Perth, goodbye Betsy
Trip Start
Mar 30, 2008
1
115
144
Trip End
Mar 31, 2009
Perth,
Western Australia,
Australia
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Monday 15th December - Perth, Operation 'Sell the Beast'
We drove Betsy straight into Perth and to the City Library where we had been told the internet and Wifi was free again. It was a stunning library and the Wifi was so good we could connect from outside in Betsy, so avoiding city centre parking fees! We spent a while chasing leads and placing ads on Ebay and other local car sales places. This took ages so when done we were cream crakered and ready to find somewhere to life for the next couple of nights that had a shower and hopefully a pool too. So headed out to the wine growing region of Swan Valley just outside Guildford.
We missed the Big4 campsite we were aiming for and ended up in Swan Valley Caravan Park
Christmas Carols on arrival in Guildford
. Without looking first we booked two nights at $36 per night. Later we found that this was $8 more than the Big4. Worst still it appeared we had been put with the 'Brady Bunch' in a corner of the campsite well away from the 'normal' people. Forest Gump also greeted us as we arrived at least he was sociable. Alex went back to ask for a refund for the second night, but was promptly referred to the conditions so this is where we were stuck for two nights. At least there was a pool and we could have hot showers. Tuesday 16th December - Perth, Betsy is sold
The plan today was to get up early and clean the car for all the interest we were hoping to have. Suddenly there was a sense of urgency as we had just received a call from someone who wanted to view the car and they would call us back when in the area in around 2 hours. We flew into a frenzy of polishing, lacquering, dusting and sorting. Tasks made slightly more difficult as the Forest Gump guy, Brett had decided to take a day off work seek and was obviously needing someone to talk to or at. After over two hours I wondered why we hadnt heard and was gutted to find my phone had become turned off in my pocket! I phoned him and unfortunately after trying to get us he had left the area, we set up a viewing for Wednesday and collapsed in a heap
Festive...
. By sheer good fortune less than an hour later we had a call from a group of Irish travellers who wanted to see her. We met up with the Irish guys in the afternoon and after having a good look at Betsy we agreed on a price and received a deposit. We were over the moon the first people to look at her and she was sold and at a good price too, we were preparing to have to settle for less. Jubilant we headed to Midland Gate Shopping Centre to go into the DPI (Department of Planning and Infrastructure) office. They deal with all the licensing in WA and gave us all the necessary paperwork to make the sale and transfer the ownership. Afterwards we went food shopping and took Betsy back to the caravan park to celebrate with a fillet of Barramundi, prawns and bbq'd veg.
Luke the local prankster informed us that although he was driving he was actually banned while we talked about wine. He was strange one distancing himself from the rest of the Brady bunch, yet firmly deserving a place within!
Wednesday 17th December - Perth, handing over 'Betsy'
Things today went really smoothly with the sale of Betsy
Betsy scrubs up well to sell
. The Irish guys were a little late as it wasn't quite as straightforward as they hoped getting their money out. When they arrived the money was all as it should be and after filling out the paperwork to transfer the car into their name they drove Betsy away. As this had already taken a while we headed into Perth to deposit the money and have a look around. Unfortunately this was easier said than done. Many banks now will not transfer money to overseas unless you are a customer. Westpac again however came to the rescue and after carrying out a 100 point security check we had our money heading back to the UK. Before heading home car-less we had a look around the art gallery where the had a special outdoor display of images taken of the earth from height.
We then got the train and a taxi back to our campsite and settled down to a night on the floor of our tent as we had sold the car with our lovely soft mattresses.
Thursday 18th December - Perth, Fremantle, hassle with Rego
Today the plan was to spend the day and perhaps evening too in Fremantle
Guildford visitor centre in old court house
. So we ordered a taxi, as we were now car less, and got the train from Guildford. On route we popped into Perth city library and took another look at the photos of Earth from above before the usual internet and email session. During our library visit we received a phone call from the Irish owners of Betsy to let us know we had a left a mobile phone under the CB on the roof console. Doh! So now we had to dash across Perth to pick it up. When we did we saw Betsy had Western Australian Plates already. The system here is very confusing and I wont go into it other than to say that each state has slightly different rules on how to get a car registered. Its a minefield really and when we ask the guys how they got on they said they had to queue from 6am to get the car tested. The test was true Mickey Mouse involving checking the lights and a drive around the block! They did say though that they couldn't claim back the unused 10 months of Victorian Rego. Thinking about the possibility of topping up the bank balance with the Victorian Rego we finally arrived in Fremantle around lunchtime. We phoned up Vic Roads and they explained that if we had a receipt for the plates that were handed in we could claim our rego. We didnt and the Irish guys said they hadn't either, as this could be worth $400 we made our way back to Midland to the WA licensing office. After queuing for an hour they told us the Irish guys had a receipt and they couldn't print us a copy! Thanks WA licensing. Fortunately apart from lovely beaches Fremantle was quite similar to Southampton (in summer), including having a major commercial port, so we didn't feel we had missed anything there.
We called it a day and headed back to our lovely new campsite at Aspen Parks Big4, so much nicer than another evening with the Brady Bunch. Glad though that this should be our last night of limited sleep on folded up clothes for a mattress.
