Country Retreat - 29. Emu

“No I am not, I just had a mini heart attack, there is a fricking full-size emu right outside the villa, and it just scared the bejesus out of me,” Jarrad replied, as I looked out and saw the said emu casually walking away, and I bust out laughing and it took me some time to calm down, and when I did, Jarrad was sitting down on the lounge not looking at all amused at my laughing attack.

“When you are quite finished, and after you have checked that the bloody thing has gone, can we get going?” Jarrad asked me, as I fought to not start laughing again, but failed, this time falling off the chair I tried to sit down on. Once I had calmed down for a second time and checked that the emu had gone, we headed outside, making sure the vehicle and the villa were tightly locked up and headed north along the foreshore.

It was a bit over one kilometre before we reached the roundabout at the end of the main street, and as we turned to head back I spotted something on the side of the road. “Watch out… it's another Emu,” I called out, and Jarrad jumped in fright, and frantically looked around us, but saw no sign of an emu, but soon spotted the tiled artwork of an emu. “You bloody swine, I will get you for that,” Jarrad said to me, as I dashed out of his reach, and began to walk quickly back towards the centre of town, laughing out loud.

After about 400 metres of fast walking, I stopped near the commercial jetty and waited for Jarrad to catch up to me. “You are a real rascal, you know that?” Jarrad said to me when he arrived. “Yeah, I know and I am sorry, I just couldn’t help myself, it was just too funny not to,” I replied. “It is good to see you laughing a lot more my friend, and I think this trip diversion has done us both some good,” Jarrad said to me, and I nodded my head in agreement.

We crossed over the road to check out the visitors centre, which had all sorts of information as well as local artwork, which was stunning, and we found some suggestions of places to eat while we were in Denham. As we stepped outside, I spotted two large emues across the road in the park, and I waited for Jarrad to notice them, and when he did he jumped in fright and stepped behind me for protection, which made me chuckle.

“You do know they are totally harmless, they are used to humans and are more interested in getting food off of us,” I said to Jarrad, “Keep those monsters away from me,” Jarrad said as he looked around from behind me, and kept a very close eye on their movements, as they walked away.

Once back at the motel room, we relaxed for the rest of the afternoon and watched the activities on the beach and the setting sun from the safety of the villa, well away from Emu’s. The following morning, we set off on the 25-kilometre trip to the famous Monkey Mia, where we spent a couple hours of swimming, kayaking and looking around the Monkey Mia resort.

After we had some lunch, we headed back to Denham, where we washed down the kayaks and loaded them back onto the vehicle, before we drove north for 12 kilometres to check out the Peron Heritage Centre where there is a lot of information about the history of the area, when it used to be a sheep station and there is also an artesian hot tub, which I was looking forward to checking out.

After an enjoyable afternoon, which included Jarrad freaking out when a family of emus decided to walk along the access track on our drive back from the Heritage Centre to Denham, we showered and had dinner before retiring early for the night, as we would be continuing our journey south back towards home.

It was a 130-kilometre drive back to the highway the following morning, stopping briefly at the roadhouse, for another cool drink as it was fairly hot outside, and we kept the air conditioner on the fan only to reduce pressure on the engine in this very hot weather. Our next sign of civilisation after 180 kilometres of driving was the turnoff to Kalbarri, which we took, and a bit over 60 kilometres later we arrived in the beautiful coast town, just before noon.

“Want to do some more paddling?” I asked Jarrad, “As long as there are no more monster birds around,” Jarrad responded, which made me laugh at his new phobia, as we pulled into the Northern Boat Ramp on the river and we unloaded the kayaks. Soon we were on the water heading upstream, and after going around the top end of the first island, we turned around and headed back to the boat ramp.

“How far do you think we went upstream?” Jarrad asked me as we washed down the kayaks before loading them back up on the vehicle. “I would say we did about five kilometres in total, a good workout, to get rid of the strains of driving long distances,” I replied. “How about we stay here a night and do some more tomorrow, before we set off again,” Jarrad suggested and that is what we did, booking into a villa a block back from the river.

The next morning we found a bakery café that serves breakfasts, and after a delicious meal we unloaded the kayaks again, and this time we headed downstream to the mouth of the river at Chinaman Beach, which was only about 1.5 kilometres from where we launched from. After a walk along the beach, we paddled back upstream and carried the kayaks back to our accommodation, where we washed them down and loaded them back up on the vehicle, before packing up our overnight gear and setting off once more.

“Hey Oscar, what day is it? I have sort of lost track of the days, and my mobile is in my luggage,” Jarrad asked me as we drove out of town. I pulled over slamming on the brakes probably a little too hard, before pulling out my mobile, to check today’s date. “December 23^rd. Oh shite, we have lost track, haven’t we. I guess that means the end of our holiday if we want to get home before Christmas,” I replied.

Noticing that I still had mobile coverage, I sent a quick text message to my grandparents. ‘On our way home, deviated to the coast, and are currently leaving Kalbarri, be home tomorrow morning at the latest. Oscar.’ Once the message was sent, I continued driving, mentioning to Jarrad that the message I sent to my grandparents said that we would be home no later than tomorrow morning, and Jarrad sent a quick message to his parents as well.

“It’s almost 11 am now, how about we stop overnight in Dongara or Jurien Bay, so it isn’t such a long drive? Unless you want to drive the nearly six hours to Upper Swan,” Jarrad said to me, “Let’s see how I feel when we arrive in Dongara and decide then.” I replied, and Jarrad nodded in agreement.

We ended up stopping at Jurien Bay, where we booked an overnight motel room, and I called Gramps to let him know where we were, and that we would be home at about 10 am tomorrow. With such clear waters, we couldn’t resist going for a paddle in the ocean at Jurien Bay, launching from the town jetty, and paddling southwards for a couple of kilometres, before turning around and returning to the jetty. Once showered and changed we had an early dinner of fish and chips on the beach as we watched the sun setting on the western horizon, which I can never get tired of.

The following morning, we woke up a little earlier than planned, and after locating a café that was open early, we bought some breakfast to eat on the go, and we headed south again, with our home as our next destination. “What are you going to do after Christmas, I am guessing you won't be going back up there?” Jarrad asked me. “No idea at this point buddy, and no I won't be going back to the station. I guess we will have to wait and see. I want to call into the coastal property, so we can drop off these additional kayaks and gear, that way I don’t have any extra explaining to do,” I replied. “Yep good thinking there,” Jarrad responded.

An hour later we arrived at the property, and we quickly offloaded the kayaks and other gear, storing them away in the sports lockers in the garage complex, before locking up and heading off once more, making sure that the front gate was securely locked as we exited, and just over an hour later after tackling traffic, we finally arrived back, and I dropped off Jarrad at his place before heading home.

I arrived to see that Mum’s vehicle was in the driveway, which I was not at all pleased about, and I was very glad that we had dropped off the kayaks and other gear on the way back. As I parked my vehicle, my siblings came rushing out of the house, and rushed towards me, giving me a big hug. “Hey guys, are you all ready for Christmas?” I said to Amara and Deakin.

“We sure are,” they chorused, as I noticed Mum approaching with Gran not far behind her. “Hello Oscar, how was work up on the Cattle Station? Did you learn lots?” Mum asked me, “Hello Mum, it was ok I guess, I just want to get Christmas out of the way so I can start getting ready for University studies next year,” I responded, realising too late, that she had no idea what my plans are for the new year.

“Oh! What will you be studying this time, and will it be at Curtin University again?” Mum asked me, “No Mum, it won’t be at Curtin. I will actually be attending ANU in Canberra for the next three years, to study for a Bachelor's degree in Environment and Sustainability,” I replied. “Why so far, can’t you do that course here in Perth and be closer to your family?” Mum asked me.

“No Mum, I need to be more independent and it is a very good course that they have over there. I will be leaving in mid-January to drive over there,” I responded. After a bit more grilling from Mum, Gran finally interrupted and let me take my luggage inside, so I could get it sorted, and get a load of laundry washing on.

“The kids are staying here for Christmas, as your parents are having a few difficulties with their marriage, and she is going to spend time with her side of the family in Kalgoorlie during Christmas,” Gran announced to me, as I was sorting through all of my clothes. “Ok, I guess that will be good for her, will Dad be coming down for Christmas lunch?” I asked, “Yes he will, I insisted on it,” Gran replied.