Tuesday January 2nd, 2024 Boddington to Kendenup

I didn’t take any photos yesterday, so the above is a photo of a meal we had at at small Korean restaurant close to our home in Victoria Park.

We nearly zagged yesterday as there were two ways of getting to Kojonup, one down Albany Highway and the other an alternative that would have taken us to Quindanning where there is a very nice old pub which offers free camping in exchange for patronage. Apparently the food is good. We thought we might check it out for future reference.

However, sanity prevailed. We really wanted to make it here to Kendenup and Albany Highway was the best and fastest route. It was extremely busy, mainly cars, and without huge trucks on the road it wasn’t stressful. I could only do 90kms an hour due to strong, gusty winds which tried to lift the Sherwood off the road. Having a sail (C class motorhome) and a vehicle with a high wheel base makes this seem a possibility, however remote.

Although we often ended up with a ‘tail’ of cars, it seemed to be partly the normal clustering of vehicles that happens when it’s busy. The fairly frequent passing lanes and the ability of cars to pass in small gaps meant that we didn’t really hold other drivers up. Caravans have a bit more difficulty obviously.

Before leaving Boddington we went to the dump point, located just outside the Mens’ Shed, poor things, and then went to the local IGA.

As I was walking there I was hailed by Carl in a rental car who explained that as he is quadriplegic it quite a business to get out of the car. He was wanting a coffee and wondered if I would check for him and ask one of the shop assistants to come out to his car. I offered to get the coffee instead and he gave me his card to pay for it. There is a coffee machine instore, automatic, and I had fun trying to capture the errant milk which sailed past the cup and onto the floor. Anyway, he got a partially full cup of coffee, not very hot, for $3.00. I apologised. He was grateful nevertheless, but I wish it had been a beautiful, steaming cup of hot coffee.

We bought food for the day, prepared salads, cold meat, and some fruit. We don’t yet have a plan for our time in Albany, but are hoping to plan beachside camping at Cosy Corner and East Bay with going to events in the town. First of all we have to find out what’s on in Albany.

We had lunch in Kojonup with lovely fresh rolls and the food we had bought in Boddington.

We were surprised to find the Kendenup campsite fairly empty, or at least just a few vans, and were able to take our favourite spot in a clear area away from other vans but not far from the ablutions. We phoned the caretaker who came to take our money ($20) and thereafter used the toilets, Stephen had a shower, and did our dishes at the outdoor washing up point, which has hot and cold water.

We had leftover salads and an omlette for tea.

I couldn’t be bothered to set up the projector so we watched the movie Tar on the laptop. The projector is better, so will use that next time. It’s a strange movie and the story unfolds without fully explaining the plot points, so you have to be patient. The focus on music was enough to keep us going through some not very interesting scenes at the beginning.

So, we are not far from Albany and will go there today.

A rough plan has been made. Tonight we will go to the Six Degrees (pub) to hear the Albany Shantymen. They were featured in a Bill Bailey documentary on Western Australia which aired recently. On Wednesday we will go to Cosy Corner to see if we can get a spot for 3-4 nights. On Sunday afternoon there is a concert at St John’s Anglican Church in Albany. Then on Monday we can go out to East Bay to see if we can get a camping spot for 3-4 nights. There is a second camping ground close by which would work if we can’t get a spot. At this stage none of these camp spots require pre booking, but it does mean you take your chances re availability.

We will need to set off for Perth on Saturday 13th in order to give us a couple of nights on the road before arriving on Monday 15th, in good time for Matt’s appointment on the 16th.