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Reports

During my travels, I received free accommodation for a night in exchange for writing a daily travel diary. This diary documented how I reached my next destination, the hosts who welcomed me, the food I was offered, and other experiences along the way. Below, you will find the archives of these extensive reports. Please note that English is not my native language, and most entries were written quickly, often around midnight. Enjoy!
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Tuesday, 16 July 2002
Mt Pleasant, Perth --> Margaret River, Australia

Today John Cuthbertson woke me up with his cooking sounds in the kitchen, somewhere around 7 o'clock. With my eyes still half closed and on my way to the bathroom, I saw him whistling a tune in the kitchen. "You like scrambled eggs?" he asked me.
"You are spoiling me," I said. "No, I am spoiling myself," and he continued baking eggs.


G
After breakfast we packed his 4WD car and got ready for a nice drive down south.

We were on our way to Margaret River, a small tourism spot some 270km south of Perth. Margaret River is to many Australian the jewel of the Southwest. It is famous for its wine with over forty wineries open for tastings and the beach front is also famed for its surfing with some of the most powerful waves in Australia.

The road down was long and dreary, we enjoyed changing the frequencies on the radio as the signals disappeared and new ones came to ear. The outside scenery also changed quickly; suburban housing changed in green hills and dense forests.

On the road to Margaret River we got ourselves some groceries in the regional town [url=www.walkabout.com.au/fairfax/ locations/WABusselton.shtml]Busselton[/url] and bought the ingredients for tonight's dinner.

Together with two other partners John owns a piece of land in Margaret River. "You can use it as an investment, but I rather enjoy it," said John.

We arrived at a big metal shed filled up with tractors, a boat and other appliances that belong to an area like this. A part of this shed was totally rebuilt into a comfy apartment with an open kitchen, a fireplace, two beds in the corner and a separate bedroom and bathroom.

Anna and I settled ourselves and fought about who took the best bed in the room, while John got the motorbike out of the shed and "warmed it up" (as he called it) for a while. In other words, the young man in the business man I met yesterday was out crossing the fields!

One of the reasons that Anne had come along was to finish one of the wall paintings. The walls or the place were decorated with mermaids, ocean life, a big sun and lots of fish. Almost every family member had left a print on this wall. Anne only had to finish her mermaid and "finish up a bit of the ocean here".

When the sun had set Anne and I unbearded and cooked the mussels that we were going to eat for tonight, while John heated up the peaceful dwelling with the small fire in the fireplace.

During dinner we had the next-door lady Gale visiting over. One of John's partners had actually built a nice house on the property and the original South African lady Gale lives there now with her husband.

After dinner we spent the rest of the night playing charade (or hints) against each other as an alternative way to spent the evening without the modern indispensable electronic equipments like TV's or VCR's.

While nipping a glass of original Margaret River red wine the night got warm and blurry. Comfortable, is the right word!

Good night Margaret River!

Ramon.

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