2018
Day 180, Eden
Not quite biblical! [sic]
It’s freezing, [email protected], heater on inside. I am cold.
Mr. I wear shorts everywhere, this is getting shit cold…. More.
We have 1 day & 19 hours to go before we are back home in Melbourne.
It’s all getting a bit weird now.
Anita just confirmed work the week after we get back and I have contract work in Oct confirmed.
I was hoping to get a few weeks off to do Anita’s garden.
We will see what happens.
Day 179, True Fear
After having encountered wild dingos, emus, snakes, bogans, bushfires, no communication, no fuel, no water.
River crossings, my children, NT.
Having slept with a weapon because of possible danger when we arrived to a slaughtered bird head in a tree and a hot fire.
Having travelled almost 25 000 km,
today I experienced my first day of true ‘Fear’.
I felt anxiety depression IBS, the shakes , and those are the nice bits.
We drove through Sydney.
We are in ‘the Gong’ tonight.
Caravan parks RULE!
I left my wallet on the back bumper of the car today by accident. It was in clear view of everyone walking past it in the caravan park between 4 pm to 8 pm.
Guess what, I found it where I left it with cash and everything else not touched.
I am happy as a pig in s…traw!
There is another $50 to the CHFA!!! (Children’s Hospital Foundation Australia)
Day 177, Palm beach
After over 700km we made it to the Gold Coast. A full day of driving is tiring. Driving in traffic through Brissy is torturous.
We ended up staying 3 nights in Palm Beach visiting an extremely close friend. It has been lovely but cold.
Palm beach totally craps on Surfers, but it’s horses for courses. We now prefer the quieter beaches oppose to the high rise jungles, cafe & night club culture.
Water is warmer then 1770, but the temp is dropping to 8 deg at night.
Tonight it’s going to drop to 5. I want to go back North, 1770, Rainbow, Carmila, Mission, Ningaloo……. Etc etc
We have 4 days and 21 hours before we come home. It is actually a bit strange.
We can’t wait to see our friends, but at the same time we can’t stand the fact that we won’t see our friends.
I booked ‘fancy pancy’ cabin in Cape Conran for Friday. This means we have actually gone to Conran officially year in year out, since 2002…I think.
Education
While we’ve been on the road, ‘The General’ has concentrated on doing Mathematics in a quite ‘relaxed’ formal NAPLAN way.
This has proved a challenge on occasion & I made sure there were no sharp or blunt objects in close range, for everyone involved.
I on the other hand have taught life skills in necessity type of way eg;
– How much water do we need a day
– What tyre pressure do you have when driving on soft sand
– how long should it take us to travel 400km if we are doing 80km p/ h with a half hour break
……. And so on
NOW, as educational as this is, I thought I will throw in a bit of a curve ball. This has proved their logical thinking skills and articulation, and they figured out every answer without assistance;
– Please get the liquid from the teat of the bovine
– I need 2000ml of the combination of 2 parts hydrogen & 1 part oxygen
– Please find the stick with a nylon fabric to protect us from this precipitation
– I need that vesicle containing the sodium chloride
– Your upper extremities and torso will require another set of cotton woven fabric
– Please evacuate your bladders prior to this evenings absent consciousness
As you can imagine, The Birthgiver finds this highly educational and entertaining.
My beautiful girls
As I sit here, outside, listening to the beautiful glistening rain drops roll down the vinyl and canvas.
As I hear silence,and parents trying to Fenergen their children, I also hear my girls being nice to each other, and trying to kill each other, and fighting, and arguing, and mentioning about wanting to hit each other with knives, (Dexter).
Yes all 3 of them.
……Oh they are happy again.
I sit here under my awning listening to all these adventures happening and I think to my self…
It really does not get better than this!
Day 170, 1770
After traveling a bit short of 300 km we made it to the town of Seventeen seventy and Agnes waters.
We got a great council site about 5 min walk from the beach. It really is fantastic and $6 per person with water and …….wait for it…. Stainless steel flushing toilets! (Almost my dream of a ‘Toilet made out of gold’)You really can’t beat that.
We set the camper up as soon as we got here about 3 pm.
We expected to get here around 1 or 2 but got held up by the cops! Car accident on Bruce Highway gave us the opportunity to read for about 45 mins.
After we set up it started to rain gently, then not so gently and eventually pouring down.
We had to eat inside for the first time in months.
I felt sorry for some of the backpackers who rolled up in normal cars. They can’t set up their tents and have to sit in their cars with no dinner and no cover.(it’s also quite entertaining)
Day 169, Yeppoon
Tonight will be our 3 rd night in Yappoon, we leave tomorrow for Workmans beach.
The beaches here are ok, but it’s cold.
The entertainment I get here though is priceless!
The ‘permanents’, living in the caravan park, are a breed of their own.
“We got both kinds, Country & western”.
Our lovely neighbour who is around 40 living with his 18 year old (maybe 15) girlfriend, as well as his best mate(or brother) and his ‘Sheila’ recently bought a new puppy to add to their brood.
When you buy a puppy, the only responsible thing is to add a a door (to your tarpaulin annexe).
Oh yes, and you need a bonnet & 2 motor bikes at the front of your 5x10m residence.
Sunscreen & thongs (flip flops/jangles)
All up to date we have gone through;
-
4L of sunscreen
-
Me- 7 pairs of thongs
-
A- 5 pairs of thongs (1 pair lost)
K1- 3 pairs of thongs
K2- 2 pairs of thongs