On the road again

PERTH, Western Australia_ G'day. We've figured out why everyone around here seems so friendly. Flies.

All that waving isn't a friendly greeting. It's called the 'Australian Salute' -- waving one hand in front of you face to keep the flies away. (We also suspect that the smiles are just teeth barred to keep the flies out of your mouth.)

But we're getting ahead of ourselves.

Be teleported, back in time and space to the airport in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Stunned Eva runs into her cousin, Trond and his family, who is on the same flight to Perth. There is an inflight reunion.

Anyway, at the Perth airport, Eva confessed to customs that she was in possession of elephant dung paper. It was confiscated as ''unidentified plant'' matter, not surprising, since elephants do eat a lot of plant matter.

We picked up our 4X4 camper (immediately named Dexter because of his license plate 1DEX 712), near Perth. Dexter is a 2006 Toyota Hi-Lux pickup truck with a camper back. Doug was horrified to see that it had been driven 206,000 kilometers (128,000 miles) in rough terrain by careless renters and hoped the rattling sound from the clutch bearing was normal.

Each day, when getting behind the wheel in this drive-on-the-left-side-of-the-road country, Doug would chant ''Right is the new left.'' A right turn in Australia is like a left turn in the real world.

D&E were pleased and excited about getting settled into Dex (a bit like being on the boat) and to be fending for themselves in the outback for 15 days. That fantasy was short-lived, with outback temperatures hitting 50C (122 F) in Australian summer. Instead, we headed south to the cooler coast. (South was also the new North)

And, by the way, the clutch smelled burned.

Another thing we hadn't counted we were setting off at the peak of the summer vacation season, and peak of peak, on the New Year's Eve long weekend. Everything was full, and we were just thankful to find a spot at all. We fell asleep before midnight and only stirred slightly to cheers of our friendly neighbors. Oh well.

The whole thing of crowded campgrounds, was getting us down, after traveling through the wilds of southern Africa and staying on secluded beaches in Thailand. And, by the way, the clutch smelled burned.

However, it was interesting to note the Australian style of camping, which was to haul an staggering amount of gear (like campers, tents, boats and offroad motorcycles) behind a Toyota Land Cruiser diesel, and then built a sprawling encampment designed to last for weeks.

At Yallingup, a popular beach area, people were amazed that we were 'lucky' enough to get the last camping spot (next to the toilets) when they had booked a year earlier. And when we tried to swim in the huge waves, it was like getting mugged by water and left with nothing but a bathing suit full of sand.

And, by the way, the clutch smelled burned.

Things started to look up at Margaret River, a delightful tourist town, where we got a nice camp spot and went on a wine tasting tour by bus. That evening we used an outdoor cooking appliance to roast some venison with new found friends Thomas and Donna from South Africa.

Finally, finally, finally, at Windy Harbor, D&E were going to drop Dex into low range four-wheel-drive and head along a sandy 4x4 track to a remote campsite.

''This is not really my cup of tea,'' Eva noted, as Dex slid sideways at a 30 degree tilt through the deep sand of the narrow track and Doug kept his foot on the gas because losing momentum would mean sinking into the sand and getting stuck.

And, by the way, the clutch smelled burned.

So we turned back at first opportunity and camped at yet another crowded campground.

Dex held out long enough to get us in some beautiful national forests, and as far a Orleans Bay, near one of Australians 10 best beaches. So much for heading south! It was the hottest place in Australia at 47 degrees (116F), but as we sat in the comfort of Dex's air conditioned cabin, we though with glee ... um ... sympathy about our friends in Oslo suffering minus 27 (-17).

It became clear: Dex was not going to make it back to Perth without a new clutch. We called the rental company, and told them we would try to make it to Esperance, the main town about 80 kilometers (50 miles) away

There are worse places to be stuck than Esperance. Beautiful beaches, and we had one of the best meals of our trek at the Loose Goose restaurant. Since we would be stuck through the weekend, we signed up for a wildlife cruise and night in a tent out on Woody Island. It was great fun, with hiking and snorkeling.

By the time Dex was repaired on Monday afternoon, our time was running out. Finally, we got to spend a night in a national park, but then had to high-tail it back to Perth, stopping only at the amazing Wave Rock. Hate to say it, but we were relieved to return Dex.

Believe it or not, we had fun, probably because we had no plan, no idea where we wanted to go, and no idea whether faithful but decrepit Dex would make it there anyway. So we played it by ear, which _ we seem to recall _ was the whole point of this 95 day exercise in the first place.

So, after a night at a wonderful bed and breakfast in wonderful Fremantle, it was off to Melbourne by air. But that's a different story.

Thanks Western Australia (Thanks to you too Dex)

Bruce and Sheila