3-20 Driving from Perth to GraceTown

 Michael and I were concerned that we would be wiped out by a long day of flying from Phuket to KL and then KL to Perth Australia.  So we decided to break it up and leave our Phuket rental a day early.  We left Rawai in the early afternoon and arrived in KL late in the day.  We took a Grab to our apartment rental.  It was much further from the KL airport than we expected.  We thought the cost was so low - $55. USD because it was so far away.  But, we were surprised at how bad the apartment looked when we got there. And the smell was worse.  I don't think the apartment is used often so it smelled musty + like the sewer had backed up.   Next time we will just suck it up and pay the Suma Suma prices at the airport.  At least we know what the quality of the room will be like.  We had planned to stay in the apartment until the late checkout time - but, because it was unpleasant we left the apartment after showers and packing. 

That meant we were at airport world for a long time as our flight did not leave until the evening.  Since we were traveling business class we had access to the airline lounge.  Except no we only had access for two hours before our departure time.  We talked the attendant into three hours - then left to see where else we could go.  

We also have a priority pass through our Visa card.  So we figured out which lounges took the priority card and went there.  There they said we were limited to 3 hours before we would have to leave.  That would leave 2 hours in between to find a place to camp out. So we settled into the Traveler's lounge and had breakfast.  It was a small club, but the food was pretty tasty. Lisa, Tim and Nicholas arrived about an hour later.  They did the same as us and tried to get into the airline club - They were told they could come 4 hours before departure, but couldn't stay now.  So they came to the priority card lounge.  So we all had a good meal and relaxed for a while.

When it was time for us to leave the first lounge, we all left and went to the airline lounge.  They didn't blink an eye - and let us all in although it was early for all of us.  So we were able to relax.  And eat more.  Before going to our gate.

We landed in Perth at about 1:30am.  Went through passport and other stuff before catching our shuttle to our hotel.  Got there around 3am and all collapsed for the night.  Next day Tim went to get the rental car, we packed up and headed for Grace Town. About 5 - 10 minutes into the driveTim tried to adjust the Mirror - and it fall off.

Nicholas in the airport lounge.

Tim - driving on the wrong side of the car and on the wrong side of the road with a broken mirror.  He didn't want to go back to the airport - It would take a long time and they most likely would not have another vehicle as big as this one.  We barely got all our luggage into this one.  Tim has brought extra luggage because he wants to buy wine.  Indonesia where they live - in particular Sumatra is Muslim and has limited wine selection.

Meanwhile we headed towards Grace town looking up Hertz locations along the way.

We found a place in Busselton that had a Hertz representative.  But not really.  The person was never there.  The business was for something entirely different.  But they invited us in and let us all use their bathroom.  I only saw the one lady in the office. Tim called the Hertz office at the Perth Airport.  Hey - we can't help you - but they probably won't do a traffic stop on you for a broken mirror - Good luck mate!  

I'm not sure how the decision was made to go to a Nissen dealer.  They were close by - as this whole area of Busselton seemed to be the auto zone.  When we got there they could not have been nicer - but unhelpful.  No Mate, this is really strange - how did your mirror get broken?  But we can't touch it - you have to get Hertz to fix it.  But then the Nissen mechanic came out - I can't do it, but we send people to this glass and adhesive place and they fix stuff for our clients all the time.  

So off we headed to the Glass and adhesive place.  The guy came out and took a look at the mirror and said, - that's an easy fix Mate!   Less than 5 minutes later he had added adhesive to the pad and glued the mirror back up.

With the warning to be very gentle with it.  We have not touched it - and it has not fallen down yet.  Not sure how useful it is to drivers as it seems to be focused on the backseat passengers.

We made it to Grace Town and our rental and unloaded every thing.  Then headed back to Margaret River to go to the Gourmet cheese shop and the local grocery store - the IGA.  Loaded up with groceries we headed home to finally have something to eat since we had landed in the Perth airport so much earlier.

The house is comfortable, the view is fantastic and we will figure out how to live with one bathroom and 5 people!