good choice (
stay with me for future developments ). Our bags were quickly dumped and
we were off to explore – first port of call was the City Shopping Mall
where four years previously I had bought my glasses and was now intent
on getting new ones. In under half an hour I had had my eyetest and
opted for new lenses in my existing frames – well you don’t just dump
Georgio Armani do you !! – which would be ready for collection the
following day. Terry had brought his prescription with him so made his
choice on the same deal and off we went in search of lunch. Who says the
biggest burgers are sold in the States ?
 
The afternoon saw us take a taxi down to
the Corniche on Deira side to look at the new, and second,
‘Palm’ under construction, wander the Fish Market and and then amongst
the Dhows creekside with their mountains of cargo from
tyres
to televisions being traded up and down the Gulf and as far away as
Mozambique and India. Having savoured the aromas and gained an insight
into this fascinating Emirate, we decided it was time to head for cooler
climes and a few beers. It was Rugby Saturday and the hotel had a sports
bar so we joined the many other expats for three very enjoyable matches
accompanied by Amstel and a Rib eye steak to die for. The lack of sleep
the previous night was catching up and as we had our first run of trip
the next day decided to get some shut eye – and then disaster struck !
We went back to our rooms where you just
couldn’t hear yourself think – to begin with we could not really work
out what the noise was, but it was deafening to the point where it was
making the wardrobe doors vibrate. Even the mandatory couple of G and
T’s didn’t help. Colin was a little forthright with the Duty
Nightmanager who eventually came up to our room and conceded that there
was a nightclub on the roof exactly above our rooms. This particular
night they had a Russian Band playing whose only instrument appeared to
us to be a set of drums which required hitting very hard. Not to worry
he said they finish at three ! Colin reread his horoscope for him and he
summoned his staff to move us to a room two storeys down which had
miraculously become available – Pete and Terry followed shortly
afterward. This managed to reduce the noise level by some ½ a decibel
but at least allowed us to get some now much needed sleep. A long and
somewhat unhelpful talk with the Manager in the morning ended with a
postponement of negotiations until checkout the following day. Today
was sightseeing day so we grabbed a taxi and set off along the beachside
towards the Jumeira Beach Hotel stopping on a beach on route for the
mandatory pictures with the Burj al Arab hotel in the background.
 
Security was tighter than on my previous visit with Sue, which meant we
were not able to get out onto the beach areas or on the breakwater, but
it did give us a feel for what a Dubai 5 star hotel was like.
A
couple of beers for lunch and it was time to move on – the driver took
us to the entrance to the Burj but entry to the hotel is not possible
for visitors unless you are eating there and the same was the case at
the original ‘Palm’ – we could drive out onto the ‘trunk’ in what are
really the commercial / communial areas but entry to the residential
areas on the Fronds is restricted. Our journey back into town was
through the business centre which gave us the opportunity to see some of
the spectacular buidings for which Dubai is famous including the Burj
Dubai which, when completed will stretch over ½ a mile into the sky –
the observation platform on the top will no doubt provide spectacular
views if you’re not the wrong side of the clouds !
Sunday
It was time for the Hash – Dubai Desert
Hash run on a Sunday and I had been in touch with Bwana their GM for
assistance to the venue - grabbing a taxi we head out to Uptown Mirdif
where he lives to meet up. This is a new development area some 10
kilometres inland – which is all built up – but what amazes us most is
the continuing development – as far as you can see the area is covered
with new apartment blocks and flats – he tells us that 200, 000 new
residents a month arrive in Dubai whilst 80,000 leave. The run site is
on Hatta Road, out in the desert, as the Desert Hash would suggest, and
the instructions are to turn off the road at the Salik sign – now even
if you are GM you should never take instructions at face value and we
are now up to our axles in soft sand much to the amusement of the the
other arriving hashers. A group push soon has us back on the road where
we find the correct turn off some 500 metres further on.
The first thing
we see on arriving is a Cornish flag in the back of a 4wd – this turns
out to be the hares – BA and No Way BA who are from Fowey. A 45 minute treak through the sand on a circular route has us back at the cars where
much needed beer is available. The somewhat elongated circle hosted by
RA Nancy Boy sees the first outing of Camborne Hill whilst I get a Down
Down for new shoes despite my protestations.
 
As is
the norm for the Desert Hash the Hares light the fire and provide a
really good curry for all to enjoy. Bwana drops us back at his place
where we grab a taxi for home having enjoyed our first hash event of the
trip. A couple of G & T’s whilst showering means we get another good
nights sleep.
Monday
At our
attempt to check out the next morning another war of words between Colin
and the Manager over payment for the first night results in the Manager
ringing the hotel’s owners for advice – after much debate - and I
really don’t know whether the owners agreed – we knock thirty percent
off the bill, pay and leave for the airport – it should prove
interesting to see the credit card statement when it arrives.
The
taxi gets us to the airport where, due to the conflict, we are running a
trifle late. This does not seem to have any effect on checkin and
Emirates gets us off on time aboard their Boeing 777 – 200 A6 – EMK for
the 10 1/2 hour flight to Perth. After flying out over Muscat there is
now nothing between us and Perth except the Indian Ocean – those amongst
you who are geographically knowledgeable will no doubt point out that
the Maldives lie in our path – well that’s true and we do fly over the
top of Male but its only a pinhead in a very large puddle. Once again we
are well looked after by Emirates with good food, plenty of booze and a
huge selection of movies and DVD’s to help pass the time – the only
thing missing is sleep.
Tuesday
Tuesday, we are into Perth at 0315 and
are immediately interogated by the ‘welcoming committee’, where have we
come from ? have we cleaned our Hash Shoes ? – well yes obviously we
scrubbed them meticulously before we left Dubai. Some seemed to know
what Interhash was all about and others swore blind they had never heard
of it. The final hurdle was for Terry to have his mobile phone taken
away for ‘sniffing’ to see if he had been handling drugs or explosives
recently – obviously the sniffer was less than efficient as it was soon
retuned to him and pronounced clean. Our passports are finally stamped
and we are on our way, the taxi getting us to our hotel in a little
under an hour.
We find we are not very tired and all
agree that going to bed at this time would be a mistake so we meet up in
our room where a couple of G & T’s and a glass of Pete’s very acceptable
Glen Livet gets us through to breakfast.
We
wander outside on route to Gloucester Park, the Interhash venue, to find
our hotel, The Crowne Plaza, is situated on Langley park, a pleasant
green area adjacent to Perth Water, itself an area of the Swan River.
Langley Park, as a nearby plaque pronounces, was Perth’s first airfield
commissioned on 4 December 1921 when 3 Bristol Tourers departed on the
first regular air service in Australia. Perth Water was also a PBY
Catalina Flying Boat base during WWII. Gloucester Park is the Perth
Trotting Circuit and located right opposite the Western Australia
Cricket Association ground – known throughout the cricketing world as
the WACA. As it turned out it was only a 10 minute stroll from the hotel
through a rather pleasant little park, home to the Dawlish Black Swans
Mom and Dad, which as the week progressed was to be a godsend.
Interhash registration was fairly painless and we managed to do the Red
Dress Run and Fremantle H3, our destination that afternoon, at the same
time. With our shiny new IH rucksacks safely stowed in our rooms we set
off for the railway station to catch the train to Freemantle.
The
commuter railways are very good, clean and reasonably cheap though when
you qualify for the
‘ pensioners concession ‘ ticket they
are even cheaper – Colin and me are dead chuffed but Pete is not so
impressed - and a 30 minute ride brought us into Freemantle. We had a
couple of hours to kill so decided to try and find the sea – not as easy
as it might seem but eventually water hove into view. Not the
magnificent beaches we had in mind, but at least it was the Indian Ocean
– Pete and Terry were soon in their nics and out into the water – Pete
and Terry were soon out of the water as the Indian Ocean is not as warm
as the brouchures make out - Colin and I got our sandles wet ! After a
bit of a lie in the sunshine we were feeling peckish and decided a snack
was needed before the run – thank god for ……… McDonalds ! well somebody
has to eat there and, believe me, Aussie burgers are no better than
ours! A walk up through town to the run site opposite the station showed
Fremantle to be a very pleasant old city with plenty of victorian style
shop fronts and balustrades.
  
About
150 turned up for the run and we managed to bump into Edna from
Kalgoolie – who we had travelled with previously in Laos and was the
instigator of the infamous Rum Party and Purple Hash on the Mekong trip.
The run took us all over town which was very good and interesting before
finishing near the beach we had been on earlier for beers and plenty of
healthy food – pizza’s, sausages, pies etc.
We were
told we had some very special entertainment laid on and to make a space
– on marched a ‘ steel band ‘ the likes of which you have never seen,
it was like Stomp meets the Rocky Horror Show and they were brilliant as
they kept us entertained for almost an hour.
It was
soon over and time to make our way home – a good crowd on the train
ensured we had a sing song featuring Camborne Hill and Trelawney much to
the amusement of the local transport police who left us well alone.
some of us are a little tired 
A short
walk back to the Gin bottle had us in bed to enjoy a decent nights sleep
for once.
Wednesday
Wednesday, and we had nothing planned
for the morning which meant a bit of a lie in – breakfast at 0830 was
enjoyed by us all – I probably should say here in case anybody with an
intention to visit Oz reads this,
it is the norm in Oz for hotels to be ‘
room only ‘ which we did not know when we booked and breakfast varied
from £12 to £20 depending on your choice !! - as they say ‘ buyer beware
‘. A stroll around to Gloucester Park to see who else was turning up
revealed Nicko and Twopence Halfpenny from Kirton and Fu Manchu and
Dragon Lady from Plympton and also produced a potentially embarrassing
revelation for us. Whilst chatting to some Aussie’s we discover that our
reference to going home for a couple of Gins – in Oz refers to ‘
Aboriginal Ladies ‘, I bet HSBC – The Worlds Local Bank - didn’t know
that!
We manage to register for our Wine and
Dine trip however we are very disappointed to find that Pete and Terry
are on a different bus to Colin and me; despite protestations we are not
able to change – worse they weren’t able to guarantee that we were in
the same hotel. How did we know you were together they asked – my reply
that I had booked and paid for all four of us together and our voucher
had all our names on it didn’t seem to cause any brain cells to light up
– as the week progressed it becomes apparent that the tour company ‘
Discovery West ‘ were worse than useless and I definitely wouldn’t
recommend them if you happen to find yourself in Perth. We also meet up
with Gordon Cains, a friend of Colin’s from Looe who now lives in Perth,
and enjoy a couple of beers whilst bringing him up to date with all the
gossip and goings on since he left. Tuesday afternoon and run no.2 –
this time it is the 100Kg hash and the meeting point is just 100 metres
from the hotel at the Tattenhalls Bowling Club – we are most impressed
to see on the entry board outside a list of other impressive
organisations who hold regular meetings there including the Lions, the
Rotary and the Hash House Harriers.
We check in and are given our ‘goodie
bag’ containing patch and T shirt – our first instinct is how do they
know our size ? but we soon realise that this is the 100 Kg run and
therefore the shirts only come in XXL !
 We
all prepare in different ways !
Some
amazing sights appear – especially amongst the Asian girls who, being
smaller than most, turn their shirts upside down, put their feet through
the sleeves and tie them over their shoulders. We are called for the
brief by the GM ‘ Foreskin ‘ who, it is fair to say, is well versed in
Aussie hash ways and, by appearance portrays their reputation very well
including his orange dyed Mohican haircut so it comes as a bit of a
surprise when we find that in real life he is a English teacher at a
primary school in China.
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A fine example of an Aussie hasher and the GM with antenna extended |
The hash in full ’flight ‘ |
The ‘ On Sec ‘ doing as he’s told |
On On
is called and off we set at a furious pace – for a walk !! The 100 Kg
is a walking hash with its roots firmly set in socializing – it takes
place whenever it can and we are on run no. 4 after 2-3 years. It turns
out to be good fun, laid all around the parkland area alongside the river
and taking some two hours which included about six beer stops. The GM
has a Mitsubishi Pickup which is fully sprayed up in 100 Kg hash
advertising paintwork with a plastic lined back into which is poured
many cases of beer and then driven to the ice factory to be filled with
ice – we are to see this phenomenon many times during the trip.
Back to
the club for big eats – Pie and Chips - as the hash slogan is ‘ who eat
all the pies ‘ and into the circle which was a bit drawn out but very
good. We retire to the hotel at about 1900, Colin decides bed is the
place to be whilst Pete, Terry and I decide to try the Carlton Bar which
is recommended to us and masquerades as one of the Hash bars. What a
dump, it was as though it had been bombed in WW11 and they never got
round to clearing up !! We have a couple of pints of Castlemaine 4X and
when, at about 10 o’clock, the owner starts stacking the chairs on the
tables and bar area around us decide Colin’s idea was better. When we
get back to the hotel we find Colin is now wide awake and ready to party
so its up to Pete and Terry’s for a couple of glasses of Pete’s finest
Glen Livet. Pam rings and Pete discovers he’s a grandad – again – all’s
well and time for bed.
Thursday
Thursday -- Red Dress Day – post
breakfast we wander over to Gloucester Park to see if anything
interesting is happening – meet up with C5 and Dumper and wives from
Berks who have just arrived after their trip across the Pacific and New
Zealand. Pete buys Pam a necklace and after a liquid lunch we return to
the hotel to change. The meeting place is the Moon and Sixpence pub in
Forrest Park – a shopping mall in the centre of town. As we take the 30
minute stroll up through the city from the hotel, it would appear that
to the good people of Perth the sight of 2000 plus individuals dressed
in various attires of red walking through their city is the most normal
thing in the world. The cycle police stop for a chat and direct us on
our way – the place is packed and, as usual, there are some wondrous
sights around.
There is a mass of entertainment from
chatty ‘ Kangeroos ‘ to stilt walkers, magicians and all manner of
street entertainers, all being supported by a band playing a variety of
instruments made from junk – it seems to be the ‘in’ thing in Oz.
The mayor turns up to address us and we
are given a formal and traditional welcome from an aboriginal group.
About 2 o’clock we are off with instructions to walk the first part of
the hash which meanders all around the shopping mall packed with bemused
shoppers, before wending its way down to the Swan River.
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At least here there is a slight breeze which
is very welcome as it is a very hot day and the run / jog / walk / stroll
along its banks to Gloucester Park is to take us about an hour.
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Then the serious bedlam emerges – there
is no water or beer to greet us – everything is on paybar and there are
only 4 staff – 2 on each counter. The girls are completely overwhelmed
and tempers are rising very quickly. I don’t think I ever remember
seeing people so angry, to the point where fists were flying. The same
thing happened at the food counters and the committee members present
were left in no doubt as to the depth of anger. There was a voucher
system – we were each given 5 vouchers worth Aus$3.00 each but with beer
costing $3.00 and dinner $5.00 they did not go very far plus you were
only allowed to collect two drinks at a time – one for each hand !
About 5 o’clock we head off for a shower
as we have the TDH3 Reunion Party this evening – it turns out to be a
bit of a walk to the location at Victoria Gardens but eventually we find
it and spend a couple of hours chatting to friends old and new over a
few beers and nibbles. As the sun dipped the midges came out, at first
just a few but they were hungry and as the word spread that there was an
array of nice white legs on offer they came in their hundreds, it was
time to leave. Gloucester Park was on the way home and there was a
special Trotting meeting arranged for us that evening to celebrate
Interhash.
It was great fun to watch and much more
exciting than we had thought, so needless to say a little flutter was
had by all. I won $0.60 over 4 races, Terry won $7.00, Pete won but
couldn’t remember what and Colin bet on the last horse back for all
races – in fact one horse was so far back it would have come last in the
next race!! We wander back to the hotel for a nightcap and Pete names
Colin the ‘ Chocolate Buddah ‘ for his sitting position.
Friday
Friday and an early start for the TDH3
run – fed and watered we are off to the stadium for the buses –
registration is a bit chaotic and long winded, but eventually we are all
aboard and off to Fishmarket Reserve in Guildford. First impressions are
of a great looking venue – lots of very dry scrubland, shady woodland
and an abundance of rivers and creeks. We are briefed about snakes, both
the Brown and Tiger, – there are lots about and they are all nasty – and
crocodiles – evidently freshwater types only grow to two metres, have
rounded snouts and don’t ‘ normally ‘ eat humans whereas salt water
crocs are big, vicious, fast and don’t mind eating humans, but
apparently don’t live in Western Australia -- how the hell would they
know where they live – should it come to a river crossing we make sure
we are half way down the pack ! We’re off – after some twenty minutes
of chasing the front runner, we arrive at a riverside check – the ‘on’
is found ( remember let the first half go first ) fortunately its only
waist deep with a couple of inches of mud at the bottom so we are all
soon safely across.
More scrub and and a short excursion
onto Guildford’s road system soon has us at a covered beer stop – luxury
as its another hot day – a quick tinnie and a mercifully short trot back
to the beer via an even smellier river and yet more scrub. The slaves
have been busy whilst we were away and we are greeted by an excellent
bar – b – q of steak, sausages and salad with mountains of iced beer.
Socialising is the order of the day and we fit in well, after an hour or
so the circle is called, one or two unsuspecting offenders are delt
with, the virgin TDH3 hashers are welcomed into the club and following
the usual chaotic melee over the T shirts we are back on the buses to
prepare for that evenings IH2008 opening celebrations.
The crowds gather and excitement builds
– Dame Edna Everidge is the opening show compare, we had performances
from Kylie Minogue and Paul Hogan accommpanied by Line and Aerobatic
Dance Troups – not quite up to the parade of the elephants but good fun
nontheless. IH2010 presentations followed and we were pleased to see
that this year there was no slagging off the opposition – maybe they’re
learning – although there were some digs at Perth for yesterday’s
performance. Entertainment for the rest of the evening was provided by
one of Western Australia’s prestigous rock bands who were very good, but
you did not want to be too near to the stage. Our Pixie hats had gone
down well generating plenty of comment and they had made it easy to keep
an eye on each other so we didn’t get lost. Being Good Friday it was a
TOTAL public holiday in Oz – so no buses, free or otherwise, trains,
shops and very few taxis – just a couple of beat up old buses provided
by IH which did a slow tour around the city. Even worse all bars had to
close at 11.00 o’clock - there are going to be some ever so slightly
pissed but extremely pissed off hashers trying to get home tonight. Bed
is calling – tomorrow is another day.
Saturday
Saturday dawns bright and blue – Edna
has told us that run C2 as described in the Hash Mag is in a good area
so Pete, Colin and myself opt for that; Terry is doing the Ballbreaker !
Our run is in the Serpentine National Park out at Jarrahdale about an
hours ride from Perth. Whilst waiting for the buses to arrive rumours
abound, the short is ?, the medium might be ? and the long is definitely
17 kilometres. After careful consideration we decide to stick together
and do the short, medium or long ! On the ride out we learn from the
hares that the long is 11 – 12 kilometres so Pete and I decide to give
it a go whilst Colin sticks resolutely to the short.
The brief once more covered the dangers
of Brown and Tiger snakes but missed out any excitement over crocodiles
and covered the fact that there were two water stops, but it was highly
recommended that you carry a bottle with you and please bring out the
empties. We were off, the run taking us through spectacular parkland, a
mixture of woodland and scrub with wonderful views on occasions. At this
time I think I should point out a few things to potential Interhashers –
the thing about travelling is interpretation of familiar words – let me
give you some examples, in Oz for ‘ Overcast ‘ read beautiful blue skies
without a sign of a cloud, for ‘ shady running country ‘ read brilliant
bright sunshine without a sign of a tree and 36 degrees and for ‘
challenging ‘ read bloody hard work. The trail is laid by tying small
bits of white ribbon to bushes and at the beginning things were going
well as Pete and I were pretty much together.
The first water stop was supposedly 4 –
5 k in but was actually nearer to 10 ! and I never saw a second one, by
which time I was beginning to fall behind and whilst Pete was not too
far in front I was becoming increasingly on my own. The biggest problem
was that the hares had not marked the trail too clearly from the checks
and calling was almost non existent so I was increasingly running
falses. I eventually came across the water stop more by luck than
anything as it was some 10 metres off the trail and with nobody else
there. Whilst replenishing and getting more pissed off at no directions
or horn, the sweeping hare arrived with the last two hashers – one of
whom was well knackered. He tells us that we are some 2/3 way around but
as he was not involved with this part of the run, has no real idea as to
which way it goes and can only hazard a guess – wonderful.
Another 20 minutes and three more
falsies later I pop out of the bush onto a wide track with a long steep
climb disappearing off in front of me and with no sign of anybody else
either in front or behind – I’m half way up the hill when a hash truck
comes over the top and asks if I need a lift ? I’m hot, knackered and do
not know how much further there is to go so I accept – will I ever live
it down ! by the time we get to the bottom of the hill another of
my fellow weary hashers has popped out and flagged us down. In my
defence when back at the circle I discover that the trail was 15k but
disappointed to learn that when picked up there was only 1k left to go –
had I known that - yeah, yeah ,yeah, after two minutes of scorn
and ridicule I manage to get a tinny down me.
It’s the dry season in W. A. when all
Bar bs are banned but the way to get around this is to invite the Park
Fire Service to provide the Bar b for you so it wasn’t long before I had
a steak and sausage bun and had joined the others, including Ken and
Ellie, for some post hash chat. Ken was sitting rather quietly sporting
blood and scars gathered whilst diving headlong onto a very hard dusty
track which more than demonstrates that even though he is now of a
sedate age he is still capable of living up to his hash name --
Kamikaze. We circle up for the usual down downs which were kept
reasonable and hosted by the RA from Mandurah H3 who had some fresh
ideas and was generally very funny.
The buses had us back at Gloucester Park
by 1730 which gave us plenty of time for a shower before the evening’s
festivities. A reasonably quiet evening – dinner was the same slice of
beef, mini meat pie, Canelloni and some sort of curry – it has to be
said that it was distinctly cheap and boring. We eventually found a spot
with a few seats were we could settle down for a few beers and a chat
with the many friends who constantly passed by.
Here we go as Terry takes us thru the ‘
Ball Breaker’ experience
I was one of the first to arrive at the
pick up point at Gloucester Park where the Interhash staff diligently
checked our Ball Breaker pre registrations. Some lucky hashers got
turned away as their names were not on the list. All the normal suspects
boarded the hash transport with the expected words of speculation and
trepidation prior to what was going to be a hard hash.
One hour later we were in the Perth
hills receiving a very comprehensive brief from one of our hares. A
good luck hug ( he didn’t tell us that at the time ! ) from C5 of
Berkshire H3 and we were off at a very brisk pace down a bush road and
over a Dam wall. Having had a bad experience on Chaing Mai Ball Breaker
with lack of water stops I had decided to carry plenty of water as the
landscape looked a little exposed. The pace was starting to quicken with
the faster Yank and British expat runners jockeying for position
resulting in me hanging on by the skin of my teeth. The normal Oz
outback terrain welcomed us over every rise and fall. Luckily my drink
stop worries were lessened by the welcomed sight of our first
refreshment station offering a selection of Gatorade and water. We
caught an unofficial break as the main pack seemed to stop for longer
than normal as a few eager FRB’s checked out the trail.
Approximately
8km’s into the run the Dam wall we crossed earlier came back into view
and we immediately noticed the rear of the pack were still crossing the
upper dam wall putting them 7km’s behind us due to the hash again having
a staggered start. Though the Hares were still with us we soon realized
that they only had a general idea of the location of the trail as they
had not laid it - “more about this later”. A quick glance at my watch
revealed that we had been out for about an hour but were only a third of
the way into the run. As we climbed another hill we started to venture
out of the wooded area into some outback which had been cleared by
forest fires, immediately the midday heat hit us and I was glad of the
two bottles of water I’d optioned to carry, I felt for the hashers who
had opted for Gatorade as they had nothing to pour over themselves to
cool down. A steep descent back into the valley and we found ourselves
negotiating secondary bush which worryingly put a large split in the
pack and due to the trail being sparse on drops I again had to pick up
my pace in order to keep up with the front group so as not to get lost.
At the second drink stop I met with C5 who was in good form and running
with the FRB’s out front, we had a brief conversation regarding my old
Regiment boss who would have been angry about me being out run by an RAF
‘ education officer ‘. One of the yanks who was wearing a wrist GPS was
nearly lynched by a mob when he shouted “only another 15km’s to go!!!”
15 to 20 km’s was Groundhog Day as we
followed a wooded valley, bush running is like running around in circles
as one eucalyptus tree looks like any other. The fatigue and heat
started to hit me like a punch from Henry Cooper and I felt like I was
in reverse as I was overtaken by numerous hashers including a very large
Kenyan woman. The decision to have a light breakfast was affecting my
fuel reserves and I started to crave for one of mother’s homemade
pasties with chips on the side.
The trail became non existent which
worked in our favour as the front of the pack came back together, the
hares then started to search for trail as they had also become
disorientated. This was the point at which the late comers (including
our friend Edna) got lost and which resulted in them running an extra
8km’s. The last drink stop handed out bananas, apples and oranges which
gave me that extra boost needed to complete the final phase. I gave the
large Kenyan woman another glance and wondered how she did it as she
looked as if she had walked down the road and not run three quarters of
a ball breaker. Suitably refreshed and drops a plenty the front runners
again pushed the pace with the smell of the finish line in their
nostrils. The extra enthusiasm was short lived as the run had a sting in
the tail with a sharp descent into a deep gully followed by a steep
scramble on all fours back to the high ground. At the top of the gully I
glanced back and there were the following hashers stretched out as far
as the eye could see.
The scenery became familiar, as we were
nearing the finish I poured the remainder of my water over myself and
picked up the pace to try and keep up with C5 and the large Kenyan woman
who had overtaken me again on the ascent from the valley.
26km and 3 something hours later we were
back at the coaches, I picked up my bag and was informed that the circle
and food was in a quarry up another hill. As we walked into the quarry
we were greeted by the Interhash helpers handing out Ball Breaker
“survivor” t shirts and a can of ice cold VB - Victoria Bitter.
I quickly and eagerly joined the queue
for a barbeque of steak and sausages, found a shady spot to sit down
with other hashers and waxed lyrical with tails of woe and comparisons
of past Interhash Ball Breaker runs. We all agreed that this one was one
of the hardest runs due to the length, terrain and temperature.
NB. We waited for a couple of hours
before the lost hashers finally got back to the finish. It transpired
that they had got lost at the point where we misplaced the trail
earlier. This time they had no Hares to help them and had apparently
picked up a previously laid trail. Luckily they came across a built up
area and were given water and hosed down by some kind locals.
Whilst there was loads of beer and food
to enjoy the anticipated circle was relatively short due to the
latecomers. The normal suspects had their down downs and we were back on
the transport for Perth.
Roll on Sarawak Ball Breaker 2010 !
Sunday
Sunday
and we all get together to do the Busselton Boys ‘ Damm Fine Run ‘ at
Bungendo National Park, Wungong, up in the Darling Hills. Over to
Gloucester Park for the buses at 0930, much more organised today as we
were all given tickets as we arrived – we learn that there was chaos
yesterday with three extra buses going to this run with all the
logistical nightmares of the hares not knowing this in advance. About 45
minutes had us to the appropriate area – as the runs were A – B Terry
was the first to go for his 12k battle with the hills. The weather was
much kinder today, about 27 degrees and a slight breeze so we mediums
were more than happy when we were dropped off for our 8k adventure
whilst Colin, who had a bit of a blister problem stayed put for the
start of the 4k slog. The hares had very thoughtfully brought along a
giant tub of ‘blockie’ so whilst everyone covered up –
Mind,
you can overdo the ‘blockie’
- they
went ahead with the brief, it covered the usual snakes, water, stay on
trail but with an interesting addition – Hookey nuts. These are small –
about an inch diameter – rock hard nuts which are extremely prolific and
the cause of most of the hashing / hiking injuries as they tend to roll
your ankles when you step on them. The terrain was pretty similar to
yesterday but not as challenging until we came to ‘ the
hill ‘, by the time Pete and me reached the top we were agreed that we
did the right thing by not choosing the long, however the views were
spectacular and well worth the climb. The downside was looking across to
our left and seeing the shorts climbing an equally big hill and noticing
the deep valley which stretched between us. We were right and soon off
in pursuit, their ‘ hill ‘ was not quite as big as ours and we were
quickly over the top and down to the water stop on the side of the dam.
  
A swift
exchange of water bottles and we were off on the final 1.6k into the
finish; this was soon achieved and we all met up for beers, bananas and
sandwiches. After an hour we had recovered enough for the circle to
start, chaired by their GM Headjob the gallant few were properly iced
and treated to their downdown. We 4 Cornishmen had worked up a bit of a
relationship with the Busselton Boys over the last few days and sure
enough we were invited out to be humiliated in their own unique way.
They have a plank with 5 glasses fixed to it, operated by two of their
Hares it ensures that the tallest is on bended knee and the shortest on
tiptoe whilst they try to pour as much beer as possible into your
mouths. Colin was called up again, somewhat of a surprise, to be paraded
in his hash gear as a fine example of how your mother would never let
you out of the house. He was soon back – well you can’t keep a good GM
down – to relate his historic story of the sale of antiquities from
Horatio Nelson’s flagship Victory. I managed to finish off the afternoon
by bringing charges against the Hares – all found guilty – but when
Colin and I brought the plank the situation was turned against us and we
had to join them in their efforts.
A good
run and a good circle but it was quickly back to the hotel for a shower
and to throw our kit into the washing machine before heading off to
Gloucester Park for the closing ceremonies.
The
announcement came, if only to confirm what rumour control had already
leaked, that Borneo for the Sarawak Rain Forest Interhash was to be the
venue for 2010 so, having pre registered, we joined the short queue to
pay our money – just £40 - and collect our registrations. Once again we
found a spot which enabled us to see and chat with the many friends that
came wandering past and to wish them safe journey with the hopes to see
them in Borneo. Being Sunday everything closes early and so it was that
we were back in the hotel by midnight to get some rest and prepare for
phase two – the Wine and Dine.
Monday
Monday and almost a free day – in the
morning we decide to go for a walk up to Kings Park which had been
recommended by the Goose for its spectacular views over the city. As we
stroll along Perth Water side we notice that the cranes perched
precariously atop the many new buildings going up fly the flags of, what
we presume to be the operator’s nationality and are somewhat amazed to
see that the crane adjacent to the hotel flies the flag of St. Piran –
the things the Aussies do to make you feel at home ! We stop for an ice
cream at the ‘Lucky Shag ‘, the pub, which enjoys views across Perth
Water from its jetty, is a popular meeting place and is also the
headquarters of the ‘Barmey Army’ when they are in town. Pete leaves us
here to go and spend the rest of the day with relations and we walk on
towards Kings Hill which towers above us. We are told the easiest access
route is via Jacobs Ladder – by two pretty young things out jogging who
look at us all and enquire if we can climb – Huh. When we reach the top
we rest awhile to watch the local muscle men whose favourite pastime
seems to be running up and down the almost vertical steps. It doesn’t
take us long to realise that this is not for us and move on into the
Park. Our information is correct and the views certainly are spectacular
and the park is packed with people generally enjoying the good weather
and picnicking – well it is Easter Monday.
 
Whilst
making our way back to the hotel I decide I’m going off to do the
infamous Hamersly run whilst Colin and Terry decide to go off into
Freemantle to enjoy a seafood meal at one of the boardwalk restaurants
we had seen previously. As it turns out things don’t go exactly to plan
as they meet up with Raincoat ( Roly ) and his good lady ‘ Slippery when
Wet ‘ from Kalgoolie, who are previous travelling companions of ours, in
the Little Creatures Micro Brewery and spend the rest of the evening
there only managing mussel starters before the restaurant closes and
then enjoying a slice of greasy pizza for supper on the way home. I
catch the train out to Success Hill near Bassendean and join the crowd
walking down to the venue at the Steel Blue Oval football ground. It
seems a small group of friends who turn up at all the good runs – this
time about 300 – are gathered for the issue of running vests and a few
beers before the off is called. Now Hamersley’s reputation as the wild
men of Aussie hashing definitely goes before them and there is much
trepidation, not, as you might think, will we cross a river ? but how
many rivers, how many times and how deep will they be ? We need not
have worried, deep down Hamersley are a bunch of pussycats – the GM had
decided that being as there were so many visitors and in respect of
‘Health & Safety’ there would be no river crossings – shame.
The run
turned out to be an urban amble around the river banks and associated
scrub lasting about an hour – very good but definitely not what we were
expecting. There was a cooling down period during which we enjoyed a
couple of beers and some idle chit chat before retiring into the club
bar for the circle. Chaos ensues, the GM / RA and all other Hamersley
hashers have absolutely no control over the rowdy circle which
progresses pretty much without any involvement of the visitors. Plenty of
beer flows served admirably by a fleet of topless – and not much else
either – waitresses which rumour has it are the local ‘ working girls ‘
and who regularly assist on beer serving duties at Hamersley do’s. The
thing I found a bit out of character was the abundance of ‘bodyguards’
they brought with them to ensure nobody took any photo’s – seemed a bit
pointless to me. Edna offers to bring me and Slab home via Kings Park
and South Perth so we can see the views out over the city at night –
well worth the detour. We all seem to arrive home at roughly the same
time so settle down to the usual G & T’s whilst discussing the highs and
lows of the days activities.
Tuesday
Tuesday
morning and the first day of our Wine and Dine tour – we meet up at
Gloucester Park for the buses – we have an owner driver who has had his
bus built by Mercedes to his own specification for the princely sum of
Aus$500.000 – mind you it was a nice bus ! we discover during the course
of the trip that he actually owns three.
Just over an hour sees us stopping at
the Ocean Marina on Dolphin Quay in Mandurah for an early lunch where
Colin, in consideration of healthy eating, manages to find the biggest
Cheese and Bacon Croissant in the world which he thoroughly enjoys.
Another 1 ½ hours sees us arrive at the Santuary Golf Resort, Bunbury;
our first nights accommodation, first impressions are very good, we have
a two bedroomed apartmant which we are fortunately all booked into
contrary to earlier fears.
Our
terrace looks over the pool which except for the hardy few is far to
cold to swim in but is ideal to sit around for a beer and a chat with
our fellow travellers. 1800 sees the buses take off to the Dolphin
Discovery Centre on Koombana Bay in Bunbury for our first run on the
week – an urban run around the town which we enjoyed and gave us a good
opportunity to get a feel for the town – particularly the climb up the
tower for the views!
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We met this real cool dude |
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But fortunately he disappeared |
After an hour or so we find ourselves
back at the venue enjoying a cool beer before the onslaught of a very
chaotic circle of which we heard very little.
 
A salady type dinner including one small
slice of beef washed down with some rather good wine brought the day to
an end and the buses had us back at the hotel just after 10.00 – where
disaster struck – the bar was closed – what are 50 hashers going to do.
The bar manager was summoned but she was unrepentive however as a
concession, she decided she would sell us takeaways so we could have a
drink in our rooms – I’m sure the cleaners were over the moon with that
decision when they came in the next day !
Wednesday
Wednesday and we’re off to Busselton,
our base for the remainder of the tour. Its an early breakfast and we
are on the road for 0930; a minor mechanical hitch sees us into the
first available service station but its soon fixed and we are on our way
once more. 15 minutes down the road and the driver realises he’s
forgotten to pick up the rest of the party at the Quest Hotel so back we
go – this puts us late into Busselton where we only get an hour to find
a light lunch. A pleasant enough little town with a nice seafront which
is dominated by the jetty – at 1.8 kilometres long you can’t really miss
it – it used to be 2 kilometres long, but part of it was destroyed by
Cyclone Alby in April1978. Built of Jarrah Wood, which is resistant to
just about everything, construction started in 1865 and took 95 years to
complete. The Jarrah wood was primarily used for making railway sleepers
and they were exported in their thousands to India for the Indian
Railway. The jetty was built for the ships bringing goods in and taking
the sleepers away and as the ships got bigger the jetty got longer so
they could still get in. It closed as a commercial operation in 1972.
 
So, on to Abbey Beach Resort, very plush
– very big and in a beautiful setting on Geographe Bay. Check in is a
bit of a scramble but we are soon off into the grounds to find our
apartment, this consists of a huge lounge / kitchen / diner with a large
patio, one double bedroom en suite, one twin en suite and one twin with
shower and laundry room – we are sharing with a couple from Tasmania so
they get the double, Terry & Pete get the twin and me and Colin do
everybody’s laundry for them. We discover that all the apartments in the
place are privately owned but are rented out when the owners aren’t
using them – bit like a timeshare.
Its
soon time to be off to the run site – we going to Manjimup about 120
kilometers away – to the 4 Aces parkland in the Stirling Hills Range.
Manjimup is an Noongar Aboriginal word made up from ‘Manjim’ meaning
edible reed and ‘up’ meaning meeting place or place of plenty and
certainly proved to be a great place to visit. We didn’t find out until
after the run that it was also a ‘place of plenty’ for snakes – Tiger,
Brown and Dugite – all of which are deadly ! The run site was an
enormous woodland, primarily of Jarrah trees and the 4 Aces were four
trees well over a hundred years old and lying in a straight line and the
run was really good at 6 kilometres or just over the hour.
We finish beside Glenoran Pool for a few
beers and to cool off a little before boarding the buses to travel into
town for the circle and on down. On route, Manjimup hash, which is only
about twenty strong, tell us that we will be dropped off at one end of
town and we need to run thru the town to the on down site for the
benefit of the locals who have been looking forward to this event for
some time. This is duly done and we are given a very warm welcome , we
route via the tourist office where we are invited to sign up for a free
draw for a bottle of whisky which is being raffled in our honour. We
arrive at Timber Park, a big open grass area, but more like a living
museum as it is full of old and original wooden houses and watchtowers
which have been gathered together from the surrounding area. The
entrance building has been taken over by about ten local vineyards who
have brought their products in for us to taste - really good and plenty
of it – Pete and I settle on a very nice 2006 Shiraz called Shirazmataz
from the Hidden River Estate in Pemberton – it turns out to be Aus$26 (
£13 ) a bottle and unfortunately not on sale in the UK. The bar b that
followed was superb and by far the best to date, steaks, sausages and
salad followed by fresh fruit – particularly the enormous blue plums –
all provided by the local community and cooked for us by the primary
school. At 8.00 we leave for the one hour drive home with some great
memories of a great day out particularly the hospitality of the people
of Manjimup.
Thursday
Thursday and Colin and me have a late
start with a 1030 pickup – Pete and Terry are off much earlier on their
coach. We join them for breakfast which turns out to be the most
expensive yet – this must be the only place in the world where the
buffet breakfast is considerablely more expensive than sitting down and
having pretty much the same thing served to you ! We walk thru the
grounds to the beach which is very pleasant and on the way pass a group
of Aussies doing a bar b – we stop for a chat and discover that the
hotel offers the bar b’s ( gas fired ) free of charge to residents so
that you can go down to the supermarket buy your bacon and eggs and come
back to a breakfast party. Pete and Terry are doing the caves first
whilst Colin and me are off to the shearing sheds – well if your in Oz
you have to see sheep shearing – it was very entertaining with the dogs,
one collie to round the sheep up and a dingo cross called a Kelpi to run
across their backs and keep them in order. We are back on the coach and
off towards the caves when a rebellion starts – some on the coach don’t
want to do the caves but to go on to two extra vineyards – the driver
takes a vote and Colin and me are the only ones who want to see the
caves – but we don’t get to.
First call is to the Redgate Vineyard –
not too impressed with the wines but the white port is superb, next stop
is at Xanadu where the wines are much better however whilst we are
enjoying these the driver takes a phone call from the tour operator who
gives him a right bollocking for changing the itinerary and tells him in
no uncertain fashion that he will not deviate further. This means we
cannot go on to the other vineyards, but do not have time to go back to
the caves so its into Margaret River for an early lunch of an excellent
supermarket bagette which we enjoy roadside in the company of the
village drunk who just happens to be from Ireland. That done and its
onto the buses once more for the short journey out to the runsite at
Wharncliff Mill where we enjoy a 1 hour run through an excellent forest
area before returning to the Mill for the on down.
 
A few beers and an entertaining circle
are the pre amble for an excellent chicken meal, served airline style in
individual containers washed down with a very acceptable red wine.
Colin determined that it would an insult
to the good people of Margaret River if their kind donation of red wine
was not totally appreciated and proceeded to do his best – quite
successfully – to ensure that none had to return to the vineyard. A
dance of sorts followed with music admirably provided by the resident GM
on his guitar which all agreed was great fun and should have started
earlier.
  
Evening chats with Pete and Terry
revealed that their day had been much the same as ours, except they
went to the caves which they said were
very good – well they would wouldn’t they !!
Friday
Friday
morning and its our turn for an early start – we are again doing the
same things but at different times. First stop for us is the Colonial
Brewery, an excellent micro brewery about 30 kilometres out from
Busselton and in the middle of nowhere – how do they make it pay ?
however the owner assures us that evenings and weekends the place is
packed. We are given a paddle containing 5 glasses rangeing from light
ale to porter as tasters which makes an interesting breakfast.
 
Unfortunately, like a lot of our visits we are not able to buy anything,
usually it’s the problem of the 100ml on the plane but this time it was
that he didn’t produce stubbies or tinnies just 2 litre jars of draft;
as we leave Pete and Terry arrive – their breakfast becomes mid morning
break. We are back into Lou Weston Oval in Busselton for a couple of
hours of freetime, Colin and I decide to walk the pier, again we are a
little disappointed to find that at the end there is an underwater
observatory but you can only go down on tours and we are between times.
A quick sandwich lunch in town sees us back at the buses for the trip to
the run site. The ‘Busselton boys’ had told us earlier that the site was
being kept secret because they had asked permission to run there
previously and had always been turned down, this time they were going to
run there anyway and deal with any consequences later. So it was that we
found ourselves in stunning Eagle Bay on Cape Naturaliste in the
Leeuin-Naturaliste National Park, for us this was the last of 11 hashes
in 12 days and it was beginning to take its toll – its not the beer it’s
the runs we can’t cope with!
 
The off sees most of us walking across
the silver sands of the bay towards the headland, we wind our way up and
over the top stopping only to admires the views before decending into
Meelap Bay, another stunning location where the more athletic amongst us
feel the need to throw themselves into the Indian Ocean, and a brilliant
place for the circle.
We had actually seen some wildlife on
this run which a bit of a first, the Wedge-tail eagle with its 2.5 metre
wingspan was very impressive as were the Blue winged Kookaburra’s that
lived in the trees above the on down site. We had a feeling that we were
going to be picked on again and it wasn’t long before our fears were
realised though fortunately non of us were invited to sit in the ice
tray complete with octopus ! We were invited into the centre for what we
knew was going to be a repeat performance of the plank and had insisted
that Tinkerbell join us as an honorary Cornishman to take the fifth
glass. The plank was brought but what reduced everybody to fits of
laughter was the pastie placed next to each glass. It would appear that
the RA’s uncle is the town baker and he had been detailed to produce
pasties for each of us !
So after a rousing chorus of Trelawney’s
Army and a huge bite out of what proved to be an extremely spicy pastie,
the down downs were duly drunk. Before we retire to the Brusselton Yacht
Club for the evenings entertainment the opportunity arises to take ‘Hash
Sox’ off for the last time – after 11 runs in two weeks I think the
smile says it all !
The
club is located right on the waterfront with a large grassed area to use
and beautiful views, we are treated to a good band with dancing for
those who feel able and an excellent finger style buffet which is
brought around to us by waitresses and seems to go on and on all
evening.
 
1030 and its time to take the buses back
to the hotel – it was a great way to finish what had been for the most
time, a very good trip around the area where we had some great runs and
were well looked after by the most hospitable people.
Saturday
Saturday and time to head off back to
Perth – it’s a late start with the bus not leaving until 1100 – our
first stop is in Bunbury where we get an hour to look at the parts of
the town we didn’t see on the run and grab an early seafood lunch at
Nino’s on Dolphin Quay. We then make our way further north towards
Mandurah passing through the Ludlow Tuart Forest in the Tuart Forest
National Park, this is the last place in Australia where you will find
the Tuart tree – well used in the past for boat building. We get an hour
in this lovely old town, the fastest growing in Australia with its
population increasing from 10000 to 50000 in just 10 years. This is a
90% retirement area, the residents of which seem to spend their time
wandering the banks of the many rivers and canals on which the town is
built and, like us, grabbing a pint of Swan in Murphey’s Irish Bar ! It
was pleasant and relaxing, with time for a proper chat with Barefoot
Betty and her partner Gringo from Townsville who we had passed the time
of day many times with over the previous few days. We are back in Perth
by 1630 and discover in conversation that we are the only bus to have
had a collection for the driver – we certainly did well as our driver
was not only very ameniable but was also a fountain of knowledge about
the area which he was only too pleased to tell us about.
We feel in need of a seafood dinner so
the staff in the hotel recommend the Fishy Affair in the Northbridge
area – a good choice as Colin, Pete and I share an enormous Platter of
just about everything that lives in the sea including local speciality
Moreton Bay Bugs and Terry tucks in to scallops and swordfish.
Northbridge is the clubland area so we decide to have a look around,
fortunately we are not in need of a beer as the queues to get in just
about everywhere would take the rest of the year to go down and you
certainly didn’t need to go in to listen to the music !
Sunday
Sunday and a day of rest ! – we have an
early start as we are off to Rottnest Island – we catch the Rottnest
Express at the Old Shag jetty for our 1 hour cruise down the Swan River
to Victoria Quay Freemantle where the boat rapidly fills up with
‘tourists’ for the 30 minute journey out to the island.
On arrival we take
a short ‘meat pie’ break during which, due to my L2H3 T shirt, the local
bobby stops for a chat as he comes from Mevagissy and the lady in the
postcard shop reveals she is from Lanlivet, before grabbing the tourist
bus for a circular trip around the island. It had been our intention to
walk the most westerly part of the island but discover that at 6
kilometres return we just don’t have the time so stay on the bus until
stop 18 at Geordie Bay.
There are some
wonderfully remote beaches on the island but Geordie Bay is by far the
best – 200 metres of curved white sand around a crystal clear sea with a
row of chalets for accommodation and a bay full of boats whose owners
come over from Freemantle to laze on the beach with a bar b and a slab
of tinnies.
 
We
decide it would be a good idea to walk the remaining couple of
kilometres back to Thomson Bay via Bathurst Lighthouse and to see if we
can see any of the local residents – the Quokkas – a small rodent like
creature unique to Rottnest and the reason why early explorers called
the place Ratsnest Island. We have an hour to kill so take up residence
on the Tea Rooms patio where we enjoy a couple of beers at Aus $9
( £4.50
) each. Western Australia, as we continue to discover, is definitely not
cheap. Rottnest is a great place with some fabulous bays, beaches and
walks, there are no vehicles except the one bus and emergency services
but there are in excess of 2000 bikes available for hire and on weekends
you have to book early. Whilst Thomson Bay, the access area, is small
and dreadfully commercial, it gets away with it because the island
itself is stunning and you can soon be away into the scenery. 1600 sees
us back on the ferry and making our way to Freemantle, we leave it here
as we have decided to try again to get a seafood meal in one of the
boardwalk restaurants which, as you will remember, Colin and Terry had
failed so miserably to do the previous Monday. Our first port of call is
the Little Creatures micro brewery – yes I know you are way ahead of us
and can see whats coming ! The place is packed, we estimate well over
500 and all having a great time supping good beers. We eventually manage
to get ourselves some seats at an outside table and a round of good
draft Light Ales courtesy of a very helpful waitress who continuously
monitors the level of beer in our glasses and manages to turn up with
fresh ones seconds before we have decided we need one. The Tapas type
menu looks inviting so the boardwalk restaurant goes out the window and
we split marinaded octopus, prawns, chilli mussels, kangaroo kebabs,
pizza and fries for dinner. The mussels are just superb as is the chilli
sauce they come in and I was ‘devastated’ to find that I was the only
one who could eat them ! 2100 and time to find the station for the
journy back to Perth, once again we have a long chat with the local
police whose authority only covers railway property, they really are
very pleasant and only to happy to pass the time of day with us.
Once in
Perth we wander down St Georges Road to our refuelling stop at Finley’s
Irish Bar – unfortunately we are now back in Perth and its after 2200 so
Finley’s is shut – On In to the hotel and a couple of gins.
Monday
Monday – its our last day and the
Aussies have arranged re-acclimatization for us – it is hammering down –
what shall we do.
We had not seen one Kangaroo since we’d
been in Oz – we’d eaten one but not seen one. The staff in the hotel
recommended to Pete that we go to the local cemetery, are they taking
the p*** out of the Brits ? Terry needs to go shopping so we arrange to
meet later and Pete, Colin and me go off to find a train out to
Whitfords, some thirty minutes away to see the ‘roos – it’s still
hammering down. We arrive in Whitfords and it’s still hammering down –
being the sensible people we are we sit in partial shelter outside and
wait for it to stop. Some 20minutes later and we may be on a winner, at
least its eased and off we go, the ‘cemetery’ turns out to be Pinnaroo
Valley Memorial Park, a huge area of parkland including lakes, streams,
bridges and memorial plaques but no ‘roos. The rain stops, we wander
further in and suddenly there they are, dozens of them. They pose for
the obligatory photographs and we retire to the café to dry off a little
and take refreshment – it seems a little odd to us as we sit there
drinking coffee and listening to pop music whilst out the back someone
is making his last visit to the crematorium. We’re drying off and the
sun is out – we go back out and there are Roo’s everywhere, some
military planning and an agreed pincer movement gives Colin a chance to
catch ‘ Roo’s on the Hop ‘ with the video function of his camera, and
that’s it – been there done that – so were back to the hotel to meet up
with Terry, get changed and headout to the airport.
And so the sun finally
sets on a great trip to Oz
Emirates have us airborne just about on
time for the 11 hour flight back to Dubai and we are once again treated
to excellent food and plenty of booze to wile away the time. We were due
a short break in Dubai, but the late arrival of an incoming flight from
Johannesburg means we get to spend about five hours there. The driver
from Dubai to London appears to get himself a bit lost as we end up
going out across Iran, over the Caspian sea and straight across Ukraine
before turning left at the Baltic States and come in across northern
Germany, all of this means that our 6 1/2 hour flight to London took 7
1/2 hours. A quick call to Flight Connections as we collected our bags –
fortunately we weren’t using Terminal 5 - ensured that they was outside
at roughly the same time as we were, Colin was home by 2030 with me
shortly after and then Pete and Terry. Another good trip was over and
done with – planning for Borneo is already under way !!!
Oh and by the way.........
SOME OF
US GOT REALLY TIRED
 
On On!
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