Paraburdoo

Wednesday:  I am SO out of place here!

It all started at the Perth airport.  Qantas has its own terminal, which is divided into a ‘normal’ area for interstate flights; and a roughneck area for the regional flights.  Mostly dressed in work clothing, shaved heads, goatee beards and wrap around sunnys, hard drinking rough types before they even get called aboard.  The 200 minute flight on a Qantaslink B727 was rough in the air too as we travelled into 32C territory.  I felt so sorry for the young male flight attendant who got harassed all the way here.  On the ground, all these 4wds with their antennas and orange flags  and flashing globe on the roof.  My Thrifty rental Camry is so understated.

The Thrifty lady gave me exact instructions to find the pub where I am staying.  Very easy to follow:  they took me straight to the Emergency Department at the Paraburdoo hospital!  I booked in finally in the public bar … and the lass quietly suggested I might like to have dinner in the lounge rather than in the bar.  She was right.  The motel style rooms are in prefab type blocks;  clean but ever so basic.  Main thing is that the aircon is working!

Paraburdoo is a Rio Tinto town – quite small, nicely laid out with green lawns and very wide streets. The shopping centre is an IGA grocery, newsagent, post office, milk bar and council offices  Opening hours seem to be geared to mining shifts.