Читать книгу Die Katze namens Mülltonne - Egon Harings - Страница 9

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It’s March, the sun is shining and it’s not as hot as it was in February. “Dear, I have a few days off next week. We could then drive south with our caravan to spend the days somewhere. Dustbin gets to know then our spacious caravan and gets a breath of other fresh air too.” “I agree”, Carla replies to Walter’s suggestion. “… I will take care of the necessary errands.” Thus a trip to Cape Leeuwin is planned. The highway leads to Augusta and from there to the Cape it’s only a few kilometers. In Augusta there is also a campsite that meets their needs and that they therefore want to visit.

It is early in the morning when they leave Perth. Carla had packed the car and mobile home the day before. The caravan contains the groceries that she bought for a few days of vacation and Dustbin, who has taken a seat by one of the windows of the caravan to see what is going on outside while driving. They are driving on Highway 1 to Bunbury. In Mandurah they make a short stopover, although they have not yet driven 100 kilometers. Carla had forgotten to buy something that she wants to buy now. After she ran the shopping on her own and came back with a full bag, Walter asks her: “What do you think if we leave the coastal road, go to Pinjarra, and from there take the Western Highway to get Bunbury?” “My dear husband, you know I love the ocean, so I’d like to stay on the Perth Bunbury Highway, which passes Lake Clifton and Lake Preston and grazes Yalgorup National Park. Maybe we can take a quick drive through the park to take a short break in Preston Beach.” “You forgot that we want to arrive in Augusta today”, Walter replies. “Oh, I really haven’t thought about that anymore. But let’s stop it in Margaret River. You know I love this place by the river. It is only a few kilometers from Augusta. So it should be possible.” “I agree. But let’s not waste any time and drive off, because there is still a long way to go.” And what Walter said is true.

They continue on Highway 1 to Bunbury. Here they leave this highway and continue south on the Bussell Highway. Dustbin enjoys the journey by sitting at the window in the caravan as before and watching everything that can be seen outside.

From Busselton, Carla would have liked to drive past the coast to take a short rest in Dunsborough, Yallingup or Prevelly. But Walter manages to persuade her to continue driving the Bussell Highway from Busselton in order to reach Augusta directly via Margaret River. – Behind Bunbury is the next larger town Capel and 10 kilometers further is Ludlow, the place that is directly on the Tuart Forest National Park. When they get here, Carla says: “I want you to stop for a moment so I can take some pictures.” “Dear, wait until Wonnerup; we can turn to Wonnerup House and you can take as much photos as you want. It’s worth taking pictures of the bush there, I promise you.” “Woe if that’s not true”, Carla replies with a smile. Walter doesn’t answer.

In Wonnerup they turn off the highway and are in a typical forest of the southern part of Western Australia. Walter stops, turns off the engine and gives Carla the opportunity to shoot as much as she wants. Carla gets out and takes this opportunity. She takes photos and surprisingly sees a kookaburra sitting on a branch not far from her. “Oh how nice to get the Laughing Hans in front of the lens”, she says quietly to herself full of joy and photographs this bird. Dustbin is watching her while looking out the window of the trailer. It would have liked to have taken the kookaburra between its paws, which it is denied because it has to sit by the window in the trailer and can only watch what is going on outside.

The southern area of the Tuart Forest National Park

The kookaburra, also called the Laughing Hans, is a bird from the kingfisher family. The Aborigines say that the tooth grows crookedly out of the mouth if you insult a kookaburra whose distinguishing mark is a loud laughter reminiscent of a distinctive voice that it uses to defend its territory. It starts its regular laughter in the early morning and late in the evening, which is why it now just sits quietly on a branch and does not make a sound. In the morning and in the evening it is always a quiet call from it that ends with a loud hysterical laugh. Then it waits with its tail erect for other nearby kookaburras to answer. But Carla does not see this spectacle now. It’s a shame, she says to herself, and goes back to the car that is only a few steps away with Walter, to get back in and continue the trip via Busselton towards Margaret River.

Busselton is behind them and they stay on the Bussell Highway, even though Carla would have loved to drive along the coast again. They drive through Vasse with the Newton House and the place Carbunup River, which lies on the river of the same name. – The Newton House, a limestone and iron house in the garden setting has cultural heritage significance as a fine example of one of the early farmhouses designed in Victorian Georgian style in the district. As one of small number remaining farmhouses from the 19^th century, it is valued for both its historic and aesthetic significance. It has close associations with the Abbey family who were early Colonial arrivals and farmers in the district. – On the further trip they see kangaroos. Of these jumping marsupials with small heads, weak front legs and long tails, which they use to lift their bodies while lingering, are located to the right and left of the highway. Some jump over the road using their very strong, elongated hind limbs, so that Walter suddenly has to brake. “What do you do? I almost crashed into the front window, because you braked so hard and suddenly”, says Carla loudly and angry after the sudden braking. “My dear, I had to do it, otherwise we would have collided with a kangaroo and that would have been uncomfortable for us, but also for the kangaroo.” “And Dustbin? Don’t you think of it?” “Dustbin will have survived the sudden slowdown. Maybe it already saw that I had to brake and acted accordingly.” Walter guesses correctly. Out of an inner feeling, Dustbin had moved away from the window and was already on the floor when Walter brought the car with the trailer to a stop.

After the village of Cowaramup, they reach Margaret River, where they make another stop, although Augusta is not far. The Margaret River region is known for its wines. Carla knows that. She often vacationed here with her parents, kayaking with them on the Blackwood River or visiting a winery with them, and her father liked to have a glass of premium wine then. Walter doesn’t like wine. He prefers to drink beer, and there is a Craft Brewery in Margaret River that he now plans to visit. The river and the town of the same name, which is 9 kilometers from the Indian Ocean, were named after Margaret Whicher, a cousin of John Garrett Bussell, who founded Busselton in 1832. In that year he was the first European settler in this area. Aborigines of the Noongar tribe lived here, who were actually not a single tribe, but consisted of 13 groups that shared a common culture and a similar language with some dialectal differences.

Jewel Cave Augusta with the longest stalactites in the world is a cave open to tourists and the largest show cave in Australia, which is located in the Margaret River region. It is 37 kilometers from Margaret River town, but only 9 kilometers north from Augusta along Caves Road. Carla visited the cave with her parents, Walter is now not interested in visiting. He is not at all interested in geological matters, although the Jewel Cave could also be of interest to him, because the rock formations in the cave, which are illuminated with soft light, are incredibly impressive for visitors. And that’s what he loves. A descent would also lead him through a long and narrow tunnel to the first huge cave and be a breathtaking start to the rest of the cave tour. He would also learn that an extraordinary find was once made in the Jewel Cave: the fossil of a Tasmanian tiger. But he doesn’t want to know any of that now when he drives into the small town of Margaret River.

From the Bussell Highway, near Memorial Park, Walter drives into the Willmott Ave and stops near Riverview Tourist Park at Warperup Creek. “So, my dear, we’re going to take a break here and have a beer in the brewery that I like while Dustbin stays in the trailer. But before we go we will give it a treat and pour water into a bowl so that it has something and doesn’t have to languish.”

Carla and Walter get out of their car, take a few steps to the trailer and Walter opens the door. Dustbin has already been waiting, sits in front of the door and meows when the door is opened. Walter pats Dustbin, goes to the window, where it likes to be and pours some water from a bottle into the bowl that is there, puts a treat on the floor and says softly: “So, my dear little animal that should be enough for you for now.” “Do you think so?” asks Carla, who has also entered the trailer to see whether Dustbin is well looked after. “Yes, my dear”, Walter replies, “… I think so, because we won’t be away for long and Dustbin has time to look at everything that is going on outside, from the window, its favorite place while driving, as I suspect.” “Still, poor kitten”, says Carla, bends down to pat Dustbin, too, before she leaves the trailer with Walter.

In Walter’s preferred brewery, they drink a cold beer, talk about this and that and watch what is happening on the street. “It’s a shame we didn’t drive into Busselton”, says Carla suddenly, “… then we would have seen something of the place that became market town in 1837 after John Bussell and his family had built a country estate there a few years earlier, which John called Cattle Chosen. Nobody knows why he called this country estate Cattle Chosen. Little by little, in any case, neighbors settled there; they expected great economic benefits from the abundance of wood in the nearness.” “You know a lot about Busselton”, Walter replies, and takes a long sip from his beer glass. “Yes, I visited St. Mary’s Anglican Church there with my parents, the oldest stone church in Western Australia. This church was built by the first settlers in 1843. John Bussell also found his final resting place in the church’s graveyard. There are many old buildings in Busselton that I would have liked to see again, such as the limestone Prospect Villa, built in 1855 and used as the town hall. One of the first settlers lived in this building for a long time. Today in this building on Victoria Square you can find many objects from the history of the city that the visitor can see, and unfortunately I’m not such a visitor now … And in town there is also Wonnerup House, the foundations of which date back to 1836, while the central part of the building was destroyed by fire in 1840. The building in its current form dates from 1859 and is also open to visitors. The builder of this house, George Layman, was stabbed to death by Aborigines in 1841. Today a stone plaque reminds of this.”

After some minutes Walter says: “My dear, enough of Busselton now. Let’s enjoy the beer, of which I am unfortunately only allowed to drink one glass, because today we still want to reach Augusta unscathed and with several glasses of this delicious liquid I couldn’t guarantee that. By the way, in Busselton I would have liked to visit the House of Sea, the Underwater Observatory and the old butter factory, which is now a museum. Unfortunately that wasn’t meant to be. You see, I know Busselton too. But now I also know that it’s time to leave. So finish your glass. Dustbin is already waiting for us, and it certainly wants us to continue on our way now to reach Augusta in the light of day.” Carla just nods, finishes her glass while Walter pays. They then leave the brewery in a good mood to continue their trip towards Augusta.

The next place they reach is Witchcliffe that located a few kilometers south of Margaret River. Witchcliffe cave, this name was recorded by a surveyor in 1900. The town was built around the timber industry. For Carla and Walter, however, this town is no place to make another stopover.

Shortly before the village of Karridale, however, Walter suddenly stops. Carla had only had one look at the landscape after leaving Margaret River, a landscape that she loves, that brought back many memories, that took her back to the time when she and her parents were on vacation here. Walter had taken no notice of the landscape, he had just watched on the highway to see what was going on there. “What are you doing?” asks Carla aloud when she is torn from her daydreams by Walter’s sudden braking. “My dear, I had to stop, because an emu is standing in the middle of the highway as if to say, this road is mine, you have no business here.” Only now does Carla look ahead and see the emu, which does not budge. “But there, look there at the edge of highway, there is still another emu”, said Carla, surprised to see two emus that she did not suspect here in front of Karridale. Large birds are also an attraction to Dustbin. It would like to run towards them to scare away these ratites despite their size. Now Dustbin is sitting in front of the window in the trailer and can only look to one side to see what is going on outside. And nothing happens there. Only the landscape can be seen, which is boring for Dustbin. It would have liked to see what Carla and Walter are seeing. However, it is not possible to look ahead. It meows, but nobody hears it. An animal life can be sad. Dustbin feels the loneliness and no one is there to eliminate it. Carla and Walter don’t know anything about how their cat feels when they watch the two emus. They like the sight of the wildlife that attracts their attention.

An emu on the edge of the highway

“But we can’t stay here forever”, says Walter after a few minutes, “… and we can be happy that we are alone on the highway, otherwise there would have been trouble if we had blocked the traffic for so long. The emus have had enough of us too. It’s a miracle that they didn’t leave the highway when they saw us coming and even stayed where we still see them. Let’s see, when I start the engine again, they’ll run away for sure.” And so it is.

Only a few minutes later, Carla and Walter reach Karridale. It is a small township located just north of Augusta. Old-Karridale was destroyed by fire in 1961 and rebuilt not far away again. In 1884 Old-Karridale consisted only of a timber mill, built by Maurice Coleman Davies, who was born in London in 1835. Later then, he emigrated with his family. His new homeland became Western Australia. He saw the potential from the large virgin forest of Karri trees in the area. Carla and Walter now also see enough Karri trees as they drive on to reach Kudardup in just a few minutes.

Kudardup is a locality on the Bussell Highway that in March 1961 was devastated by bushfires. In the 1940 and 1950s the local community was an area where farmers were able to work on the War Service Land Settlement Scheme as well as successfully run dairies. Soldier Settlement Scheme was the settlement of land throughout parts of Australia by returning discharged soldiers under schemes administered by the state governments after the World Wars. Carla knows how this locality came about and who the first settlers were here. But now she doesn’t want to think about it. Her thoughts are already in Augusta, where she and Walter intend to spend a nice few days at Flinders Bay Holiday Park. Of course, Dustbin should also enjoy the days they will spend there.