30/08/25 Travels With Pillow

"Oh no!"  Roger stared in dismay at his pillow which should have been neatly tucked in the storage shed but was, instead, snuggled up with its motel fellows as we packed our bags for the plane. "It's my favourite pillow and it's only 10 years old too! Now ill have to leave it behind. Woe is me!"

My pillow had pulled a similar trick bit I'm harsh: no way am I taking a manky 10 year old pillow to Perth and onward to Europe, even if it did fit it in my baggage.  It's brand new baggage I might add, and we're still learning its capabilities. A light bulb pinged in Roger's head.

"My bag expands! I can fit my pillow in there and it doesn't matter if the bag's bigger because I'm checking it in anyway."

So he did, which was a lot easier to say than it was to achieve.

We got on a plane and flew to Perth which was quite the thrill as I hadn't been to Perth for 25 years, and never by plane. Clouds dulled the thrill somewhat but I did manage to catch a glimpse of the Klein Point limestone quarry and port as we passed the Yorke Peninsula;

the pink salt lakes dotted across the bottom of the Yorke;

and, one cryptic crossword and a cardboard meal of bangers and mash later, the coastline of Western Australia just east of Esperance.

Wheat and canola patchworked the wheat belt of Western Australia in green and gold, dotted with water in every depression. A delicate tracery of watercourses linked salt lakes of myriad colours and little houses snuggled in clumps of trees, joined by a spider's web of roads. 

Flying west, the day stretched with us until we landed in Perth's late afternoon while Adelaide was already putting its children to bed.

Our flat in Fremantle, while grubby and unprepossessing on the outside, was more than adequate on the inside. Out in the street, Fremantle partied hard on a Saturday night. Inside, Roger's pillow exploded from his bag as soon as the zips were released. Having already gone through his ritual testing for mattress firmness and back compatibility, Roger settled gratefully into bed. "The mattress is good, but best of all I've got my own pillow!"

I have a suspicion that this pillow will follow us all the way to the other side of the world.  And I may be just a little bit envious of that.

Gratuitous photo of Fremantle Railway Station, just because.