Friday 10^th February 2017

Distance driven   54 km    Total  4303 km

Woodman Point – Leederville, Perth

It was still raining when we woke up this morning, and the temperature had dropped considerably.  We kept warm, however, by cleaning the inside of the van until it sparkled.  The following photos were taken earlier in the trip – this is what we had to tidy up and clean before returning the van. 

Throughout the trip we kept the bed made up at the back as we had another seating/dining area opposite the galley.  Above the cab is a

double bed which we used as a storage area for unused equipment and our bags.

The large fridge with freezer box was plenty big enough.              The doorway to the living area had a screen door to keep out bugs.

Flushing cassette loo, lasted 2-3 days before emptying.                 Good-sized shower with hot & cold water.

The control box for the van’s domestic systems.  The tank gauge showed how full the fresh water and waste water tanks were.  The fridge was 3-way,

using battery when on the road, and either 240v if plugged in to a mains supply or gas if not, when parked.  Excellent.

Air-con for when plugged in to 240v mains supply.                           Our roomy and very comfy cab with direct access to living area.

We unmade the bed and returned this area to seating/dining mode.       It was not easy to get out with the table in place!

We drove out of the campsite mid-morning in the still pouring rain onto busier roads than we had seen for quite some time.  As we headed towards the airport it got busier still, and with roadworks on some of the major roads it was quite slow going.  As we sat in a traffic queue, the radio informed us that yesterday had been the coldest February day in Perth since records began, at 17 degrees maximum.  Today was set to be their second wettest in any month ever.  Well, we had timed this trip to get away from the hot, dry weather in Brisbane, and we had certainly achieved that!

We pulled into the Ace car rentals forecourt which was more like a pond, and waded our way across to the office.  As luck would have it we had been upgraded from the expected Corolla to a Ford Kuga, an SUV which would have less trouble with the enormous puddles collecting on the roads.  We drove in convoy to the local BP station where Steve filled the Apollo tank for the last time, and then made our way to the Apollo depot a couple of kilometres away.  It was manic there, with way too many vans coming in and out than the area could allow, and we had to circle once before getting in through the gates.

Fortunately the rain had eased off at this point, and it took less time than feared to check the van over and then sort out the return paperwork.  Before long we were back on the road with our belongings packed into the boot and Google maps guiding us through the city of Perth towards our AirBNB apartment in Leederville.

Having found the address, and following instructions for gaining access through the gate and to our allocated parking space, we let ourselves into a light, airy and very spacious apartment.  This would do us very well for the next four days as we explored the capital city of Western Australia.

The lounge (actually not as dark as the photo suggests!)                              Kitchen area open plan to lounge.

Dining area at back end of lounge. Archway through to rest of flat.         An enormous and very comfy bed.

One of the two bathrooms housed the laundry. 

Would be making good use of this!