Turn Left at the Kangaroo
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (381739)
Rockingham, Australia
February 13, 2017 9:41pm CST
We've had two Taiwanese people staying with us in Donnybrook, Western Australia. The mother doesn't speak English and the daughter has stayed with us before, about five years ago. Like many travellers, they are on a limited budget. They belong to a group called couch-surfers, as we do, which means they can stay with other couch-surfers for a night or two (or more by arrangement) at little or no cost.
It looked for a while as though they might want to stay for a whole week whereas the original arrangement was for one or two nights. Anyway other couch-surfers near Walpole responded to a request on the website and was happy to have the girl to stay. I don't think the mother was mentioned.
We took the pair three hours south of us to meet their new host. On the way we visited several tourist attractions including the Tree-Top Walk, the Giant Tingle Tree and the Diamond Tree Lookout. At the entrance to the 'new' hosts' place was this kangaroo made from scrap metal.
The folks looked a bit stunned when four of us got out of the car so we hastened to assure them that only two were staying. As we chatted, it turned out the people had recently moved from our old home town to a lovely secluded farmhouse near Walpole.
One is a furniture-maker/wood craftsman and the other an artist. We might be able to get them a small exhibition of their work in a winery where Vince exhibited his photos. What a small world it can be!
26 people like this
27 responses
@JudyEv (381739)
• Rockingham, Australia
15 Feb 17
Of course, now we know these folk lived in our old town for 10 years, they have turned up on FB pages as 'friends' of some of our friends.
@JudyEv (381739)
• Rockingham, Australia
14 Feb 17
It is also a good way to get to meet local people and experience a little bit of life in the particular area.
@andriaperry (118793)
• Anniston, Alabama
14 Feb 17
It is a small world! I love her work!
3 people like this
@lovinangelsinstead21 (36847)
• Pamplona, Spain
14 Feb 17
I like the Kangaroo Art thing lovely. How about that you meeting up with those people and having those guests too it must be really entertaining to have people like that (couch surfing.
2 people like this
@lovinangelsinstead21 (36847)
• Pamplona, Spain
15 Feb 17
@JudyEv
It must have been very interesting though.
1 person likes this
@silvermist (19701)
• India
14 Feb 17
@JudyEv That is something special to make from metal.Were the Taiwanese people too were taking plenty of photos ?
2 people like this
@silvermist (19701)
• India
14 Feb 17
@JudyEv That is one great thing about smartphones.You can take photos whenever you want.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (381739)
• Rockingham, Australia
15 Feb 17
@silvermist It's amazing what technology can do nowadays. The same photos can be on FB in an instant.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40843)
• Laguna Woods, California
14 Feb 17
@JudyEv - Being able to couch surf sounds like a wonderful way to make travel affordable. I'm glad you were able to take your guests to their new host. The metal kangaroo is very cool.
2 people like this
@DeborahDiane (40843)
• Laguna Woods, California
15 Feb 17
@JudyEv - I'll look forward to it.
1 person likes this
@Happy2BeMe (99353)
• Canada
15 Feb 17
@JudyEv I love stuff like that. It is so cool.
1 person likes this
@Gita17112016 (3611)
• Trinidad And Tobago
14 Feb 17
First I am hearing this term 'couch surfers'...pretty interesting concept. Are you not afraid of the risk of letting the wrong people stay in your home? I mean I like and appreciate that this is a simple but cost effective way of travelling, but how do you select who will stay with you?
I like your post. I have learn a lot from it. It is a good 'share'.
2 people like this
@JudyEv (381739)
• Rockingham, Australia
14 Feb 17
There is a website where you can put references for each other. Then, when someone wants to come and stay you can check them out. The website does a couple of checks too when you first join. It doesn't suit everyone but we've had good experiences from it.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (381739)
• Rockingham, Australia
15 Feb 17
@Gita17112016 Couch-surfing is a world-side organisation. We've mostly had people to stay but when we were in Germany we were hosted by some people.
@Gita17112016 (3611)
• Trinidad And Tobago
14 Feb 17
@JudyEv Wow...so do you use this method to travel? In Australia or outside? My niece is just telling me about some people who do 'house swapping' as a means to travel cheaply too.
1 person likes this
@TheInvisibleMan (17594)
•
14 Feb 17
I've never seen a kangaroo in person in my life. 
I'm crazy to meet one. 
I'm crazy to meet one. 2 people like this
@TheInvisibleMan (17594)
•
15 Feb 17
@JudyEv Yeah, but I mean... I want to be very close to one. 
1 person likes this
@allknowing (153544)
• India
14 Feb 17
And the mouse is bringing us altogether too.
2 people like this
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
14 Feb 17
gotta love making connections and turning those into new connections, hehehe!
2 people like this
@sueznewz2 (10409)
• Alicante, Spain
14 Feb 17
it is a small world ... lol I like the metal art work ... 
2 people like this
@teamfreak16 (43567)
• Denver, Colorado
14 Feb 17
If you hadn't said "kangaroo," I would have thought it was the roadrunner from the cartoons! 
2 people like this
