Winding Down

I drove north back to Fremantle on Saturday morning, arriving in late afternoon. 

I hurried my tent up and rushed out—I had to pick up some things at the store and parts of Australia have a habit of closing at five or six on Saturdays and sometimes not opening at all on Sundays. 

But I needn't have worried. After shopping, I headed to the center of Fremantle.

Oh. My.

A lovely city that was actually open late! And Fremantle's shopping district is (gasp) open on Sundays.

There are a couple of flea markets that are only open on weekends, and these include fruit and vegetable sections, and a lot of crap you'd buy at the dollar store, and even a few little unique kiosks selling handmade goods.

I spent all of Sunday walking around the center, buying cool souvenirs for my souvenir program and checking out boutiques stocked with handmade designer wear. These were great, worthy of any independent designer clothing anywhere. I bought a T-shirt that I liked.

"Do you have another in the same size?" I asked the shop owner.

"You want two?"

"Yeah, well, if you see something you really like, you should buy multiples."

She laughed but didn't have another.

Back at camp, I organized and reorganized.

Tomorrow the car is going back to Europcar. I'll leave it at the airport, then I have hours to hang around.

If I can't find a reasonably priced lounge, I'll just go back to the city and use a Regus office. That's the company my office in New York rents from, and I'm entitled to use their lounges around the world.


I also have to worry about how much of my camping gear I can get on with my luggage limit.

I have 7 kilos to play with, but I also have a tent, mat, sleeping bag, coffee press, tarp, flashlight, whisk broom, and chair. I'll have the agent weigh the stuff at check-in and then start pitching things out.

Whatever I can carry will go to my friend Amanda who is coming to Oz the day I get to Sydney at the end of the month. She'll take the gear and camp with it before giving it to a charity shop.

I loved staying in my little tent. It's kind of inconvenient to take your house up and down all the time, and yes, it leaks a bit and blew away once, but it's such a cozy little nest, and best of all, it's all mine.

But tomorrow, I'll sleep on the plane, and then it's back to lodges. 

I'll miss my nest.