Adventures in camping (or something like it)

happy belated Easter to all of you. while i know that some of you don't celebrate this holiday and/or are of different religious backgrounds, i'm still saying it. besides, when else do you get a 4 day weekend? :)

john and i decided to make the most of the weekend by heading away from the city for some good ol' canadian camping. what with all the wonderful gear that we received for the wedding, and the few purchases that we've made since arriving here at the smaller equivalent to MEC, we were ready. we left on saturday afternoon though, because john had to work on saturday morning (apparently fitness doesn't get a day off...) so we packed our bags, packed the car and off we went to the Avon valley (pronouned AHvin valley, not EH vohn as i would have said prior to this...see more on this in lesson 2 coming soon)

we drove northeast of perth in hopes of finding some hiking, some 'roos and perhaps a few smores on the campfire. but no! we discovered, again, that it is still not proper camping time in australia (or WA at least). i mean, don't get me wrong, you can "camp" but you can't camp as we would like. for one, the valley was off limits. we pulled in and read the sign that said "no camping from november to may" and " gates close at 4pm sharp". well, it was 4:30pm and since we'd had good luck last time at the national park with the friendly ranger, we thought we might give it a go. thankfully (in hindsight, anyhow) we ran into a 4WD before we entered the park and decided to leave. after chatting with the nice folk in the truck, we decided to suck it up and find a campground instead.

again, we were mistaken that it would be as easy/nice as it is back home. we drove to 2 different "caravan parks" which advertised themselves as private, bushland types of places. well, i don't know that that would mean to you, but to me i picture greenery, trees (or shrubs), private camping lots and so on. 'fraid not. the caravan parks in the east of perth are nothing more then red dirt lots, side by side, seemingly like a trailer park. which yes, i understand is the literal translation, but i mean trailer park as we would think of it back home (ie, trailer park boys) not lush campground. when we were offered a spot on the end of the lot, with all sorts of caravans nearby, we opted to leave. on the plus side, we saw 3 'roos and 2 emus at the site. fenced into their area of course.

we did end up staying at a caravan park that night, but not just any caravan park, one that has an archery course on it. we nearly stayed to do a course the next morning, but we decided that we would rather hike.

once again, or so we thought. as we were driving in towards the avon valley, it started to rain. honestly, it hasn't rained for more then a few minutes at a time since we've been here, so why it chose to rain all morning on easter sunday, i have no idea. not only that, but the "road" (i use the term loosely here) that leads into the park is a red dirt road (start singing now... if you have no idea what i mean, ask a PEIlsander). we drove about 10km over the rough and bumpy road before deciding to turn around. and thank heavens we did. the sign at the front (when we looked closely) said "66km to camping area"! goodness! that would've been rough. don't know if the civic could've handled that.

so, disheartened, we drove away and headed to some small villages to explore. we first went to northam, which is apparently a quaint, historic town. but as it was sunday, and easter to boot, it was none to exciting. we did manage to have a warm drink at a cafe overlooking the river (which is very low and smells like swan droppings) and snapped a pic of me in a fake air balloon. fun!. we drove onto york, which was a bit nicer...and open. we stumbled across a photography exhibit, which was fun. though we were dressed like hooligans, nobody semed to notice. after the 45 mins there, we decided to move on. at the suggestions of someone in the tourist bureau, we headed to Lake Leschenaultia (try pronouncing it... ) it's a man made lake. the ranger there told us to pitch our tent in the common area, because all the lots were full. we went for a walk first, then came back to discover a few families with very rambunctious (sp?) kids had set up camp there. we ended up pitching our tent on the side of the ranger station. a truly exciting experience. john had fun all weekend trying to get our darned stove to work (it's the kerosene, not the stove that's the problem laura. so don't worry). he managed to make some tasty, warm, pasta that night, though not without a few fellow campers coming to make sure we weren't lighting a fire or something scandalous like that (you can light a stove, but not a proper fire)

we sauntered back to perth the next day, stopping at the beach on the way home. and in true canadian form, we were the only ones on the beach (who weren't in full pants and long sleeved shirts). you see, it's heading into winter here and the weather is getting cooler. though i will admit it isn't "cold" persay, it is definitely cool. and when the sun goes down and the wind picks up, you wish you'd worn more clothes (case in point, camping...not enough clothes for the weather. curse my frigid hands and feet)

needless to say, camping in northeast perth is not very fun. apparently going south or north provides a bit more fun, but i'll believe it when i see it. truthfully, i think canada has this area of australia beat when it comes to camping. but that's just me. i may eat my words someday, and i kind of hope i do, but at the moment: no contest. also, i don't really understand camping without a camp fire. don't get me wrong, i respect the drought, the fire hazard, etc. but what are you supposed to do without a campfire? no marshmallows, no warmth, no "bonhomme bonhomme", no "i packed in my suitcase..." no "20 questions". truly a sad evening. cards at a picnic table only go so far.

i promise i will find some good spots for when any of you come to visit though.
xo