Howdy ya’ll
So, I guess it is time for an update on my most recent whereabouts.
On Friday the 30th of May Bart and I packed up our humble residence at Pickworth Orchards in Tatura, Victoria, said our goodbyes and headed off north in two cars. Well, actually we did not head off north straight away as our first stop was at Bart’s mum’s gaff in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria. We spent 5 days there unloading stuff for storage, cleaning cars and gear, setting up the panel van and then repacking again. Bart spent a considerable amount of time fitting out his old panel van with a bed and a tailor-made mattress to fit and it turned out great. Sandra, Bart’s mum, is an absolute wizard with a sowing machine and in no time at all she had made all the curtains for the back of the van. So now we were ready to take off with a mobile home complete with bed, curtains, microwave oven, kettle etc. (Check out the photos of “The Bart Mobile”). Sandra lives in a big new house (a real house – not a farm hut) and she is not only a wizard with a sowing machine but also a rather excellent cook. We were served home cooked meals and lots of them. Pure luxury for someone used to outdoor showers and toilets and a public kitchen where cleanliness has long ceased to exist! Anyhow, the time had come to hit the road and say our goodbyes to Sandra and Bart’s sister, Bronwyn, who had come up from Melbourne for a couple of days to see us off. Thank you so much, Sandra, for your hospitality and help.
After a short visit at Bart’s pa’s gaff in Castlemaine, Victoria we were on the road in two cars and with a couple of walkie-talkies for communication. We had a smooth drive that day and at night we decided to park the cars on a side road near a public convenience and camp for the night in Narrandera, NSW. That turned out to be a place to remember! In the middle of the night, whilst sound asleep in the back of the panel van, we were rudely awoken by what sounded like someone banging their fists on the roof of the van. We both instantly started screaming our heads off and by the time we got out of the van there was no sign of the culprits. Don’t know who got the worst fright, them or us, but we must have made some noise since we ended up with sore throats for a couple of days. Next day we noticed footprints on the bonnet and on the roof of the van. Some joker had apparently stomped on us.
Towards the end of the second day’s drive Pilgrem, my car, had a little hiccup. 40 kms from Coonabarabran, NSW in a very hilly area the engine light came on. Was a bit of a fright as I have had that happen before and when it did the car lost all power. No major dramas, though. Turned out Pilgrem just needed a transmission service. Considering the incident the night before we had decided to try and stay at caravan parks the rest of the way. Coonabarabran Caravan Park was not one of the more memorable ones.
The third day took us as far as Grafton, NSW. Beautiful and mild place not far from the coast. Nice caravan park.
The following morning we were headed for The Gold Coast and my first entry into Queensland. Unfortunately we hit The Gold Coast on the Saturday of a long weekend and furthermore also the weekend of a local music festival. Traffic was choc-a-block. Absolute bumper to bumper. We had hoped to stay at Burleigh Heads Caravan Park, but not a chance. Another uneasy night in the back of the van in a public car park. Need I say The Gold Coast doesn’t sleep on a long weekend?
Sunday the 8th of June we arrived in Mundubbera, Qld where we had planned to stop and look for work. On the way there we made a detour to Noosa, Qld but did not stay long as it was as full of people as The Gold Coast was.
We have now spent one and a half months here in Mundubbera working on a farm just outside of town. The money is not great, the work is at times very hard and there is not much happening here so we are contemplating taking off again soon. At the moment we are picking mandarins, slaving our butts off to make wages. The trees have a lot of thorns and have not been pruned properly and as a result of that we look like self-mutilators. Scratched to buggery. But at least we sleep well at night.
Enough from me for now. Hope you are all well and enjoying life.
XXX
Stine
Australia