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Kalgoorlie - The Trip, Part 1
Saturday, April 22nd, 2006 12:40 pm(Work in progress, I figure I'll post what I have now, and do the rest when I get to it. Watch out for Part 2, etc.)
Every story must have a beginning, I'm afraid that this beginning may be a little dull. Nevertheless, I shall begin the beginning. (begin the beguine?)
Thursday was like the festive season had arrived, all the customers were cheery and well-wishing. There was happiness almost tangible in the air. The excitement grew as the hours ticked down to closing time. Four whole days off! Oh such joy. The doors shut, the workers cheered, then we all headed off the the movies in the city. Kudos to the boss, he paid for us all to watch Ice Age 2 with popcorn and drinks, (good flick) and then food and (alcoholic) drinks after. Fun time had by all, headed off when the restaurant closed. Got home, went to sleep.
Friday slept in a bit. I hadn't packed yet, but I did have everything spread out over the loungeroom floor ready to go. I checked off the list as I packed everything. Couldn't find a soap container, so called Mum to borrow one of her soap containers since I had to go over to Mum and Dad's house to collect the brother's car anyway. Zig drove me over with my luggage to the car. My other bro and sister-in-law were over there, Cherrie was getting a massage from Dad and David was tweaking the parent's computer for them. My two nieces and my nephew were there too. Chat for five minutes, take another five for mum to fuss over getting me a soap container. Finally get in the car and Mum delays me further. While she's gone, my niece reaches through the window and learns the joy of the indicator lever. Mum comes back, does the whole kissing goodbye thing, turn the key...rrrrr, rrrrr, rr, r. Battery hasn't got enough guts to start me. Great. Mum also says something about turning the key on and leaving it a bit before starting the car. Bro comes out, organises a jump start, tells me that there's a glow plug in diesel motors that warms up the ignition chamber to assist the start. Pointed out the light on the dashboard that turned off once the glow plug had done it's thing. Drive out the driveway a bit before noon-ish. On the way, discover the headlights are on. Niece must have turned them on when playing with the indicator lever, thus flattening the battery. Drive to Midland before stopping at a petrol station to give the battery adequate time to charge. Had my first experience of diesel pumping. The bit that goes in the tank is bigger and the flow is faster. It is also shaped slightly different with this bend in it so that it doesn't go all the way into the tank. Oh gosh, talking about a diesel pump instead my trip now! Haha, I found the pump interesting anyway. Then, disaster struck again! The key would not turn in the lock. Called my bro to see if there was something about his car I didn't know, left voicemail. Paid for diesel and went back to the car where people were queueing up behind to get the the unleaded that was right next to the diesel pump. Key still wouldn't turn. No buttons, fuel tank flap closed, kept trying to turn with no success. Lady from car behind came up. "Excuse me, are you just about ready to move now, there's all these people waiting." "The key won't turn, it's my bro's car. I drove it here from Queens Park. Not sure why it's not working." "Have you tried..." she says, then reaches across and jiggles the steering wheel. Magic! I don't get steering wheel lock in my little Suzuki Hatch, so I had completely forgotten all about its existence. SMSed bro to tell him I had been silly and not to worry, and then I was finally on my way to Kalgoorlie.
Radio cut out about an hour out from Perth, chucked in a CD. Had a whole folder of CDs burnt especially for the trip, since bro had no MP3 player (how neanderthal *heh*). Long drive with only music, the road, and the water pipeline for company. The railway track made an occasional appearance. The pipeline reminded me of a project I had done in primary school about C Y O'Connor. As I drove along with the pipeline next to me, it struck me how long the pipe really was. Just under 600km from Perth to Kalgoorlie, and this pipeline ran the whole length. Never quite fully appreciated how long that really was for a water pipe to run. Stopped only two times before Kalgoolie, once for a toilet break and refill of water, then again when driving through the town of Southern Cross. You see I had glanced to the right at exactly the right time and seen a wonderful scene. Water had filled the bottom of a big quarry and looked fantastic. Parked the car and trekked through the long grass and dirt to take a few gorgeous pics. Haven't yet transferred photos from the trip onto the computer yet, I'll make them available when I do.
(More some other time)
Every story must have a beginning, I'm afraid that this beginning may be a little dull. Nevertheless, I shall begin the beginning. (begin the beguine?)
Thursday was like the festive season had arrived, all the customers were cheery and well-wishing. There was happiness almost tangible in the air. The excitement grew as the hours ticked down to closing time. Four whole days off! Oh such joy. The doors shut, the workers cheered, then we all headed off the the movies in the city. Kudos to the boss, he paid for us all to watch Ice Age 2 with popcorn and drinks, (good flick) and then food and (alcoholic) drinks after. Fun time had by all, headed off when the restaurant closed. Got home, went to sleep.
Friday slept in a bit. I hadn't packed yet, but I did have everything spread out over the loungeroom floor ready to go. I checked off the list as I packed everything. Couldn't find a soap container, so called Mum to borrow one of her soap containers since I had to go over to Mum and Dad's house to collect the brother's car anyway. Zig drove me over with my luggage to the car. My other bro and sister-in-law were over there, Cherrie was getting a massage from Dad and David was tweaking the parent's computer for them. My two nieces and my nephew were there too. Chat for five minutes, take another five for mum to fuss over getting me a soap container. Finally get in the car and Mum delays me further. While she's gone, my niece reaches through the window and learns the joy of the indicator lever. Mum comes back, does the whole kissing goodbye thing, turn the key...rrrrr, rrrrr, rr, r. Battery hasn't got enough guts to start me. Great. Mum also says something about turning the key on and leaving it a bit before starting the car. Bro comes out, organises a jump start, tells me that there's a glow plug in diesel motors that warms up the ignition chamber to assist the start. Pointed out the light on the dashboard that turned off once the glow plug had done it's thing. Drive out the driveway a bit before noon-ish. On the way, discover the headlights are on. Niece must have turned them on when playing with the indicator lever, thus flattening the battery. Drive to Midland before stopping at a petrol station to give the battery adequate time to charge. Had my first experience of diesel pumping. The bit that goes in the tank is bigger and the flow is faster. It is also shaped slightly different with this bend in it so that it doesn't go all the way into the tank. Oh gosh, talking about a diesel pump instead my trip now! Haha, I found the pump interesting anyway. Then, disaster struck again! The key would not turn in the lock. Called my bro to see if there was something about his car I didn't know, left voicemail. Paid for diesel and went back to the car where people were queueing up behind to get the the unleaded that was right next to the diesel pump. Key still wouldn't turn. No buttons, fuel tank flap closed, kept trying to turn with no success. Lady from car behind came up. "Excuse me, are you just about ready to move now, there's all these people waiting." "The key won't turn, it's my bro's car. I drove it here from Queens Park. Not sure why it's not working." "Have you tried..." she says, then reaches across and jiggles the steering wheel. Magic! I don't get steering wheel lock in my little Suzuki Hatch, so I had completely forgotten all about its existence. SMSed bro to tell him I had been silly and not to worry, and then I was finally on my way to Kalgoorlie.
Radio cut out about an hour out from Perth, chucked in a CD. Had a whole folder of CDs burnt especially for the trip, since bro had no MP3 player (how neanderthal *heh*). Long drive with only music, the road, and the water pipeline for company. The railway track made an occasional appearance. The pipeline reminded me of a project I had done in primary school about C Y O'Connor. As I drove along with the pipeline next to me, it struck me how long the pipe really was. Just under 600km from Perth to Kalgoorlie, and this pipeline ran the whole length. Never quite fully appreciated how long that really was for a water pipe to run. Stopped only two times before Kalgoolie, once for a toilet break and refill of water, then again when driving through the town of Southern Cross. You see I had glanced to the right at exactly the right time and seen a wonderful scene. Water had filled the bottom of a big quarry and looked fantastic. Parked the car and trekked through the long grass and dirt to take a few gorgeous pics. Haven't yet transferred photos from the trip onto the computer yet, I'll make them available when I do.
(More some other time)
