Around the West in 90-Odd Days: Days 72-74 (13-15 Sep) Tales & Legends of Rockingham

We spent four days in Rocky, and found it a picturesque place of fascinating history, intrigue and hidden treasure. Maybe literally. Legend has it there is a hoard of gold hidden somewhere here; one now long deceased Harry McCoy allegedly said there was enough gold buried in East Rockingham to drive a man mad and that it would be found under a circle of stones. Given the number of ships wrecked or plundered on this section of coastline, it is just possible. Perhaps this is why our caravan park neighbour was trying out a new metal detector on site. Then again, perhaps he was just searching for lost tent pegs.

We took a tour of HMAS Stirling, Australia’s largest Naval base, because, well, I know a guy who knows a guy. Located on an island of pristine beaches, awesome military boats, forests and fields of arum lilies, inhabited by tammars (and tiger snakes), this is a great place to visit. Except that, you can’t very easily. Sorry about that, but, it’s who you know.

A photographic highlight around Rockingham was the old abandoned power station. Sitting on prime ocean frontage real estate, this monolithic structure is the grunge version of Pride & Prejudice’s Pemberley. A developer’s dream, if it weren’t for the asbestos. In the meantime, it remains a photographer’s and graffiti artist’s dream, and a security nightmare due to safety issues. Asbestos notwithstanding, it is stories high and riddled with holes; a photographer fell to his death there just a few months ago. The staircases have since been removed and additional fencing erected, but it remains alluring to all who see it. We dutifully remained safely outside the fenceline.

Wandering along the beach one afternoon we heard screams in the sky above us, and lo and behold, when we looked up, it was raining men. And a woman – she was the one screaming. For just a few hundred dollars, you too can have the privilege of leaping out of a plane 14,000 feet up, 60 seconds of freefall all inclusive. We watched the skydive beach landings, and the guy who had the job of guarding the beaching landing zone – marked with orange safety cones – to keep it clear of pedestrians. His main but futile task seemed to be preventing passing dogs from peeing on said cones.

We paid a visit to Rockingham Central - a large shopping mall - and got hopelessly lost, wandering in circles with our trolley of groceries trying to find the correct carpark exit, due in no small part to the fact that the “you are here” maps were installed back-to-front. We were, however, impressed with the high tech trolleys that lock the wheels at the carpark perimeter to prevent them going walkies farther afield.

There was again much coffee drinking, wining and dining, meeting up with work and photography mates of Dave, and dinner with other old friends (and new best friends!). A wildlife cruise was on the agenda around Seal Island (actually inhabited by sea lions), Penguin Island (closed for breeding season) and Bird Island. We were most fortunate to have a pod of dolphins spot us and come to play around the boat for a while. Due to lingering too long over one of the aforementioned coffee dates, we nearly didn’t make the cruise, having to phone ahead to advise we were still coming – please hold the boat! Yes, we were THOSE people, rocking up to board at the last moment when all other passengers are pre-loaded and waiting. We just tried to stave off the accusatory stares of our fellow passengers by feigning celebrity status. I suspect we failed.

Lastly, I have just a few things to get off my chest in regards to the caravan bumper saga, which now has a few new episodes. The caravan was booked - a month in advance - for a service and bumper replacement in Perth. Somehow they still did not have the correct bumper in stock. However, they did remove the old bumper; is this progress?

Dave duly decided to book the van into our local dealer back home; hey, we’ve already travelled half the country without an effective bumper. He decisively phoned the Canberra Office and set a date for late October. The next day, we received a quizzical call from the dealer, informing us their records indicate they already replaced our bumper on 7 July. Since we left town on 4 July, the circumstantial evidence was fairly strong that they had not. And even if they had, it still fell off, and therefore a replacement was still our due. Well, then, they’d need the old bumper surrendered. Fine, guys, but take it up with the dealer in Perth, who just removed it. If you want to freight a broken bumper across the country, be our guest, but we ain’t driving back there to strap it onto our van with rope again.

In the meantime, we still have a caravan spare tyre bouncing around with nowhere to bolt it, which is just a little inconvenient. Dave has suggested some monikers for our caravan – the “HMAS Bumperless” or “Spare me”.