Day 461 | Wungong Shelter: just having an easy, easier, day of it

33 km | Heading west total: 16,621 km

After yesterday’s tirade, well, today it all came good.

Happiness once again prevails.

No hills, basically a good, solid, lovely track. I’ve got here so speedily that I have even managed to dry out the whole wet camping catastrophe.

On the other hand, those who enjoyed my extended tale of Australia Post back in Broome in early October, when that stray parcel finally caught up after 5 months separation, may now enjoy another episode in minor bureaucratic frustration.

Being kinda clever back in Esperance I posted myself another parcel after the accumulation of bits that occurs when normally nomadic types assume the stationery lifestyle for a summer. This time I registered it so there would be a Tracking Number. Being ultra clever I neglected to retrieve it in Albany within the required time and instead thought I’d arrange to forward it on to an appropriate location once my wheels had finally stopped turning.

I rang to make those arrangements for our reacquaintance today from the single telephone box in Jarrahdale and found out precisely where it is currently located.

It’s in Limbo.

Yeah, that waiting zone somewhere between heaven and hell.

It’s somewhere on it’s travels to the great uncollected parcel cemetery, but it has been officially scanned and logged out of the Delivery System and hasn’t been rescanned and logged back in to the Mindlessly Abandoned Items System.

Hence it’s out in Never Never Land.

Should be rescanned by Day 475, ie, 2 weeks away. If I ring after it’s been relogged in I will then be able to redirect it to any location in Australia.

What about redirection now?

Not possible, that’s the system. Then 2 weeks delivery time.

That adds up to 4 weeks further separation by my calculations.

Yes, you could be right. (It’s even hard to be definitive with 2 plus 2 with our faithful postal service.)

I thought I could tell her about the use of computers these days and how that might improve the system, you didn’t need to lick stamps any more, or write letters with a fountain pen, but thought better of it. I guess they aren’t as busy as they used to be at Australia Post and this sort of work gives them something to do.

You might imagine that one 45 minute telephone call would suffice to resolve the issue but I guess I’ll work it out on the next call in 2 weeks time. By then I might have worked out where to send my work clothes.

The elements are conspiring to keep me out of work for a while longer.

But, of course, it’s my own fault for being so unbelievably clever.