On our very first morning, we were really on the ball. Our flight arrived on time and by 8am we were at the supermarket buying as much food as we could for our one week camping trip. Australia, like Canada, has so many wonderful free from products. We can find gluten and dairy free products galore. Plus wonderfully affordable meat and great wines from the region. There were products that we regularly purchased in Singapore that we now could purchase for much less. It felt like we were in a candy shop as we went aisle by aisle, picking up what we would need for the week ahead. We even bought a fresh sheet for our Wicked camping van, pillows and other essentials.
We got to the Wicked Camper van depot at 9am sharp. We were all ready for a fun week. But guess what? No camper van...the people who had rented it before us decided to keep it until noon. Or so we thought....
With all our luggage and food, we were at a bit of a loss. A bit annoyed, a bit exhausted from the long flight. Our intention was to drive directly to a camp site in the Margaret River area and chillax. Instead, we found ourselves back at the shopping mall, waiting for a phone call from the depot, and having a hot breakfast. After we ate, we phoned the depot. No camper van yet. Luckily the waiter at the restaurant allowed us to leave our two shopping carts full of stuff in the corner by the kichen. We proceeded to take a taxi into Perth to visit the mint. Hopefully our stuff would be there when we got back and our meat would stay chilled enough.
The Daddy phoned the Depot at around 1 pm and our camper van was on its way! Yipee...we rushed through the mint, missing the tours, to get back to the depot to find...wait for it...still no van...and still no idea when it would return. Well...it finally did...at 5pm. Rats...leaving the depot at the end of the day after a sleepless night on a plane...not ideal...especially with the kangaroos who start to hop around as the sun sets.
The Wicked camper van adjusted our payment but that did not make up to us for having to sit in a lousy depot, waiting and waiting, and going back to get all our stuff from the mall...again. A family just arrived while we were waiting and the boy, about 12, had a meltdown in front of us. He was kicking his brothers and wailing. His mother turned to me and made a grimace. She explained, "a week in a camper van." Already this trip was turning out to be a bit nuts. We went for the cheaper van company but in hindsights, maybe paying more is worth it.
We finally got on our way down south and I am so proud of the Daddy for driving us safely to the camp ground. I had a phone and tried various places that were fully booked as it was a school holiday. We thought if worst came to worst, we could just park on the side of the road in our van as we had read that was possible from others who traveled in Wicked vans around Oz. Well...you can try it but you risk getting a hefty fine if you get caught. Who can sleep wondering if the police will shine a flashlight in your window at 2 am? The Daddy did an exceptional job getting us to our first campsite especially considering that the truck in front of us hit a kangaroo and drove abruptly onto the side of the road as the creature spun out of control and was knocked across the highway to the other side.
Honestly...this could have been really bad. And probably was for the poor roo. The driver got out and dealt with the injured guy, poor thing, and we kept going safely along. If we had hit the roo, I mean, if the roo had hit us, there might have been a very different story given we did not have a roo bar like the truck did. I am very grateful we were not the unlucky ones that night and am still annoyed we got to the camp site in the dark, hungry and exhausted when we were supposed to arrive by noon.
Gosh, that is just the first day in Oz. Can you imagine the month-long adventure we had!?! I will have to write more later and eventually post photos. I still have to write about New Zealand and our first month back home in Toronto!!! Break time!
