Another day, another early morning. Excuse the pun, but I really am getting tired of this getting up early each morning gig. Todays early awakening was necessitated by having to return ‘Kermit’. We had declined the option of taking up an extra days hire, in the hope that ‘The Beast’ would be ready to go again. Not that this ended up being the case, but it will hopefully be only today that we are without transport.

After being stung $30.00 for a cab fair the other day when I picked the car up, I wasn’t enthused about getting a taxi back to the van. Instead, I looked up the public transport options, but was left befuddled as to how I would manage to return, even though there is a handy bus stop right outside the caravan park. My final option was to take my bike apart, wedge it into the miniscule boot of ‘Kermit’ and then ride the 12 or 13Km back to the van. Anything to save a dollar or 30, and it wasn’t like we had anything else to do for the day, so the time factor didn’t really enter the equation.

Before leaving the caravan park, I stopped in at the office, to extend our stay yet again, this time for an extra two nights. That will give us time to have the repairs to ‘The Beast’ completed and allow for a bit of driving around Perth to ensure that everything is right to go again. I don’t savor the idea of heading down south, away from the big smoke and have something go bang again.

Our late notification that we were planning to stay on required the staff here at the caravan park to shuffle some bookings around, as our site had already been reallocated, but nothing was too much for them. I really have to give them all a huge thumbs up for the effort that they have gone to for us.

‘Kermit’ was next on the agenda, getting fueled up along the way, then delivered to the rental company, before I re-assembled my bike, donned my Lycra and helmet, then pedaled off in the general direction of the caravan park. It was going to be a bit touch and go getting back, because I still wasn’t 100% sure that I was allowed to cycle on some of the roads I wanted to take. If not, the ride was going to be much longer than the anticipated dozen kilometres, as I would have to utilise the path running alongside the Swan River. Thankfully, it was a sensational morning for a bike ride. Not even a breath of a wind, the sun was shining, but it wasn’t too hot to be spinning the cranks. As a bonus, it turned out that I was able to stick to the roads all the way back, and was safely free wheeling through the caravan park gate just a little over half an hour after dropping the car off. Not a bad effort, considering I was riding an old clunker and my distinct lack of recent physical exertion.

Back at the van, I found Bec up and waiting eagerly for my return. Partly because she was concerned for my safety, partly because a big, hearty hot breakfast was on the cards upon my return. No sooner had we started getting our brunch together, I got a phone call from the mechanic, asking whether I could make it over to his workshop now, rather than later this afternoon as originally planned. Of course I could. That would suit us perfectly, apart from having to put off breakfast for a little bit longer. At least we would then have the afternoon to go out and do something.

With ‘The Beast’ running, but still not completely back to normal, I gently idled over to the workshop, about a half an hour drive away. Even with access to the full workshop, the final components still took an age to fit. This was mainly due to the extremely limited amount of space beneath the hood in which to work. The only easier way to get into the pulleys around which the fan belt rides, would have been to strip ‘The Beast’ down from the front bumper bar back. That seemed like overkill, so I helped out where I could, mainly directing a torch in just the right spot or handing over tools like an assistant to a surgeon, while the mechanic twisted his arms in almost inhumane angles in an effort to put everything back together. With all of the pulleys back where they should be, and spinning freely on their bearings, everything was given the once over before I was told that it was as good as knew again.

Finally, ‘The Beast’ was all back together, and purring like a giant pussy cat again, as I thanked the mechanic for his pains. Now, to put it through its paces to make sure that nothing has been overlooked. It was straight back to the van first though, where I would eventually get to enjoy my breakfast, even if by the time we cooked it up, it was more of a late lunch. Whatever the time, it was an enjoyable meal.

The next task I had to complete, was to clean up the back of ‘The Beast’. While it has been sitting inactively alongside the van, I have taken to using the tray as a place to dump everything that I had nowhere else to put. As such, it has taken on the appearance of a rubbish truck, with no room left to put the dogs in, even if we wanted to.

Thus, an hour was spent dragging everything out, sweeping out a decent sized pile of sand, before carefully repacking it properly. There is now plenty of room for the dogs to relax in the back again, meaning that they won’t have to again be left in daycare at the office. I’m not too sure what they would prefer though. Concrete or steel jail cell, their liberty is restricted either way.

It was 3:30PM by the time we were ready to head out, deciding to give ‘The Beast’ a bit of a run, while doing some sightseeing, Marcus and Bec style. That’s our way of saying we went shopping again. We headed out to a big suburban shopping centre, which promised to keep us entertained and out of trouble for a while. By the time we had finished, it was getting close to 6:00PM and cooking dinner for ourselves was a theory that we quickly vetoed.

Instead, we headed for the casino, where there was sure to be an all you can eat sort of buffet at which to stuff our belly’s. Right we were too, although it wasn’t the best casino buffet we’ve sampled this trip. Actually, of the three we’ve now frequented, this one would be sitting in last place. Did that stop us from walking out overfilled and feeling close to physical illness? Not at all. Despite the average selection of dishs on offer, we still managed to gobble enough food to leave us feeling bloated and unwell as we returned to where we had left the dogs snugged up in the back of ‘The Beast’.

On second thoughts, maybe we should have taken the dogs in with us!

Thanks to the inconsiderate and illegal parking efforts of a substantial number of arrogant ignoramuses, we were lucky to be able to extract ‘The Beast’ from the car park. We weren’t the only ones either, with cars half the size of ‘The Beast’ finding it difficult to negotiate the narrow lanes left between double parked cars, so the fact that we actually got out surprised me.

Back at the van, we wallowed about in self pity, asking ourselves why we continue to overindulge at every chance, while delighting in the fact that ‘The Beast’ seems to be running smoothly again. Shopping, buffet dinner and having ‘The Beast’ up and running again, yep, that’s what I would define as being a good day.

Until next time, stay safe, have fun and don’t forget to write.