Rockingham, WA

29 March 2012 – Friday night, the Ducey’s come home, and my big truck is parked on their front lawn. The neighbor kindly offered me a beer while I waited for them. Stella jumps to greet me, while Sophia is fast asleep. Great to see you guys.
I sleep in my car, as they don’t have a guest room but I spend all day with Andrea and the girls while Pete is off to Karratah for work. We celebrate Andrea’s birthday on Saturday night, and try to cure her hangover the next day at the beach. No such luck hehe.

I hadn’t planned to spend that much time around here but I do have to find out whether my head gasket is blown or not. Tuesday will be decisive, as I wait in the garage while the radiator is changed. And then the verdict : I must be the luckiest sonofabitch alive ! Either I picked up the radiator leak early enough or the seal-up actually worked, but either way the test came back negative : head gasket is fine !

What a big relief ! I can now enjoy Perth and its areas without thinking about anything else. So I spent the day in the city, walking through the busy streets, the malls, enjoying the quiet lifestyle of this rather green city, overlooked by the superb King Park. At night I meet up in Freo with Nathalie, a Belgian girl my sister Emilie met in a bar. She’s been in OZ for three months and was toying with the idea of hitching a ride to Broome, but with luck she found jobs in Perth area so she’ll stick around instead.

The last few days were hunting days, looking for “something clever” to tint the windows of the car, for privacy as much as heat. Pete’s great idea of using alu foil worked a charm but didn’t last long. And I also needed a sturdy folding table, something that would last for more then a month. I went through six or seven shops around Freemantle, and eventually found everything I needed in Rockingham.

The weekend had a bitter-sweet taste as it was time to say goodbye, I stuck around long enough to celebrate Pete’s 42 then hit the road on Sunday morning. After many years of travel, it doesn’t get any easier to say goodbye to friends, even though you know you’ll meet again. It’s only harder to say goodbye to kids.