Magda

Beauty and the Beast

Between here and there

It was October 2013, they started, the build, Dave was around which was great, he could keep an eye on things while I went over to Oz. My visa was running out, my Bahasa Indonesia class was coming to an end and the Bridgetown Blues festival was a couple of weeks away. I asked Magda to come with me, we’d spent a lot of time together recently and I was enjoying her company so much I didn’t want it to end. She was reluctant at first, so I talked of the wonders of West Australia and got her hooked. I arrived a couple of day’s before her, my son Jack graciously lent me my old truck, which I’d given him three years before. It’s a three hour drive to Bridgetown from Perth, Magda was getting in at 3am, I picked her up and we headed straight down to the Blues, It was dark, nothing much to see, so she slept in the back while I drove. The sun was coming over the horizon, the blue sky had a tinge of red and Magda was stirring, she popped her head up just as a couple of Kangaroo’s bounded across the road and give her a wave. Welcome to Australia Ms Magda.

After all the hugs and how are you’s, it was straight to Pete’s shed to see Henrietta, she had been stored there for the past months and I was itching for a ride. Magda and I had done a trip around Bali before we left on a Honda 125, which is the right machine for Bali but for the wide open roads of Australia, you need something with a lot more grunt. I was pleased to discover Magda loved Henrietta as much as I did. We went for a ride down to Pemberton along the Blackwood River to the big Karri Forrest’s, a beautiful part of WA, climbed one of the big Karri trees and looked over the canopy in awe of the vista, as they say in Costa Rica…Pura Vida…. Back in Bridgetown the Blues was pumping, a great weekend with Pete, Julie and the kids as always, Jack had come down with his mates and drove the truck back to Perth while Magda and I rode the bike to Margeret River on the coast, we stopped along the way for a swim in the fresh waters of the Blackwood River. On to Dunbrough and spent the night with Linda, an old friend of many years. Then back to Perth to pick up the truck again for a trip up North.

In Perth we stayed at the Padbury Hilton, so named, firstly because it is in Padbury, a suburb north of Perth City and secondly, because of the 5 star treatment received from your hosts Jon and Nim Bergman, I stayed with Jay and Cindy in Virginia, this is another branch of the Bergman clan. Jon will entertain you with his stories and philosophy of life, while Nim will cater to your every need, before you even know you need it. Jon born in England but growed up in Statton Island Nu Yawk and Nim from Edinburgh, Aye! Jon relinquished his American Citizenship and is as Aussie as an American can be, Nim will always keep a bit of Scotland within. I love them both. I’d loaded up the truck with camping gear at Pete’s, what I didn’t have, Jon supplied, we were off.

It’s about a 15 hour drive to Coral Bay, our first stop. We travelled at night, not much to see on this stretch, once your out of Perth it gets pretty flat with the odd bit of bush. So drove through the night and arrived in Coral Bay early morning. Magda the Mermaid was itching to go snorkelling on the Ningaloo Reef, so as soon as we arrived she was in the water, Coral Bay is a great place to snorkel, you go straight off the beach and see lots of coral and a variety of marine life. On this particular day it wasn’t so good, the current was too strong and visibility was affected. We didn’t hang around, instead we drove up the 4 wheel drive track up the coast to Yardie Creek and Cape Range. Yardie Creek was dry, so an easy crossing. Magda had been telling me about her beach in Barcelona, where it was difficult to find a space to lay down because of the masses, I’d promised her white sandy beaches that were ours exclusively, we camped that night on the first of many. We hung around Exmouth, Shark Bay and Steep Point, wondered around some of the best out of the way coastal tracks in the North West, encountered all manner of wild life, camped on deserted beaches, swam in the pristine turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean, we were free and it was so easy. I wanted it to last forever but all good things they say!

Magda was going back to Bali to meet a friend coming down from Cambodia, I was staying in Oz another couple of weeks. By the time I got back she would have already left for Spain where she was going to study law. I dropped her at the airport not knowing when, or if, I would see her again. I looked into those big blue eyes and saw the smile, the smile that came from somewhere within, the smile that reached down, in some dark cavern inside me, where I’d stored happy,  grabbed hold and before I knew it, I felt the warmth and I too, was smiling within. The time I’d spent this past month in the company of this spontaneous, vivacious, energetic, adventurous, funny lady, filled me with a  feeling I didn’t want to lose……

Then she was gone!

I am….THE LONESOME TRAVELLER….The Journey Continues….BE HAPPY!