SATURDAY 8 JULY     KUNUNURRA

It was another hot day.

After breakfast, I walked up to the street markets, held in the main park area of town. I bought bananas and some vegetables. Collected the Saturday papers too. That was today’s main exercise, though I did later have a swim in the very nice pool at the caravan park. The water was surprisingly cold.

John watched tennis and football on TV and pottered about.

There were more arrivals into the camp across the road. It is the Kimberley Christian Fellowship Convention. I decided that explained the cleaner, more purposeful and organized nature of the camp.

Tea was fried rice.

TUESDAY 4 JULY     KUNUNURRA

It was another lovely day, weather-wise.

In the morning, I walked to the shops for the paper. Bought some barramundi fish at the butcher. Checked out the two hairdressing places – both would charge $27 just to do a basic cut on my hair. I decided I might let it grow, for a while!

Then I wrote a letter to friend T.

John went out to look around the industrial establishments, more, and found another place to fix the Truck air-con – a refrigeration person. It did not take all that long and cost under $100!

Had a discussion with John about our movements for the next couple of months. I have been increasingly concerned that, with our somewhat late arrival in these parts, and the wish to be near Perth when the Olympics  are on, there is growing pressure to rush our time in the north west.

John made  phone calls to a couple of caravan parks in Karratha and established that one had adequate TV reception, so he was happy to change plans and book into Karratha for the Olympic period, instead. It was not my first choice of park there – that one told him that their TV signal was poor. At least, they were honest.

I phoned the Fremantle park I’d booked back when we were in Tasmania, and was able to transfer the September booking deposit to our Xmas period booking instead – so that will reduce our costs, then.

So – pressure eased somewhat. I was pleased. That gave us just over two months to get to Karratha. It seems adequate, now, but I am sure will go quickly.

John wanted to watch Wimbledon tennis on TV, as Australians were doing well to date, so it was decided we would stay on here until Sunday, so I went and extended our booking accordingly.

John appeared to have lost his watch! It was the expensive Casio I had bought for him in Jakarta in 1997. He can’t remember exactly when he had it last. He does not know whether he left it somewhere, like the showers. I suspect he might have put it down on top of the newspaper heap in the van – he has a tendency to strew things around. If he did that, it could have been covered up by the next lot of papers. I threw the heap out, yesterday, and the bins have been emptied! Either way, it appeared to be gone.

Tea was the barra, and fries.

There is a sizeable long-grass camp over the road from the caravan park – next to the Showgrounds. This is a rough camp where aboriginals camp, with little shelter – often they have come in from the outlying small communities, unfortunately because they can get alcohol here in town. They get quite quarrelsome, at times – we hear them at night.