Dongara on closer inspection turns out to be a rather attractive little seaside town with a definite sense of community. mingled with a holiday atmosphere. Situated behind the sand dunes that front the Indian Ocean to the west and bordered by the Irwin River to the south, the unspoilt surroundings have a windswept beauty. It is cloudy and distinctly chilly and fleeces are the order of the day. We are staying another day in here primarily to be able to call Amex again when the London offices open at 4pm local time. We spend a day dilly-dallying around town, browsing the few shops and taking a short walk on the seaweed-strewn beach which falls steeply into the sea and back into town along the shady and unspoilt bank of the river. On the sand dunes we pass a couple of women frantically looking for a missing child. We are about to offer to help in the search when the child is found and there is a tearful reunion.
We find a laundrette to do some washing and avail ourselves of two power sockets that are presumably provided for the use of customers, to charge our laptops. Just outside town there is a small wetland area behind the sand dunes which is very popular with the local duck population as well as several other species including a pelican.
At four we are back on the internet for another frustrating call to Amex. Despite their assurances yesterday, the claims team have not still not reviewed the claim and we seem to be no further forward. In fact, we have taken a few steps back as Amex are now saying that they will require sight of specific original documentation to support the claim. What exactly they can’t say at this stage. This setback is all the more frustrating because all the documentation was faxed to the Amex Assistance in Sydney back in Novemer and we were assured that it would be forwarded to London and that the claim would be paid on the strength of what we had supplied. Now we must wait for Amex email later today details of the documents they require.
While we are logged onto Skype, Mike calls from his office in Leeds – the first time he has found us online since he signed up to Skype in early May. By what chance is it that he happens to be logged on at 9.30 am … in the office? We have a short chat before he is called away to a meeting.
Back to the camp area we stayed at last night with a van load of wood collected along the way. A fire is the only way to keep warm on these cold nights and there is something rather special about sitting under the stars watching the flickering flame dancing and crackling . Tonight we are on our own.