Thursday February 13th, 2025
“the Mock Turtle said: `no wise fish would go anywhere without a porpoise. ‘Wouldn’t it really?’ said Alice in a tone of great surprise. Of course not,’ said the Mock Turtle: `why, if a fish came to me, and told me he was going a journey, I should say “With what porpoise?’ ‘Don’t you mean “purpose”?’ said Alice. ‘I mean what I say,’ the Mock Turtle replied in an offended tone.”
Lewis Carroll: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. 1865
I’m with Alice here, but also with the Mock Turtle. The purpose of our trip is to go to Albany so that Stephen can sing with the WASO Chorus at a special event. We’ve added on a few days to spend with his sister and husband at a caravan park, plus we are hoping to have a couple of nights at East Bay.
Although we thought we had done a lot of the preparation on Tuesday it still took us a long time to get ready yesterday morning. Stephen wanted to return some library books and I wanted to do some shopping for essential supplies at the IGA, so we split up and I drove to the IGA (easier parking than at the main shopping centre) and Stephen met me there once he was ready. It worked out well because he arrived just as I had finished packing away the food.
Leaving at 12.00 was late, even for us. We had decided to go the long way to Albany to save the stress of Albany Highway. This meant travelling on the Brookton Highway to the York/Williams Road, then south on that, into Narrogin and then on to the tiny village of Highbury. Stephen drove the last part from the beginning of the York/Williams Road, which was very relaxing for me, though he ended up with the foot cramp. We need to start using the cruise control.
We made two stops, at Christmas Tree Well for lunch, and a stop to visit toilets and swap drivers in Narrogin. We could have stayed at Narrogin, but they lock the toilets overnight and don’t open them until about 8.00 a.m. at one of the camping places, the one in the centre of town feels a bit dodgy, and we didn’t need power, so the nice caravan park wasn’t necessary.
So, Highbury it is. We are parked by the side of the highway, but it quietens down overnight and it was really peaceful. The toilets are as clean as usual. I would like to visit the historical pub sometime, but as we had food and are not much into drinking we didn’t go there. The lights were on earlier, but it was all dark by 8.30 p.m. There were no cars parked outside, perhaps they didn’t have any customers.
There was a strong wind overnight and I moved our Starlink mini from the roof to just under the hatch, held up by the blind. It still works, though it isn’t at the correct tilt and not facing the correct direction. The internet is slower, but still usable.
It was sunny yesterday, but with a cool breeze during the day. Which, as I’ve mentioned, became a strong and gusty wind overnight. This morning is cloudy, with a gusty wind. It’s not too cold, however. A big change from our last trip to Albany when it was hot.