The goodbye as usual came with plenty of hugs and the usual feeling of pessimism at leaving behind a new friend or 5, and excitement at the new journey about to unfold. Speaking of which Nadege had given her no to Helen to pass on to me, which made me kinda happy, she had previously not given me her no saying we should just leave it and let fate decide, it seems fate had decided, only I wouldn’t get to see her for long, she had rented a cottage for a few days and I would be sleeping in the same town but only for one night as I had to rush back to Perth for another tour I had booked. Still at least I would get to see her again, which is more than expected when backpacking.
The plan was to head to Pemberton, and take in a few sights along the way. Again we went through the Karri forest and I got another look at the giants, then we headed south and along the coast to view a lighthouse just off the far south west corner. Then it was a lot of driving. I sort of conked out for a bit, got comfy, typed, read, showed off pictures etc. as we cruised along to visit Pemberton and the great Gloucester Tree. The tree is ancient just like the forest surrounding it, and it’s a 60 metre climb which when you reach the top means you can see the forest for miles around, and that just so happens to be the purpose of the platform at the top, used a fireman’s lookout to spot forest fires in the distance.
After hopping up the tree and hopping back down, we went back to the little town and off to the backpackers. We all piled out of the bus and into the office, which I had presumed was the same backpackers that Nadege was staying at, no cigar, the had never heard of her, then it transpired there was another backpackers that also dealt in cottages and it was in the town we just came from. Fiona our guide dropped me back at the other hostel and I found the cottage after much confusion and finally was let in by Nadege. I think what I was feeling was nervous, having only met the girl once before and about to spend the night at her cottage, it was at least a new experience. I said as much to her and she confessed to feeling a little the same, I then announced I was hungry, as I often do when I can think of nothing else to say, in any case it is almost always true.
Nadege didn’t have a lot of food but there was enough to make some pasta sauce, if only we had the pasta. Time for a pasta hunt, surely even in a town this small we can find some pasta, the shops were shut, and there were no small shops. Right then, no pasta, hmm. On the way we talked, about her life and mine, about our plans for the near future and the subject of dance came up, as did past men, for her not me. On the way back to the cottage we went past a café, at which point I figured they gotta have some pasta, it may be an odd request, excuse me can I have some raw pasta, but they gotta have it. Surely! So we went in and asked, “excuse me, do you have any raw pasta?” after an odd look and a moments contemplation, who knows what was going through her head at the time, I’m assuming something to do with madness, she went out the back and got us a packet of raw pasta, success! She charged us exactly what it cost her, wouldn’t hear of it being any more and sent us on our way with loads of pasta and an amused smile.
I learned a fair amount about Nadege, and I guess now I should include a rough description: she is blond, a head shorter than me, wears glasses, was a nurse back home and was taking time off to explore some of the more remote parts of Australia, I love her French accent, and she kissed like a demon, a very sexy demon that is. I wont give you all the details of the evening, my sisters are reading this blog, and so is my mother, however I will say that I cooked up some lovely pasta whilst Nadege looked through my photos, and then we went to bed and watched a film about Monsters and Aliens having a random war, with Reese Witherspoon playing the lead monster.
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