So we have had the second coming of Kevin 07. If he does not fall off his ego again, maybe he will do a better job this time. Who knows, who cares!
The state of origin is now 1-1. That should make game three worth watching. While we wait for that we have Wimbledon to keep us amused.
The two local teams played a derby tonight on the oval beside us. No idea who won, but the after party in the club rooms is 'going off'! The music is great, all the old classic rock legends and an occasional Neil Diamond one for good measure. I have turned down the sound on Wimbledon to listen. Himself just came in to complain that they are playing his most hated song! Poor love, but never mind it will be finished soon then he can go back to enjoying the free entertainment.
Moving south tomorrow which will put us into another communications black hole for however long it takes us to reach Derby, probably a couple of days unless we come up against flooded creeks or road damage, then it may take longer. We have extra water, fuel and food in case.
Friday, June 28, 2013
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Wednesday...26 June 2013
So we have sat here for nearly three weeks, just resting up and enjoying the nice warm weather. It is now time for us to move slowly south. Just one small problem. South of us got 209 mm of rain a couple of days ago and there are road closed signs all over the place due to flooding!
On the positive side of things, we are not under water or bogged to the axles in mud, which we would have been had we moved any earlier, but it sure is going to make the journey south interesting. Here is a picture of the road south. We all know the water will disappear as fast at it arrived but it leaves a lot of damage behind that needs to be assessed and repaired. It also takes time for the land to dry out and go hard again. We will need to be careful and not get off the bitumen as the sides of the roads will be extremely boggy.
For the last couple of days there was a collection of fifth wheelers here and I have dubbed our impromptu gatherings the Kununurra Fifth Wheel Club. It has been a good opportunity for the exchange of information between people who actively travel and live in their vans. One bloke broke something under his van and has been waiting for nearly two weeks now for replacement parts from Sydney. He heard this morning they have arrived in Perth and will be on the next truck north. He was so excited, we hated bursting his bubble by telling him the roads are closed!
On the positive side of things, we are not under water or bogged to the axles in mud, which we would have been had we moved any earlier, but it sure is going to make the journey south interesting. Here is a picture of the road south. We all know the water will disappear as fast at it arrived but it leaves a lot of damage behind that needs to be assessed and repaired. It also takes time for the land to dry out and go hard again. We will need to be careful and not get off the bitumen as the sides of the roads will be extremely boggy.
For the last couple of days there was a collection of fifth wheelers here and I have dubbed our impromptu gatherings the Kununurra Fifth Wheel Club. It has been a good opportunity for the exchange of information between people who actively travel and live in their vans. One bloke broke something under his van and has been waiting for nearly two weeks now for replacement parts from Sydney. He heard this morning they have arrived in Perth and will be on the next truck north. He was so excited, we hated bursting his bubble by telling him the roads are closed!
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Sunday...23 June 2013
So the circus came and has now gone. Himself walked to the shops and the big top was up and there was a performance on and when he got back not even an hour later the show was over, the big top was down and folded and some of the caravans and assorted other vehicles had already gone from the site. No doubt about it, time is money and this lot sure have it down to a fine art. Their rhythm and organisation is extraordinary.
We had a busy day ourselves yesterday.
We started with a trip to the local Saturday morning markets and on the way home we noticed another fifth wheeler making camp so we went for a look. There are now four Cruisers and five fifth wheelers all up in this one little spot. We were invited to stay for a cuppa and much laughter and information was shared. Then after lunch some came to our place and we chatted all afternoon about the various things each of us has done with our vans. This was followed by happy hour with our immediate neighbours who have a Winnebago. At last I have seen inside one of them too! Its a shame the folk next door are so nice, it means I cannot say rude things about their Winnebago.
We had a busy day ourselves yesterday.
We started with a trip to the local Saturday morning markets and on the way home we noticed another fifth wheeler making camp so we went for a look. There are now four Cruisers and five fifth wheelers all up in this one little spot. We were invited to stay for a cuppa and much laughter and information was shared. Then after lunch some came to our place and we chatted all afternoon about the various things each of us has done with our vans. This was followed by happy hour with our immediate neighbours who have a Winnebago. At last I have seen inside one of them too! Its a shame the folk next door are so nice, it means I cannot say rude things about their Winnebago.
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Thursday...20 June 2013
So the circus has come to town!
They are in the gymkhana grounds next to us. We can see camels, alpacas, horses, cows and apparently they also have cats! Hmmm I wonder what sort of cats that would be. Today they put up the big top so I guess there will be a show either tonight or tomorrow night. Might get noisy.
Our little camp is becoming quite crowded. The annual migration is obviously in full swing as more and more people and vans arrive each day, all excitedly going somewhere of interest to themselves.
I heard yesterday that soon there will a round of the WAFL (West Australian Football League) played under lights on the oval beside our van. The locals will enjoy that one. They really like their footy.
Went down town to book a tour of the Argyle Diamond Mine, however the two staff in the booking office were both on the phones and although we waited, and waited, and waited some more they never did finish their calls, so we gave up and left! Maybe just as well, it might have been expensive!
They are in the gymkhana grounds next to us. We can see camels, alpacas, horses, cows and apparently they also have cats! Hmmm I wonder what sort of cats that would be. Today they put up the big top so I guess there will be a show either tonight or tomorrow night. Might get noisy.
Our little camp is becoming quite crowded. The annual migration is obviously in full swing as more and more people and vans arrive each day, all excitedly going somewhere of interest to themselves.
I heard yesterday that soon there will a round of the WAFL (West Australian Football League) played under lights on the oval beside our van. The locals will enjoy that one. They really like their footy.
Went down town to book a tour of the Argyle Diamond Mine, however the two staff in the booking office were both on the phones and although we waited, and waited, and waited some more they never did finish their calls, so we gave up and left! Maybe just as well, it might have been expensive!
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Wednesday...19 June 2013
For the third time in less than two weeks they are mowing the show-grounds oval. It took someone an entire day of stop start work last week to mow it. Just the oval, not the surrounds as well. I did comment at the time that I would not hire that person to cut hay on a farm. Then earlier this week they mowed it again and I thought that perhaps they were using this oval as a training course for mower operators but no, here they are back again, round and round they go, so far two hours and it is still not done. And they are using a ride on mower and not a push one! Why do I comment? Because today they started at 6.59 am!
Such enthusiasm and dedication is to be admired.....from 30 km away! Sadly for us they are only 30 meters from our van. I do know that the local agricultural show is in July and no doubt some of this is preparation for that and it does get a bit warm in the middle of the day here but if they are going to use this space as an overflow caravan park, a bit of thought would make for much happier campers!
It is hard work keeping the eyes closed when the sun gets up super early but having a mower going is like having an alarm that you cannot turn off, you cannot even push the snooze button on it. Bugger! Gonna be a long day!
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Saturday...15 June 2013
Moving day....except we changed our minds and stayed for a little bit longer.
Yes I know I said it was hot but it is so easy to slip into some old habits and getting used to the heat was one of them!
Its sort of winter here, the day time temperatures have dropped into the low 30's and the night time is under 20, which means we can sleep so apart from it being dark by 5 pm there really is not a lot to complain about.
And tonight we may be part of a bit of Kununurra history and see the very first game of football played under the brand new lights which have been installed and adjusted during the week here at the Showgrounds.
Yes I know I said it was hot but it is so easy to slip into some old habits and getting used to the heat was one of them!
Its sort of winter here, the day time temperatures have dropped into the low 30's and the night time is under 20, which means we can sleep so apart from it being dark by 5 pm there really is not a lot to complain about.
And tonight we may be part of a bit of Kununurra history and see the very first game of football played under the brand new lights which have been installed and adjusted during the week here at the Showgrounds.
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Wednesday...12 June 2013
Golly it is warm here. Yes I know I used to live in this sort of environment but somehow I have grown soft in my retirement and am really feeling the heat. Early morning is nice, cooler than the middle of the day anyway, and once the sun goes down it is more bearable. It is just that four or five hours in the middle of the day that stings a bit! We have been just sitting, reading, doing crosswords, playing games on the computer and admiring the view outside our air-conditioned caravan!
The cost of a caravan park is much higher in the west than over east but we are seeing a rapid rise in park fees around Australia. The parks quote higher operating costs and we have no doubt there is some truth in this as the price of utilities such as power and water rise, but we feel they are pricing themselves out of the market. They grumble and groan because people are using free bush camps more than caravan parks, but the people are doing this because they cannot afford the fees charged by the caravan parks everyday. Catch 22. The parks say they have to charge more because they are not getting the customers, the customers say they cannot afford the parks because of the price increases.
There are one or two parks that have lost us and we will be passing the word to others as we travel and this is because we were charged extra for being a big van. There is still only two people in this van, we do not use any more power or water than anyone else. We do not have any facilities or fixtures that are not in other caravans in fact I can think of a couple of things we do not have that they do and some caravans are actually longer than us if you add the length of their draw bar into the equation and yet we are now being charged more because we supposedly cost a caravan park more to have us stay.
From here on we will be saying no thanks to any park with that policy and if necessary we too will free camp in those areas.
Might be time to start looking for that "paddock"!
The cost of a caravan park is much higher in the west than over east but we are seeing a rapid rise in park fees around Australia. The parks quote higher operating costs and we have no doubt there is some truth in this as the price of utilities such as power and water rise, but we feel they are pricing themselves out of the market. They grumble and groan because people are using free bush camps more than caravan parks, but the people are doing this because they cannot afford the fees charged by the caravan parks everyday. Catch 22. The parks say they have to charge more because they are not getting the customers, the customers say they cannot afford the parks because of the price increases.
There are one or two parks that have lost us and we will be passing the word to others as we travel and this is because we were charged extra for being a big van. There is still only two people in this van, we do not use any more power or water than anyone else. We do not have any facilities or fixtures that are not in other caravans in fact I can think of a couple of things we do not have that they do and some caravans are actually longer than us if you add the length of their draw bar into the equation and yet we are now being charged more because we supposedly cost a caravan park more to have us stay.
From here on we will be saying no thanks to any park with that policy and if necessary we too will free camp in those areas.
Might be time to start looking for that "paddock"!
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Saturday...8 June 2013
Saturday already. Where did the week go? Oh well never mind maybe I will find it hiding around a corner somewhere next week!
Big day today. We packed up and left Katherine by 9 am and headed off with a plan to go to Timber Creek, but we had such a good run we were there before lunch and decided it was way too early to stop, so continued with a new plan to stay in a free camp half way between Timber Creek and Kununurra. You guessed it, the thing was full and it was still only mid afternoon, so we decided to head to Kununurra and then realised that we were about to get 1.5 hours extra time by crossing the border into WA which meant we were arriving just after lunch instead of mid afternoon, so 509 km later here we are in Kununurra. This meant we got an extra hour and a half in our day but it also meant we had to wait that extra hour and a half for happy hour!
Passed a nasty accident during the afternoon. A road train cattle truck had somehow tipped over the back trailer and whilst the driver seemed to be shaken but unhurt, sadly some of the cows were not so lucky. Very distressing.
On a lighter note we got the usual Welcome Home at the border quarantine station. The lovely people who work there always say that when they see a WA number plate. I look forward to my little welcome reception.
We are parked up at the local show grounds and got a treat this evening with a round of the local football being played on the oval beside us. One of the Kununurra teams played a team from Halls Creek. The home team won.
Big day today. We packed up and left Katherine by 9 am and headed off with a plan to go to Timber Creek, but we had such a good run we were there before lunch and decided it was way too early to stop, so continued with a new plan to stay in a free camp half way between Timber Creek and Kununurra. You guessed it, the thing was full and it was still only mid afternoon, so we decided to head to Kununurra and then realised that we were about to get 1.5 hours extra time by crossing the border into WA which meant we were arriving just after lunch instead of mid afternoon, so 509 km later here we are in Kununurra. This meant we got an extra hour and a half in our day but it also meant we had to wait that extra hour and a half for happy hour!
Passed a nasty accident during the afternoon. A road train cattle truck had somehow tipped over the back trailer and whilst the driver seemed to be shaken but unhurt, sadly some of the cows were not so lucky. Very distressing.
On a lighter note we got the usual Welcome Home at the border quarantine station. The lovely people who work there always say that when they see a WA number plate. I look forward to my little welcome reception.
We are parked up at the local show grounds and got a treat this evening with a round of the local football being played on the oval beside us. One of the Kununurra teams played a team from Halls Creek. The home team won.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Thursday...6 June 2013
A funny thing happened on our way out of town today.....
We came to Darwin last week to visit Himself's sister and her family. We checked into our usual caravan park at Lee Point just down the road from where his sister lives and works.
On arrival we did a walk around the caravan park as is our 'thing' and noticed that there was a half dozen other fifth wheelers in the park. One of them was not real close to us, but it was in our view whenever we went outside. Nothing unusual in that. They were even towing their fifth wheeler with a nice gunmetal grey F250 and every time they drove past us they tooted and waved. One of those fifth wheeler acknowledgement things.
So today we had just finished packing and hitching ready to leave Darwin when the owner of the other fifth wheeler walked past us on the way to the little shop at the office. I said to Himself that I thought the bloke looked like someone we used to know. He shrugged and wandered off for a bathroom break prior to departure. While I was waiting this particular fellow came back past us and stopped, looked at our number plates and said to me, "so what part of the west are you from?". My reply had him taking a backward step with his jaw dragging on the ground!
He is a very tall, football playing, plumber who used to employ one of my son in laws in the north west town that we spent so long in. Small world. We had heard these folk were out on the road but what odds would you give to them being in the same caravan park in Darwin as us when we have not seen them in probably 20 years. We had a lovely quick catch up chat before hitting the road an hour late!
We are now back in Katherine for a couple of days on our way to the west. Tomorrow I must cook up a storm to use all the fruit and veg we have on board so that we do not have to hand it over at the border crossing at Kununurra.
Today on arrival at this park we went for a dip in their pool. It was very hot and I found a little pool just perfect for the non swimmer. Apparently this is called a spa. I like spas! All those bubbles, just like in my wine! Not keen on bathroom spas but I want a back verandah spa, the sort that has its own lid to keep out the bugs and leaves.
We came to Darwin last week to visit Himself's sister and her family. We checked into our usual caravan park at Lee Point just down the road from where his sister lives and works.
On arrival we did a walk around the caravan park as is our 'thing' and noticed that there was a half dozen other fifth wheelers in the park. One of them was not real close to us, but it was in our view whenever we went outside. Nothing unusual in that. They were even towing their fifth wheeler with a nice gunmetal grey F250 and every time they drove past us they tooted and waved. One of those fifth wheeler acknowledgement things.
So today we had just finished packing and hitching ready to leave Darwin when the owner of the other fifth wheeler walked past us on the way to the little shop at the office. I said to Himself that I thought the bloke looked like someone we used to know. He shrugged and wandered off for a bathroom break prior to departure. While I was waiting this particular fellow came back past us and stopped, looked at our number plates and said to me, "so what part of the west are you from?". My reply had him taking a backward step with his jaw dragging on the ground!
He is a very tall, football playing, plumber who used to employ one of my son in laws in the north west town that we spent so long in. Small world. We had heard these folk were out on the road but what odds would you give to them being in the same caravan park in Darwin as us when we have not seen them in probably 20 years. We had a lovely quick catch up chat before hitting the road an hour late!
We are now back in Katherine for a couple of days on our way to the west. Tomorrow I must cook up a storm to use all the fruit and veg we have on board so that we do not have to hand it over at the border crossing at Kununurra.
Today on arrival at this park we went for a dip in their pool. It was very hot and I found a little pool just perfect for the non swimmer. Apparently this is called a spa. I like spas! All those bubbles, just like in my wine! Not keen on bathroom spas but I want a back verandah spa, the sort that has its own lid to keep out the bugs and leaves.
Monday, June 3, 2013
Monday...3 June 2013
I take my hat off to all those who live full time in the Top End. It is definitely not for me.
At this time of the year, Darwin with a slight breeze blowing is a lovely place. It is cooler without being cold and warm without being too hot or muggy. Every time I sit outside to enjoy the breeze, every insect for miles around comes to chew my tasty skin! Yesterday even the green ants tried to get in on the fun. I am covered in itchy bites. Time to find the antihistamines!
We went into town to the Mindl Markets last night. It is always good to see these markets. I like to find a spot to sit and just watch the mix of people that come and go past me. After a few visits the stalls feel a bit stale but the sheer number of them is astounding and the array of food stalls certainly get the taste buds doing overtime.
On Thursday we had tea with Himself's sister and then on Friday we met her for lunch and on Saturday she had us over for a bbq with some of her family. Yesterday we popped in for a short visit on our way to the markets and watched a bit of AFL on the television with them. Himself's mob really like their football.
At this time of the year, Darwin with a slight breeze blowing is a lovely place. It is cooler without being cold and warm without being too hot or muggy. Every time I sit outside to enjoy the breeze, every insect for miles around comes to chew my tasty skin! Yesterday even the green ants tried to get in on the fun. I am covered in itchy bites. Time to find the antihistamines!
We went into town to the Mindl Markets last night. It is always good to see these markets. I like to find a spot to sit and just watch the mix of people that come and go past me. After a few visits the stalls feel a bit stale but the sheer number of them is astounding and the array of food stalls certainly get the taste buds doing overtime.
On Thursday we had tea with Himself's sister and then on Friday we met her for lunch and on Saturday she had us over for a bbq with some of her family. Yesterday we popped in for a short visit on our way to the markets and watched a bit of AFL on the television with them. Himself's mob really like their football.
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