Patience, preparations and pride

With some days to kill between purchasing and picking up our car and camper trailer, Tracy took us for a spin to Kings Park in Perth. To my astonishment we were barely out of the carpark when we discovered a Eucalypt bearing our family name: Eucalyptus kruseana… which goes to show that the botanical sciences are aware of our families ability to thrive in inhospitable and challenging circumstances.

Staying true to our family habit of naming everything we decided to call our camper trailer Prinney, after Allen’s equally small, white, cute dog. Prinney came unfurnished, so we borrowed the small hatchback of Tracy’s mum Gina and drove to the one (!) Ikea in the whole of Western Australia to deck her out. Sheets, quilts, cups, plates and everything else one would need for living on the road for 3,5 months. After melting part of our credit card we filled up the boot of the car and got a call to come pick up our new car, which we decided to call Henk (the Tank!), due to its size and almost 200hp engine.

A few signatures and handshakes later we walked out with the keys and stood and posed in front of Henk, which had been dressed up for the joyous occasion with a large red ribbon, for a customary photo. Piet had one look at Henk and said with a beaming smile “Großes Auto!!!” and decided instantaneous he wanted to change cars. So there we were swapping out the child seat in the middle of the carpark and in tandem we drove back to Gina’s house, with Piet very contently grinning, sitting on his throne with me in the back of Henk. 

That afternoon we picked up Prinney and informed Allen that we had named her after his adorable little dog. He reacted with a smile that was equal parts pride and emotion. After hooking Prinney up Allen made sure that no cars were coming down the road whilst we drove out of his driveway and waved us farewell. He stood there watching us until we disappeared down the road…ahw Allen.

I was a bit apprehensive about towing a vehicle, but Henk made light work of it, albeit thirsty work. Watching the fuel gauge felt like watching a tenner fly out the exhaust every time I put my foot down to accelerate after a set of traffic lights. But, once we started driving South towards Busselton the city traffic started to thin out and the landscape opened up, Henk came into it’s own, purring along nicely at 1700 revs. This car really was made for the open roads and dare I say towing. It drove and accelerated very smoothly, even though we were dragging about a tonne of weight behind us. Piet soon fell asleep and Ireen discovered the armrest in the backseat and nestled in with him, leaving me to steer the ship. 

I had a bit of an Aussie deja-vu moment, being back out on the endless highways and settled myself in for the long haul. As I looked through the rearview mirror I yawned and my eye caught a big sign at the side of the road stating: “Watch out for the yawning signs!” warning about the dangers of micro-sleeps. Half a tank later we pulled up at Tracy’s house and parked Prinney up at the back of her property. It was time to get to know her a bit better and dress her up with all the goodies we got for her. 

Enjoy this episode with some “Queen – I’m in love with my car” yes…Henk has gotten to me!