Ouch!

After our one night in Mount Magnet, Charlie and I set off the next morning for Newman – around 7am, but not before getting a lovely walk in along the highway! Charlie is now officiated into the realm of proper bush dog having walked on the red earth and rolled in dead kangaroo – cheers Charlie, exactly the smell I was hoping for in the car on the six hour drive to Newman.

Once we arrived in Newman we were a bit early for check in to our unit so I decided I’d do a wee shop in Woolies and get some more bits and bobs in preparation for my time out at Parnngurr. I was a bit suss about leaving Charlie tied up outside the shopping centre but I had no choice. Leaving him in air-conditioned Big Bessie also worried me a little. Anyway off I went and Charlie sat like a good doggie. NEXT MINUTE…

A random man came up to me and said “I think your dog has just got out of his harness..” at which point I didn’t need to hear any more as I literally dropped my bundle and ran out to where I had left Charlie. OMG Alysha at Bankwest in Newman – what a gem. She managed to grab him and then said; “I’ll take Charlie into the bank with me where he can have some water and where it’s nice and cool so then you can finish your shopping.” To which I responded slightly aghast at the awesomely animal friendly Alysha; “Are you sure? I mean…IN the bank?” “Yeah sure, it’s no problem. Come on Charlie.” So off he trots and off I go back into the supermarket to literally pick up where I left (my basket) off. I think his paws were burning in the sun. Naughty, careless me. It wasn’t sunny when I left him but obviously the sun had other ideas. I was also later told by my new boss (an insane dog lover like me) how stupid I was to leave him as anyone could have stolen him. True. He is very steal-able due to his gorgeousness and when I left him I did feel bit uneasy about it. Lesson learnt. All’s well that ends well and Charlie has another entry for his soon-to-be-published book: My Silly Mummy Whom I Adore.