Friends, a repair and a useful addition - Perth, WA

Days 65-69

We stopped in Perth for a few days, staying with some very generous friends. We’ve visited Perth many times before, so there was no need to do the touristy things - instead, it was a welcome chance to catch up with our friends and get a few important jobs done.

We rolled into their driveway, planning to stay over the long weekend (and possibly a bit longer). It was wonderful to see Kath, Eric, Emma and Matthew again, and to finally meet their four‑legged family member Barney - who seemed to like us but spent a fair amount of time barking at us just in case. We’d also had a couple of parcels delivered to their place, including my physical driver’s licence, so that long‑running saga is officially over.

For the first time in just over two months, we slept in a house. It felt a little strange, but having extra space, a large bathroom and a washing machine was undeniably nice.

Rather than sightseeing, we filled our days with beach walks, ocean swims, good coffee and brunch, and enjoyed a fun night out at a Fremantle brewery by the water, finished off with gelato. Kath also cooked us a fabulous roast dinner and sent us on our way well‑stocked with fresh produce from her garden.

Stephen took advantage of being somewhere with power, a clean workspace and a ladder to tackle a job he hadn’t had time to do before we left - installing shore power to Izzy. This means that when we’re in a caravan park, we can tap into their power supply rather than relying solely on our own. As with all jobs like this, it took longer than expected and involved working outside in the rain, but it got done - and it worked. Success! We tested it a few days later at a van park and were very happy with the result.

Our final challenge while in Perth was dealing with a damaged windscreen. We’ve travelled plenty of rough dirt roads, but it was a truck on a main bitumen highway that flicked up a rock, leaving us with a large chip and spider cracks. Naturally, this happened at 4.45pm on the Friday before a long weekend.

Huge thanks to Merredin Glazing Service, who had a look just before closing and fitted a temporary patch to see us through. Because of the long weekend, nothing else could be done until Tuesday, but we were able to confirm with our insurer that a full replacement was covered.

First thing Tuesday morning, we headed to Wayne’s Windscreens. Given the roads that still lay ahead, they recommended a full replacement rather than a repair - a sensible call. We fully expected to wait days but were delighted to discover they had a windscreen on hand. Isuzu vehicles are popular in WA, particularly in the mining sector, so they’re well equipped.

While the work was being done, we Ubered to Westfield, saw a movie (Hopper - an animated film that was fine… we didn’t have a lot of choice at 10am on a Tuesday), had lunch, and returned to a brand new windscreen at no cost to us.

With that sorted, we gave Izzy a well-deserved clean inside and out and were free to move on again.

The very next day, we pointed Izzy north and continued the journey. Hooray!