This is my new view…

Not too shabby is it?! Carnarvon so far is a very peaceful place. Not too big, not too noisy, beside the water, with a breeze in the air, I am very much enjoying the change from Sydney's busyness. My first few days of settling in very much reminding of starting at the roadhouse in Renner Springs, where I worked every back shift, I didn't know quite what to do with myself when 5pm rolled round and I could finish and have a drink poured by someone still working…! Perhaps Renner has made me inherently nocturnal…! Made me not a day shift person… Maybe I just need to get used to it ;-). But I digress, let me first share with you the story of getting to Carnarvon including an interesting journey with integrity bus lines…

I got to Sydney airport. My bag very heavy, I asked the man on the bag drop desk what weight it was. Only 19kg… I felt sure I'd gained weight… He looked at me and smiled and joked about me putting on weight… I smiled back and said that carrying the bag alone had helped me lose weight! Looking for a chai latte, some Tia Maria was found by my feet first :-). I settled down with some wifi. Not to be caught out as I was last time with Virgin, my virgin entertainment app was installed and ready for action for the flight. A few options, toying between the never seen Casablanca and wanting to watch again Romeo and Juliet, I ended up opting for the internship, a film that I hadn't seen. Not too bad though most predictable… An easy watch on a plane. We reached Perth 45 minutes early… Waiting for the bus to my hostel, I really wasn't too sure about being back at all…

Having a pretty awesome sleep I woke up at 7 and decided to make the most of the day. Some sad memories associated with Perth for me, I decided it was important to tread some new happy footprints… I headed to Leederville farmers market to meet a Scottish friend for lunch. We ate in the dome, talking about Edinburgh's own dome. I also met a friend made on the chicken farm for coffee and a mcdonalds. We had a lot of catching up to do! I can't believe how much has happened and changed over the last six months… She gave me a gift… I am most touched by what she gave me.

Agreeing to skydive together later in the year in Cairns, we said our goodbyes and I headed for some last wifi before I got on the bus. Using time to Skype, I didn't have enough time to give my phone a lot of charge… Sitting trying to charge it as much as I could, my backpack and small rucksack beside me, I heard the hostel receptionist warn a boy carrying a small green rucksack 'not to look like a tourist'; that people would steal his bag because it looks like it contains valuables… I was already worried about my walk along to the bus. I'm genuinely carrying all my belongings… Not that many valuables, just carrying a lot of stuff, I asked him if I should be worried about carrying my entire belongings to the bus station… His response was genuinely that I would be ok because I spoke English… Not sure if that would stop someone that had their hands on your backpack and heard you say 'get your hands off my backpack' in English rather than any other spoken language…! Setting off with the fear of death in me, but pretty sure I could use either as a weapon due to their heaviness, I safely walked the three blocks to the bus stop. Phew. A little sceptical the bus was even going to turn up I was pleasantly surprised when it rolled past…

I got on the bus and sat in my allocated seat. Our welcoming message was a novel list of rules and regulations for our time on board:

• No smoking or drinking on board (seems fair)
• That the toilet is for emergency use only… We were asked to close the lid and flush using a pedal in front of the toilet which we needed to press four times… We were then told not to make too much noise as the second driver bunk was just behind it… I think we can safely assume that if you have decided it's an emergency toilet situation you perhaps might not be the quietest…
• We were then told to keep our bags and body parts out of the aisle!!! To clarify, he then stated that heads, arms and legs should be kept on your side of the aisle… Just as well I'm little and can curl up quite comfortably on two chairs :-).
• No hot food, milk or fruit juice was to be brought aboard. There were to be no cans or cartons on board. He then said if you have a water bottle to not consume it on board the coach…. I think I must have misheard this one though… 11 and a half hours… You're going to be a bit thirsty!! What can you do? Just sleep?!

There was no mention of seat belts… Which incidentally were not even present on the coach… Ah well. Thus educated on the rules and regulations, we began our 11 and a half hour journey… Asked to turn off our reading lights if not using them, the whole bus was in darkness… I watched out of my window. The driver went to put a movie on… I heard the opening tones of the chipmunks… Surely not I thought, reaching into my bag for my headphones… Apparently he didn't think so either… He went for an Elvis movie instead… I zoned in and out of it. We reached a '25 hour' diner in Cataby… Don't even get me started on this one… My phone one with amazingly held charge was nearly dead. I spent time at the next two roadhouses giving it a boost cursing myself that I chose it over the htc… It died about ten minutes later…

People sleeping, I decided to read on kindle rather than wake anyone with a light for my book. With tired eyes, I then joined the sleeping masses… Not very comfortably I might add… Knowing I had a pillow case and a whole heap of clothes that I could have utilised to fashion into a pillow in the luggage container, and even more that I could put on and wear (word up if you are doing this journey… The bus is pretty cold…), I was more than a little bit jealous of the woman across the aisle with a pillow and blanket… She had obviously done this journey before…! Reaching Carnarvon at 7am, meeting my new boss, introduced to the bar, I then promptly crawled into bed for a few hours nap before I got up to explore. I'm sure there will be many an interesting tale to tell from here for sure :-). Until next time! 🙂