Monday...29 December 2014

Zip bags!
Someone told me once that "Ma there ain't nothin you can't put/store in a zip bag". Well you know what? She was right.
I am addicted to zip bags. I go into meltdown if I feel I am running out of them. Last year, Himself bought me a carton of them at Costco, bless his heart. I reach for a bag when I have left overs or when I cut a piece of cheese and need to store the rest of the block. I put salads in them. I put all my bulk meat into freezer bags and then seal them in a zip bag to prevent freezer burn. I use them to take food to other people's places so that I do not have to remember to collect my container. I just transfer it into their container on arrival and that makes it fuss free for me, and I do not even have to do the washing up later, they do! The more I pack into zip bags the more I can fit in my caravan fridge.
On moving day, I make a peanut butter sandwich, in a zip bag. Once we clear what ever town we are leaving and have open road in front of us, I break out the zip bag and we each have half of the sandwich. For Himself it is morning tea, for me it is breakfast and then the used zip bag becomes today's rubbish bag. I put it in the door storage beside me and put all the days rubbish in it and then when we arrive where ever we are going I take it with me when I exit the car and put it in the bin. So easy!
God bless the inventor of zip bags.
Side note: I wish it was me who invented them, cause whoever did should be very very rich. They do say the simplest things are the best ideas.

Friday...26 December 2014

Well that's another Christmas done and dusted.
Weather was good. Food was superb (I cooked it, so of course it was good!). Company was the best and included the new grandchild having her first ever Christmas. A most successful day.

Saturday...20 December 2014

Cake is made, gift shopping is done. All that is left to do is buy the groceries for Christmas week and Christmas Dinner and I am ready.  I still have some gifts to wrap but that will not take long. The dinner menu is decided and the shopping list for it is written. I have a half baked plan of what to do and when to get started on the day so should have it all sorted. That said, of course there will be something that does not work out just quite right but Christmas wouldn't be the same without a hiccup or two now would it?
We have alternated our days with baby sitting, baby cuddling and visiting with friends and family. Is there any more perfect way to spend our retirement? I think not!
Merry Christmas everyone. I hope you get everything you need and a little of what you want.

Tuesday...16 December 2014

Himself made our Christmas cake today. It takes 4 hours to cook and the smell is heavenly. I know you can buy a cake much cheaper than making one from scratch but the home made with love variety tastes so much better.
While he was cooking I did some washing and then spent the next couple of hours chasing it around. Today was very windy and my sheets were blown up onto the daughters roof and on another gust over the neighbours fence. That was when I gave up trying to keep them out in the wind to dry and unpegged them and took them inside, dry or not. Enough was enough. My sheets are the dirtiest clean linen I have ever seen!
Apparently there was a huge cold front moving over eastern Australia this afternoon which has now passed us by. Maybe tomorrow we can put our awning back up. Thank heavens it is electric. The weather here has been really erratic and our awning has been in and out more than we have!

Thursday...11 December 2014

When I woke up this morning I was all alone. This is worth mentioning because it is a very rare occasion where Himself gets up before me. Apparently he had a restless night and finally gave up and moved to the couch and did his tossing and turning there.

It is quite windy today. It was also windy last night. I have things rattling and banging all around outside but when I went to investigate I could not find a single thing out of place. Not sure now what is making all the noise. There is a tree out there but it does not seem to be making contact with the caravan. Quite baffling. The road and grounds are covered in a carpeting layer of leaves that have been blown out of trees during the night but the trees are still firmly upright for which I am truly thankful. Every so often the entire caravan shakes as yet another serious gust hits it. The internal roads are mostly gravel and the wind is sending clouds of dust along them making it look like surf rolling in at the beach. The birds are holding their own but most are walking on the ground. Flying is only for the daredevils today!

Tuesday...9 December 2014

Been there, done that, back again! Nice day in Echuca, but here we are back where we started from. While we were gone someone made a certain tent disappear. What a shame, we must have missed the going away party! What will I have to bitch about now?

Monday...8 December 2014

So the caravan park we are staying in has a 60 day policy. You can only stay 59 consecutive nights then you must leave for at least one night. We were not due to have our one night out until New Years Eve! We decided to bite the bullet and do our 'go round' today which will allow us to relax and enjoy Christmas.
So here we are on the banks of the Mighty Murray River in Echuca and wouldn't you know it, the only person here we know has gone to Melbourne for the day.
Never mind. It is for one night only and we have done all the touristy stuff here on previous visits so we will just sit, relax and listen to the paddle steamers leaving port with yet another load of happy tourists.

Saturday...6 December 2014

Started planning the Christmas Day menu this morning. Numbers will be small so am trying to work out a scaled down version of the normal "works". Himself will cook the cake next week. The fruit for it has been marinating now for nearly 8 weeks so should be well soaked. Instead of making a cake and a pudding with the mixture as normal he has been asked to make a second cake for the new baby's christening in the new year.
I am thoroughly fed up with this cold we have. We have hit it with everything in the cupboard from pills to good healthy eating and still it lingers. Every time we think we have it beat it comes right back again. Maybe it is a Christmas Flu......the gift that keeps on giving!

Tuesday...2 December 2014

Well I am not better but I did not die either so I suppose the news is all good. 

The bus people were only tricking! The bus was on loan and the owner took it back thus leaving "the girls" homeless. Nil desperandum. They went out and bought a tent! This will be interesting. Two grown adults and a small child in a tent for the summer. It is going to take a lot of ice to keep all their drink cold......Still tent row is away from our immediate area so we have our serenity back. For now!

Sunday...30 November 2014

So surprised. The bus people have left us. I woke to the sound of their music and thought to myself golly you are a bit early this time girls, but then I looked at the clock and discovered I had actually had myself a bit of a sleep in and they were not that early after all. Shortly after that, they and their bus departed. Just when we were about to ask them to dinner too.....NOT.
It is time for us to make our next payment to the office and we had been debating just how long we could put up with them for neighbours and what our options were if they stayed much longer.
Lets hope whoever gets that site next are the usual couple of days visitors or at least someone who has a better understanding of caravan park living!
Himself is still coughing up a storm and after feeling wonderful for a couple of days I have got up this morning with a nasty cough and do not feel too flash. Living in a caravan sort of confines all those germs to a small area, thus making sure that everyone in that area shares the toxic air. I have tried to get Himself to go to a doctor but he will not go. I have come to the conclusion he will see a doctor one day.....in the morgue!
Being ill is not something we do very well. We are both horrible patients. Full of advice to others but completely ignore that same advice when it comes to ourselves. In the meantime I guess we can push fluids, eat lightly, rest and try not to share our bugs with too many others.
I am off to take my aches and cough to bed. See you all again on the other side of this dark cloud!!!

Friday...28 November 2014

So this Black Edlerberry seems to work. I started taking them as soon as I knew I was in trouble and one day later I already felt much better. All I have now is horrible muck running down the back of my throat and a slightly snuffly nose, but the aches and pains and the cough are all but gone. Himself is still coughing a bit but is no longer moaning and groaning.
We got to see the new grandchild again yesterday after having put ourselves into quarantine when we took ill. She is doing very well.
Surprise news today, we have visitors coming tomorrow. Another daughter and her two grown boys are coming to visit. Officially it is to see us but we all know it is to see the new baby! They are fitting in a quick trip before harvest keeps them closer to home.

Tuesday...25 November 2014

Well I was wrong about the bus people, they were just busy organising themselves a car. They are so pleased with the result they celebrated!!! I do hope they get a house soon. I am not sure my ears are up to a whole summer of that noise.
Meanwhile, Himself is a loving, caring, SHARING sort of bloke. After 8 days of him being sick and miserable and me waiting on him hand and foot he is on the mend.... but not before passing his bug on to me!
For a moment I thought maybe this is a good thing. Maybe he will soothe my brow and fetch me all sorts of goodies to tempt my jaded appetite and tell me to rest while he does all the washing and cooking and cleaning for a change. Then there was this unholy row, (coming from the sound system in that blasted bus), and I woke up and the dream faded into darkness. Reality is so shattering some days. If this bug kills me it will at least stop the noise from the bus so I guess it is win win!

Monday...24 November 2014

Himself is still not well. For every bit of feeling better in one area there comes a whole lot of aches and pains or snuffles in another part of him. He is a bundle of misery.  Codral and some super strength antibiotics we had have not cured him although they did clear up his infected sinuses which has made breathing much easier. Yesterday he bought some black elderberry from the chemist. One of the residents of the caravan park told him a surgeon she knew recommended them. The box says it will cut the life of a cold in half. Always worth a try! He is so unwell we cancelled our weekly outing for dinner with his family. I have had a scratchy, sore throat and a ticklish cough for a couple of days now too. Last night before going to bed I gargled with a strong salt solution. Tastes awful but the throat was not so sore this morning.  And to cap it all off, as if being all achy and miserable was not enough, the weather has gone all grey and miserable too! We are having showers and wind gusts and earlier this morning a large part of the town lost power after a big clap of thunder and it is expected to be out for some time so I guess there might have been a lightning strike with that clap of thunder.
Now that the swap meet and caravan show have passed, most of the campers have left, leaving space around us again. Even the bus people have gone quiet....for now!

Sunday...23 November 2014

Sitting at my computer early in the morning while I wait for Himself to wake up is a great time to watch the comings and goings in the caravan park. The variety and sub species are endless!
Some folk forget they are on holiday and are up at sunrise, maybe they do not want to miss a minute of this precious time out of their normal routine. Those with no where to go and all day to do it are more relaxed and take their time getting their day started.
Men head for the shower block with a towel slung over their shoulder and a cake of soap in their hand. They are gone for only a short while. The women will appear with a couple of carry bags in hand and are mostly gone for quite some time. Now I do not mean to denigrate the ladies, to be fair some of them have probably put the washing on and stopped at the camp kitchen to cook bacon and eggs for their men who sit coffee cup in hand, reading the newspaper, while waiting for their breakfast to be served. One might see a rough and ready male but the women never wander around unkempt. The children on the other hand just take a quick dip in the pool and that sets them up for the day. Sort of like a communal bath for all the kids in the park!
Lets not forget the exercise brigade and the puppy walkers. The fit and keen do laps of the park in many forms. Some take a gentle stroll, while others power walk or run. Wears me out watching them! The variety of dogs on display is amazing. The maltese & shitzu are by far the most popular breed with the retired caravanner. The spaniels, heelers, border collies, poodles, labs and retrievers all appear regularly. And yes we have met people travelling with their cats. Some even have them trained to walk in a harness and they go walkies just like their canine friends. Budgies and other small birds seem to like travelling too.
When moving day arrives, there are two distinct species. The quiet and very organised type and the loud look at me and by the way I haven't a clue what I am doing variety! The second set are an endless source of amusement both arriving and departing. Somehow, no matter how inept they are, they all manage to find the front gate and head off on another days travel. Those left behind will adjust the awning, tighten some ropes, wander around and inspect each others rigs and have a bit of a chat while waiting for the missus to get done with her housework so they can go out for the day.
There is a whole heap more I could say on this subject but I should get my own housework done so will return to this theme another time.

Saturday...22 November 2014

Oh my aching legs!
Getting to the camping expo was easy, just a couple of kms down the road, easy to read signage to locate the parking area and plenty of parking attendants to keep the traffic flowing and the parking under control.
Getting into the actual show was another matter.
The first day of a well advertised and popular three day event, no advance purchase tickets, the entry queue snaked back into the very large car park, and they had two out of eight ticketing windows open. A long slow walk in the sun with no shade just to get into the event, AND the drinking water was inside the fence! I did have my hat on but I could feel the exposed parts of me burning. Oh well, lesson learnt. Bring your own damn drinking water.
There was plenty to see and do. All the usual bits and pieces that make camping that little bit more bearable. We got a simple little folding wind break for our single burner gas ring. This will be very useful as using it even in a gentle breeze is frustrating and while the carry case it comes in can be turned on its side to create a wind break, it too blows around in a breeze.
Lots and lots of caravans and camper trailers. I am always fascinated by the camper trailers.  They are very clever with what they build into these. Seriously, some of those are nearly bigger than our caravan once they are fully folded out and all the extra awnings and stuff are put up. And not only do they have the kitchen sink but yesterday we saw one that came with portable air conditioning! Another caravan had three tv's, one of which was a 60 inch screen! Brilliant! Necessary? Probably not!
I love going to these events but after a while it all becomes sensory overload. So many displays and so much colour and variety. You walk and walk and when you stop for a break you realise you have only seen half of the whole thing and that there is several more hours of walking left to take in the entire thing. When my legs were at screaming point I sat down under a tree and let Himself wander around a bit by himself. It was probably the most fun he had all day!
I wondered how Himself would go with his cold but he was determined to find it a new home or kill it off with exercise. I do not think he has succeeded in either direction but he is definitely on the mend. Today is expected to be quite warm so doing very little is a good idea. We can use it as recovery time for us both.

Friday...21 November 2014

We are off to the Nomad Muster today. This is what our children call a Caravan and Camping Expo! Probably will not find anything we want but it is always good to see what new things have come on the market to make our life as wanderers more comfortable. Not sure how long we will last.
Himself is still unwell with a head cold that has migrated into his chest too but he is determined to go. I am feeling a bit ordinary myself. I am hoping it is lack of sleep after an extremely muggy night and not the early stages of Himself's bug. If there are bugs going around we are sure to meet all of them in today's outing! We are usually disgustingly healthy and this is probably aided by our nomadic life. We rarely venture into large crowds or places that could spread disease. Still a 'muster' is an event we cannot miss.

Tuesday...18 November 2014

Himself has the snuffles! This is serious stuff.  If you ask him to tell you where it hurts, his reply is that it is easier to say where it does not hurt. Sounds like he has a head cold. He went out during the weekend, just him and 20 thousand of his close friends packed into the one big event and he says he did not buy anything but I am thinking that he came home with a little something for free!
He has made it to happy hour so I guess he is not on his last legs yet. Maybe the alcohol will kill the bugs. Stranger things have happened!

Saturday...15 November 2014

Now look here Boss Man, you know I am not a happy camper when You send the wind and rain and thunder and lightning at night time. I am not happy not being able to see what is making all that noise out there in the darkness! My scardy cat levels go through the roof in the dark. They are not improved by the sound of Himself laughing at my nervous twitching!
I thought that after all those years of sitting through cyclones in the dark You would cut me some slack in my retirement and send this noisy stuff in daylight so that I can see what is happening around me. I am much braver when I can see what is happening. It is raining, there is continuous thunder that goes on and on and on. The weather mob say it will have passed by the morning, I do hope they know what they are talking about!. I do not mind rain, we need it any time we can get it in this arid continent of ours, I do not like getting it in the dark while I am in a tissue thin caravan. As soon as there is a drop of rain or a hint of a breeze my mind starts flashing like a set of kids learning cards with graphic pictures of the damage that has been done to caravans during nasty storms. There goes another nights sleep!

Thursday...13 November 2014

Golly it was warm today.
Things are heating up in the caravan park as well. We have two ladies who appear to be in a relationship in a bus a couple of bays down from us. They start drinking around morning tea time and stop late at night. In the meantime they play music very loudly! Today someone told them to turn the music down and they did.....for a little while then cranked it back up. I was outside and the music was rocking their bus and their outside furniture and I decided to take a walk to give my ears some rest from the volume. I was not too surprised to notice that they were sitting in the camp kitchen quite some distance from their bus watching the tv, which surprise surprise was turned up real loud! So there we are having to put up with the noise of their music and they are not even "home"!!
Personally I am all for slashing their tyres, but that would mean being stuck with them for heaven knows how long! Lets just hope they move out sometime soon.

Tuesday...11 November 2014

Remembrance Day.
Well mum and baby came home yesterday. This is remarkable as baby was expected to have to stay a bit longer having arrived so early but she has astounded the paediatrician by being the first premmie he has seen who never lost any weight post birth, She has settled well at home and is happily drinking and sleeping.
I would be doing the same but apparently drinking enough to fall asleep is not considered good form for an old granny!

Saturday...8 November 2014

My how time flies when your days are a blur of shopping, visiting and hospital trips. Saturday already and it feels like only yesterday we were driving the long haul to get here.  Baby continues to make good progress and is cute as a button (of course!). Mother is well and father seems to be in the land of muddle. I am not sure what causes this mindless muddle that some new fathers manage to create around themselves. Are they in meltdown trying to cope on their own at home? Is the reality of fatherhood overwhelming? Are they burning the candle too far trying to be superdad and have every thing done and ready for baby and mum to come home? Do they too go days without proper sleep as they continue to support their partners in a caring sharing role? Whatever the cause I am sure they love it when their world settles back into a more natural rhythm after baby comes home.
The weather right now is good. Mostly warm to hot days and pleasant evenings so I have been able to put the extra blankets away and only use a doona again. Bring on summer.

Tuesday...4 November 2014

Its a girl!
Much excitement and drama and of course we missed it all! Our tenth grandchild was born yesterday. Baby was not due for another month so she caught everyone by surprise. We were an 8 hour drive away in the next state and could do nothing but pace the floor of our caravan with mobile phone in hand waiting for the intermittent updates.
She is in the special care nursery and we can only look at her from a distance. Very frustrating for her parents who are desperate to have their precious bundle in their arms. For now we are just grateful that she is being so well cared for and that with a spot more "cooking" she will be just fine.

Thursday...30 October 2014

Cootamundra.
We have never been here before and it is a pretty little town.
The local caravan park has new owners and they know how to make a person feel welcome! The caravan park is very green with plenty of trees and lots of lawn areas. Right now the weather is glorious and we have added extra days to our one night stay just to enjoy this lovely spot.
Next to the caravan park is a council park that has something called The Captains Walk. It is a walk around the park past busts of every Captain of the Australian Cricket team since the team began right up to the present day. As each new captain is chosen a new bust is commissioned to add to the walk. Each bust has a plaque detailing the period of their captaincy.

This no doubt happened originally as a way to commemorate a local legend. Sir Donald Bradman was born on 27 August 1908 at a private hospital here in Cootamundra before the family moved to Bowral.

Wednesday...29 October 2014

So yesterday we went 50 km down the road to a town called Junee.

First up we went to the licorice factory. Great place. Very good guide who really knew her stuff and delivered it interspersed with liberal handouts of either licorice or chocolate samples. By the time we got done I am sure everyone had eaten more than the entry cost in free samples. All the licorice is organic. And the chocolate is Belgium, I even bought a packet of licorice tea, which I am yet to try but they say it helps with respiratory problems. Himself got some take home licorice and I got lucky in the gift shop, it also sells Crocs and had some nice new styles available.....lucky me!

After lunch at the local bakery we went to the Junee Roundhouse Railway Museum. This is still a working train service centre which in its heyday employed more than 300 workers. There are 42 bays. some of which are open to the public and the train turn table is still in use and we were lucky enough to see them turning a loco on it yesterday.

In the section open to the public, there is a variety of locomotives ranging from steam to diesel to modern electric, all of which can be walked in on or around to inspect. The rest of the bays have carriages of different eras from basic seating to first class sleepers.

Today we went 60 km west to Temora. We visited the Temora Aviation Museum. The big difference with this museum is that every plane actually flys. Himself had a nice time walking around the exhibits. We even survived sharing it with not one but two bus loads of school kids!

Monday...27 October 2014

Isn't this pretty? It is the Cootamundra Wattle.
Today we left Condobolin and travelled to Forbes and then down through Grenfell to Young and then to Cootamundra. We have not been this way before. There was a couple of rough patches on the road but on the whole it was good. Even the emus thought it was worth crossing! It was very windy all day and we often had small bits of trees blowing across the road and dropping onto the rig as we passed and by the time we stopped for the day we were being blown all over our half of the road. I was pleased to finally arrive and get off the road.
The country looks wonderful, paddock after paddock of cereal crops so thick you feel you could walk over the tops without touching the ground. The area is mostly flat but with a few slight rises which are good for scenic views of the area.
The welcome was warm and a free sausage sizzle for happy hour was great. Most people in the park participated and there was very lively chatter. We found out that there is a licorice factory in the next town only 50 km down the road so have decided to stay an extra night and do a day trip tomorrow to take the tour of the factory. Himself is extremely partial to licorice!

Thursday...23 October 2014

First day of harvest today, Himself went to lend a hand. The header mechanic finished the pre season overhaul service yesterday and it was decided that today they would give it a run and start stripping the oats....if the weather held up! Not sure what is happening out the road, but we have had thirty big spots of rain here in town. Mind you that was all we got. Now it is steamy and cloudy but still quite dry.
I have taken the opportunity to give our little house a complete spring clean and tidy up while I  have a clear run at it without Himself getting in my way. I sorted and put all the winter clothes into one of those bags you seal with a vacuum cleaner and they are now tucked away in the under bed storage until they are needed again. I mopped and vacuumed and shook and polished every thing I could reach. I even defrosted the fridge! The smell of a freshly cleaned house is so nice.
When I get my puff back I will cook up a few bits to go in the freezer. Pre cooked meals are a huge help when you are tired from a long days travel. While I have been here, I shared my lemonade scone recipe with Himself's aunt and she liked the results. In return she made a super yummy boiled fruit cake. We are always spoilt when we come to visit.

They saw another snake out at the farm this week. This time it was a big black snake right near the main entry to the aunt's house. It went in under the house so they are hoping it is not planning to stay for the rest of the summer.

Saturday...18 October 2014

Today we went out to the farm. 

Himself was lending a hand to enlarge the cattle yards when he happened upon a rather large snake devouring a slightly smaller snake. Now that is a sight you do not see every day. The small one was about a third of the way down the throat of the big one. Neither of them were happy to be interrupted. I would have thought the half dead one would have wanted to give Himself a great big hug. Maybe that was why it climbed up the handle of the shovel! Rather pleased to note that Himself had all the appropriate PPE. They were put back in the bush at a healthy distance from the cattle yards.  Cannot have them scaring the cows that are being yarded tomorrow. 

I of course will be watching every step I take for the next few months regardless of where I am, be it town or country! Oh and of course I will also have numerous nightmares for the same period of time.  

Thursday...16 October 2014

Another damn headache!
Visiting relatives in NSW. Now that the rain has stopped, the weather is glorious. But.....
The television here is nothing more than 30 second bites of whatever is supposed to be available interrupted by consistently annoying pixelation and the accompanying sound crackling, the internet runs at the speed of a dying sloth and mobile phone reception is a science fiction idea created for the enjoyment of city folk only!!!!
Come on Australia, why are we not doing better than this!
These people pay taxes too and what's more they grow our daily bread and milk and even the meat in your takeaways. They pay more for food and fuel, they are lucky if they have access to medical help. Yet we continue to treat them as second class citizens and leave them waiting for years for services that out here could honestly be life saving and life changing.
Grrrr. Not right, not fair!

Thursday...9 October 2014

Warm, blessedly warm.
Today we left the land of constant cold and moved north into the land of warm. By the time we return, the cold country will be into summer and the sun will be shining again there too. Yesterday I had the heater going flat out and today I am sitting next to a fan.
Being able to hit the road and follow the sun is the number one bonus to our lifestyle.
Last night there was a lunar eclipse and it sure was pretty special.

Saturday...4 October 2014

Well we survived the big blow.
Did get rather hairy there for a while and I was watching some very big trees do an lot of bending and am still amazed that all of them stayed upright.
Now it is time for turning the clocks forward to begin Daylight Saving over here on the east coast of Australia. Never have been a fan of the event and I have a much loved relative that calls it "Ratbag Time" and you know, I think he is perfectly right. The sun gets up, the sun goes down, altering the clock is only mucking with the natural rhythm of life.
But in half an hour the clocks will alter regardless of what I do or do not do.  And there they will stay until sometime next year. I guess I had better get used to it!

Tuesday...30 September 2014

Don't come knocking if the van is rocking!
Save your blushes, this is no where near what the old saying used to mean. There is some serious wild weather around us with wind gusts that have the van bucking worse than a bull at the rodeo. Himself says all is well, I am shaking like a leaf.
Just how long can the trees around us keep their feet firmly planted in the ground with severe wind squalls hitting non stop? The birds are hiding under the caravans having given up trying to fly! Dirt and dust is being blown everywhere, I can see several mini dust storms crossing the park in different places. The noise is vaguely familiar, bit like an oncoming train that just never seems to arrive, hmmm where have I heard that description before?
At least it is daylight and I can see around me. I have an excellent view of the rubbish and personal belongings being blown around the caravan park. I guess the time to worry will be if I see any of the caravans moving without being attached to a tow vehicle.
Perhaps today would be the time to build a kite?

Saturday...27 September 2014

Grand Final Day. Rather special to be in Victoria for grand final day. Our teams were not playing but it was still great to watch the game on television and listen to all the cheering and encouragement being shouted in caravans all over the park. Well done Hawthorn.
Have made two attempts to buy something from Spotlight in this Central Victorian town. First try we were told the item was not on special even though more than one of them were on the specials table. We put it back and went home to think about needing it. Decided today to buy it regardless of the higher price.
Into the store, pick up the item, no mucking around, no browsing at other items, just get the planned purchase and go to the check out. Simple, in and out in five minutes. But......
Got to the checkout and was told, sorry we are closed, no we will not put your one item through the check out. We closed 30 seconds ago. Put it down and leave. Spotlight, you suck!!! If you are closed how come we could still enter the store?
This is what is wrong with retail today. We could have gone online and had the item mailed to us but we thought we were doing the right thing putting our money into the local economy. Guess it is doing real fine without us thank you very much. Not happy Jan!

Wednesday...24 September 2014

Today's forecast is for rain.  And it has rained, ........for at least 20 seconds! In the meantime we have grey cloudy skies as I watch the gardener watering the trees and plants in the caravan park.
It is school holidays and we hear the occasional sound of happy laughter as children play in the nearby pool but this park is not over run through the holidays, it seems to be more popular for the various events in the area. We had quite a lot of activity last week for the National U15 Soccer tournament. There is a large Swap Meet coming up and the park is fully booked out for that and it is followed by the local Field Days and once again the park is fully booked. We think we will be on the move again by then so will miss seeing just how many can fit in here!
I have taken the extra blanket off our bed and last night was the first time in a very long while that I did not feel the need to run our heater.  So even though it is trying to rain and the sky looks dull and dreary, the overall temperatures are improving.

Update on the rain status: I hear thunder and have had to turn the TV up louder to be heard over the sound of the heavy rain which is pixalating the picture and making hearing difficult. I guess this means it is raining as was forecast!

Friday...19 September 2014

Bright blue skies this morning, not a cloud in sight and the sun is shining brightly. Picture perfect day.
And the thermometer is reading ONE. What sort of number is that?
I see sunshine, I expect warmth. I do not expect to have my fingers, toes and nose hurt from being half frozen. My cup of tea was cold by the time I walked from the jug to the table and we all know that is not very far in a caravan! Activity in the park means Ugg Boots and fluffy dressing gowns, not a pretty sight on a grown man! No, it was not Himself, he is still tucked up in bed, warm and happy. Smart man.
If the day warms up, we are going to have a look at the Alpaca show and sale on at the local showgrounds. Sure to be a smelly outing but we may learn something.

Tuesday...16 September 2014

My driving licence is due for renewal. Nothing exciting about that. Happens to most of us at regular intervals in our normal lives. But wait, they want me to have another photo taken and provide a fresh signature.  Just whip a comb through your hair, grab your renewal and head down to one of the many places referred to on the renewal. Small problem. None of them are accessible right now. In fact every last one is more than three and a half thousand kilometres away! And no, no other state has direct access to other states licencing renewal procedures.
Much drama.
I rang our state licence place twice but never got to speak to anyone, Each time I waited forever (more than ten minutes each time) to speak to someone because the little voices in my mobile phone insisted that my call was important but after listening to the voices telling me time and time and time again that no matter what my problem was I could find the answer on their interactive web site and having come to the conclusion that they never answer the phone now, I hung up and attempted to find the answers on the internet. Hours later, after reading that no matter what, I had to present myself in person in Perth to renew this licence, I finally found tucked away in a totally unrelated page, a form for applying for a licence by post.
Hooray. Progress.
Top requirement was a passport sized photo on matte paper. Bit tricky. Most passport photos are on gloss paper but after a few phone calls we found that Camera House could take the photo and print it on the approved paper. Tick. Then it was off to the Post Office to buy a money order and have some other documents photocopied. Tick. This was followed by a visit to the local police station to present my credentials and have the policeman on duty mark them as true and correct. Tick. Finally I could post off my application for a licence renewal from interstate.
Fingers crossed that I have filled in everything correctly and that the licence is processed on time and without trouble. Would not like to have to buy a plane ticket just to sort it out and do not want to lose the licence whilst driving around Australia.  Himself does most of our driving but we will stop one day and I want to be able to get out and about by myself when we do.
If we have a national passport, why can't we have a national drivers licence?

Sunday...14 September 2014

Would whoever is in charge of the thermostat please give it a small nudge in the direction of warm? You seem to have missed the memo announcing that Spring is here. It is my understanding that once this happens you are responsible for adjusting the weather in the general direction of warmer!
Please do so at your earliest. That is all.

Sunday...7 September 2014

Happy Fathers Day.

Have been experiencing an entire winter for the first time in forty years. Still not a fan! It is cold and bleak. The trees look so barren without their leaves and grey skies leave you feeling depressed and desperate for a glimpse of the sun. Frosts and fog make life dangerous and walking on grass that crunches with each step is unnatural! Rain and mud push you indoors where you sit looking out the window in desperate hope that around the next curtain summer will appear to paint some colour back into your world.
Although there is nothing quite like sitting in front of a roaring log fire or slow combustion heater to warm the cockles of your heart, it means going out into the cold to fetch the wood to feed the fire and I have seen some seriously big wood piles lately.

And how had I managed to forget over the years the sorts of 'things' that hide in a wood pile. Yucky horrible grubs and all manner of creepy crawlies and spiders big enough to sit with their legs dangling over the sides of a dinner plate and furry-ier than Himself's chest, that run up your arms as you carry a load of wood inside. I have even seen what appeared to be hairless baby puppies but in reality were newborn rats! Seriously, how many times can you scream and not do permanent damage to your vocal chords? Any dreams people have of living in the country all warm and cosy, snug as a bug in a rug during winter, are in reality a scary scary nightmare!
On a more cheery note, now that it is Spring, I am loving the beautiful displays of blossom I am seeing on those same bleak winter trees. At last there is some colour in my world again!

Friday...22 August 2014

I have had two people ask me why I have not been blogging lately. This means that there are at least two people who actually read my little blog. Bless them for sticking with me, I know that sometimes I can be a bit boring or long winded or uninspiring, however I do appreciate their interest.
I have been having a bit of a break. I feel I was becoming repetitive and unenthusiastic.
All is well in our world, we are still wandering in the wilderness and finding things to see and do in this great land of ours. I will have more to say when I come out of my literary doldrums.

Thursday...7 August 2014

Well the Chinese dinner was as good as promised. We shared it with complete strangers who happened to be staying in the same caravan park and were looking for company in a new town. A quiet night out for us turned into a very good time with lively conversation, good food and great service.
The next morning as we were taking the rubbish to the bin we met another guest in our caravan park who was from my old home town and had a connection to one of my foster sisters. Small world!
These last few days have been very cold by our standards and I have even heard the ground crunching under my feet on the way to the toilet block and one morning I left white footprints on our steps. Not a fan of winter. Bring back the sun please.

Friday...1 August 2014

Happy Birthday to all the horses in Australia. I keep thinking that it would be a bitch to be born yesterday if you were a horse, because even though you are only a day old, the horse world says you are one already, talk about being old before your time!
Last night we stopped at the Kidman Caravan Park in Bourke, we like this park, it is large and has several sites set aside and clearly marked for XLarge vans only. We always find a good spot to park but it is a shame that they do not keep on eye on this area as every time we have been there we always find some tiny little pop top parked up like a wart on granny's nose in the middle of a huge drive through site meant for big rigs and buses. And, as always, at the end of the day without fail you will see some poor travel weary bloke with a very large van circling the park trying to find a spot that he will fit into and there sits the wart laughing and drinking without a care in the world in the one site that the big van would easily fit whilst several normal sites remain vacant through out the park!  Grrrrrr, I am not a fan of rule breakers!
Today we have travelled down to Hillston along the Kidman Way.
The word for today is Goats, lots and lots of goats. I think they are being farmed but as most of the terrain is natural bush I did wonder if they could be feral. We often saw small groups of them on the sides of the road. I worried they may be run over, but Himself pointed out that unlike the kangaroos, there was no dead goats on or near the roads. He was right as always!!

We also saw kangaroos, sheep, emus, cows and lots and lots of crows. Crows with attitude, they are not afraid of oncoming traffic and they are not going to give up their  place on the fresh roo carcass that is today's dinner. Sometimes there are so many of them you cannot see why they are in the middle of the road until you are only a few feet away from their smelly trophy!
The wind has been blowing a gale all day and although there was no rain it did become overcast in places as there were some very large storm clouds up above us. I believe we may be on the outside edge of the big storm cell that passed over Victoria last night. The temperature here is flagged as being 15-1. Hmmmm that sounds a tiny bit cold.
Tonight we are going over the road to the local RSL for dinner and I have been told several times by a friend  that they serve the best Chinese meals ever. We will find out for ourselves if there is any truth in that statement.

Wednesday...30 July 2014

Another perfect day in the outer reaches of Qld.
The other day in Blackall we had an early morning fog and later in the morning as we were travelling along in bright sunshine we came to what looked like a wall of brown cloud and when we got under it, it turned out to be fog too! I have never driven into fog in broad daylight. It was eerie!
Now you will be pleased to know that there is still no shortage of fools riding push bikes around Australia. We continue to pass them on an average of one or two a day. The other day we also passed someone walking along the road pulling a little cart!
Himself wandered off to the Charleville Observatory the other night and had a good look at the night sky. According to the handout he bought home, every time you look at a star in a telescope, you are looking back in time. If something is 2000 light years away it means you are looking at light that left that star 2000 years ago! Must have been very bright when it left for us to still be able to see it all this much later.

Sunday...27 July 2014

Up super early, god I hate free camps, they can be so noisy first thing in the mornings.  This is caused by the fact that everyone goes to bed early so that they can save fuel in the generator or so that they can save on their available 12v power which means they also get up super early after an extremely long nights sleep.
There are the bright and breezy early risers who cheerfully, (and loudly), wish everyone good morning, there are the rattle clunk and bang mob who must be the grumpy type as they get out there and rattle and bang everything they can find as they go about their pack up, with absolutely no consideration to the other campers who may be still asleep, (a case of if they are up so can everyone else be!) and then there are the stealth merchants, the ones who take off at the crack of dawn, but usually they own the noisy vehicles so their quiet departure is sure to wake a few of the hardier sleepers.
We belong to the normal mob, the ones who see no need to rush off early enough to take breakfast out the road to the kangaroos to see them through their busy day of scaring the living daylights out of tourists! We leave camp around 8.30 am when we are reasonably sure the kangaroos are done partying and have gone home to rest before they begin again come sundown. This way we have a fairly pleasant days travel without the constant stop start required along kangaroo alley!
Today it was harder and harder not to feel sorry for the dreaded kangaroo. This part of the country is in severe drought and the kangaroos are drawn to the roads to lick the night dew off the bitumen and to feed on the little amount of green feed that grows on the side of the road, and then along comes the three and four trailer road trains who are not going to stop, in fact they simply cannot stop in a hurry.
But I digress. We came down from Blackall to Charleville. And oh the welcome, they were pleased to see us and we were pleased they had remembered us. We promptly put our names down for dinner tonight and lucky us, it was roast lamb with all the trimmings and hot damper with jam and cream for dessert. Home cooking and entertainment. Wonderful. They have a resident country singer and he is quite good.

Saturday...26 July 2014

So we set off again yesterday and from Charters Towers we headed to Hughenden, home of the Muttasorus dinosaur, but sadly by the time we got there the caravan park was full so we continued toward Winton and free camped at a gravel dump in the very small township of Stamford. We had the place to ourselves as even the roadhouse had closed. Very quiet night, bit on the warm side but otherwise a good nights camping.
This morning we motored down to Winton and on to Longreach. From there we went to Ilfracombe (famous for its main street which has a mile of very old tractors and other equipment). We ordered takeaways at the local hotel and spent the waiting time looking at their collection of hats donated by mostly stockmen and such. The pub at Daly Waters has its roof lined by bras and foreign currency, the pub in Ilfracome has its roof lined by akubras and $5 notes. The notes are collected over the year in donations and then used for the maintenance of the mile of tractors!
From Ilfracombe we turned onto the Isisford road. Not a very long drive but it was ruined for us by the 40 km of roadworks that actually meant driving in the tabledrain for nearly 25 km. Very rough detour tracks!
We had planned to stay at the well known Isisford free camp on the banks of the Barcoo river but two things put us off. There were over 600 people camping there and none of them seemed to be aware of the stench of something dead and decaying at or very near the camp. We slowed down and wound the window down while we worked out the layout and instantly the choking stench hit our noses and you know the campers were all just sitting there and none of them seemed to be able to smell it or care if they could!!!
Although it was getting late in the day we chose to continue to Blackall for the night.
Just out of Isisford is Isis Downs Station. This place is famous for its shearing shed and at one time the shed was open to the public but sadly it is closed now. Himself would give his eye teeth to get a look at that shed but alas it was not to be so he had to settle for stopping at the station gate and taking pictures.

Our luck was out again when we got to Blackall, the caravan park was full, so we are camped in the Blackall Council camp ground just on the edge of town. Its a free camp you have to pay for! Still it is somewhere for us to lay our weary heads before we continue our trek tomorrow.

Sunday...20 July 2014

Have just been doing some research into the lyrics of the song Three Rivers Hotel. 
The Three Rivers Hotel, made famous by Slim Dusty in a song by the same name, is located at Greenvale. 
This is not the actual hotel where the song was penned by Stan Coster. The hotel reference is actually to the "Mess Hall" at the construction camp where Stan Coster penned the song. Stan worked as Grader operator for Thiess Brothers on the construction of the railway line. The origin of the name "Three Rivers Hotel" is not because the "hotel" was ever at the junction of the three rivers - Burdekin, Star and Clarke as stated on some web sites. The lyrics mention the camp at the Star River. This was one of 6 camps that existed on the length of the Greenvale line. 
During 1974 North Queensland was severely drenched by a very active wet season and work on the railway line ceased for days, even weeks, on end. The workers in the camps had nothing better to do than spend the day in the camp "boozer". Each camp had a boozer which was a basic demountable building with outdoor covered seating. During one of these wet days the water started to enter the confines of the boozer and immediately some of the men started digging some improvised drainage around the boozer to channel away the water. As they built the channels, some wags named them after the 3 main rivers (Burdekin, Star and Clarke). These were joined up roughly as they do in real life and the boozer was then named "the Three Rivers Hotel". 
One of the drinkers that day was Stan Coster who penned the song on the spot and performed it for the drinkers - the rest is history. The three rivers referred to in the song do not join up but the Star and the Clarke join the Burdekin at completely separate locations and therefore there could be no hotel on the "junction" of the three rivers the song refers to. 
So there you go, it would seem I did not have dinner at a famous location after all. Oh well, it was still a good night out and it is nice to see the Greenvale 'local' keeping the spirit of the song alive.

Friday...18 July 2014

From Townsville to Greenvale we're building a line
Through the ranges and gorges to the great nickel mine
The long days are dusty and hotter than hell
And that's why we all worship Three Rivers Hotel
(Sung by Slim Dusty, Lyrics by Stan Coster)

Last night we had dinner at the Three Rivers Hotel. We met up with a lively mob of road workers who had just knocked off for the day and were washing the dust out of their throats. Much merriment and laughter listening to their descriptions of the traffic blunders they have seen on the job.
Out the back of the hotel is a sausage tree, it is one of only two known to be in this area.

The nuts look a bit like sausages. Fascinating to see.

Very pleased we stopped in Greenvale even if they do not have internet, mobile reception or television! What they are missing in technology they more than make up for in the warmth of the welcome.
And by the way, the nickel mine closed in 1993 and the town nearly became a ghost town but there are about 150 locals still keeping it going.

Monday...14 July 2014

So the Rodeo has been and gone, the town was very busy. No idea how it all went, we chose to stay home this time but Himself went out to the local Turf Club to check out the entrants in the big dog show that was on at the same time. He came home happy after this outing.
We went to the markets on Saturday morning and came back loaded down with fresh pumpkin, sweet potato, tomatoes, bananas and mandarins. Himself bought some LED running lights for the ute and another solid strip LED that we are going to put a hook on for lighting up the annexe when we want to cook out there after sunset. Most folk do their outside cooking during the day but occasionally after an extra late happy hour we will feel like a steak and that is best cooked outside!
Today we went "over the hill". This is quite an adventure. Well for me it is. It scares the living daylights out of me. I swear that road is no wider than a goat track even if big trucks do use it. And they have not widened it since I last travelled on it. Cairns is only 62 km away but to get there the road goes up and over the Great Dividing Range and includes 13 km of non stop winding roads and hairpin bends. For most of the time the speed limit is 60 km or less. We were in line behind two big trucks, a couple of caravans and assorted other cars and today we had the added bonus of roadworks! In that 13 km if you have time to look up, you will see the famous Skyrail that runs from Cairns to Kuranda. It crosses the road twice on its way to the top of the mountain.

On the other side is a fairly large shopping centre with all the usual variety and chain stores. I got a haircut and found a couple of nice tops to add to my growing collection. We also got another aerobic stepper as the current one which is used as an extra step for the caravan is slowly wearing out after four years of constant use. Tomorrow is recovery day!

Wednesday...9 July 2014

Still in Mareeba, just sitting in the sun, slowly getting a tan.
Would love to say it is hot and sunny all the time but the truth is the nights and early mornings are a bit chilly and we get seriously heavy overnight dews. When I get up in the morning the car looks like it has been raining overnight there is so much water on it, but by nine o'clock it is all gone and we are left with a grotty car from a combination of accumulated dust and overnight dew. When the dew evaporates off the awning it looks like smoke. Once the day gets going we have clear blue skies and around 27 degrees. Then I fetch my ebook and sit in the sun soaking up the warmth along with most other occupants of the park.
The town is getting ready for the annual Mareeba Rodeo and Show which is on this coming weekend. It is the big event for the year here and everyone goes all out for it. The shops have Rodeo week specials and the council has decorated the main street and there will be a street parade on opening night. Most exciting.

Sunday...6 July 2014

 37000 pageviews - 609 posts.

Wow this blogging can be addictive. It would seem that I have made 609 entries since we began our travels and people have read it 37,000 times. Go me!  A big high five to my readers for sticking with me.

It is a bit chilly this morning but the sun is shining brightly, the awning looks like it is on fire as the heavy dew from last night evaporates off it. The sky above is completely cloudless and being Sunday, it will not be long before the distinctive hiss of hot air balloons can be heard as they pass over our caravan park on the way back to the landing zone after an early morning flight full of tourists.
After breakfast we will set off to the local Sunday markets for some fresh local produce. The markets here are very popular and worth the time to visit, there are heaps of stalls of varying degrees of interest.

Friday...4 July 2014

Yesterday was moving day again. Townsville to Mareeba.

Nearly six hours non stop driving. Seriously. No toilet breaks and we even ate lunch as we drove, I packed a corned beef and relish sandwich (as a back up in case there was limited opportunities to buy lunch along the way), which we ended up eating while we waited at one of the many roadwork stops. I have on occasion been known to be less than generous with my opinion of some of the roads in Queensland, but I have to hand it to them, they are throwing huge amounts of money at the Bruce Highway which is their part of the National Highway #1. It is probably why some of the other roads are less than perfect, all the money is being spent on that one road. On our travels yesterday we were stopped seven times and the distance was only 390 km. Some of the delays were long enough that Himself turned the engine off and we wound down the windows to admire the fresh air and whatever scenery we had available to us.

It was necessary to cross the Great Dividing Range again and regular readers of this blog will no doubt remember my apparently hilarious descriptions of previous trips over this particular patch of hilly terrain. Yesterday the joke was on me again. This time, not only did we have to climb tortuous hills, but on one of them I thought we would end up sliding back down it as we were stuck behind a rather large motor home bus which was towing a car trailer and doing all of 5 km/hour. 

Now like I said earlier, the joke really was on me as we had steep hill climbs, slow traffic AND absolutely bucketing tropical rain! So heavy at times the wipers were useless and one simply guessed where the road was! So I chewed my nails to the elbow (again!), recited several Hail Mary's and made up a few more, and there we were, slip sliding our way over the Range in the pouring rain on a goat track. A great days drive...NOT.

However there is always a rainbow after such heavy rain and for us the pot of gold was arriving in beautiful sunny Mareeba and just now as I have been writing this entry, some friends have pulled into the same caravan park, so we will have a very happy Happy Hour tonight.

Monday...30 June 2014

Another financial year finished. Time to load up the wheel barrow and visit the tax office folks!
The space invader from next to us left this morning and Now They Tell Us, apparently he has been to this park before, most recently only a few weeks ago, and all he does is complain, about the price of the sites and the state of the toilet and shower blocks and the other facilities. Last time he was here he harangued the caretakers, this time he vented to the park owners. Now I ask you, if you could find that much fault with somewhere, why would you ever go back? We love this place, the facilities are spotlessly clean, the price is very low and the owners and caretakers are the friendliest we have met. There are testimonials on a cork board in the camp kitchen agreeing with our opinion, so we are left feeling that the owners should have been at the gate this morning to wave him goodbye and to tell him to never come back!

Saturday...28 June 2014

Boundaries. Interesting word. Some are visible and solid like fences, others are more a concept like good manners, but we all know what a boundary is. So why is it that in something as small as a caravan park, some low life mongrels spread themselves into other peoples space and even worse, carry on a treat if you call them on their bad behaviour thus effectively making you the offensive one for complaining?
We are big, but we always keep our camp within the boundary of our particular site. This is the patch of ground allocated to us and which we pay temporary rent for. We do not encroach on the sites behind or beside us. This usually makes everyone including us happy little campers.
But.... the old fart next to us has pulled in as close to the dividing line as he could, then instead of parking his car at the front of his site which by the way is twenty metres long, he has driven around behind his van into the next site behind him and backed his car up to his annexe thus blocking the site behind him and putting his car half on his site and half on mine. I do not need that extra metre or so of space, but......his car is now right beside my portable clothes line which I set up at the back of my site. Today I have had to move that line to be able to hang my washing and not have it blown against his dirty car while it is drying. Grrrrr.

Friday...27 June 2014

Nothing to tell. Trips to town for chats with my sister and some shopping.

We lifted the bed the other day to put something under it and discovered that the blokes who fitted those lovely black slide rubbers had somehow managed to rip the bed right off the wall it was firmly screwed to in the factory! So you can add caravan bed repairs to that list of nothing much happening.

Monday...23 June 2014

You know, if the weather here stayed like this all year round, I would be seriously tempted to start looking at the for sale signs. We wake up every morning to bright blue skies with not a cloud in sight and the day is warm without being too hot. First thing in the morning there is always a fairly heavy dew but that dries up by 9 am and then it is just us and the sun until the afternoon which does get a bit hot for a couple of hours but then a nice gentle breeze blows in to cool the day down before sunset. Wonderful.
We are out of town in the country and apart from the movements of the army air wing, all is quiet. The first day we were here, ten helicopters flying in formation came over. That made some serious noise! Some were normal choppers but four of them were the big cargo carrying type. Apparently we are not too far from their training grounds. If them honing the skills of their particular field of employment keeps me safe and secure I am happy to see them going about their day.

Friday...20 June 2014

Today I went to visit my older sister. What a wonderful person. Still going up and down stairs in her high set Queenslander house at 86. Very fond of custard tarts and multiple cups of tea. It is so good to see her still hale and hearty.

On our trek north we stopped for a toilet break one day at a small country town in Qld called Augathella. In the park is a sculpture known as the big meat ant. Seriously impressive. I am gathering quite a collection of "big" things.

On the wall of the old picture theatre is a mural dedicated to A Boy Called Smiley. I was a very young child when the Smiley movies came out in the 1950's. They were about a young boy from Augathella and they contain several references to the district. The signature tune from the movies was a smash hit in its day and my younger sibling uses it as the lead in to his regular Sunday programme on the local radio station where he volunteers. Seeing the murals and knowing where the story originated was very special.

Thursday...19 June 2014

Moving day again. Got up to the sound of gentle rain which was unexpected. Never mind we were able to pack and get away with only our feet wet from the damp grass underfoot as we went about our well rehearsed routine of breaking camp and hitting the road.
The weather improved as we moved north and in less than an hour we were in bright sunshine again. I was even able to remove my cardigan!
Along the way we saw the usual mad push bike tourists. We passed the big mango, the big pumpkin and the big slice of watermelon. I kid you not, they are all out there. We also found the usual roadworks, one of which held us up for quite some time. Normally we do not mind but this one was within sight of our destination of Townsville and after a long drive we did not want to be stopping for anything other than a toilet break and a coffee.
Tomorrow we will go into town and visit my older half sister. I am looking forward to seeing her.

Tuesday...17 June 2014

We got away on time, well for us anyway, and had a good day travelling to Mackay. The car ran like a dream and only smelt funny for a couple of hours as the little bit of residual oil burnt itself off the engine parts.
So here we are, it is threatening to rain but cannot quite do it. We have decided to stay two nights before we head north again to Townsville.
During the day we found ourselves in a slow moving convoy created when a caravan dawdled down the road at a set 80 km and while the road was good quality it seriously lacked overtaking lanes or opportunities. We were the third caravan in the lead line with two more behind us then a row of trucks behind that. After putting up with the situation for nearly an hour we decided to do the honourable thing and turned into a roadhouse with the thought that the trucks at least would had one less caravan to over take along the way. Wouldn't you know it, the trucks pulled into the same roadhouse!! We ended up doing a slow drive through and then rejoined the traffic which had moved far enough ahead to leave us with moving room on the road. One can only try to be a good road user. It does not always work out!

Monday...16 June 2014

Remember that expensive boat harbour from yesterday? One of the lead stories on tonight's local television news was about the sighting of a unpleasantly large crocodile in there today!
Just as well we did our looking from the safety of the pier.
There are some large signs reminding campers in this caravan park to stay clear of the river as it is inhabited by crocodiles and today while I was hanging out the washing in broad daylight, a fox casually wandered past me on its way to heaven knows where given that we are in the centre of a large regional city!
I am still shaking my head over that one.
After a long day waiting for the phone to ring, which it never did, we called the garage just on knock off time and finally got our vehicle back! So tomorrow we head north again.

Sunday...15 June 2014

While we wait for the garage to complete the repairs to our vehicle, Himself got us a hire car, so yesterday we did some shopping and today we took a trip from Rockhampton to Yepoon and back via Emu Park. This was a pretty drive. Once you get to Yepoon there is non stop sea views and sandy beaches all the way to Emu Park which is 21 km away. Also visible are lots of islands including Great Keppel Island.
At Rosslyn Bay where the ferries for the Keppel Islands leave, we saw a lovely boat harbour with some very serious money floating on the well protected bay.

Emu Park is a lovely laid back little seaside town. On a raised area of the foreshore they have put a monument up for Captain James Cook and this takes the form of a singing ship. When the wind blows through the strategically placed pipes the monument appears to sing. While we were there it sort of hummed!

A good day out. Lets hope tomorrow the garage finishes fixing our vehicle.

Friday...13 June 2014

It is Friday and it is the 13th so I suppose that explains why I am sitting in a caravan that does not have a tow vehicle any where in sight.  Apparently there are two types of O rings that fit the F250 and the garage found out, after they pulled our ute to bits, that they do not have the one we need! Now we sit and wait until Monday for the right one to be sent from Brisbane. In the meantime we walk if we need to go anywhere such as the shops. Funny really but I feel very vulnerable without our transport.
Oh well I guess there are worse places to be stranded than nice warm Rockhampton.

Thursday...12 June 2014

We did it again. Set off to do a couple of hours down/up the road and ended up going all damn day! Wanted to only go a certain way then stop and maybe even free camp for a couple of days, but alas we cannot do that as the water pump is not working. There was water leaking out of the back of the van while we were in Bourke but Himself thought it was because he had over filled the tank. We forgot about it until the other night while we were camping at the factory. We were feeling lazy and decided not to bother hooking up to the town water supply for the one night. This is when we discovered that the pump is no longer working.
So anyway we ended up going from Gympie to Rockhampton which Google tells me is 468 km.
Now both of us were feeling somewhat tired and sore after that long haul but alas that was not the worst of a bad day. While we were setting up camp in a lovely caravan park on the banks of the Fitzroy River, we noticed that we had developed a bad oil leak somewhere under the bonnet. It was bad enough to be an actual puddle under the car. Himself took a look, told me to hope for the best then started muttering to himself in terms of thousands of dollars! Today he took himself and the vehicle off to the local Ford dealer and came back with a booking for tomorrow and his fingers crossed that it may only be an O ring and not a more expensive option. Fingers crossed. I will do my best not to mention that tomorrow is Friday the 13th!!

Wednesday...11 June 2014

So yesterday we dropped the van off to have new slide rubbers done. The big surprise was that it was finished the same day, but....... (there is always a but isn't there?), we could not shut the slides for a while so they suggested we camp in our van in the drive way of the factory overnight. This saved us the expense of accommodation elsewhere, however it was rather unsettling to watch all the workers in an industrial area pack up and go home for the night and have an eerie silence replace them and their constant noisy hum.
The quiet of the night was broken only by an occasional train on the line out the back and the hum of traffic on the Bruce Highway about half a kilometre away.
Now I am up early as we are unsure of what time this mob start work and I would hate for them to be shocked so early in the morning by the sight of an ancient old crone as she goes about the business of scratching and coughing her way into the day!
While we waited yesterday we looked at the shopping malls and hardware stores and ended up buying Himself a new pair of safety boots. Sad really when there is a box full of them in Perth but he is still wearing the ones he had already worn for a while when he retired, but now you can see the bare metal of the steel cap in the toes. He was beginning to look a bit down and out when he put on his work boots.
I forgot to say that the new rubbers look fantastic and I hope they perform as expected when we begin our trek north later today.

Tuesday...10 June 2014

After two weeks with family on the Sunshine Coast we moved yesterday to a pretty place just a little further north. We are having some renovations done here to our caravan, which will take away the problem of unsightly road grime and mould around our slide outs.
Himself booked it in but he is not big on asking questions so we have no idea exactly how long it will take or how many days we need to find alternative accommodation for. Nor do I know how much will be getting dismantled or what I need to shift or repack so that the workmen can get to what they will be working on.
Oh well I suppose it will all work itself out. The worst that can happen is that they will charge extra!
We finally bit the bullet and bought new day night blinds for three windows in the van as the originals were always breaking the strings and it is a seriously big job to re string them. The new blinds are a two blind system from Himself's favourite hardware store and they certainly keep the light out. As long as they travel well we may have solved that problem.

Wednesday...4 June 2014

Just wrote the date and realised that today is a very dear friends birthday while yesterday a granddaughter turned 15 and the day before that a grandson turned 17, it must be a popular month for birthdays or is it because June is nine months after Fathers Day????
We have had a busy time since arriving at Caloundra. We have been to coffee, we have had lunches, we have had dinners, all with family and friends. I have had a day of shopping with my daughter and grand daughters, we have attended sporting events to show support for the family and we have had lovely chats around the fire pit. And our visit is not over yet!
We have done some minor repairs to the caravan and are doing the prep work before it goes into the workshop in Gympie next week to have the slide rubbers replaced. The originals are white and impossible to keep clean.  All the new ones we have seen have the black on them and they look much much better.
The weather has been good. We get an occasional rain shower but the days are mostly fine and sunny without being too hot. Blue skies, gentle breezes and the ocean, absolutely wonderful.
We are staying at the Dicky Beach Caravan Park which is right on the beach.
Dicky Beach was named after a ship that was wrecked here and the remains of the SS Dicky which was forced onto the beach during heavy seas in 1893 are still visible on the beach.

Saturday...31 may 2014

Stones and rocks are interesting. They can be things of beauty such as Uluru, they come in all sizes and shapes. Some are rough and rugged and others smoother than silk. Stones have many uses, whole stones are used as a feature in some of the most amazing gardens, crushed stone is used for many things including the making of our roads, which in our travels have been everything from major motorways and good highways to goat tracks that only a mad man would call a road. Stones have been created over millions of years by the various activities and movement of our lovely planet Earth. They are a wonder of time and motion.
So if it takes millions of years for the earth to make a stone, how does the human body manage to do the same thing in a much shorter time? Believe me, when the human body makes a stone it is not a thing of beauty nor is having one (or more!) something to be pleased about. The pain caused by stones in a human is indescribable. The intensity is breath taking. Without medical intervention they can be life threatening.
Just before we started our travels, I needed surgery for a 19 mm gallstone. Not a lot of fun.
Last week I thought I had another dose of shingles as the pain was of a similar intensity and in the same area and was excruciatingly persistent. But no, it is only kidney stones. So far I am only producing gravel, but give me time I am sure I can work my way up to another big one. Lucky me. This will make our travels just that little bit more challenging!