Adventures in Rockingham | A Short Story

The morning started rather slowly, as it had rained a lot in the night and was still raining, so not a lot of fun packing up in the rain, but we did so between showers, and hit the road.

The 200 km drive from Busselton to Rockingham was relatively uneventful, except for some heavy rain at times, that slowed us down for safety reasons.

The road is busy, the closer you get to Perth, the more the freeway fills up.

A lot of people live down here, or have holiday homes down here, and commute to Perth.

We were heading to Rockingham to catch up with our Niece Amber, her partner Mat and there new Baby Pipper, as we haven’t seen Amber for some time, and Hadn't met Matt, so we were looking forward to it.

Finding the caravan park took a while, Butcho was following us as we finally found the park, pulled up and got out for our usual yarn while the Girls went over to book in.

Butcho was looking a little agitated, and keen to get parked, it became apparent that he needed to answer a call of nature.

We went to book in,  but noticed that the manager was accustomed to having a long lunch, as the sign on the door clearly stated, Office hours 7.30am to 1.30pm, and 3.30pm to 7.30 pm, as we had arrived at 2.00 pm it wasn’t looking good for Butcho.

I suggested he should use the toilet in his van, after all that was what they were for!

As “Blokes” we, weren’t in the habit of doing this, it was somehow less manly, as the toilets in the vans were really for the “sheilas”, there was no way we needed them when we purchased them, so we were reluctant to be caught doing so now.

As the manager still couldn’t be found, it was becoming evident on Butchos face that this might now have to happen, so I went back to my Ute, and he quite quickly moved off to attend to his predicament.

All of a sudden there was a “MANDY” I was a little concerned, but the preceding conversation meant I was reluctant to answer his call, as he might not have made it in time, surely this was Mandy’s job!

And to be honest, it wasn’t unusual for him to call “Mandy”, when he can’t find the milk, the sugar the coffee or his underpants!

But it was a loader call then usual, so I was a little concerned.

To cut a long story short, the pantry in the Viper, had somehow dispensed all its contents all over the floor of the van.

Now this mightn’t seem a big thing, but the Viper has no ordinary pantry, and Amanda, is not just an ordinary cook.

Meaning that every known condiment, sauce and spice known to the western and eastern world can be found in this pantry.
It has a very sophisticated cabinet, 300mm wide 600mm deep and running the full height of the van, with a telescopic 3 stage mechanism that slides this wall of condiments and spices in and out. 

By now the Girls had found the manager, and soon returned, I briefly walked over to survey the scene, but thought is best to withdraw, as they were now well into the apportioning blame part of the accident, there was no way I was going to get involved in that.

Had someone forgotten to latch the cabinet? I wasn’t going to get into that one either, suggesting maybe the mechanism failed!

We pulled into the park, parked our vans and setup.

Butcho dutifully started pulling the mechanism apart trying to work out how it all worked.

As he did the mechanism gave up its secrets, and about 50 ball bearings liberated themselves, spilling all over concrete under the van.

I was somewhat amused by this, but managed to contain myself as I thought it would probably be inappropriate to laugh.

After about 40 minutes all but 2 of the 50 ball bearings were found.

Beach looking west from the Park

At this stage it all got a bit much for Amanda , who emerged around the corner of the van with a large bottle of red and a glass! with Butcho soon following, a beaten man with a stubbie of beer in his hand.

So I suspect tomorrow will be a designated rest day given over to repairs and maintenance!

And I wouldn’t be surprised if there is now a checklist written, and to be performed prior to departure on each day.

We caught up With Amber Matt and Pipper, and had a great time, and 13 month old Piper brightened up Mandy and Butchos Spirits, the Beer and the Red, probably also helped!

All in all a short drive, but quite an eventful day!

Stayed at the Cee and See Caravan Park, which is right next to the CBH Kwinana grain terminal. (CBH Own it)
The manager informed us up to 14 million tonnes of grain go through this terminal a year.

They were loading a ship, but no noise or dust, pretty impressive for the size of the place.