 
Closed On Tuesdays

By Jon Peasey

Published by Peasey Publications

at Smashwords

Copyright 2012 Jon Peasey

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

Thank you for downloading this free eBook.

Although this is a free eBook, it remains the copyrighted property

of the author, and may not be reproduced, copied and distributed for

commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed the book,

please encourage your friends to download their own copy at

Smashwords.com where they can also discover other works by this author.

Thank you for your support.

Table of Contents

Preamble

Heading South

Brisbane

Sorrow And Joy

On The Move

A Change Of Direction

Bannockburn

Winter In Bannockburn

Spring In Victoria

Decision Time

Destination North

South Mission Beach

Epilogue

About The Author

Preamble

It was time, to begin living the dream! My wife Rachel and I decided it was time to see more of this wonderful land of ours – Australia. We had lived in Innisfail in Far North Queensland for about 17 years. Our three sons grew up in Innisfail. They left home, one by one; Joel and Andrew went to live in New Zealand, and Michael to study at the University of Queensland, in Brisbane.

Maybe you are wondering why a book about travelling is called 'Closed On Tuesdays'? Travelling in the southern states of Australia, time and time again, we found businesses closed on Tuesdays; particularly in regional and rural areas in Victoria. As tourists we found this inconvenient as we could not access their services.

At the end of 2001, I resigned from my job as a male Nurse at Innisfail District Hospital in Queensland, Australia. Our plan was to sell our goods and chattels and live in our tent, until we could purchase a good second hand caravan. Then we would commence a touring holiday of this 'Big Country'. I would supplement our funds by finding casual work as a nurse. Rachel would have a good break from being a Family Day Carer; which she had worked at for many years.

Some people thought we were mad; others would have loved to be bold enough to do the same thing. I think a lot of Australians have the same dream; to travel around Australia, and take their 'home' with them. The following pages contain recollections of our time living the dream; with its many ups and downs.

So buckle up your seat belt, put on your sunglasses, and enjoy the ride.

[Our Falcon sedan at The Coconuts - Innisfail QLD]

Heading South

The big day arrived! It was Christmas Eve 2001 in Innisfail, North Queensland. The house was immaculately clean, ready for the inspection by Campbell's Real Estate. Our Falcon sedan was crammed full of personal belongings, camping equipment and food for the journey. We had one last look around the house. The house keys were placed on a kitchen bench. The front door was locked and closed for the final time. The rest of our belongings had been packed in cartons and consigned to Rachel's cousin Elizabeth in Brisbane Queensland.

We backed slowly out of the driveway it was 7:10 am. Rachel and I were tired from the big weekend clean up. The trip today would take us down the Bruce Highway; through Tully, Cardwell, Ingham, Townsville, Ayr, Bowen, Proserpine, and finally to Midge Point about 100 km north of Mackay.

The day turned out hot, we appreciated the air conditioning in the car. The weather was hot, humid and sunny. Today was the beginning of a touring and working holiday to the southern States of Australia. Brisbane would be our first major lengthy stay. Our plan was to camp in our tent until we could buy a decent, second hand caravan for the big trip.

Travellers Rest Caravan Park at Midge Point had plenty of shady sites. In fact too much shade, as the abundance of trees tended to block the sea breeze from the beach; making it feel hot, close and stifling. We decided it was not for us in a tent in the hot, humid conditions.

The Beach Caravan Park in Mackay was our next port of call. We had camped here previously and had enjoyed it. We unpacked our four persons', dome tent and set up camp for three nights.

What a great spot, right at Illawong beach, with good sea breezes. The beach was just over the sand dunes at the side of the van park. The weather continued to be hot! Christmas Day was 36 degrees Celsius with hot, north easterly winds. We took advantage of the swimming pool to cool off. Even though the tent was in the shade most of the day; we needed our three speeds, 240 volts AC, box fan; which kept the inside of the tent bearable.

[Camped at Beach Tourist Park - Mackay QLD]

The hot conditions even affected the crows. They seemed to be suffering from a lack of fresh drinking water. We filled a dish with water and put it in the shade. Sure enough, as soon as the crows found it they began drinking from it. Crows weren't the only birds around. The caravan park had resident peacocks; two male birds and two female birds, followed closely by seven baby birds.

Later in the twilight, we saw an inquisitive possum searching for food among the caravans, motor homes and tents. It seemed accustomed to people, as it came into our tent vestibule and I had to shoo it away. The second night we also saw a female possum, with a baby possum on its back.

With Christmas Day and Boxing Day behind us we left Mackay on Thursday morning. The Town of 1770 beckoned! For years we had gone past the turn off on the Bruce Highway at Miriam Vale, wondering what the Town of 1770 would be like. This time there was no excuse! We drove to the town of Agnes Waters on a bitumen road; except for about 7 km of gravel in the middle section. Agnes Waters is located in a beautiful area. You drive through Agnes Waters to reach the Town of 1770. Agnes Waters was extremely busy. It was the height of the tourist season with every available camping site crammed with people camping.

We moved on to the Town of 1770; which has connections to Captain James Cook and his ship the 'Endeavour'. We were enthralled by the glorious views from the hills overlooking Bustard Bay. The Town of 1770 was also absolutely jam packed with campers. We made a mental note to return to this beautiful area; sometime in the future.

Reluctantly, we left this lovely part of the Queensland coast and took the road south towards Bundaberg. This road runs for long stretches beside the main North/South railway line from Brisbane to Cairns. The latter portion of the trip to Bundaberg led us through lush cane fields. That night we camped at Cane Village Caravan Park in Bundaberg. We stayed here in 2000 in a cabin for one night.

Next morning we replenished our dwindling food supplies at a nearby shopping centre. A big decision had to be made; my mother was quite ill in a nursing home at Killarney Vale, on the Central Coast of NSW. Did we risk travelling through the bush fires ravaging NSW, or stay in Brisbane, or, the Gold Coast? Another factor to be considered was accommodation; it was the height of the NSW coastal tourist season. After careful deliberation, we decided to risk the trip to Killarney Vale; however we were aware that there were bush fires in the Grafton area. Accommodation would have to be sorted out along the way.

The trip down the Pacific Highway and over the border to the Ballina region in NSW was uneventful. From Ballina on we began to look for accommodation. 'No Vacancy' signs, proliferated along the highway. Friends in Innisfail had given us a business card for a motel at Tyndale located between Maclean and Grafton. We rang the number; they only had one room left for $65.00. We booked it; estimating it would take another hour to reach Tyndale. To compound matters, we were now on daylight savings time; consequently had to put our watches ahead one hour.

Bushfires made a fiery, red silhouette against the night sky. An air of desolation was everywhere, thick heavy smoke hung in the air. At one point a whole mountain appeared to be on fire. Evidence of very recent fires along the highway edges, plus a burnt out farm house and equipment, including motor vehicles, made us realise the ever present danger about us. Six or seven fire engines parked in a rest area reinforced this realisation. Kilometre after kilometre, we passed the smouldering remnants of bush fires.

Plantation Motel at Tyndale looked impressive from the highway. It was a big white building set back from the Highway. Closer inspection revealed a building definitely, showing its age; however, we were glad to stop as it was 9:30 pm NSW time. We paid our money and were directed around the back of the motel to our room. The room was up a flight of stairs. I walked into a large cobweb near our car. There were no lights on the stairs, so caution took precedence.

What an eye opener! This was obviously a last resort room; used only when the motel was fully booked. A broken door lock on the bathroom; barrel bolts on the main doors not functioning properly; sheets and quilts with holes in them and stains on the towels. Also, dust on the furniture; an oscillating fan that drooped and would not oscillate; no air conditioning and no laundry facilities. All capped off by a bomby old TV set and light fittings with missing globes or tubes. The front verandah furniture was dirty and had not been cleaned for a considerable time.

Surprisingly, the bed was reasonably comfortable and we slept well.

Next morning we headed south, glad to be away from that motel room. We passed through more areas blackened and smouldering from bush fires. The Pacific Highway had been closed for two days and had only re-opened yesterday. The run south to the Central Coast of NSW went smoothly. The next large town we went through was Grafton.

My sister Lyn, and her husband Bill, had moved recently from Long Jetty NSW to Emerald Beach NSW, near Coffs Harbour. We rang her for directions to her house. What a surprise! Expecting a normal suburban type home, we found a large double storey house, with verandahs on two sides and a garage with room for four vehicles. The house was set up high on a hill, on one and a half acres of land, with views to the ocean. The land sloped away from the house, down to the Pacific Highway and was bordered by lots of trees, with a small dam on the lower gentler slope. The view from the back verandah on the top level was stunning! The house was like a private hideaway; the neighbours' houses on both sides were not visible from the back of Lyn's house.

We enjoyed a visit for about an hour before moving on. Lyn had visitors up from Long Jetty for a few days. We were talking about accommodation near Killarney Vale and her visitors suggested we try the Chittaway Motel at Chittaway Bay; as they had heard good reports from friends who had stayed there. We kept that piece of information in mind; we knew tent accommodation would be well nigh impossible to obtain as we were in the middle of the peak tourist season.

Coffs Harbour was about 15 minutes drive south from Lyn's place. We drove down to Coffs Harbour and then headed for Kempsey. A very heavy flow of traffic was heading north; most of it holiday makers held up by the bush fires. Just outside Kempsey on the southern side of the river, the traffic was either stopped or crawling along. We clocked up seven kilometres before it freed up. We pitied the people in cars further down as they had no idea what was in store for them. We figured the problem was due to the highway changing from two lanes into one lane near Kempsey. Also, the traffic lights in Kempsey at the northern side of the river stopped traffic completely as they went through their normal cycle. The closure of the highway for two days also meant a much higher volume of traffic heading north. Road conditions further south were better.

That afternoon we pulled off the freeway and drove to the motel at Chittaway Bay. They did not have any vacancies, and had been turning away people all afternoon. I explained that we were visiting my mother in the nursing home at Killarney Vale and that the motel had been recommended to us. The receptionist suggested that we try the motel at Wyong and then looked at her watch and saw it was 4:20 pm. She had been holding a room until 4:00 pm and had not noticed the time. So we obtained one night's accommodation. The Lord was looking after us! We asked if there was any possibility of another night's accommodation. She told us to try again in the morning at 9:00 am in case there were any cancellations.

We unpacked the bags and equipment we needed; left them in the motel room and went to see Mum. Mum was very ill; as a result of a severe heart attack last July. Problems with her cardiac output, high blood sugar levels, and an ulcer on her left inner heel area, plus vomiting and nausea had left her bed bound and very debilitated. Expecting to see her looking gaunt and very unwell, we were pleasantly surprised to see she had improved slightly and was starting to eat a bit of food. Ice cream was one of the few things that she could keep down. Her doctors had put her on very high doses of insulin as they feared that the high sugar levels in her blood were feeding the infection in the leg ulcer. This, plus the antibiotics and a new type of wound dressing were turning the tide. The leg ulcer was beginning to heal and the likelihood of Mum having a below the knee amputation was now unlikely. The nausea and vomiting were still problems, but not as severe as previously.

Next morning (Sunday) we checked with reception at our motel and were pleased to hear we could have another night's accommodation, but in another room. Motel staff will move us across during the day. We could spend another full day with Mum. A quick visit to the local shops for some fruit and we were off to see Mum. We told her about our big travel plans, which she was happy to hear. Mum and Dad had travelled most of Australia on bus coach tours during their early retirement years; until Dad got too sick to travel around. We stayed until it was time for lunch, promising to come back after her nap in the afternoon.

At the motel, we utilised the free laundry facilities to wash and dry all our soiled clothing. This new motel room, at the rear of the complex, had a nice view of a backwater area of Chittaway Bay. It was a quiet and peaceful scene. Boats were anchored at private moorings, ducks and other water birds swam near the water's edge. The environment was so relaxing. We could feel ourselves unwind and we really enjoyed the peaceful ambience.

We were unable to secure any further accommodation as the motel was fully booked for New Year celebrations. Tomorrow we will head back to Queensland; however the bush fire risk is still very real further north. We planned to stay overnight in a motel, probably around the Grafton area. After that the Gold Coast area of Queensland would be our next destination; provided we could obtain tent accommodation.

Later that afternoon we called in to see Mum. She managed to eat a little bit of the fruit we gave her. We told her we that we would call in and say goodbye before we headed north.

New Year's Eve morning we visited Mum for about 10 minutes, said our goodbyes, and then started the drive up the Pacific Highway. The highway was not as congested on our return journey.

I needed to stretch my legs and pulled in at Karuah, a pretty spot, north of Raymond Terrace; at the western edge of the Port Stephens' waterways. The park and wharf areas were full of picnickers enjoying the peace and tranquillity of the area. We stopped for lunch at Taree, at our usual place near the boat ramp, in front of the KFC store.

That afternoon we pulled into Grafton and began to check the motels for price and availability. Our choice was the Fitzgerald Motel, located just across the Clarence River into town. It was a nice motel with a large swimming pool, with a hot spa attached. After checking into our room, I went down to the spa and found it a good place to unwind. Rachel relaxed in the motel room. We had a very quiet New Year's Eve and were fast asleep before the midnight countdown began.

Brisbane

New Year's Day 2002, proved to be a good day on the road, as road traffic was fairly light between major towns. We arrived in the Gold Coast area in Queensland in the late afternoon; having to put our watches back one hour. The search for accommodation began. We wanted to check out motels and caravan parks. The motels and self-contained apartments all seemed to have no vacancy signs up. A caravan park at Palm Beach had a sign out with tent sites available. We kept this in mind as we drove up to the Burleigh Heads area. No success up that way, so we returned to Palm Beach. The caravan park still had vacancies for powered tent sites. We checked out possible sites and picked a site with a good shady spot under some trees. This proved to be a wise choice! We booked and paid for two nights' accommodation. We also wanted to check permanent rental accommodation in the Gold Coast area the following day. The weather was very hot, however a good sea breeze made it more bearable. Again, we were thankful for the box fan inside the tent.

The weather the next day was even hotter! We felt sorry for the people in tents that were in the full sun; they just had to zip up their tents and go out for the whole day. We spent a fruitless day looking for reasonably priced, fully furnished rental accommodation. We crossed the Gold Coast off our list. Next morning (Thursday) we were packing up our tent, when a chap came along and asked us if we were moving on. Replying to him in the affirmative, we watched him walk towards the Reception area. When we had finished packing the car, he came and told us he was transferring his tent from a site that was in the full sun. He was anxious to move into the shade of the trees at the rear of our site.

The city of Maryborough was our first destination; to look at a caravan sales yard that was closed on our trip down from Innisfail. Closer inspection did not reveal any suitable caravans, so we backtracked to the Sunshine Coast. Rachel had contacted a real estate agent at Caloundra, prior to leaving Innisfail. Caloundra proved to be fruitless as well. The available fully furnished properties were either too expensive, or we would have to wait up to 30 days before they became vacant.

Feeling deflated, we then checked out a caravan sales yard in Caloundra. The dealer had a caravan around our price range of $10,000.00 to $12,000.00; however it needed some tender loving care inside. The previous owner had done some amateurish additions inside the caravan that were not in keeping with the rest of the caravan. We decided to think about it, and meanwhile look in Brisbane.

It was a long, hot, tiring day. We drove off the Bruce Highway into Caboolture to look for motel accommodation for the night. Caboolture Motel was reasonably priced with friendly staff; and a good guest laundry. We were able to catch up with our washing and ironing.

What were we going to do? Accommodation was a problem! Should we try to buy a caravan, or continue to look for permanent rental accommodation? Six month leases were the norm; we did not really want to stay in or around Brisbane for six months. On the other hand, we had not seen any good caravans in our price range; other than at Rockhampton on the trip down. It was $13,200.00 a bit above our $12,000.00 limit. It looked like we needed to stay in our tent a bit longer! The weather was very hot, not conducive to tent living. It seemed that the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast were out of the equation at present. We could head back to Brisbane and look for caravans; if that was not successful we would have to move into permanent rental accommodation.

Friday morning we left Caboolture and headed down to Brisbane to Gateway Village at Rochedale. We stayed here previously in our tent in 2000 and enjoyed it. The weather continued to be very hot. We were fortunate that one of the remaining sites had shade most of the day. The site was a bit squeezy; it was really for a motor home or campervan. I had to park the car diagonally across the concrete annexe pad. Our box fan was certainly earning the money we spent on it; the tent was very hot inside. We spent the rest of the day sitting on our chairs in the shade of the trees. In the late afternoon we went to look at caravans at Eight Miles Plains. The dealer had a lightweight Viscount caravan in reasonable condition for $10,500.00. We were unsure about it and decided to keep looking elsewhere.

Next morning we went to Tingalpa, to check out Brisbane Camperland for second hand caravans. They had two or three in our price range. Rachel spotted a cream coloured van at the side of the yard, which she liked the look of; however, we decided to start at the front of the yard. Two vans around the $10,000.00 seemed to be in reasonable condition and both had double beds; which we were looking for. The salesman Mark was happy to explain things to us. He was emphatic that the Viscount lightweight van at the other dealer's yard would not stand up to extensive touring as the undercarriage was too light. We took a quick look at the cream coloured van and liked its interior; however it did have single beds. The price for cash was $12,250.00 - slightly high. Was it worth that sort of money? We were hoping to spend around $10,000.00. The more we looked at it, the more it appealed to us. The inside cabinet work was in very good condition. The previous owners had traded it in on a new Jayco caravan. We could put a holding deposit of $500.00 on it while we thought about it.

Mark contacted his boss Jim and explained our situation; that we were waiting on my superannuation pay out to make a final payment. An appointment was made to see Jim on Monday morning. The caravan was a Regal 14' Comfort Deluxe Tourer manufactured in 1992. Feeling excited, we paid a holding deposit of $500.00 and headed back to Rochedale to work out our sums. How much could we put towards the caravan? How much did we need for ongoing expenses? I could look for work through a Nursing agency or through the Private Health system.

On Sunday we spent the day with friends and relatives at a local Christian fellowship we were associated with. It was good to catch up with them all.

The weather continued hot and humid. The tent with the sun on it became very hot inside. We were fortunate that we could move our chairs under the shade of the trees next to our site. The amenities block was adjacent to our site; screened off by a large lattice panel

Monday morning we were quite excited as we drove to our appointment. I explained to Mark's boss Jim that we could put $8,000.00 towards the caravan at this stage and they could hold it until my superannuation payment came through. Jim was happy to do this, but came up with a plan to help us out. He was quite willing to let us have a van worth around $8,000.00 and live in it, on site, until the balance of the money came in. We had a look at the van and decided it would be better than our tent; especially with the likelihood of storms and hail at this time of the year. It would take a couple of days to put the caravan through the workshop for detailing, roadworthy check and gas inspection. We paid the additional $7,500.00 to make up the $8,000.00 and went back to our tent.

The day became very hot; I came up with the idea of using our two larger silver tarpaulins as fly sheets directly over the tent. The difference inside was quite marked. It felt about 10 degrees Celsius cooler; although it probably was not. The inside of the tent was now bearable; however it was still cooler in the shade of the trees. A slight breeze was blowing which helped a bit.

Pondering over our caravan situation, I decided to ring my sister Lyn and talk to her about it. Mum had said she would be happy to help out, if needed. Lyn was Mum's custodian for financial matters and we worked out a loan of $5,000.00 with her; to enable us to buy our Regal caravan immediately. I rang Mark at Brisbane Camperland and asked him to put our caravan through the workshop instead of the $8,000.00 van. He was happy to hear that we had raised the balance. Mark was unsure when the van would be ready, probably Friday. On top of that our Falcon sedan would have to be booked in for a towbar + electric wiring + an electronic brake controller for the caravan brakes.

Tuesday about mid morning, Lyn rang to tell us that she had transferred the $5,000.00 into our bank account. After lunch we went to Brisbane Camperland and paid the balance off the caravan. It was a good feeling to know that the caravan was ours!

Later that afternoon we arranged with Rachel's cousin Elizabeth to be at her house at Indooroopilly on Wednesday; to receive the goods we had consigned there from Innisfail. The consignment was due to be delivered between 8:30 am and 10:30 am.

Wednesday, we arrived at Elizabeth's home about 8:30 am. Our youngest son Michael boards with her and her family whilst he is studying at the University of Queensland at St Lucia. Elizabeth's home is reasonably close to the university. Michael is studying to become a high school teacher. Some of the items to be delivered were for Michael; a large TV set and a VCR machine. A smaller TV set would go to Elizabeth to use in her bedroom. The delivery truck arrived around 10:00 am. We unpacked the box that contained the small TV set and the VCR machine. The other boxes were stacked away; we will come back on Saturday and unpack them.

While we were at Indooroopilly, I took the opportunity to catch a train into the city and go to Q Super to claim my superannuation pay out. It was very hot in the city; the Q Super building was about 20 minutes walk from Central Station. I filled in the claim form, handed it to the friendly receptionist and returned to Indooroopilly. Wednesday evening we went to a Prayer and Bible Study meeting at our niece Claudia's home at Sunnybank. We did not stay after for supper, as we had to get up early next morning to be at Brisbane Camperland at 8:30 am.

Thursday, 10-Jan-2002 a big day for us today! Feeling excited and a bit nervous, we took the car for its fit out. Jim, the boss at Brisbane Camperland drove us to Carindale Shopping Centre; where we would spend the morning. The car would take a couple of hours, but the caravan would probably not be ready until midday. We spent a pleasant morning window shopping, browsing and purchased a few items. A phone call from Mark just before lunch was not good news. The caravan fridge was not working properly and needed to be removed and fixed. Pick up time for the caravan was now about 2:00 pm. We had lunch at Carindale and decided to catch a taxi back about 2:00 pm

At 2:00 pm we caught a taxi and went back to Brisbane Camperland. The caravan was not quite ready; it was being given its final wash and polish. We needed a few extra items; towing mirrors, a water hose and fittings, a sullage hose, an electric 15 amps power lead, and D shackles for the towing chains. Mark had everything except a sullage hose. We would make do with a bucket until we could buy a hose.

As the caravan was now ready, Mark took us through the operating procedures for the setting up and closing up routines; also how to operate all the appliances. The hitching and unhitching procedures were demonstrated; then it was time for a test run. I was concerned about reversing the van as I had not towed a trailer for many years. Mark explained how the brake controller unit worked and how to set it up correctly so that the car and caravan braked in unison. A spin around the block on quiet back streets took place; then a few lessons in reversing the caravan and we were ready to go. Feeling very nervous we drove out of the dealer's yard and up on to the Gateway Bridge Motorway to drive back to Rochedale.

The car and caravan handled well on the motorway. The most nerve wracking part was about to happen. We pulled into Gateway Village and booked another site, fortunately it was right alongside our tent site. Everyone was watching us! They had heard we were picking up our caravan today. It took a few attempts to get the van into a good position alongside the concrete pad. We had problems unhitching the van as the powered site was above road level. Two neighbours, Mike and Lyall came over to help us. They soon had us unhitched and correctly aligned. The corner stays were lowered to stabilise the caravan. Lyall graciously gave us some wooden blocks to sit the stays on. He then helped us to level the van so that the 3 way refrigerator would operate satisfactorily.

[Regal caravan at Gateway Village - Rochedale QLD]

We decided to put up the caravan awning; it became caught in the door, so Rachel closed the door and it locked! We did not have a key with us - the keys were in the caravan!

Unbelief...shock...despair - all these feelings flashed through our minds!

Rachel went down to the office to arrange for a locksmith to come. He would be about 40 minutes and it would cost us $93.50 for the privilege. I got into the car and went to find an ATM to withdraw $100.00 cash; as the payment had to be in cash. When I returned I concentrated on moving our belongings from the tent.

The locksmith arrived and within two minutes the door was open! He cut us two extra keys for the lock. As he did not have any change on him, we ended up giving him the full $100-00. We were not too concerned about the extra money as he had cut us two new keys.

He had just left when a motor home arrived to use the site the tent was on! I rushed up quickly and explained we had just bought the caravan and that we were in the process of moving the tent. Would they please come back in 10 minutes? That was not a problem, as they would check out the van park's facilities. We dashed over to the tent, pulled it quickly down and threw it in a big mess on the concrete pad in front of the caravan. By now it was dark. We finished putting up the awning and decided the mess was too horrendous to look at; so we put up the annexe walls to hide the mess.

Inside the caravan another mess was evident. We had to work out where to put our belongings. That night we went to bed exhausted and emotionally drained. What a day!

Friday morning greeted us with the mess in the annexe! I looked at it in despair for a few minutes. 'Where do we start with the clean up?' It was too much to contemplate on an empty stomach. Showers and breakfast first, then the clean up. The tent was the main problem; a space had to be cleared to roll it up. Piling as much I could to one side, I put a tarpaulin on the concrete annexe pad and somehow managed to lay out the tent and fly, on top of each other. Folding it in on itself, I was able to roll it up well enough to put it in its bag. The rest of the tent was then packed and put into the bag. Now, there was room to move and sort out everything else. Half an hour later the job was done, with everything stacked neatly against the caravan wall.

Rachel in the meantime was sorting out where to put things inside the caravan. Packing and unpacking and moving items from one storage place to another took most of the day. I had left some of my tools at Elizabeth's place, consequently was unable to connect the water hose to the caravan. We also needed to buy a sullage hose. The very hot weather continued; we were thankful for our box fan. It was too hot with the annexe walls up so we took them down to allow the breeze to flow freely. The next day was forecast to be even hotter, 40 degrees Celsius.

Later that afternoon, I went to Fruitgrove Railway Station to pick up Michael. That evening we all went to dinner with Claudia and Max at their home at Sunnybank. We had a lovely dinner and a pleasant time together. We were also pleasantly surprised to see Claudia's brother, Daniel and his wife Suzanne with their new baby, Emily. They had planned this surprise for our benefit.

Saturday morning was hot very early; we woke up feeling hot and uncomfortable. Today was the day we had to unpack our cartons at Elizabeth's home. We decided to take most of our camping equipment to her house for the use of relatives or friends. Our two tents, tarpaulins (for groundsheets), gas bottle, stove and stand, plus the two self inflating mattresses; all would go to Elizabeth's house. We kept our two folding chairs, our aluminium folding table, our car fridge and our sleeping bags. After breakfast, we loaded the car with the camping gear and drove to Indooroopilly. The house was already hot; Elizabeth brought a box fan to make the room more comfortable. We had to unpack, work out what we needed to take to the caravan, and what to leave for storage. Crockery, cutlery, pots and pans, kitchen implements were required, plus the balance of our clothing; it all needed to be stored in the van.

The day got hotter and hotter! We transferred the unpacked items to Michael's room. By now, we were using the box fan and a pedestal fan in an endeavour to cool the room; which was located on the bottom storey of the house! I was feeling unwell and needed to rest at intervals. When most of the unpacking and rearranging was over; I took Michael outside in the shade and showed him how to put up the tents and take them down again and then how to roll them up. Michael had plans to use the larger tent at a Christian camp near Boonah. After this stint outside, I needed another rest in front of a fan.

The temperature that day reached 41 degrees Celsius with fairly high humidity. We decided to have a take away lunch; so Michael and I headed to the nearest KFC store at Indooroopilly. We brought the lunch back to the house; by now it was mid afternoon, very hot and very oppressive.

After lunch, we loaded up the car and drove back to Rochedale; where another arranging and rearranging session took place in the caravan. I had collected the rest of my tools; subsequently the water hose was connected to the caravan. We then bought 8 metres of sullage hose at Caravan County, a Coromal Caravan dealer at Eight Mile Plains. I cut the hose into two lengths, 5 metres and 3 metres. They could be joined with a hose joiner. What a difference! Running water and not having to empty the bucket, made it feel more like home. The day had been so hot we went for a dip in the Park's swimming pool to cool off. Feeling refreshed, we reviewed our efforts for the day and were pleased with the results.

Next day was cooler, with a cool breeze blowing from a south easterly direction. As it was Sunday we spent the day with our Christian friends at our local fellowship at Eight Mile Plains. Monday we drove to Acacia Ridge to Camec Industries to check out weight distribution equipment for our caravan; then across to Macgregor to Supercheap Auto for bits and pieces. Rachel looked at curtain materials for the caravan windows. After this we checked out curtain materials at Loganholme.

On Tuesday, I arranged an interview for 10:30 am Wednesday at Oxley Nursing Service in the Brisbane CBD. It was time for me to obtain some casual work to keep the finances flowing. My superannuation pay out probably would not occur until the second or third week in February.

Wednesday morning proved to be long and nerve wracking for me. I caught the bus from Eight Mile Plains Park and Ride facility into the city of Brisbane. The new Busway is marvellous; only buses, no other traffic until the city is reached. It was a fairly long walk to 370 Queen Street in the CBD, but I made the appointment in good time.

Paperwork, paperwork and more paperwork - plus a drug calculation test - and then the interview! After that, I went downstairs for passport photos for my identification badge. The upshot was I could start as soon as I liked; so I arranged to start job assignments on Monday, 21-Jan-2002. Feeling a bit drained, I was glad to head downstairs and return to Rochedale. My state of mind was now more settled and I could relax for a few days before commencing work.

The next few days were spent relaxing. I needed to buy some navy shorts, another white shirt, plus long white walk socks for my uniforms. This was accomplished without too much drama. Oxley Nursing Service would contact me between 10:00 am and 10:30 am, or between 4:00 pm and 4:30 pm in the afternoon for job assignments. I had decided to do either morning or afternoon shifts as Rachel was nervous about me doing night shifts. This suited me as trying to sleep during the day in a caravan park could be difficult due to the noise. Another factor was that the caravan was not air conditioned. The weather was too hot for lengthy sleeps during the day. Monday to Friday was my preferred work period; as I did not want to work weekends.

Sundays were settling into a regular routine. About 10:30 am we went to Eight Mile Plains to meet with the Christian fellowship we were associated with. We came back around 5:00 pm, after a pleasant day out.

Rachel and I were married in Brisbane in 1974 and spent the first 8 years of married life on Brisbane's south side. We had a long association with our friends in the Brisbane meeting. In one way it was like coming home. Rachel's family had moved to Brisbane when she was a teenager, from Fishery Falls in North Queensland; thus she had grown up with most of the folk in the meeting.

Life as a casual nurse is a bit unsettling; unable to go away for the day in case a job assignment comes in; then waiting for either the 10:00 am call or the 4:00 pm call, (if any) means you can't be too far from home base. Some assignments are booked days ahead, others you wait and hope something comes up. The first week was a full one; an assignment came in each day Monday to Friday. However, the following week I received only three days work; yet I had to stay close to home base, just in case.

Most of my assignments were at Greenslopes Private Hospital; nursing mainly in the medical wards. Fortunately the layouts of the wards are similar. Each floor in the multi storey building is laid out with the same basic floor plan. This makes it easier to orientate yourself in different wards. The treatment room, linen store room, clean and dirty utility rooms and other equipment storage rooms are in the same place on each floor. The staff at Greenslopes Hospital were friendly and helpful; this made the job easier, as you are constantly asking where to find things.

Sorrow and Joy

Monday, 11-Feb-2002 started out fine; I was working an early shift and the day was running very smoothly. I returned from lunch and about 12:50 pm and received a telephone call from the Nurse Coordinator telling me to ring home urgently. Two things crossed my mind, it was either a financial problem, or Mum had taken a turn for the worse. I phoned Rachel, only to be told my mother had passed away that morning!

I was stunned!

I was too upset to carry on working. My nursing colleagues on Ward 21 and the Nurse Coordinator were very understanding; I knocked off work about 1:00 pm. I then rang Oxley Nursing Service who had already been informed of my mother's death. I cancelled the rest of that week.

I drove back to Rochedale with a heavy heart. Upon my return I rang my sister Lyn, who was very upset. She arranged to transfer some money to our bank account, as my next wage was not until Friday. She also asked me to contact our brother Neil, as the Nursing Home had not been able to reach him. I was successful in contacting Neil who was also stunned by the news. Neil told me he would contact Lyn regarding the funeral arrangements. Friday 15-Feb-2002 seemed to be the earliest date for the funeral. Neil was due in court on Thursday 14-Feb-2002 on a worker's compensation claim for his shoulder, which had been reconstructed twice. Neil was after a lump sum pay out as he was no longer able to work in his trade as a fitter and turner. He had to be in court; so Thursday was not a good day for the funeral.

We could not leave until Lyn transferred the money to our account. Michael was coming with us, so we decided not to take the caravan as it is only set up for two people. Lyn was hoping to have the money in our bank account on Tuesday or Wednesday morning at the latest.

Lyn rang on Tuesday to tell us she had just transferred the money and to let us know the funeral service would be held on Friday at the Rose Chapel at Palmdale on the Central Coast of NSW. After the service our nephew Mark and his partner Kylie would provide afternoon tea for family and friends. With the funeral arrangements confirmed, we checked out accommodation in that area. We were amazed to find that cabins and villas in the caravan parks were more expensive than the motel at Chittaway Bay. Consequently, we booked a motel room for two nights. We notified Michael and told him to be ready by 7:00 am Wednesday morning.

Wednesday morning we drove to Indooroopilly, picked up Michael just after 7:00 am and drove out through the Ipswich area to the New England Highway. The traffic was heavy until we drove on to the Ipswich bypass. We headed to Warwick and stopped at a park in the centre of town for a comfort stop. Feeling refreshed we continued on to Stanthorpe, where we stopped at the Tourist Bureau. The Tourist Bureau buildings overlook a beautiful lagoon, with landscaped parks surrounding the lagoon. The Bureau showcases the local wine and fruit growing areas.

Michael was very sleepy all day; we later learned he had not gone to bed on Tuesday night. A picnic lunch at Deepwater was very enjoyable. We decided to stay overnight in Tamworth. We drove around Tamworth and checked out the motels; finally choosing the Motel Grande for $62.50 per night, for 3 adults. Even though it was on the main road south, we were spared noise from heavy transport as the highway bypass channelled the highway traffic away from the motel area.

Thursday morning we drove straight through to Chittaway Bay, arriving at 1:30 pm (NSW time). We went to check in at the Chittaway Motel only to find our room was still being cleaned! We arranged to come back after 2:00 pm and went to the KFC store at Mingala for lunch. After lunch we returned to the motel and checked in; then went shopping at the Westfield complex at Tuggerah for flowers etc. for the funeral. We were undecided about floral arrangements; so a final decision will have to be made tomorrow morning.

My sister Lyn informed us that we could view Mum's body at 1:00 pm. The service was to commence at 1:30 pm. We figured that we would go down to the viewing before the service .commenced. Lyn asked if I would do the eulogy and could Michael do a bible reading in John chapter14 verses 1-6. We were happy to be part of the service; however we were feeling weary and emotionally drained.

Next morning, Rachel bought a sheaf of flowers for our family's floral contribution at the service. Rachel's brother Sam and his family arranged a donation of $60.00 to go to the Diabetes Australia local branch; as this branch had had a lot to do with Mum. The Rose Chapel at Palmdale was approximately 15 minutes drive from Chittaway Bay. We dressed for the funeral and arrived at the Rose Chapel about 1:00 pm. Another funeral was in progress at the Chapel. We asked to see Mum's body and were shown to the viewing room.

Death is truly the absence of life! Our bodies are only the vessels that contain the human spirit and soul. When the spirit and soul go back to God who created them all that remains is our body, an empty shell! As we gazed on Mum's body, the stark realisation of this was apparent. Her spirit and soul had gone to another sphere, or as Shakespeare has put it 'shuffled off this mortal coil'. All that remained was the human home where she once dwelt; like an empty house left vacant by its owner.

By 1:15 pm most of the family and friends had gathered and moved into the Rose Chapel. Four of Mum's grandsons were pall bearers; Brett, Mark, Ryan and Michael. At 1:30 pm as the song 'The Wind Beneath My Wings' played softly, they brought Mum's casket in slowly to the front of the Chapel and raised it up on to the platform.

An Anglican minister had been chosen to take the service; he had known Mum through the Nursing Home. He welcomed everybody and read from a printed format, copies of which were in every pew. Then I took about 10 minutes to do a short eulogy. I recapitulated on the life of a woman who loved her children, grand children and great grand children. I reflected on the hard years, her divorce and remarriage, and working to help support the family; and then the help she gave her new husband Collyn, to save money to owner build their own house. Then there were the times when she was the only bread winner; as Collyn was often ill and unable to work. Yet in all these problems remaining positive in her outlook on life and giving wise counsel to her family.

As the service went on Michael read from John 14:1-6. Then Brett read a letter Lyn had written to Mum; which not only expressed Lyn's feelings, but seemed to sum up the woman who was our mother. It was a very moving time for all in the Chapel. Somehow, Brett managed to read that letter without breaking down. The hymn 'Amazing Grace' was played and in the final commitment of her body, Louis Armstrong's 'What a Wonderful World' was played softly. The congregation, led by the family moved silently out of the Chapel as the curtains slid silently across the front of the Chapel, hiding the casket from view.

Afternoon tea was at Mark and Kylie's unit at Long Jetty. Kylie, a professional Chef, had prepared a lovely afternoon tea with all types of delicious finger foods. We met quite a few of Lyn's friends and chatted with many of them. We left about 4:30 pm feeling tired and looking forward to an early night's sleep. For me it was a bad night; indigestion brought on by emotional stress kept me awake for several hours.

Saturday morning we packed the car, filled it with petrol at the service station next door and headed out to the freeway for the long drive back to Brisbane. This time we chose the Pacific Highway along the coast. We lunched at Taree, overlooking the broad Manning River; then drove on to Grafton, staying at the Fitzgerald Motel again ($79.00 for 3 adults). Another early night's sleep was in order and very welcome. I slept better.

Sunday morning, we drove out of the motel and headed north to Brisbane, passing through Ballina and the Gold Coast areas on the way. We had a late lunch at a McDonald's Restaurant on the Gold Coast bypass road. We drove to Gateway Village at Rochedale, where we dropped Rachel off to unpack our belongings and tidy up the caravan. I drove Michael to Indooroopilly and then returned to Gateway Village. Rachel and I later had dinner with her brother Sam and his family at Sunnybank. We were grateful for a fairly early night as we were very tired and emotionally wiped out.

A funeral over and a wedding to go!

We had been away for 5 days. Thankfully most of my superannuation had been paid into our bank account whilst we were at Chittaway Bay. What a relief! Now we could pay back the money owing to Mum's estate and clear up some overdue bills. However, Lyn told us not to pay back the $6,000.00 as the solicitor would factor that in when calculating the disbursement of Mum's estate. We had another $6,000.00 to play with.

Monday we woke up later than normal. I phoned Oxley Nursing Service and told them I would not be available for two weeks, as we had to go to New Zealand for Joel's wedding. I also asked them to check out Victorian regional work contracts (1-3 months). The Victorian Nurses Registration Board's contact number was given to me. With that out of the way we went shopping. Rachel needed a wedding outfit, and as mother of the groom, it needed to be a certain standard. We spent a lot of time in dress shops. Tuesday, the same again - more dress shops!

We arranged to drive our niece Claudia and husband Max to the International Terminal at Brisbane Airport early Wednesday morning. Subsequently, early Wednesday morning we picked them up and took them to the airport. They were off to Joel and Jane's wedding in Christchurch. After dropping them off, we decided to take a break from shopping for clothes, and look at second hand caravans. An upgrade to a slightly larger van with a double bed would be a beneficial move. As we were in the general vicinity we drove to Kratzmann's at Virginia to check out their second hand caravans and have a look at their new A'Van caravan range. We liked a new A'Van caravan called The Ronald; it was a 15' double bed, caravan for $22,000.00; however, we decided to look at other dealers before committing ourselves.

We went back to Brisbane Camperland to see Mark again. He was surprised to see us wanting to upgrade so soon. We were shown some vans around the $17,000.00 and $18,000.00 mark, which seemed OK. He then asked us if we would like to see a new model Jayco Eagle pop top caravan which had just arrived. It was 16 feet long internally, with a double bed, and an attached roll out awning. He would sell it to us for $22,000.00 with a weight distribution hitch included at cost price. Trade in price for our Regal was $10,000.00. We hummed and ahhed and said we would go and think about it. We went back to the caravan park and after lengthy discussion decided it was for us! A quick phone call to Mark and he locked it up and put a 'SOLD' sticker on it.

Next day we went back to Brisbane Camperland, paid a holding deposit of $1,000.00, and made arrangements to pick up the caravan on 5-Mar-2002, after we returned from Joel's wedding. We were quite excited as we gave our new caravan another inspection. A brand spanking new caravan; soon to be ours!

We spent the rest of the day...you guessed it...shopping for Rachel's wedding outfit. Hooray! Today we were successful! Rachel finally has a very chic wedding outfit. I was completely shopped out! Talk about shop 'til you drop! Somewhere along the way, I managed to buy new shoes, a new shirt and a new tie for the wedding.

Friday, 22-Feb-2002 arrived; we spent the day cleaning every nook and cranny of the Regal van. Then our bags needed to be packed for New Zealand. It was a tiring day; and we needed an early night for an early start tomorrow. The alarm was set for 4:00 am; we had to be at the airport by 6:00 am and pick up Michael by 5:30 am to ensure this happened. We did not sleep very well as we were too excited about our New Zealand trip.

Saturday 23-Feb-2002, at 4:00 am my wrist watch alarm woke us up. Quickly off to the showers, then a quick cup of coffee, pack the car, lock the caravan; and then off to Indooroopilly to pick up Michael. Minimal traffic on the roads meant a good run to Indooroopilly and then to the airport. We parked the car, locked it and proceeded to the QANTAS check in counters. Twenty minutes later we were through Customs and out into the waiting areas. By now we were hungry, so a light breakfast was in order. About ten minutes prior to boarding time we moved to Gate 29 for our boarding call. The plane left approximately 20 minutes late.

The flight to Christchurch was smooth most of the way. We experienced turbulence over the Southern Alps in the South Island; other than that the flight was good. QANTAS supplied a nice in flight hot breakfast. New Zealand customs was slow as four international flights arrived about the same time. The line up to go through the green lane (nothing to declare), was really long and boring. A sniffer dog sniffed under my shoulder bag. The Customs officer asked me whether I had any food in my bag. I told him the bag only contained clothing. He was satisfied with the reply. Later, I realised that I had put the bag down on a chair in the café area at Brisbane airport; some particles of food must have been on the chair. Clever dog!

It took about an hour to clear Customs. Joel was waving excitedly as we came through the exit doors into the Arrivals area. He and Jane had arrived from Auckland a short time before, having driven all night. We met Jane's mother Rhonda and Jane's sister, Joanne. Lovely people! We then moved out to their cars. Rachel, Michael and I went with Rhonda in her car. We went to the Cotswold Hotel; where we had booked and paid for eight nights' accommodation, in a motel inn room. The room was definitely not on a par with Australian accommodation at similar prices, however, we were glad to unpack and unwind. We had only had two hours sleep during the night and were feeling tired. As New Zealand time was three hours ahead of Brisbane time, it was mid afternoon in Christchurch.

Joel came around later and took us for a quick drive through Christchurch and up into the hills above Christchurch. After our quick 'Tiki Tour' we came back to Andrew's house; which was about four minutes walking from the Cotswold. We had dinner at Andrew's house. Joel and I drove to a local fish and chips shop and bought fish and chips for our dinner.

Joel tried to embarrass me by pointing out I was a tourist. Every Kiwi eye in the shop looked at me! I simply said, "Hey! My money is as good as anybody else." That diffused the situation; they all smiled.

The meal was delicious! The cooler weather had sharpened up our appetites. It was good to be together again as a family. Rachel had not seen Andrew for three years. The boys had seen each other within the past twelve months. So it had been over three years since we had all been together. Joel remarked, "Five Peaseys, soon to be six". Michael was staying with Andrew at his house. All of us were tired, so we had an early night. Joel went to Jane's parents' house; Rachel and I walked back to the Cotswold.

Next day (Sunday) Andrew and Michael took us to the Christchurch meeting at Harefield Road; a group of Christians with whom we were in fellowship with in New Zealand. After the meeting we were expected at Jane's parents Ken and Rhonda's house for a barbecue lunch and to meet some of Jane's relatives.

The singing at the morning remembrance meeting was inspirational. As each hymn was given out melodic voices blended in sweet harmony. We sang hymns of praise and worship to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit inspired various men in the meeting to rise in prayer and praise. Then added to this, were the moments when we actually partook of the bread and wine in memory of the great sacrifice the Lord Jesus made for us at Calvary. "O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together." (Psalm 34:3).

At the conclusion of the meeting we met Robyn Sides and his wife Janice; they had been very kind to both Joel and Andrew when they first moved to Christchurch. We also met Helen Beaumont, the mother of Suzanne (our nephew Daniel's wife). It was nice to meet with other Christians who hold similar beliefs.

The barbecue lunch later was a happy time. We met Jane's father Ken, and her maternal grandparents, Bert and Thelma, and Jane's cousin Mandy. Ken turned out to be a good chef; the meat was cooked just right. Each of Jane's family was interesting to speak with. Jane's grandmother was a true matriarch; she appeared to be the chief organiser for the wedding. Bert and Thelma were members of the church where the wedding ceremony was to be conducted; Saint Barnabas' Anglican Church on Fendleton Road, Christchurch. We all mixed happily together, it augured well for the wedding.

We then went back to the Cotswold for dinner. Andrew and Michael went home to Andrew's house, and later to Andrew's church for the evening service. Rachel and I were very tired and had an afternoon nap before dinner. Notices in every room warned that the unit needed to be locked securely each time we went away.

Housekeeping room service was not brilliant. On our arrival we discovered three lights were not working, two in the bathroom and one in the living room area. On our first night the bathroom was in complete darkness. We only had one change of bed linen in eight days; it was supposed to be changed every two days. We found out later that all the other motor inn rooms had a microwave oven. Ours did not! We had the instruction book in a drawer, but no microwave oven. The girls who did the housekeeping were friendly. There seemed to be two teams, one team did the cleaning and the other team did the replenishing of linen and bed making. Maybe that was where some of the communication breakdown was occurring.

On Monday morning, Rachel and I walked up to the shops at Merivale; an up market area of Christchurch. Rachel bought a pair of long tailored slacks for NZD$30.00; the original price was NZD$169.00! We returned prior to lunch. Andrew and Michael came around to see us. Joel also turned up; so we all went to lunch in Joel's car to McDonalds. After lunch Joel and Jane took us for a 'Tiki Tour' of the Botanical Gardens and Worcester Boulevard. Both venues are in, or near, the Christchurch CBD area. Whilst browsing through the Arts and Craft shops on Worcester Boulevard, I was able to buy a thick Merino wool jumper for NZD$65.00. In winter this jumper would normally sell for NZD$120.00 or more. An excellent buy!

Rachel and I were expected at Helen Beaumont's home for dinner that night. Our boys were invited as well; however Joel was unable to come. Andrew and Michael were happy to come and we set off across the city in Andrew's car. Helen's house is set up very high in the hills above Christchurch.

Two short walks near her house bring you to two fabulous vantage points overlooking the city and across the Canterbury Plains towards the Southern Alps. We looked over the expanse of Christchurch; then gazed across the verdant, green pastures of the Canterbury Plains, to the spectacular backdrop of the Southern Alps. The sun slowly slid from view and the lights of the city twinkled below us. As the twilight deepened the city lights glittered like myriads of gems; glistening against the velvety blackness of the night. An enthralling sight!

The cold evening breeze interrupted the spectacle and reminded us not to linger long. It snows up here in winter!

Helen provided us with a beautiful cooked meal. Her house is set on a hill and the top level was nice and warm. The afternoon sun had warmed up the lounge, dining and kitchen areas. Helen had photos of our nephew Daniel's baby, Emily. Helen is Emily's maternal grandmother. We now have a family connection through our grand niece. Daniel and Suzanne were unable to come to Joel's wedding as Daniel had been assigned to a high school at Yarraman; about two hours drive north west of Brisbane. The Queensland school year had begun at the end of January. We spent a pleasant time with Helen and left at a reasonable hour.

As a fairly new "P" Plates car driver, Andrew was a bit nervous about driving back down the steep roads. I advised him to put the car in second gear and let the engine do some of the braking. As long as he drove sensibly and braked moderately he would be OK. Andrew accomplished the descent successfully and felt confident he could do it again by himself. It is easy to forget what it's like when you first learn to drive and obtain your driver's license. Andrew is gaining in confidence and should be a good driver.

Joel arrived at the Cotswold to sleep over. The two seater lounge had a single sofa bed contained within it. We opened it out, it was made up; but ...oh...what a bed! It looked sad and dilapidated. It drooped down at the pillow end, the seat cushions had to be put there to make it sort of level. Joel had brought along his sleeping bag. He tried sleeping on the sofa; however he abandoned it, as a cross bar was pressing into his back. He took the mattress off, put it on the floor and slept there. We gave him our spare door key. If we were asleep he could come and go without disturbing us.

On Tuesday morning, Joel took Rachel, Michael and I shopping at Riccarton Mall; ostensibly to look at buying a suit for Michael for the wedding. Michael was unsure as to whether he would use a suit much back home in Australia. He decided not to buy a suit; instead, he would hire a suit for the wedding. Joel rang Andrew at lunch time; and Andrew drove across town to meet us for lunch. Meanwhile, I had had a surfeit of shopping and sat on a seat and waited for the others to finish shopping. An older lady sat down and began to chat with me. The wedding story came out and in return she told me her life story. When the others arrived, here was Dad chatting to this complete stranger as though they were old friends! Time for lunch!

After lunch we drove to Hornby to a shopping complex specialising in factory clothing outlets; that sold seconds or marked clothing at very good prices. Andrew and Michael were outfitted with some new gear, courtesy of Mum and Dad. Joel's tastes were too up market! He would not pick anything out for himself. Andrew and Michael then left to go on with their own activities. Joel rang Jane to meet us at the Cotswold; as we wanted to take them to Merivale and show them some beautiful pottery we had seen, and thought would make a nice wedding gift.

Jane was dropped off at the Cotswold; after that Joel drove us to Merivale to look at the pottery. Earlier we had mentioned to Joel we thought the brand was "Dexter, or something like that". "Denby!" said Joel; "Jane loves Denby!" Jane was quite excited when we took her to pick out some pieces for their wedding gift. After some serious consideration; four mugs, a sugar bowl and a milk jug in a darkish blue colour were chosen. Jane already had three mugs of the same shape in three different colours. She was thrilled with the new set. The store manager packed them carefully in a suitable size cardboard box for the road trip back to Auckland after their honeymoon.

That night we were expected at Colin and Giacomina King's home for supper. Rachel and Giacomina have been friends since early childhood in North Queensland. Giacomina was a bit of a daredevil as a child (her parents were unaware of her acrobatic feats). She used to swing, either hand over hand, or suspended by her legs, under the sugar cane railway bridge near their cane farm. The bridge was located over a rocky creek bed, with quite a long drop to the bottom. Giacomina named one of her daughters after Rachel. Their second daughter Sarah was born handicapped. Colin has recently retired from full time work and now has more time to give to Sarah's care. Sarah has Government support services in place to supplement her family's care.

Giacomina provided us with potato chips, corn chips, nuts and savouries to eat. We ate well, only to find there was dessert as well. Somehow, extra room was made to fit in dessert. It was a pleasant evening; with Giacomina holding forth on a variety of subjects and the rest of us getting a word in occasionally. Rachel and I were pleased to be there; Giacomina has been very good to Joel and Andrew, particularly Joel. Joel and their daughter Rachel flatted in the same flat, with a group of young people, in Joel's early days in Christchurch.

On Wednesday morning Rachel and I had a quiet morning at the Cotswold. Later Andrew and Michael took us shopping to Northland Plaza, quite a large shopping complex. Andrew needed to pre-purchase electricity for the house he rented with friends. He had an encoded plastic card he put into a machine, similar to an ATM. He then fed in a NZD$20.00 note, which credited him with this amount of electricity. The electricity lasts about 7-8 days. If he does not top up he runs out of electricity. No bad debts for the Electricity supplier with this system!

Wednesday night was rehearsal night for Joel and Jane's wedding. Andrew picked me up in plenty of time for a 6:30 pm start. Everyone that was involved in the ceremony turned up including the two ushers. The rehearsal went well. My role was to read some passages of Scripture, in the early part of the ceremony. Andrew was Joel's groomsman and Michael was an usher. All the Peasey men had a job to do. Rachel just had to turn up on the day, look beautiful, and be nice to everybody. The rehearsal brought home the fact that the wedding was only three days away.

Thursday \- what a busy day! Joel, Andrew and Michael had to be in the city mid morning at Mr Sergios for their suit fittings. Rachel had to have her first hair appointment at Merivale and I needed to pick up my suit from the Dry Cleaners at Merivale. The three boys wanted Mum and Dad to accompany them for their suit outfitting; more for moral support than anything else. All seemed to go well; their suits were altered on site, packed in individual cardboard boxes and labelled appropriately. Rachel's hair appointment was scheduled for mid afternoon.

Jane was having a Shower Tea in the early evening at her parent's home and Rachel was expected to be there. Rhonda picked up Rachel and another girl in the vicinity and took them to her place for the Shower Tea. Meanwhile, Joel had planned a late afternoon cricket match for his Bucks' party. The weather turned out fine during the day and ended up quite hot about 4:00 pm.

We batted in teams of two, using indoor cricket scoring rules. There was only one injury when a ball caught Chris (Joel's best man) high on the cheek bone near his right eye. Joel and his batting partner ended up with the top score. Joel had organised plenty of cold drinks for the afternoon and planned to have pizzas for the meal after. Some of the players opted out of the meal as they had prior arrangements for the evening. The rest of us went to Spag's Pizza place where we were served really good pizzas. There was plenty of seating and good food.

The evening capped off a fine afternoon of cricket. This made Joel very happy as this is what he was hoping to achieve for his Bucks' party. Boozing and stupid pranks are not his style. After the meal most of the fellows headed back to our motel room at the Cotswold to regroup and decide what they would do for the rest of the evening.

Rachel was quite surprised to see a big group of men at the door. Decisions were made; various ones headed off, either home or on to other activities. Joel as usual would come back later to sleep. Andrew and Michael went home to Andrew's place. Rachel and I were happy to head to the bedroom for a good sleep.

Friday, 1-Mar-2002, the big reunion day! Most of the Australian contingent was arriving today. Rachel's sister, Dina Witt and her husband Barry and all their girls and their families were expected in the afternoon. A big family dinner was planned tonight. Also expected from Rachel's sister Ruth Grasso's side, were Peter, Danny, Judy and her husband David, and Jonathan and his wife Rebecca. Peter and Danny were arriving late, so they will miss the dinner. We will try to have supper with them later.

Dina's family was represented by Barry and Dina; their daughter Lois and husband Grant; their daughter Gail, husband Joel and baby son Noah; their daughter Janet; their daughter Cheryl and husband Jared; and their daughter Alison.

So the Peasey family, the Witt family and the Grasso family had very strong representation. Rachel's brother Sam was represented by his daughter Claudia Tangye and husband Max. Last but not least Rachel's cousin Phillip Basilotta had also come for the wedding; however we were not able to contact him in time for the dinner.

A rather large group of us had dinner at Pastarella's Italian Restaurant. The food was great! The service was slow...and...very slow! To explain this, one part of our group was served within half an hour or so of ordering; not all at once though. The second part of our group was served about an hour after the first lot. We finished eating our dessert before they began eating! Then we had to wait for the others to eat their meals. The desserts were huge! I took half of my Pecan pie home in a 'doggy bag' to eat later. Barry, Dina and Rachel went back to the Colonial Motel, where the rest of the extended family was staying. Dina and Rachel had five years of not seeing each other to catch up on. The remainder of our group (18 in all) hopped into various cars and drove into the city to have coffee with Peter and Danny at the Park Royal Hotel. We found some parking spots on the other side of the Avon River and walked to the Park Royal.

All the coffee shops at the Park Royal were full. So, we started to walk around the city area looking for a nice place to have coffee. Unfortunately, establishment after establishment could not fit in 18 people. After about an hour of knock backs, we made a decision to grab three taxis and Jonathan's hire car and head for Worcester Boulevard to an eating establishment that had a large outdoor eating area and a smaller indoor eating area. Success at last! They easily accommodated us. Within 15 minutes we all had our orders delivered. After coffee some of us decided it was time for bed (me included). We hailed a taxi and went back to the Colonial Motel; whereupon Rachel and I said our goodbyes and walked back to the nearby Cotswold. Joel arrived sometime during the night to sleep.

Saturday, 2-Mar-2002, Joel and Jane's wedding day today! Joel woke up early. He and two of his mates had planned a quick round of golf to de-stress. Joel set off to pick up his friends. Rachel walked up to the shops at Merivale to have her second and final hair appointment for the wedding. Her appointment was at 9:30 am. I borrowed Andrew's car to pick Rachel up from her hair appointment; then took the car back to Andrew's place. Andrew wanted me to fix up the idle on his car, as the engine was idling too slowly and the engine kept stalling. The car has an automatic gearbox. One of Andrew's flatmates had a tool kit I borrowed. I fiddled with the engine for about half an hour. When I was satisfied with it, I took it for a test drive. Upon my return I went inside to wash the grease off my hands. Whilst I was washing my hands, Andrew's telephone rang. Andrew came and told me to be ready in three minutes as Joel was coming to pick me up urgently to take me into the city. The hire car company for the Ford Fairlane wedding car had rung Joel to tell him they were closing at 12:00 noon. It was 11:40 am!

Joel arrived two minutes later! I hastily got into his car for a very quick trip into the city. Joel arrived at the rental car branch five minutes before they closed their doors! I waited in Joel's car ready to follow Joel back. About ten minutes later Joel drove up in a brand spanking new, silver Ford Fairlane with leather seats. I followed Joel out of the city CBD; whereupon Joel delivered the Fairlane to its destination and then drove me back to the Cotswold.

Meanwhile the roses for our lapels had been delivered to our room. The wedding was scheduled for 4:00 pm. Rachel and I had lunch with Barry and Dina and family at the Colonial Motel. Just before I picked up Rachel from her hair appointment I had bought cold meat, bread rolls, nuts and soft drink for lunch,

One of life's embarrassing moments occurred at the supermarket. I decided to buy nuts from bulk containers. The front of the container had a handle that lifted up a little gate, whereupon the nuts dropped down into a plastic bag placed under the spout. The instructions stated to "turn the handle slowly". Balancing my other purchases in one hand, I placed the plastic bag under the spout with my free hand. Then lifting up my other hand I began to slowly turn the handle. The nuts cascaded down in a torrent! One side of the bag slipped and nuts spewed out on to the floor! By the time I realised what was happening and flipped the handle back, the floor for about 3 metres round about was covered in mixed nuts!

Looking very embarrassed, I looked around to find some staff. A young chap in the Delicatessen came over with a long handled broom and a dustpan. Apologising profusely, I asked him if it had happened before. The employee told me it happened 3 or 4 times a week! I then asked the young chap if he would mind turning the handle for me while I held a bag underneath. He obliged, even though he was quick the bag nearly filled up! I could not really object! Thanking him for his assistance, I went through the check outs; the nuts cost me NZD$12.00. Sad to say I did not get to eat any of them; Andrew inherited them after the wedding.

After lunch it was time to think about getting ready for the wedding. Rachel, I and Michael dressed at the Cotswold. Joel and Andrew had other plans. Joel had booked B & B (bed and breakfast type) accommodation in the city for the wedding night. That's where Joel wanted to dress for his wedding. The groom, best man and the groomsman got dressed at the B & B. Mum and Dad were required to be there to ensure they looked schmick! Andrew had problems, his shirt needed cuff links and a button was missing from his waistcoat. A lapel pin from a rose fixed the waistcoat; and Chris, the best man, arranged for a set of his cuff links to be at the church. Phew! Roses were pinned to lapels and off we went. Joel, Chris and Andrew were in Joel's car and Rachel, Michael and I were in Andrew's car.

The day was beautiful and sunny, with a slight breeze blowing. It stayed that way all day. Joel had hired a black Jaguar limousine as the main wedding car and the silver Ford Fairlane as the second car. The bridesmaids arrived in the Fairlane, the bride and her father in the Jaguar. Michael and Clark (Joanne's fiancée) were the wedding ushers. About 20 minutes before the ceremony the two ushers were briefed on their roles inside the church. The bridegroom's party disappeared into a small side room to await the arrival of the bride.

The bridegroom's party was brought out to stand in their places at the front of the congregation. Shortly after, the bride arrived in front of Saint Barnabas. The magnificent pipe organ began to fill the church with music and the officiating priest asked the congregation to rise. The two bridesmaids walked gracefully down the aisle and took their places. Then the moment everyone was waiting for - Jane and her Dad began the walk! In time to the music, they walked slowly down the aisle. Every eye was on the bride who was dressed in a beautiful, eye catching bridal gown. Jane took her place alongside Joel. Meanwhile her dad Ken sat down next to his wife Rhonda. The minister then welcomed everybody and asked them to sit down.

This was my cue to walk over to the pulpit and read 1 Corinthians chapter 13 \- the chapter in the Bible known as the Love chapter. Slowly and meaningfully I read the chapter. When I had finished you could have heard a pin drop. I walked back to my seat and the ceremony continued. Two hymns had been chosen and were sung by all. Joel and Jane had worked out a simple, short moving ceremony. During the ceremony they spoke the vows they had prepared to say to each other. After the vows, it was time for the giving of the rings and then the minister pronounced them as husband and wife. Then it was time for the traditional kiss. Mr and Mrs Joel and Jane Peasey were introduced to all; followed by the signing of the marriage certificate. After this, they walked down the aisle together; and out into the sunshine for a photography session outside the church.

The reception was to be held at the Canterbury Club, in the city, an exclusive 'old boys' type of men only club. Ken had been a member for many years and had organised for the reception to be held there. The reception was timed to start at 6:00 pm; however nibbles, finger food and beverages were provided prior to the dinner.

Ken had done up a map for visitors with directions from Saint Barnabas Church to the Canterbury Club. The map directions were all well and good until the Christchurch Road Works Department decided to block off one of the streets and send everyone up a detour! Everybody eventually found the Club. Parking was available at the rear of the building. Rachel and I were supposed to be there promptly to help welcome the guests; however I got lost and the detour compounded matters. Most of the guests arrived before us!

The bridal party went off to the city for a photo session. Ken had given strict instructions to the photographer to have them at the reception at 6:00 pm. They were quite late! Ken gave the photographer a piece of his mind! Ken had arranged for the food to be ready at 6:00 pm. When the bridal party arrived, the guests filed into the reception dining area; and found their designated places. Jane's best friend Holly (the Master of Ceremonies) welcomed everyone and then the reception began in earnest. Toasts were made to the usual people; the bride, the groom and the bridesmaids. Ken spoke about the big strapping Aussie lad his daughter had just married. Joel spoke touchingly about his new wife. He left a deep impression on everyone when he told us that the nicest person he had ever met was now his wife.

Chris the best man replied to the toast for the bridesmaids and then began to speak about Joel and Jane as he knew them. He caused quite a stir, when he said he was surprised to be invited to the wedding at all, since he was the one who had rung up Jane (when she owned an Eagle Boys Pizza franchise) and told her that a pizza couldn't be delivered to a customer because the pizza was wet and so was the car! He had accidentally driven the car into the Avon River!

Ken exploded - "You! You're the one. You wrote off the car". He went on for several minutes, much to everyone's amusement. Apparently, Jane had not told her parents who was involved. Later we found out the car had been sub-leased (subsequently found to be illegal) and they could not claim anything on insurance. The car and the money invested in it were no more! No wonder Ken exploded! Ken calmed down and Chris continued his speech, putting everything related to Joel in cricketing terms. Crafty Joel did not let any of his family or extended family anywhere near the speeches. He did not want to be embarrassed!

Unusually, Jane also gave a speech; thanking everyone, and her family in particular. Speeches over, it was time for a great meal, with superb service. Jane's cousin, Mandy had done a terrific job on the table decorations. All in all it was a beaut reception. During the meal someone started the Italian tradition of tinkling glasses, which meant the bride and groom were expected to stop what they were doing and kiss each other. The Kiwis in the group had not come across this tradition before. Rachel's parents were Italian, so there were plenty of people from the Aussie contingent to keep the tradition going.

After dinner, there was a live band (a trio) playing and singing to dancing music. It commenced with the bridal waltz. Apparently Joel and Andrew had a crash course in dancing lessons prior to dinner. Guests joined in the dancing and others sat and chatted. It was a great day and the reception really topped it all off!

When it was time for the bride and bridegroom to go, a large circle was formed and the bride and groom went around and thanked everybody personally. Rachel, Mike and I also said our goodbyes; we were leaving Christchurch early in the morning. We had to fly back to Brisbane at 6:30 am. Joel wanted to say goodbye to his family out in the car park; after which he and Jane went off in the Jaguar to start their honeymoon. We got into Andrew's car for the trip back to the Cotswold.

It was sad for Andrew and he felt it as well. He had his family with him for a whole week and now he was alone again. We watched him drive slowly out of the driveway, giving us a sad wave goodbye. Mike was sleeping over with us tonight instead of Joel. We booked a taxi for 4:15 am to go to the airport. We finished packing our bags and went to bed about 1:45 am. The alarm was set for 3:45 am; which gave us approximately two hours sleep.

The taxi was on time; so were we! When we had confirmed our flight we were told we only had to be there 90 minutes before departure time. The taxi pulled up at the departure section of the International terminal. We were greeted by a queue of people outside the main doors! All for QANTAS flights! A security guard thoughtfully told everyone to move inside the building and line up at a right angle. This was fine until he moved on and later arrivals joined the queue at the front doors! We estimated we lost 15 minutes by his actions. Four planes were due to fly out in quick succession to different destinations. By the time we got to the departure gate there were only seven minutes to boarding time.

We were able to obtain three seats together on the plane. Thankfully, the flight was good and we really enjoyed the hot breakfast. In Brisbane we moved through Customs fairly quickly. I had to declare my medications for blood pressure, so I went through a different line and came out ahead of Rachel and Michael. As we went through the terminal's exit doors, Michael came across some of his University friends, whom he had not seen for a whole year. He chatted briefly to them and then we headed out to the car park to find our car. Eight days parking came to $64.00.

It was Sunday morning in Brisbane and we had to put our watches back three hours. We found ourselves in the Brisbane CBD around 7:00 am. Boy! We were tired! Traffic was light so we took Michael to Indooroopilly via the city. Then Rachel and I headed off to Rochedale, back to our caravan and a big sleep. We slept most of the day.

On The Move

Monday, 4-Mar-2002 we spent the day cleaning up our Regal caravan; in preparation for the swap over next morning to our new Jayco Eagle 16' pop top caravan. I cleaned the outside of the van; then packed up the canvas annexe with Rachel's assistance. Some of our gear we would leave with Mike and Lillian, in their caravan annexe. Rachel concentrated on cleaning up the inside of the van and packing items into our car. Some things would stay in the van and would be swapped over in the dealer's yard. We put in another tiring day.

Tuesday, 5-Mar-2002 caravan swap over day! We woke early and finalised cleaning the Regal caravan. It looked spotless, inside and out. We moved some equipment to Mike and Lillian's annexe, and then hitched the caravan to the car. The car and caravan combination did not feel right; we had to repack items as there was too much weight on the drawbar. What we really needed was a weight distribution hitch! The drive to Tingalpa was nerve wracking. It was blustery on the Gateway Bridge Motorway and the car felt light in the front. Not a good combination for driving, or your nerves.

When we arrived at Brisbane Camperland we found out that Mark had not arrived back from the Adelaide Caravan Show, so a chap called Sam did the pre-delivery explanations and set up the weight distribution hitch and bars. Sam was most obliging and soon had us set up properly. The two caravans were lined up side by side; with the two doors facing each other. Meanwhile, Rachel organised the final payment and then began swapping items from the Regal van to the new Jayco van. Sam explained to me how the van's equipment worked; meanwhile Rachel continued swapping our belongings to the new van.

Soon it was test run time! Sam drove the rig and adjusted the electronic brake controller to the new caravan. Then it was time for Rachel and I to head off. What a difference weight distribution bars make! The car and caravan felt balanced and the pitching motion was considerably reduced; plus reducing any tail wagging tendencies. What a marked contrast it is driving a balanced rig as opposed to driving an unbalanced rig!

Upon arrival at Gateway Village, we backed the new caravan on to our site. We levelled the van, wound down the stabiliser jacks and plugged in the power lead. So far, so good! Next, the mains pressure water hose was connected. It was leaking at the inlet connection. I had some thread tape in my toolbox, which fixed the connection problem; however I noticed water dripping from the chassis of the new van.

What now! The water was turned off and the leak was traced back to the high pressure hose connection inside the van. It was not tightened sufficiently. Out came the thread tape again, plus some tools and the leak was fixed. The sullage hose was connected under the van before testing the sink unit. It seemed to be working OK, draining a bit slow, but OK; that is until Rachel went to get some cutlery out of the cutlery drawer, and found water in the drawer. Out came the torch and tools; I tightened up the hose connector clamp at the sink connector. This appeared to work, until the washing up was done. Again it leaked, but not as bad. The problem was traced to an internal spacer that did not have enough PVC pipe glue on it, thus water was leaking from the top of the spacer. The problem could not be rectified that day; the washing up had to be done in plastic bowls.

We had fun rolling out the awning for the first time. We managed to get it up fine, but, boy did we have problems getting it down again! We forgot to release the spring clips on the end of the horizontal adjustable arms. Until we worked out what to do, we could not retract the awning. It took a few practice attempts before we could roll it out and retract it easily.

[Jayco Eagle caravan at Gateway Village - Rochedale QLD]

Next day, I bought some PVC pipe cement and fixed the sullage connector problem. We spent the day setting up the new van; and Rachel had a very big laundry day. It was dark by the time we put everything away.

I needed to go for a comfort break, but could not find my amenities block key. There was much consternation, as the office was closed! Rachel's key was no use as different locks were used on the ladies' amenities block. We searched high and low, but no key. A staff member from the van park was doing his nightly check, but could not offer any solution other than Rachel stand guard outside, and I used the ladies facilities. It was getting a bit desperate for me! One last desperate retracing of where I had been. I had only been in the van, or at the front boot of the van, or at the boot of the car.

Out came the torch, 'Maybe it has fallen into the caravan boot, or the car boot?' It definitely was not in the caravan. Whilst looking in the caravan boot, Rachel stepped back and felt something in the grass under her sandal. Sure enough, at the side of the caravan draw bar there was the missing key. A very quick trip to the toilet took place!

Thursday, no more water leaks but there were two small, blue spots on the vinyl floor in front of the sink; where some of the glue used on the PVC pipe had dripped on to the floor. It didn't matter what we tried; we were not able to remove the spots. During the day we went shopping for more bits and pieces for the van. Rachel was undecided whether to buy a microwave oven, or a turbo oven. I booked the car in for a service plus a wheel alignment; for Monday, 11-Mar-2002 at Q Ford at Springwood at 8:30 am.

That afternoon we picked up Claudia and Max, at the International Terminal at Brisbane airport. We drove them home and had dinner with them; also with Sam, Italia and Guilia. Sam gave Rachel a small electric toaster oven he wasn't using. Our oven problem was solved.

Saturday, we went shopping at Garden City shopping complex at Mt Gravatt for more odds and ends for the new van. Rachel's cousin Elizabeth and her husband Rob came over to have a look at our new caravan and stayed for dinner.

Next day being Sunday, we spent the day with our Christian friends at our church fellowship. Upon returning to Gateway Village, I obtained a local bus timetable in order to work out a bus route from Springwood to Gateway Village. Fortunately, the bus stop was in front of the caravan park.

Monday, 11-Mar-2002 I drove the car to Q Ford and left it there for the day. I then caught a bus from Springwood Mall back to Gateway Village. I had to wait about 15 minutes for the right bus. Rachel and I then spent a quiet day sorting out where to pack things for the trip to Victoria.

Claudia and Max dropped in for afternoon tea; they were on their way to visit Daniel and Suzanne at Yarraman. Our van park neighbour, Peter offered to drive me to Q Ford to pick up my car. The offer was gratefully accepted. The full service, plus wheel alignment and headlight adjustment was $239.00. The car was now ready for the big trip.

Tuesday, 12-Mar-2002 was our last day at Gateway Village. At 6:00 am we went for a long walk of approximately five kilometres. This left us tired for a while. We spent the day making preparations for our trip. We planned to say goodbye to Michael today and have dinner at Rob and Elizabeth's home at Indooroopilly. So, at the appropriate time we headed off to Indooroopilly to say our goodbyes. We had a nice evening together and enjoyed a lovely meal.

Wednesday, 13-Mar-2002 we packed up and left Gateway Village. We had trouble aligning the extension mirrors on the car; and also setting up the weight distribution bars. After adjustments were made, we set off to call on Rachel's brother Sam and family at Sunnybank. They had a good look at the new caravan. We left their place about 10:00 am and set off for Warwick via the Cunningham Highway. The road to Warwick passes through Cunningham's Gap; which would be the first major test of the car and caravan rig. Advice given to me was to leave the auto transmission in 3rd gear and the engine power setting in Power mode. The car pulled the van up the mountain range quite well; however the motor was running a bit hotter than normal. The temperature gauge went back to normal when we reached the top of Cunningham's Gap where the road levelled out.

We continued on to Warwick along the New England Highway. At Warwick we branched off, and rejoined the Cunningham Highway to drive to Goondiwindi on the NSW/QLD border. We stopped at Inglewood for lunch at a nice park, where the Driver Reviver stop is situated. We unpacked our folding chairs and sat under the shade of a tree. It was a very pleasant spot to enjoy lunch. After lunch we continued on to Goondiwindi for our first night's stop over. We booked into the Goondiwindi Tourist Park for one night.

We parked the van near some shade trees on our allocated site. The weather continued to be hot, so we appreciated the shade. We took a drive into Goondiwindi to do some grocery and food shopping. We soon found out why Goondiwindi had been voted Queensland's friendliest town. If pedestrians stepped on to the road at any point, the locals stopped for them and allowed them to cross safely. People were friendly and courteous. Service in the supermarket we went into was friendly and efficient. Prices were pretty good and the fruit and vegetables were cheap and very high quality. We were very pleased with our purchases.

During the night it became very windy; branches from one of the trees swept across the top of the van and the vinyl tent section. It was noisy and uncomfortable for several hours – then the wind died down suddenly and we were able to sleep soundly. Next morning we checked for any abrasions, or scuff marks. Fortunately, the branches and leaves were fairly soft and there appeared to be no visible damage. A good lesson for beginners, don't park too close to trees; if the wind picks up suddenly you could suffer some damage to your caravan.

Thursday, 14-Mar-2002 we had a big drive today, down the Newell Highway into New South Wales; to Moree, Narrabri, Coonabarabran, Gilgandra and Dubbo. Dubbo was our destination for the night (501 km from Goondiwindi). We lunched at Gilgandra at a nice spot near the Information Centre. We arrived at Dubbo at 5:00 pm (NSW time) and needed to put our watches one hour ahead for Daylight Savings Time. Tomorrow, we hoped to check with the local Jayco dealer, Ryan's Caravans to see if we could get our 1,000 km service done on the caravan. We booked into Dubbo Cabin & Caravan Parkland for two nights on a drive through site.

Next morning we drove the car to Ryan's Caravans at Depot Street, Dubbo and asked if they could fit in the 1,000 km service. They were agreeable, so we went back to the van park to get the caravan. We told the caravan park staff that the van was going in for service that day and we would be back later that afternoon. We left the caravan at Ryan's and were told to come back at 3:30 pm. With no caravan to sit in we drove into Dubbo to a large shopping complex, which had Target and Coles as the major stores. After browsing through the shops we had lunch. Growing tired of window shopping we went for a short drive. We drove to the Western Plains Zoo and checked out the entry fee. The fees were $22.00 each. It was not worth it to us just for a couple of hours to look around the zoo; we had to pick up the caravan at 3:30 pm. So we drove around the countryside to fill in the time.

We were back at Ryan's at 3:30 pm. No major faults were found on the service. We paid the $150.00 fee, hitched up our van and drove back to the van park; where we left the caravan hitched to the car because we were leaving in the morning. Fortunately we were on a drive through site. Security seemed to be a problem in this van park; there were warning signs advising patrons to lock up securely and not to leave belongings lying about. Apparently there had been items stolen from different sites, particularly tent sites. The entrance to the van park fronted the main highway, access was relatively easy for would be burglars.

Saturday, 16-Mar-2002 we set off for Forbes our next destination. We have friends who own a farm, outside Forbes, with whom we wanted to catch up with. Also, they belonged to a Christian assembly that we were in fellowship with at Forbes. About 20 years ago on a motoring holiday we had holidayed in Forbes with Joel and Andrew. The caravan park we intended to book into was the same one we had stayed at back then.

[Jayco Eagle at Lachlan View Caravan Park - Forbes NSW]

Today's trip was shorter; we filled up with petrol at Parkes and arrived at Lachlan View Caravan Park in Forbes about lunch time. The manager guided us on to our site; which was in a nice shady area. We set up the van, had a cup of tea, went shopping for groceries and had lunch when we returned. We booked the site for two nights. We had a nice, relaxing, quiet afternoon. The car and van were given a clean to wash off the dust and insects. That evening we contacted our friends John and Denise and told them we would be at the morning meeting next day. We obtained directions to the meeting hall from them.

Sunday, 17-Mar-2002 we went off to the morning meeting to remember the Lord Jesus Christ in His death and subsequent resurrection. After we had lunch in the hall, a prayer meeting commenced followed by a Bible lecture. I was asked to take the lecture, which I was happy to do.

We were invited to Andrew and Joanne's home for afternoon tea. Andrew is John and Denise's son. Andrew and Joanne lived quite close to the caravan park we were staying at. They were in the throes of packing up for a move to a new house on the farm. Joanne is the sister of our niece Cheryl's husband Jared; almost family in a roundabout way.

Andrew and Joanne had ordered a relocatable home; which would be built in Wagga Wagga and transported to Forbes on two semi-trailers. It would then be set up on piers, joined in the middle; then electricity, plumbing and telephone connected, some fencing around the bottom, some steps and whammo almost an instant house. They were expecting it to be delivered sometime in the coming week. We spent a pleasant afternoon with them.

John and Denise were expecting us for dinner at their farm. Andrew wrote down directions to the farm and off we went. The directions were clear and we had no problems finding the farm. We recognised it even after 20 years. We had seen John and Denise several times over the years at Easter conferences; either in Sydney or Brisbane. It was good to catch up with them again. We had salad for dinner; all the vegetables came from the farm gardens. Delicious! John had to be back in town for open air preaching at 8:00 pm; so he offered to show us the way back to town. This suited us as we did not want to be lost on unfamiliar country roads in the dark.

Monday, 18-Mar-2002 we decided to stay in Forbes for another day. We liked the ambience of Lachlan View Caravan Park. Rachel caught up with our laundry items and I went off to town for a haircut. The car needed another wash as sap from trees in the parking area of the hall, yesterday, had splattered on to the car and made it messy. Tomorrow, we will drive to Echuca in Victoria. It will be necessary to use up our fruit and vegetables before we enter the Fruit Fly Exclusion Zone near Narrandera.

Tuesday, 19-Mar-2002 it was a long drive today down the Newell Highway to Tocumwal, then across the border into Victoria; where we drove to Cobram, turned right, and headed along the Murray Valley Highway to Echuca, 506 km in total. Echuca/Moama held fond memories for us; we had camped here in out tent in November 2000. We booked into the same caravan park, Maidens Inn Tourist Park at Moama on the NSW side of the Murray River. We booked two nights' accommodation on an ensuite site, the only powered site left. The site was opposite the river bank; the only down side was TV reception was atrocious.

[Paddle Steamers at Echuca VIC from NSW bank of the Murray River]

We were fortunate to see houseboats and paddle wheelers cruising up and down the river. Maiden's Inn Tourist Park is situated on a bend in the Murray River. It is a beautiful setting. Tall red gums line the banks on both sides of the river. The river bank on our side sweeps down to the river's edge. A houseboat company moors some of its houseboats along the bank. There is a wonderful, peaceful, relaxing ambience about the river. People have been drawn to the Murray River for centuries. Once you have experienced it for yourself; you understand why.

Our neighbours John and Margaret in an Evernew caravan were from Warrnambool in Victoria. They told us they owned a retail business in Warrnambool. John went fishing from the river bank and caught a decent size Murray Cod; which he descaled, cleaned and filleted for a nice fish dinner. He was very pleased with his catch.

Next day, Wednesday, we spent a few hours in Echuca at the old River Port. The Port is a step back in time. A lot of the original buildings are still in use. Echuca has the largest collection of operating paddle steamers in the world. Some are quite small, owned privately by families; other larger vessels are in regular use to cater for the tourist trade. Part of the original red gum wharf is still intact, in good condition, and in regular use for tourism purposes. The wharf was much longer in its heyday; when scores of paddle steamers plied their trade up and down the Murray River. Cargo was transferred to goods trains hauled by steam locomotives for the journey to Melbourne. The wharf has three different levels to cater for the river's rise and fall. Cranes, on top of the wharf, were used to load or unload cargo from the paddle steamers. Otherwise, loading and unloading was done by hand.

After spending time at the River Port precinct we went into the main shopping centre and did some grocery shopping. Echuca is well set up for all types of shoppers; it has a busy shopping centre. We purchased our groceries and some magazines from a newsagent, and then headed back over the bridge to Moama. Upon our return we noticed a large luxury houseboat was stuck on the opposite river bank. It was snagged on a dead tree in the water and was stuck on it all night. It took about two hours to free it next morning with the aid of the houseboat company.

Thursday, 22-Mar-2002 we left Echuca/Moama and drove to our next destination; Swan Hill on the Murray River. We booked into Riverside Caravan Park for two nights. What a terrific caravan site, right on the river bank. We could sit at the side of the van, or behind the van and gaze at the river. A small island in the river named Goat Island was directly behind the van. There was prolific bird life about also lots of ducks. We counted 20 small ducklings following their parents around the van park. The paddle steamer PS Pyap came around the bend in the river fairly close to our site. The site turned out to be a beaut spot; except for noisy people across the way during the night.

[Paddle Steamer PS Gem at Pioneer Settlement - Swan Hill VIC]

Friday, 23-Mar-2002 we took a drive into the Swan Hill CBD and then went to the Pioneer Settlement Village just down the road from the van park. It is a very interesting historical village and claimed to be the first historical village in Australia. Buildings and machinery from the 1800's to the 1920's were located in the village. The PS Pyap moors at the village wharf. The restoration of the PS Gem, the largest paddle steamer built for work on the Murray River, was taking place with funds supplied by the Victorian Government. The weather was fine and sunny and we enjoyed three delightful hours roaming around the village.

Upon our return, we needed to do something about caravan sites for Easter. Most van parks were already booked out, including Maidens Inn. We thought that we might be better off away from the Murray River area over Easter; so we checked out Bendigo and Ballarat. Ballarat was OK for Easter, but we had to stay a minimum of four days. Bendigo was booked out for Easter. We compromised, by booking:

Maidens Inn for Saturday, 23-Mar-2002 and Sunday, 24-Mar-2002;

Ascot Holiday Park at Bendigo for Monday, 25-Mar-2002 until Wednesday, 27-Mar-2002;

Ballarat Goldfields Holiday Park for Thursday, 28-Mar-2002 to Sunday, 31-Mar-2002.

This way we did not have to worry where we would be staying over Easter.

Saturday, 23-Mar-2002 we departed from Swan Hill and went back to Echuca/Moama. We arrived about lunch time and set up on site 27; a drive through site facing a small man made billabong, with side views to the Murray River. The down side, a longish walk to the amenities block. The day was hot, peaking at 30 degrees Celsius. We spent the afternoon shopping in Echuca for groceries and also window shopped in the town area. A short visit to the old River Port was included.

[Billabong at Maiden's Inn Holiday Park

at Moama on the NSW side of the Murray River]

Sunday, 24-Mar-2002 we had a quiet day at the van park. The temperature reached 33 degrees Celsius, making it hot, but pleasant (no humidity). It was a good day to clean the car and van. The garden hose we bought in town was put to good use. The front of the Jayco gets splattered with insects and road grime. As the paint work is a bright, white colour, it looks dirty fairly quickly; however the colour helps to keep the van cooler in the hot weather.

John and Margaret, from Warrnambool, went home today, leaving their telephone number with us. We might catch up with them if we get to Warrnambool. It would be good to do the Great Ocean Road trip sometime.

Monday, 25-Mar-2002 off to Bendigo today, down to the Goldfields area and Bendigo Pottery. We arrived at Ascot Holiday Park in Bendigo, about 11:40 am. One of the owners directed us into site 41. After unhitching and setting up the van we had lunch. During the afternoon we took a drive into the city area, however we did not stay long as we had a few days to look around.

Tuesday, 26-Mar-2002 we drove into the Bendigo CBD. The sky was very overcast and rain was likely. The wind was cold; we certainly needed warm clothing today! We visited the Tourist Information Centre located in the huge old Victorian era Post Office building. The building is now a museum. We browsed through the Federation Exhibition; which traced how the six independent Australian Colonies voted at referendums, to become a Commonwealth with six States in the Commonwealth. After checking out the exhibition we walked a couple of blocks to the Bendigo Art Gallery; which has a fine collection of paintings from Australia and Europe. When we came out it had started to rain, although it was light it was cold rain. We walked briskly back to the main shopping area. Feeling cold and hungry we bought hot meat pies and hot potato chips at a Pie shop; then took them back to the car, where we had a delicious hot meal made memorable by the cold weather.

The miserable weather continued all day and into the night. We were in bed asleep when the wind grew stronger and began to buffet the caravan. The awning started flapping severely, with heavy wind gusts. Rain squalls pounded the roof from time to time. We decided to adopt a wait and see attitude, not wanting to get out of our warm bed! The wind gradually became stronger; we could bear it no longer! We got out of our warm bed, rugged up and retracted the awning. The wind gusts were so strong we had to use the full weight of our bodies to hold down the awning; until a calm period between wind gusts enabled us to drop the stays, retract the awning and secure it. It was a wild and windy night! Much worse than the night at Goondiwindi! We climbed back into bed and somehow fell asleep.

Next morning was fine and sunny! We had a quiet day. We did some shopping in Bendigo. Rachel washed our dirty laundry items and I went into town and filled up the car's petrol tank. No problems during the night; however we left the awning rolled up - just in case! We are heading to Ballarat in the morning.

Thursday, 28-Mar-2002 the weather in Bendigo was good; however it turned cold and overcast on the road to Ballarat. The road twists and turns a lot on the way to Ballarat. Ballarat Goldfields Holiday Park, our destination, is situated quite close to the famous Sovereign Hill Historical Village. Upon arrival we were guided on to our site by a staff member. The site, thankfully, was located close to one of the amenities blocks. We set up the caravan and plugged in our small TV set. The reception was lousy! A trip into the Ballarat CBD to a Dick Smith's store saw us as the proud owners of a TV antenna with a signal booster. The only problem was the clamp for the antenna mast was the wrong type. I had to improvise with the mounting point, using the clamp on the gas bottle as an anchoring point. Reception was now pretty good.

Good Friday, 29-Mar-2002 it was cold and miserable, with light, drizzly rain - maximum forecast for the day 16 degrees Celsius. We stayed indoors! Our small Sunni fan heater was brought into action. We bought it in Brisbane for the princely sum of $10.00; on a clearance line at Woolworths, Springwood. The little heater soon warmed up the van.

Easter Saturday, 30-Mar-2002 the weather was slightly better. We had arranged to visit our nephew, Peter Grasso and his delightful young family at Werribee. It was a nice change to cruise down the Highway from Ballarat without the caravan in tow using overdrive and noticing the much improved fuel economy.

We have calculated that our fuel consumption is nearly doubled when towing the caravan. The main reason is that overdrive cannot be used most of the time whilst towing; so the car remains in third gear, in power mode. However, to put it in perspective our old XD Falcon station wagon, fully loaded with luggage and five people on board, used about the same amount of fuel as we do now with our AU Falcon Forte sedan towing a caravan weighing approximately 1435 kilograms. The overdrive mode makes a big difference to fuel economy, as does the improvements in engines, particularly electronic fuel management systems.

After a relaxed cruise down the Western Freeway, we turned off at Melton-Werribee Road and drove down to Werribee. We parked in Werribee's main street and telephoned Peter to come and guide us to his house. Peter and his wife Sue, and young sons Timothy and Anthony gave us a warm welcome.

Our nephews Danny and Jonathan, and Jonathan's wife Rebecca were also expected for lunch. Jonathan and Rebecca arrived half an hour later and Danny arrived from Melbourne about an hour later. Their mother and father, Ruth and Silvio Grasso, passed away with cancer within 13 months of each other at Innisfail. Peter brought his brothers Danny and Jonathan down to Werribee in Victoria and looked after his brothers. Their mother Ruth was Rachel's sister.

We had a delicious lunch and then we all decided to drive to the Victorian State Rose Garden, near Werribee Mansion. What a magnificent collection of roses! Most of the bushes were in full bloom, with roses of all shapes and colours. Large blooms, small blooms and tender buds, greeted the eyes then tantalised the nostrils with beautiful aromas. The gardens are set out in a macro, rose bloom design; which becomes more apparent from the two viewing mounds.

After a pleasant afternoon, including a drive to Werribee South on the edge of Port Phillip Bay, we returned to Peter's home for dinner. Dinner completed, it was time to retrace our steps back to Ballarat and our caravan.

Easter Sunday, 31-Mar-2002 the weather continued to improve, the day turned out to be a nice sunny day. We took a drive to Lake Wendouree, scene of the rowing events for the 1956 Olympic Games. It is still used regularly for rowing events.

We then took a walk in the nearby Botanical Gardens. One section has an avenue with bronze busts of every Australian Prime Minister from Federation to the current Prime Minister, John Howard. The annual Begonia Festival had recently finished, however the gardens still looked superb. Later in the day we went for a walk around the local area near the Holiday Park. All in all it had been a nice day's outing. That night was not so pleasant for me, I was sick with a migraine headache; and felt washed out in the morning.

Easter Monday, 1-Apr-2002 we decided to stay an extra day. I felt washed out from the migraine headache during the night. I did not feel like driving in the Easter holiday traffic, with thousands, upon thousands, of holiday makers returning home. The van park had been chock full of people; every available inch had either a caravan, camper trailer, tent trailer, motor home, campervan or tent on it. There were heaps of families with children everywhere. A big group of people with early model Austin 7 cars were also booked in over Easter for a Rally. The exodus of people on Monday morning was a sight to behold!

I was feeling well enough to go to Sovereign Hill. This is a must see place! Sovereign Hill is situated on three actual mining sites from the "Golden Years" of the Ballarat gold fields. The whole scenario is set up as an everyday life experience on the gold fields in the 1850's and 1860's. Volunteers and staff dress in period costumes to help create the feeling of being in the 1860's. A short film in the auditorium on the way into the village puts you in the mood for what you are about to experience.

Stores display wares reminiscent of the times. You can buy any of the items displayed for sale. You can try your hand at panning for gold in the creek, using the same methods the pioneers used; or take a ride in a stage coach. The Bowling Saloon is an early form of what we now know as ten pin bowling, except they used nine pins. You can take a trip into the mine; the mine tunnels cross some of the original mine tunnels on Sovereign Hill. Go for a look at the mining machinery, introduced in later stages as the alluvial (surface) gold ran out and mining commenced on the deeper gold leads. Investigate the Chinese area and learn of their importance to the gold fields of that era.

There is also an interesting old fashioned lolly shop and factory; plus you can also watch a live display of gold ingot pouring.

We spent most of the day here; there was so much to see and do! Our entry fee also included entry to the Gold Museum across the road from the historical village. This is also a fascinating place. It details the Ballarat goldfields and also shows on maps all the main areas where gold has been discovered and mined in Australia. There were even displays showing the importance of gold in ancient civilisations. Of course, you can also spend up big on gold jewellery if you desire. There was plenty to choose from.

After a pleasant day out we headed back to the van park; which had emptied out considerably, especially in the tent areas. A lot more Austin 7 Rally members had arrived - most of them staying in cabins; as they were towing their treasures on trailers behind their vehicles. Tomorrow we plan to head west to the Horsham area of Victoria. It has been an interesting Easter period for us.

Tuesday, 2-Apr-2002 we left Ballarat and headed to the Stawell and Horsham areas, on the fringe of the Grampians mountain range. We passed by the outskirts of Stawell without stopping. At Horsham we called into the Tourist Information Centre. We had a brief drive by look outside the caravan parks in Horsham, but were not fussed about them. A quick decision was made to continue south to the southern coast line of Victoria. After lunching in the Botanical Gardens in Horsham we headed south to Portland in the south west corner of Victoria.

Portland has a deep water port and a boat harbour, plus a beaut beach. We booked one night's accommodation at Portland Centenary Park; a tourist park with views overlooking the harbour and beach. The site we selected was handy to an amenities block and right next to a gate to a cliff top park; looking over both the harbour and the beach. We sat near the cliff top and absorbed the view and the salt air. The harbour at night was a fairyland of lights. The cargo ships contributed to this with lights blazing all over them, one ship in particular, was ablaze with light. It made a very picturesque sight.

Wednesday, 3-Apr-2002 Warrnambool was our destination today. We planned to book into a Big 4 caravan park. We tended to stay at Big 4 parks as our membership entitles us to 10% discount, or up to $25.00 worth of discount at any one stay. It does not take long to rack up your membership fee in discounts. It is a great idea, and the Big 4 tourist parks are usually of a high standard, many with additional facilities, particularly for families.

Ocean Beach Holiday Village at Warrnambool would be our base for the next day or so. We left Portland in fine weather; which deteriorated upon our arrival in Warrnambool. We passed through the fishing village of Port Fairy which looks so picturesque in the post cards. Reality dawned when we got out of the car for a walk on the wharf - an unsavoury stench from the processing plant greeted our nostrils. It was not just a fishy smell, but a dirty, unclean smell mingled with the fishy smell. It detracted from the picturesque setting.

Warrnambool was overcast and cold, with wind gusts during the afternoon, and light drizzly rain as well. We had a look around the Warrnambool CBD and purchased an antenna mast clamp for the TV from the local caravan dealer. After a hot dinner in the van we settled in for a cold night. We left the awning rolled up as the weather was windy and wet.

Thursday, 4-Apr-2002 the weather was windy, but it cleared up during the day. We went for a drive along the legendary Great Ocean Road to view the Twelve Apostles; famous rock outcrops in the ocean near the base of the shore line cliffs. These formations and others such as London Bridge, the Arch, and The Grotto are well worth seeing. Photos and post cards do not prepare you for the actual experience. Testimony to the unstable conditions of the formations occurred in August 1990; when two people who had walked out over the arch section of London Bridge were trapped when the arch section gave way and crashed into the ocean. They were marooned on a brand new island! They had to be rescued by helicopter.

A Change of Direction

Friday, 5-Apr-2002 as we were close to the Mount Gambier region in South Australia, we made a decision last night to head to South Australia, via the coast line to Adelaide. Neither of us had been into South Australia; it would be a new experience for both of us. So we left Warrnambool and went back to Portland, then up to Heywood and across the border to Mount Gambier.

Everything seemed fine leaving Warrnambool, until I checked in the mirrors and noticed the stone guard over the front window of the caravan was up in the air. Quickly finding a place to pull over we examined the damage. The two support arms were damaged, the rivets had pulled out and the top brackets were bent. The top hinge (piano type) was also bent. We were fortunate that we were able to force the guard down on to its two catches and lock it in position again.

Investigating what had happened, we realised that not only was the stone guard not secured, but the front window had not been locked either, causing some wind damage to the curtains and bursting stitches in the fabric. Not a good start to the day! Frequent looks in the mirrors to check the stone guard occurred on that drive.

Nearing Port Fairy we were stopped at a police road block. A truck accident near Port Fairy had completely blocked the highway. The police officer directed us up a narrow bitumen side road towards Heywood, advising us that another police officer would be stationed at a major T intersection. As this new road was much narrower we were forced to slow down and drive the left hand wheels off the bitumen for oncoming traffic, which did likewise. In Australia we drive on the left hand side of the road. At the T intersection the police officer gave us the OK to drive to Heywood. As we cleared the intersection an ambulance came through at high speed (obviously to the accident scene). The accident must have taken place only a short time before we arrived at the road block. The back roads brought us into Heywood. All we had to do was turn right at the Princes Highway, drive up the highway a short distance and turn left to head towards Mount Gambier.

When we crossed the border into South Australia (SA) there was an immediate physical change, as bush gave way to pine forests. There were isolated rain showers along the Princes Highway to Mount Gambier. We booked into Kalganyi Holiday Park for one night, set up the van then went for a drive to the famous Blue Lake. The somewhat overcast conditions did not help the colour of the water. There were periods when the sun shone and the waters appeared to be bluish in colour. I took some photos of the lake. The weather stayed cool and overcast, with occasional showers. We decided one night was enough; it was time to head up the coast to Robe.

[Blue Lake at Mt Gambier SA]

Saturday, 6-Apr-2002 the weather began to clear up as we drove to Millicent along the Princes Highway. At Millicent we turned off the Princes Highway then headed towards the Southern Ocean at Beachport. There are magnificent views of the ocean on the tourist road around the Beachport area. It was well worth taking the time to do it even with towing the caravan on the winding, narrow road. We later continued on to Robe, to the Robe Longbeach Holiday Park, opposite the incredible beach that goes for 16 km around Guichen Bay. Vehicles are allowed to drive on this beach.

Robe was an important port in the 1800's, particularly during the gold rush fever in Victoria. There are lots of historic buildings in town, most of them lived in, or turned into shops. The town beach and park lands were kept spotless and were a joy to behold. Later that afternoon we went for a walk on the beach. We gazed off into the distance and saw the beach stretching away in a huge arc.

[Long Beach at Robe SA]

We took a short drive up to the Obelisk on Cape Dombey, on a hill above the town on a prominent cliff. The pyramid shaped Obelisk, was, and is, used by shipping in daylight hours. It can be seen 20 km out to sea. In the sailing ship days it was first painted white; but in later years it was painted red and white for better contrast. Now it is in danger of falling slowly into the ocean. The waves have eroded the cliffs behind it. Eventually the waters will surround it and wash it away. Danger signs and a safety netting fence surrounded it, however, it looked like it was getting a repaint as scaffolding had been set up around it.

Robe has a link with the Victorian goldfields. Chinese immigrants to the Colony of Victoria were expected to pay £10 pounds Sterling to land in the Colony. This was equivalent to a whole year's wages; which they could not afford after paying for their passage to Australia. Realising that the Province of South Australia did not make any entry charges, thousands upon thousands of goldseekers landed at Robe and trekked overland to the Victorian goldfields. About 16,000 Chinese reportedly landed in Robe in one year! The ships bringing these gold seekers wanted cargo to take back. Robe grew rich as wheat and wool and other cargo was brought to Robe to be loaded on to the sailing ships.

Note the importance of the Obelisk! In the early days of Robe up to 60 wagons would be lined up at any given time to await their turn to back down to the water's edge; whereupon the merchandise would be ferried out to the ships at anchor in the Bay. In later years jetties were constructed to handle the cargo and shipping needs.

Being in Robe, seeing the old buildings, the beach and the bay, it is not hard to imagine the busy sea port. Today, Robe is a quiet sea side town well known for its fishing. For us it was a great spot; well worth a repeat visit.

Sunday, 7-Apr-2002 we have always wanted to see Adelaide, so today was the day. We drove to Kingston SE, another town by the ocean, had a look around and continued up past the Coorong Wetlands area to Meningee and then to Tailem Bend. At Tailem Bend we caught up with the mighty Murray River again. An interesting outpost on the way to Meningee was Policeman's Point, a former police camp for gold escorts from the Victorian goldfields to Adelaide.

[Murray River at Tailem Bend SA]

After Tailem Bend we stopped at the town of Murray Bridge; and browsed in the park and wharf by the river. A paddle steamer was moored at the wharf. We took photos of the paddle steamer and the old railway siding where cargo would have been off loaded from the paddle steamers and then transferred to railway carriages for shipment to Adelaide. We lunched at KFC in town.

We had a nerve wracking drive down from the Adelaide Hills into Adelaide. It is quite a steep descent and we were not prepared for it. We missed our connecting road at the end of the descent and were lost for a while. We stopped, regrouped and worked out where we were located; then how to get to where we were going to book in for the night. We eventually found our way to Adelaide Shores Caravan Resort at West Beach near Glenelg and close to the Adelaide Airport. We booked in initially for three nights' accommodation. We did not like the first site we were allocated and moved to a better location. By the time we set up we were really tired and a bit uptight. Fortunately, the new site suited us and we enjoyed a good night's sleep.

Monday, 8-Apr-2002 clean up day! The caravan was plastered with insects and road grime. It was given a very thorough clean. I had bought a small step ladder with two steps at Supercheap Auto in Warrnambool for $14.50; this really earned its money, enabling me to clean the pop top tent section as well as the roof of the van. Meanwhile, Rachel cleaned the inside of the Jayco and reorganised the cupboards. The weather was warm and sunny, but cool at night.

Tuesday, 9-Apr-2002 we took a drive up into the Adelaide Hills to Hahndorf, a pioneer German settlement. The main street has many buildings from the late 1800's intact and still in use as homes, shops and restaurants. Rachel had packed a sandwich lunch hamper, which we enjoyed whilst sitting on a bench in the main street. Leaving Hahndorf we set off for the historic Melba Chocolate Factory at Woodside. Our mouths immediately began salivating at the sight of all the goodies on offer. We bought some chocolate coated sultanas and chocolate coated raspberry bullets for our travels. Rachel also bought a small teddy bear in one of the other shops in the small complex. We named the bear "Woodside" which seemed appropriate.

[A section of the main Street - Hahndorf SA]

Our next stop was the township of Birdwood and the National Motor Museum. Rachel decided to sit out the tour of the museum. She caught up on some reading under the shade of some trees outside. I paid the entry fee and went for a self guided tour. The museum has over 300 vehicles: vintage and veteran motor cycles, cars, trucks, buses, sports cars and racing cars - even a road train! It is a veritable feast for motor vehicle enthusiasts. They ranged from vintage vehicles right up to the present day; with a special display of vehicles from the 1970's. There were so many vehicles that my brain became over loaded with information. After a good long look, I wandered back outside. It was time to head back to Adelaide.

We retraced our route and drove back to West Beach. At least we now had a fair idea of where to go. This time we did not get lost in the traffic and were able to drive back without any problems. The weather continued hot and sunny. The day turned out to be a pleasant one, both touring and weather wise. The van park has a back gate, with a path which leads over some sand dunes out to the beach area. The dunes were covered with vegetation; we decided to explore the path and went for a walk along the beach.

Wednesday, 10-Apr-2002 it was time to visit the city of Adelaide. We drove down the road to Glenelg to catch the historic tram to the city. Maximum parking time on the streets was three hours; we would probably be away longer. We parked in a commercial parking complex as we did not know how long we would be in the city. The tram trip took half an hour. It was an interesting trip through the suburbs. The terminus was in the heart of the city, at Victoria Square.

We walked to the South Australian Art Gallery, where we browsed through the exhibitions for a few hours. Later we went next door to the South Australian Museum, mainly to see the Sir Douglas Mawson Antarctic Exhibition. It was a fascinating display of equipment, plus a film documentary of the terrible conditions they worked in. After a quick tour of the Museum we went for a walk around the Adelaide CBD area, and then returned to Glenelg on the tram. The tram trip cost us $1.80 each, off peak, one way. We had a late lunch at KFC, adjacent to the Glenelg tram terminus. After lunch we went for a walk along the Glenelg Jetty.

A tragedy occurred in Glenelg that morning. A 25 years old male worker was fatally injured on a building site. The loads on two huge construction cranes smashed into each other. The poor fellow was hit by a huge concrete slab; and died about two hours later in hospital, from massive internal injuries. When we boarded the city bound tram, a worker from the site also boarded the tram; he informed everyone on board that he had been sent home as the site had been closed for the day. He told us that a young chap had been taken to hospital. Later in the day we heard the news of his death. The construction site was close to the road we needed to drive along to Adelaide Shores. The building site was silent, no machinery or men working. Mute testimony to the accident that morning. Very sobering indeed!

[Glenelg Jetty at Glenelg SA]

Tuesday, 11-Apr-2002 Rachel had a quiet day at the van park. I went off to Wayville to the Royal Agricultural Society Showgrounds for the Adelaide International Motor Show. I wanted to see all the latest cars from the world's car makers. Presuming the show opened at 10:00 am, I arrived at 10:30 am to be told the show opened at midday. With an hour and a half to spare I drove back to a K Mart, I spotted along the way.

Browsing around K Mart, I bought some pop rivets to fix the damaged stone shield on the caravan. I also bought some automotive grease for the weight distribution bars. The bars were making grinding noises at the end of long trips. By the time I had a long browse through the hardware; camping and automotive sections it was time to head back to Wayville.

Cars, cars and more cars! There were brand new models and concept cars, exotic sports cars and luxury cars, 4wd's and Utes - lots of vehicles on display. There was even a display of Pioneer car stereo equipment to shatter the eardrums. Some young people spend more money on the sound equipment for their vehicles than for the vehicles themselves. If you were after boom boxes and loud music, there were plenty of cars set up to gratify these urges.

Mitsubishi had a rally car wired up as a race simulator; so you could pretend you were racing in a rally car, by using the controls in the car and watching a monitor in front of the car. Quite a queue up here! 4WD enthusiasts could try their skills on a specially set up 4WD course with expert instructors on hand to guide you in the finer points of handling. When my brain started to over load with information and one car began to blur into the next, I decided to have a late lunch and then head off home. I bought myself a pasty and a drink of Coca Cola. The pasty was quite delicious, as I picked up the Coca Cola, unbeknown to me it had been filled right to the brim and had leaked on to the lid, and the excess cola ran into my lap and wet my shorts in an embarrassing spot. Fortunately I was able to wear my shirt out to cover the area.

Back at Adelaide Shores, I got out my 12 volts drill and my pop rivet gun and proceeded to fix the damaged stone shield. The repair job worked out fine. Next job was the noisy, rattling range hood fan. Upon inspection, the fan was not at fault, it was the glass cover over the light causing the problem. With some judicious use of paper stuffed into the gap between the glass and the metal and by bending the range hood ever so slightly, the noise and rattle ceased.

That night a telephone call came through for a possible house sitting stay in Geelong for three weeks in October 2002. They had a small menagerie - a Rottweiler dog, cats, two chickens, two budgies and a tankful of tropical fish. Unsure of where we would be in October, we gave them a maybe and asked them to ring back if they were unable to find anyone else for the house sit.

Monday, 12-Apr-2002 we left Adelaide Shores about 9:50 am to go to the Riverland area of SA. It took us one hour to clear the Adelaide area. Our route would take us through Gawler along the Sturt Highway. At Truro we stopped and ate our remaining fruit; we were about to enter the Fruit Fly Exclusion Zone in SA. At Blanchetown we once again met the mighty Murray River and had a look at Lock 1. Lock 1 was the first of many locks set up on the river to control the flow of the river and also help bring about the many irrigation projects along the river. Leaving Blanchetown we drove to Waikerie and had a look around. We bypassed Barmera and headed to Renmark our destination that day.

We booked into Renmark Riverfront Caravan Park for three nights. Our site (R19) was a river frontage site. It was a beautiful spot. The Murray River was directly in front of the van. Lots of water fowl, ducks and pelicans visited the park. Houseboats cruised slowly by, and speed boats towing skiers went up and down the river. Some people had their speed boats moored in front of their sites. It was a very good van park for the water skiing fraternity. The amenities block was fairly new and kept spotless. Drinking water came from large rainwater tanks. Normal tap water was unfiltered river water, suitable for washing and sullage, but not for drinking. Another minor problem was caused by the prolific bird life, they left little parcels on the ground and you needed to watch where you were walking! However, the view made up for any inconvenience.

[Pelicans and friend - Renmark Riverfront Caravan Park

Renmark SA]

Saturday, 13-Apr-2002 it was wet and miserable weather today. We went to town and caught up on some grocery shopping. We paid a visit to the local Tourist Information Centre. The paddle steamer PS Industry is moored directly behind the Centre and you access the paddle steamer by walking through the Information Centre. The PS Industry was decommissioned in 1969 and left to rot at its mooring. Dedicated volunteers repaired her in 1990. In 1995, the PS Industry was recommissioned as a river boat. Once a month, and on long weekends, they fire up her boiler and take her out with paying passengers for river excursions. We were able to go on board and look her over. You can look down into the boiler room and see the piles of red river gum logs, cut to the right size for the boiler. Upon our return to the van park, Rachel caught up with our laundry and I caught up with some writing. If the weather improves tomorrow we plan to take a drive and visit some of the other river towns, such as Berri and Loxton.

Sunday, 14-Apr-2002 the day turned out bright and sunny, a good day for the drive we had planned. The first town we visited was Berri; the town where they process the famous Berri fruit juices. We drove around and looked at the river front parks, then moved on to Loxton where we had a picnic lunch by the Murray River. Moving on from Loxton we followed the river to a little village called Moorook; where we noticed a sign on the river front park "Free Camping". We made a mental note of this for future reference. A few caravans and motor homes were camped by the river.

[PS Industry at Renmark SA]

We did not stop here and drove to Kingston-on Murray for a look see. Leaving Kingston-on-Murray we moved on to Barmera which is situated on Lake Bonney. This is a nice spot; we enjoyed a pleasant drive along the lake foreshore, before completing our big loop, and driving back to Renmark. That evening we drove into Renmark as the sun was setting and went for a walk along the river front. Renmark is quite a nice town. The walk along the river was pleasant and the people we met were friendly, one lady was quite chatty and justifiably proud of her town by the river.

Monday, 15-Apr-2002 we hitched up the caravan and drove to Mildura in the north west corner of Victoria. The Victorian border is not very far from Renmark. We arrived in Mildura about 1:30 pm and set up the caravan at Golden River Caravan Gardens. We then rang the local Jayco dealer, Halls Caravans, to have a few warranty problems sorted out. They booked us in for Tuesday morning. We then went for a drive to Lock 11 to watch boats go through the lock. When we arrived at the lock the paddle steamer Melbourne was in the lock; with a house boat behind it. Both vessels were on the lower level.

When the lock doors were shut tight, water from the upper level was released into the lock and the two vessels slowly came up to the river level of the upper level. The other lock doors were then opened and the two vessels left the lock. A large houseboat waiting up stream came into the lock. The reverse procedure then took place; water in the lock was released into the river on the lower level. When the water levels were equal the lock doors at the lower level end were opened and the houseboat cruised downstream. A fascinating procedure to watch!

Tuesday, 16-Apr-2002 I hitched up the caravan and drove to Halls Caravans for the warranty repairs. I was told to come back at 1:00 pm. Rachel meanwhile did some laundry. We then took a drive into NSW to Wentworth, to look at the junction of the Darling River and the Murray River. For many years, I wanted to see this spot where the two mightiest rivers in Australia meet. The junction of the two rivers is the setting for a nice park with a lookout tower with a spiral staircase. A local chap told us the two rivers were normally two different colours, but today they were similar in appearance. The Darling is normally a different colour because of silting and high salinity. Normally, the colours are quite marked where the Darling flows into the Murray. Lock 10 is slightly downstream from the junction of the two rivers.

After spending some time at the junction we drove to the old Wentworth Gaol, built in the 1800's and closed in 1927. We had a squiz at the outside and then browsed through the souvenirs for sale in the old residence, now a shop. As it was nearing time to pick up the caravan, we bid adieu to Wentworth and drove back into Victoria; reflecting on the closeness of the borders here.

Most of the problems were sorted out on the caravan; however they did not have any gas struts left in stock to fix our double bed. The single gas strut does not seem strong enough to fully support the bed, when it is raised to get at the storage area underneath. We will have to get the job done at another dealer. We towed the van back to Golden River Caravan Gardens and set up again on our allocated site. We had a quiet afternoon and the weather remained fine.

The Murray River could be seen from our caravan site; however due to a flood plain below the van park, the river was a couple of minutes walk away. It was very pleasant, particularly as the sun set, to walk down to the river's edge. That night we received a telephone call from a lady looking for someone to house sit their home in Bannockburn, near Geelong in Victoria. The time frame would be 3-5 months, starting in May. She would ring back on Sunday night as someone else may be interested as well.

Wednesday, 17-Apr-2002 we went for an early morning walk along the river bank. The rest of the morning we cleaned the caravan inside and out. About 3:00 pm we went into town to do some grocery shopping. I cleaned the car upon our return. Tomorrow we will move on and probably check out the caravan park at Lake Boga near Swan Hill.

Guess what? I lost my key to the amenities block! We searched high and low, but did not find it. Fortunately, Rachel's key fitted the lock on the Gents' amenities block. It seems to be an ongoing problem for Jon Boy! Two different caravan parks, two different keys!
Thursday, 18-Apr-2002 the manager did not want us to pay for a new key; he told Rachel it would probably turn up. We left Mildura to drive down to Swan Hill and Lake Boga. We headed into NSW as far as Euston and turned back into Victoria at Robinvale. We then drove down the Murray Valley Highway to Swan Hill and on to Lake Boga.

The caravan sites looked good; however the amenities block did not look so good. We made an instant decision to move on to Echuca/Moama and back to Maidens Inn Holiday Park. There was only one powered site left, so we booked four night's accommodation. A big weekend was coming up, the Southern 80 Ski Race. It is the biggest water ski race in the world; with 80 kilometres of twisting, turning river bends and short straights stretching from Torrumbarry Weir to Echuca. 10,000 people were expected for the events.

Friday, 19-Apr-2002 was a quiet day earlier on, however lots of people arrived in the afternoon and evening. Some families were even setting up tents in the dark. All the powered sites were completely booked out. Unpowered sites along the river bank were popular with campers in tents. It looked like a big weekend in the van park! I drove into Echuca to buy some bits and pieces for the caravan. There were lots of tourists in town browsing; others were stocking up on groceries and food. The main shopping area looked very busy.

Saturday, 20-Apr-2002 the World's Biggest Water Ski Race preliminaries start today; with 80 kilometres of very fast racing against the clock. Boats leave at one minute intervals; if a skier falls off, the team is automatically disqualified. Some of the superfast boats could accelerate from 0-135 kph in 2.7 seconds! Some ski boats pulled two skiers. This is not straight line skiing; there are a multitude of bends and curves along the route. This is a severe test of people's skills and the reliability of the boats. The onlookers line up on both sides of the river, some on the Victorian side, the rest on the NSW side. We had a lot of the water skiing fraternity staying at Maidens Inn. There were quite a few ski boats around the van park. The park has its own boat ramp, so practice can be held upriver from the caravan park. There are numerous cabins around the park, with room to park the boat trailers; so boat owners generally stay in the cabins.

By night fall the van park was very noisy. We had neighbours who talked loudly and laughed a lot. Heaps of children ran around being their noisy selves. There were loud groups of people near the playground and swimming pool. The wind picked up during the night causing the awning to be buffeted; so we retracted it. We remembered the wild night in Bendigo!

Sunday, 21-Apr-2002 many of the tent campers packed up and left their sites during the morning. They would spend the day watching the Ski Race then drive home. Today was the main race day; with different categories of racing, and skier proficiencies. Although we did not go down to the races, we could hear the boats as they finished the course. Non race goers enjoyed 2-3 hours of peace and quiet in the afternoon. It almost felt like the calm after a storm. The day itself was warm and sunny. I did some modification to the 'clip on' extension mirrors; so the car mirrors would remain in their normal position whilst driving with the caravan hitched on. After doing this, relaxing and reading in the sunshine was the order of the day.

We are undecided which way to travel tomorrow - south or east. I rang the woman at Bannockburn explaining our dilemma. She told us to ring back on Thursday evening regarding a possible meeting; the other person had not contacted her again. South it would be; the decision was easy to make. Fortunately, the noisy groups had gone and we had a good night's sleep.

Monday, 22-Apr-2002 we left Echuca/Moama and drove to the Geelong area via Bendigo and Ballarat. Road works held us up along the way. As we were driving past the Bannockburn turn off; we drove in from the highway for a quick look. It seemed to be a nice little town with evidence of recent growth. It had a new shopping centre, as well as strip shops and the council was landscaping the street in front of the shopping areas. It seemed to have all the basic necessities, as well as a petrol service station. Geelong was only 20 minutes away by car.

Pelican Shores Holiday Park at Leopold, just outside Geelong on the Bellarine Peninsular was our destination for tonight. The van park looked good from the front; however there were lots of old on-site caravans. The place was dirty and looked uncared for, bird droppings were everywhere. The amenities blocks were recently refurbished, so they were new looking and very clean. Normally we would have kept going, but it had been a long tiring drive, so we booked in for one night. The site overlooked Port Phillip Bay. The day was very hazy and overcast. The jetty in front of the van park was old and covered in bird droppings; it needed a good clean up. That night a heavy fog rolled in. We received a telephone call from Cath at Bannockburn asking us to provide them with personal references. We dug out letters to photocopy and I wrote a letter adding the telephone numbers of our referees.

Tuesday, 23-Apr-2002 we woke up to a heavy fog, it cleared up slightly as we packed and hitched up the caravan. Our plan was to look at caravan parks on the Bellarine Peninsula; if we found one we liked we would stay there until we had a decision from Cath at Bannockburn. Port Arlington seemed like a nice area; however, due to the heavy fog we could not check out the caravan park and kept moving. It remained foggy, quite dense in places.

Queenscliff is a nice town with lots of buildings erected in the Victorian era. It was here the fog began to clear up. We parked the rig in a back street in front of a park; switched the caravan fridge over to run on gas and went into town. We paid a visit to the post office, had our references for Cath photocopied, bought a stamped envelope and mailed everything to her. We bought a lettuce from the fruit and veg shop, bread from the bakery and magazines from the newsagency. We returned to the caravan and switched the fridge back to DC power to run off the car battery again.

We departed from Queenscliff and paid a fleeting visit to Port Lonsdale, then drove to Ocean Grove and Barwon Heads. Barwon Heads ("Pearl Bay") looked just like it did in the TV series "Seachange". It will definitely be worth a second visit. We had lunch in a parking area on the cliffs overlooking the ocean; a couple of minutes drive from the Barwon Heads shops.

['Diver Dan's' place - TV series 'Seachange'

Barwon Heads VIC]

We pulled up, put up the caravan pop top, rolled the awning out halfway, then got out our folding chairs, cooked lunch and ate it, under the awning, overlooking the ocean. There were quite a few surf board riders surfing below us. It was a pleasant way to have lunch. People walking along the cliff top park were intrigued and some stopped to chat with us.

So far we have not found a caravan park we like; so we made a decision to drive back to Geelong. We ended up booking in for one week at Riverglen Holiday Park at Belmont; a suburb in Geelong, near the Barwon River.

Wednesday, 24-Apr-2002 was a fairly quiet day; we went shopping for groceries in the afternoon. We also bought a queen size, feather and down quilt. Later that afternoon we went for a walk along the banks of the Barwon River. The river was situated across the road from the van park; with access via community parklands. This stretch of the river was used for rowing regattas. The parklands were well set up for families and for picnics; even a large adventure park for children in one area. Across the river was a bird life sanctuary with picnic facilities. Towards evening, the weather turned wet, cold and miserable.

Thursday, 25-Apr-2002 Anzac Day today. Anzac Day in Australia and New Zealand is a national holiday. It is a day where the Australian and New Zealand nations commemorate those who gave their lives for their countries in all theatres of war; beginning with World War 1 up to the present day. It is a day marked by Dawn Services across both nations where the fallen are remembered. Later in the morning Anzac Day marches are held across both nations where returned service men and women march in honour of those who did not come home. It is a great and honoured tradition in both nations. The marches in all the capital cities are televised.

The weather today was cold and miserable with rain periods. We stayed in the van park, as it was not a good day to go touring around. During the morning we had a telephone call from the newlyweds, Joel and Jane, who were in Auckland. Joel is on a diet which seems to be working; he has lost 5 kg in three weeks with 5 kg to go. He hasn't been experiencing as much pain after eating. It is still amazing to us that he is eating vegetables and salads. This is the boy who would only eat potatoes and pineapple - no other fruit or vegetables! Joel's way was plenty of meat dishes and fatty foods; lots of junk food and take out. That was his former diet - the result a fatty liver - and putting on lots of weight, particularly around the waist area. He voluntarily put himself on a liver cleansing diet.

We rang Andrew, in Christchurch, to see what he had decided to do. Andrew decided to move out of the house he is renting; the lease is due to expire in two weeks time. He is not sure whether he will stay in Christchurch or come back to Australia.

We also rang Cath at Bannockburn. She was agreeable to make an appointment to meet with her and her husband Brian at 10:30 am on Friday, 26-Apr-2002. So far, so good! We felt pleased that we had reached the appointment stage.

Friday, 26-Apr-2002 we drove to Bannockburn for our appointment. Rachel was thirsty, so we called in at the shopping centre at Bannockburn for bottled water. The main shopping area is very modern and new looking.

Cath and Brian's three bedroom house is set on half an acre of land; with a detached two car garage, with a large workshop area at the rear. Behind the garage was a carport that housed their 16' caravan. Ideal for our situation! The land was landscaped with nice gardens and lawns. The house was tastefully furnished. Cath and Brian were friendly and arranged for us to come back on Wednesday, 1-May-2002 to meet one of their daughters. We will then sign an agreement with them and lodge a bond for $500.00. The house sit will be from Saturday, 11-May-2002 until the end of October.

Upon our return to Geelong we rang Michael and then Andrew, and notified them of the house sitting arrangements. Rachel also notified her brother Sam; as Sam is looking after our mail forwarding. Michael rang back and asked us to please contact our nephew Jonathan at Hoppers Crossing. We rang Jonathan, who invited us to come to his wife, Rebecca's 21st birthday the following day at their unit at Hoppers Crossing. The party was to start around 6:00 pm.

Later, we rang our friends, Graham and Vicki, who live in Geelong to inform them that we would be coming along to the morning meeting on Sunday. They were delighted to hear from us and came around to our caravan for a short visit. They brought along their 18 months old daughter Lillian, a very energetic little girl! Their two teenage daughters were at a Youth Club night. We learned from Vicki that their meeting commenced at 12:30 pm on Sunday.

Saturday, 27-Apr-2002 washing day today; Rachel caught up with the laundry and I cleaned the front of the caravan with bug and tar remover. The front of the caravan gets splattered with insects, tar and road grime. Cleaning up is a frequent job after travelling on the open road; both the car and the van need to be washed. It has been well said, "Cleaning is preventative maintenance".

After lunch we went shopping. Rachel bought herself some warm winter clothing. We also bought a birthday present for Rebecca; then did some grocery shopping. By the time we got back from shopping, it was time to get ready for Rebecca's party.

We thought we left in plenty of time of time for a 6:00 pm start; but Hoppers Crossing was further than we expected. We had to drive through the North Geelong area traffic and then head up the M1 Motorway to the Werribee turn off (41 km further on). We arrived half an hour late.

It was good to catch up with our nephews, Peter and his family, Danny, Jonathan and his wife Rebecca; also Rachel's cousin John and his wife Irene and their children Mark, Janene, Michael and his wife Melissa. We met Rebecca's mum and dad and her sister. The party was a low key affair, with lots of laughter and talking. Jonathan and Rebecca did the catering themselves and made a very good job of it. Pizzas, Carbonara, Chicken and salads; they were all delicious and most enjoyable.

The drive back from Hoppers Crossing was much easier. On our forward journey, it seemed as though most of Geelong was heading for Melbourne. Coming home, we experienced only light traffic on the motorway. The M1 was very slow in parts due to the very extensive upgrades in process.

Sunday, 28-Apr-2002 we went to the meeting at Sparks Road, Norlane. We had an enjoyable and profitable time with our Christian friends in the Geelong assembly. I was asked to give an address from the Scriptures that afternoon. I was happy to oblige as I am quite used to taking this type of meeting. We caught up with our friends Barry and Anne; who had just returned from a trip up north to see their children in various places, Canberra, Brisbane and Townsville.

Barry was interested in going to the Melbourne Caravan and Camping Show the next day. I was also interested in the show and made arrangements to go with them. Barry would be happy to drive me into the city later to lodge my application for nursing registration in Victoria.

Monday, 29-Apr-2002 I went off with Barry and Anne to the Caravan and Camping Show. Rachel stayed at the van park. Caulfield Horse Racing Track was the venue for the show. The day turned out nice and sunny; which was ideal for the show as most of the exhibits were outside. There were numerous caravans, camper trailers, tent trailers and tents. There were also plenty of accessories for sale. Barry bought a portable, hand clothes washing machine (in a bucket arrangement).

Barry was interested in looking at small caravans, with their door opening at the back of the caravan. They looked at a few different models, but ended up choosing a caravan like ours. They chose a Jayco Eagle 16' with the same floor plan as our caravan. It would have a front door entry, front kitchen, "L" shaped dinette, with a two seater sofa opposite and an extendable double bed in the rear. Delivery was quoted as sometime in September 2002. The delivery lead time suited Barry as they would be overseas for a few months; and they also needed to upgrade their present car. They placed their order with the local Geelong Jayco dealer; who had representatives at the show.

We had a late picnic lunch in a nearby park; then headed into the city so I could register with the Victorian Nurses Board; in Little Collins Street, Melbourne. Barry was fortunate in obtaining a parking spot close to building. I took my paperwork upstairs to register. The details were fine, but there was no one in the office who could legally witness my signature. I was given directions to another building; ended up at the Police Traffic Camera Branch, where my signature was witnessed and my documents officially sighted. I went back to the other building, where I paid the $78.00 registration fee; waited ten minutes and walked out with Victorian registration (pending a police check). It was a good outcome, as I could now look for nursing work.

Tuesday, 30-Apr-2002 I rang Barwon Health to enquire about jobs. There was nothing at Geelong Hospital; try contacting Grace McKellar Centre at North Geelong, which I did. The Allocation's Officer at Grace McKellar Centre rang back to arrange an interview on Thursday, 1-May-2002 at 3:00 pm. This sounded hopeful!

Barry and Anne invited us for dinner at their home at Highton; after that they would drive us to a Prayer and Bible Study at a home in Clifton Springs on the Bellarine Peninsula. We had a delicious roast chicken dinner at their home overlooking the Barwon River. Later we headed off to Clifton Springs. The road Barry was going to take was closed due to a truck damaging a road bridge. Consequently, Barry had to take a longer route to get to Clifton Springs. We arrived a bit late. Coming home was not a problem as Barry was able to use another route into Geelong.

Wednesday, 1-May-2002 that morning we went shopping in the Geelong CBD. We bought ourselves a queen size, feather and down quilt; marked down from $239.00 to $99.95 at a Laura Ashley store. It was a true bargain; even the quilts in K Mart of similar quality were $150.00. Geelong CBD has a good array of shops to choose from. We made photocopies of the house sitting contract for $2.00 at a Laser Image store. We then enjoyed a late lunch and drove back to the caravan park at Belmont. It was time to get ready for our appointment with Cath and Brian who were expecting us at Bannockburn at 3.30 pm.

The drive to Bannockburn was uneventful. It was an overcast afternoon. Brian and Cath were pleased to see us and had begun a yard clean up prior to our house sit. We were shown around, given advice on a few things we needed to know; then a quick cuppa and down to the paperwork. I drew up a cheque for the $500.00 bond. Cath would lodge it with Australian Housesitters Directory into their Trust Account. Arrangements were made for us to be in Bannockburn on Saturday, 11-May-2002 between 10:00 and 11:00 am. We then drove back to the van park and cooked a nice pasta dish for dinner.

Our new quilt had to be aired and fluffed up prior to use. We took the blankets and our normal quilt off the bed. The new quilt was really light and warm and we did not need to add blankets or another quilt during the night. It felt strange because it was so light, yet so warm! We were very pleased with our purchase!

Tuesday, 2-May-2002 we spent a quiet day at the van park. I went for my appointment at the Grace McKellar Centre in the late afternoon. I was interviewed by two Registered Nurses who were the Evening Shift Nurse Allocator and the Unit Manager from Ward 11. The interview went well. I was told to wait for a telephone call from the Human Resources Office to arrange an interview for a medical appointment; plus work a "Buddy" shift to check on my competency. Also, a Police check would be carried out. Work would be either through the Nurse Casual Bank, or there was a possibility of a short term contract at one of their Nursing Home facilities.

Friday, 3-May-2002 we went for a drive down the Great Ocean Road as far as Lorne. We stopped at Aireys Inlet to look at the Split Point Lighthouse. What a beautiful area! We also discovered that Anglesea and Lorne were nice places; Lorne in particular. We eyeballed caravan parks along the route. On the drive back we stopped off at Barwon Heads and had fish and chips for lunch, whilst overlooking the Barwon River. After lunch we looked at caravan sites at Barwon Heads in a huge caravan park. There were some beaut sites right on the beach above the promenade. The amenities blocks were fairly basic. The van park had nearly 500 sites for caravans and tents and is completely booked out during the summer season. There were plenty of sites available in May in the cold weather months.

[Split Point Lighthouse - Airey's Inlet VIC]

Saturday, 4-May-2002 we decided to stay on at Riverglen for another week; however we had to move sites as our ensuite site was pre-booked by delegates for a Lions Club National Convention in Geelong. We chose a drive through site opposite our present site and set up the caravan again. We finished moving everything over to the new site before 10.00 am then the cleaning ladies arrived to clean the ensuite. Blow me down, about ten minutes later a car and caravan rig arrived to set up on the site!

The day was quite hot. The TV reception was lousy even with our amplified signal antenna. The ensuite site had an external TV antenna attached to the ensuite; which worked fine. We figured our antenna must be faulty, so we found the sales docket and took the antenna into the Dick Smiths store in the Geelong CBD. They swapped ours for a new antenna under warranty. This new antenna worked well.

Andrew rang from Christchurch in the evening to inform us he would be coming back to Australia. He proposed to arrive in Melbourne on Saturday, 18-May-2002 around midnight. He would confirm the flight details later.

Sunday, 5-May-2002 it was hot again today; unusually warm for May in Victoria! We did not have any difficulty in finding our way to the hall at Norlane to meet with our Christian friends. A Scottish family, the Browns were unable to come; their cattle had gotten out and they had to round them up. Apparently the electric fence was not as effective in the present dry conditions and needed modification to ensure the cattle got a good zap to keep them in. After lunch at the hall we spent the remainder of the day at the van park. We plan to go to the Bellarine Peninsula tomorrow if the weather is fine.

Monday, 6-May-2002 it was another glorious sunny day! We drove to Barwon Heads, then on to Ocean Grove. After driving through Ocean Grove we headed to Point Lonsdale to see the lighthouse and the infamous entry into Port Phillip Bay known as "The Rip". The sea was calm today, but in bad weather it is a very dangerous passage. We looked around the lighthouse area and the naval memorial plaques. Later, we went out on to the jetty at Point Lonsdale. We watched the "Spirit of Tasmania", the vehicular ferry between Melbourne and Devonport, Tasmania enter Port Phillip Bay. We were able to take a photo of it as it cruised by.

By now it was lunch time; we had a picnic lunch, looking over a nice beach and gazing out on Port Phillip Bay. It was a nice, relaxing way to eat lunch. Lunch completed, we moved on to Queenscliff for a stroll around the shopping centre and a browse through the shops. There was enough time to have a look at the vehicular ferry that goes between Queenscliff and Sorrento on the other side of the bay. It was fascinating to watch the ship dock. The cargo doors slowly opened; the top half went up into the air; the bottom opened downwards and the top edge of the bottom door folded over to form the ramp. Cars, trucks, motor cycles and caravans disgorged from the vessel. The foot passengers then disembarked.

[Vehicular Ferry unloading at Queenscliff VIC]

Meanwhile, lined up in waiting queues were vehicles waiting to board the ferry. Large trucks and high vehicles were loaded first, then cars and motor bikes. The smaller vehicles were moved in and around the larger vehicles. Finally, the foot passengers walked on and the cargo doors were closed. The ferry backed out slowly, turned around and headed across the bay to Sorrento. Meanwhile, another ferry had gone through a similar procedure and had left Sorrento. The ferries leave on the hour, every hour, between 6:00 am and 7:00 pm each day in all weather conditions. 'We must do this trip some time!' The day was drawing on. It was time to head back to Geelong. We are getting used to the road system around the Bellarine Peninsular and had no problems finding our way back to the Geelong.

Tuesday, 7-May-2002 it was another nice sunny day. I decided to check out the back way from Geelong to Bannockburn via Ceres. If I obtained a job with Barwon Health at their Grovedale, or Belmont facilities; it would be quicker to travel to work via Ceres. The travel time seemed favourable. We then did a trip to Winchelsea; and then from Winchelsea to Bannockburn via Inverleigh. Winchelsea could also be a possibility for a job; however it is a different Health District. The countryside outside Geelong is full of rolling hills and pleasant scenery with multitudes of farms gracing the landscape. Traffic was fairly light and driving certainly was not stressful.

Upon our return, we went for a walk alongside the Barwon River in front of the caravan park. We walked up to the overhead foot bridge and crossed over to the other side of the river. Walking along the other bank, we watched rowing club members sculling along the river. They seemed to be out in force; some of them had their coaches bellowing out instructions from the river banks. After crossing back via the foot bridge, we walked up the path to the hill behind the caravan park. The hill was quite high and there was a nice view down on to the river. Feeling tired we went back down the hill and returned to our caravan.

It was prayer and bible study night again. Last week we went with Barry and Anne, this week we wanted to try and find the place ourselves. I studied my Melways street directory for the best route. The drive was uneventful; not only did we navigate directly to the house, we also arrived early. It was a good feeling. The evening was enjoyable and profitable. The bible study was on 2 Timothy Chapter 1; the apostle Paul wrote this personal letter to Timothy, encouraging him not to be timid and to use the gift of God given to him. In the letter he tells Timothy to go on in faith towards God and not to be ashamed that Paul was in prison because of the Gospel.

We had a light supper after the meeting. We followed Barry back to Geelong; however he took a different route through the Geelong area. We were feeling quite tired after our long day and went gratefully to bed.

Wednesday, 8-May-2002 it was washing day today for Rachel. The weather forecast for Thursday was wet and windy; so today was a good day for washing the clothes. It was a quiet day in the van park, the Lions club people were all at their convention in Geelong. They tended to be noisy and quite vocal in the evenings. The weather stayed overcast and warm during the day. I did some proof reading for the draft of this manuscript.

I decided to ring Adrian my former boss at the Aged Care Health Service in Innisfail QLD to see if they had contacted him as a job referee. Sure enough, The Grace McKellar Centre had contacted him. The team at Innisfail were all going along well; however, Adrian was being seconded to Cairns for four months whilst his wife Samantha did a locum at the Cairns Community Mental Health Service. Their new apartment in Cairns was nearly finished and they were getting excited about moving house.

Rachel's brother Sam rang from Brisbane. Sam's wife was not very well, and their daughter Claudia had sprained her ankle. It seems that our mobile phone bill was unpaid and overdue. We checked with Telstra Mobilenet and confirmed that they had received our payment. The first bill had been sent to our old Innisfail address and had been returned to them. We gave them our house sitting address.

Thursday, 9-May-2002 the weather turned cold with light rain. I had a hair cut at Highton Shopping Centre. It seems to be a good, basic shopping centre with two major banks and a Safeways supermarket. There was plenty of off street parking as well. Meanwhile, Rachel sorted out the caravan in readiness for the house sit on Saturday. Clothing and books were sorted and packed. We could use them in the house, or leave them in storage in the caravan.

Friday, 10-May-2002 we had a shopping day in the Geelong CBD. Rachel had a haircut and I went to browse through the Angus and Robertson book store. I found a book Rachel had been looking for 'Dr Sandra Cabot's Liver Cleansing Diet'. Rachel was pleased with the find; she looked through it and decided to purchase it. After our shopping trip we returned to the caravan and began to get it ready for the short trip to Bannockburn tomorrow.

Bannockburn

Saturday, 11-May-2002 we were up earlier than usual because we were due at Bannockburn about 10:00 am. When we arrived Brian and Cath had their caravan already hitched up, but were not quite ready to roll. I parked our rig in the wide front driveway, which still left room for Brian to drive out. When they had finished packing Brian drove their rig out and parked across the road. I then drove our rig around the side of the house and up into the back yard area. Brian then gave me directions for manoeuvring our van into the carport where his van is normally stored. Fortunately the yard was quite large, which made manoeuvres easier. After the van was parked, we all went inside for a quick cuppa together.

Cath's and Brian's daughter Julie arrived with her little daughter Alex. Julie and her family live in the same street. Mail for Brian and Cath is to be dropped off at Julie's house. Pleasantries were exchanged and last minute instructions given then Brian and Cath got into their Falcon Ute then drove off to commence their holiday in North Queensland. Julie and Alex got into their 4WD and left also. Jon and Rachel were left to begin moving into the house. It took a couple of hours to unpack the caravan and move our belongings inside and set up; then we went grocery shopping in Bannockburn. From the stares we received, we either had two heads or came from Mars! Strangers were in town and driving a car with QLD number plates! They obviously did not get many tourists in Bannockburn!

After unpacking the groceries, there were some more settling in activities; including finding out which light switches worked which lights. By dinner time we were pretty well set up. I washed the car, which was very grubby from detritus from trees and dust in the caravan park. Rachel was very tired; it had been a long wearying day for her.

Sunday, 12-May-2002 Mother's Day! Michael and Joel rang Rachel for Mother's Day. It was nice for her to hear from them. Joel informed Rachel that Andrew was definitely coming back to Australia the following Saturday. It will be a late night for us as his plane is due in around midnight.

It took about half an hour to drive from Bannockburn to the hall at Norlane; as we didn't have to drive into the Geelong CBD area. We had a happy time with our Christian friends as usual. Some of them would be away next Sunday, and I was asked to take the Sunday School lesson next week.

Monday, 13-May-2002 we spent a quiet day in the house, cleaning it inside and out. Rachel also caught up with some clothes washing. Cath's clothes dryer was apparently faulty and we were not allowed to use it. Overcast or rainy weather was a problem as clothes do not dry very well in the cooler climate. Fortunately, there was a clothes horse and clothes drying rack available to use inside the house where it was warmer.

Tuesday, 14-May-2002 we went shopping in Geelong. We had a look at Safeways on Shannon Road; however their prices were too high. We moved on to Bi-Lo at High Street, Belmont. Their prices were much better, so we did a fortnight's shopping; keeping in mind that Andrew would be here Saturday night.

Vicki rang us later that afternoon to see if Rachel would look after Lillian tomorrow; as Vicki needed to take one of their other daughters Bethany, to Melbourne for a medical appointment with her specialist. Vicki made arrangements with Graham to drop Lillian off about 9:00 am.

The prayer and bible study meeting was held at Barry and Anne's home at Highton that night. It took us about half an hour's drive via Fyansford to drive to their place. We are getting more familiar with the different routes available. Another friend John showed us a short cut through an alternative route via Ceres on the way home.

Wednesday, 15-May-2002 Graham brought Lillian around after 9:00 am. Lillian had a great time, she loves being outdoors! Rachel enjoyed having her around and playing with her. Lillian was supposed to have a sleep at 12:00 noon, however it was after 2:00 pm before she finally went off to sleep. She slept for nearly three hours.

I rang Grace Mackellar Centre and finally got through to their Human Resources Department. I had tried unsuccessfully yesterday. It was nearly a fortnight since my interview; and I had not heard anything from them since. I now had an appointment with them on Thursday, 16-May-2002 at 3:00 pm. I also decided to check out the Nursing Homes around Geelong and the hospital at Winchelsea. Winchelsea Hospital wanted a copy of my resume. I also obtained an appointment with the Director of Nursing at Brentwood Nursing Home in Geelong on Thursday, 16-May-2002. I then went into Bannockburn to obtain three sets of photocopies of my resume.

Thursday, 16-May-2002 it was a nice sunny morning, but it rained during the afternoon. I went to Geelong for my work appointments. My watch stopped, so a new battery was required; this caused a delay and I could not get to my first appointment at Brentwood Nursing Home by 2:00 pm. I rang them and rescheduled the appointment for 11:00 am tomorrow, Friday 17-May-2002.

The appointment at Grace Mackellar Centre went well. They set up a medical appointment at Geelong Hospital on Monday, 20-May-2002 at 2:00 pm. Oh boy, this is a long drawn out process!

Friday, 17-May-2002 the weather was patchy today; it rained in Bannockburn most of the day. I went for my appointment with the Director of Nursing at Brentwood Nursing Home. It was sunny in Geelong with a cold wind blowing. The appointment went well; a trial shift is to be worked on Tuesday, 21-May-2002 at 7:00 am.

Saturday, 18-May-2002 a big day today! Andrew was scheduled to arrive at Tullamarine Airport at 11:55 pm. Rachel and I walked into Bannockburn (2 km) in the afternoon for some grocery shopping. We arrived back just before it began to rain heavy. The heavy rain continued into the night; and it continued all the way into Tullamarine. Andrew's plane was slightly early. He had lots of luggage, it cost him NZD$120.00 for excess baggage. The parking fee was $5.00 for just over an hour's parking.

Fortunately, the weather began to clear up. The drive to Tullamarine had been nerve wracking, in heavy rain, and on unfamiliar roads. The drive home was easier, the heavy rain eased up. Andrew was in good health and chatted freely. We arrived home about 1:30 am and were in bed by 2:00 am.

Sunday, 19-May-2002 all three of us went to the meeting at Norlane; and Andrew met our Christian friends. I told the Sunday School children the story about Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the walls and gates of Jerusalem.

Monday, 20-May-2002 Andrew and I went to Geelong; Andrew to meet a friend for lunch; and I for my Barwon Health medical appointment at Geelong Hospital. Later, I bought a pair of black slacks for work and a warm polar fleecy top. Andrew also chose a warm polar fleecy top; which I paid for. The weather turned very cold with a chilly wind and rain periods, with occasional sunny breaks.

Tuesday, 21-May-2002 I worked at Brentwood Nursing Home from 7:00 am until 1:30 pm on an orientation shift. I was tired after work with aching back and shoulder muscles. I had not worked like this since Brisbane. We had an early dinner then rang friends at Wangan QLD to see how everyone was getting on.

[Andrew and I in our warm fleecy polar tops]

We went to the prayer meeting at Lorna's home at Clifton Springs at 7:30 pm. It took us about 50 minutes from Bannockburn to Clifton Springs. Margaret and Brenda were back from their cousin's wedding in Bali. We had a pleasant evening with everyone and then drove back to Bannockburn.

Wednesday, 22-May-2002 the three of us went for a drive to Geelong to look at cars for Andrew. However we needed to look at finances before Andrew could buy a car. Andrew found a nice 1985 Holden VK Commodore sedan for $3990.00 and we took it for a test drive. The car drove well, but we do not have the money to purchase it at present. I have not heard back from Barwon Health regarding an orientation shift.

Thursday, 23-May-2005 Andrew and I went to Geelong to check out a few things. Andrew had another look at the VK Commodore at Barwon Car Sales. I dropped off some paperwork in Geelong regarding jobs.

Friday, 24-May-2002 we went for a drive down the Great Ocean Road to Apollo Bay and returned via the Otway Ranges through Colac, Winchelsea, Inverleigh and then to Bannockburn. On the Great Ocean Road we had a look at the famous surfing beach, Bells Beach. We also stopped to look at Anglesea; Split Point Lighthouse near Airey's Inlet; then Lorne and finally Apollo Bay. We had a delightful lunch at Apollo Bay. We then backtracked to Skenes Creek and returned home over the Otway Ranges. The weather was fine with cold winds along the coast, but The Otways had rain and mist.

Upon our return I had a message on my mobile phone to ring Grace McKellar Centre. I rang an irate Personnel Manager; apparently they had booked a "buddy" shift for me yesterday! But no one told me! Realising their error they will arrange another day, probably Tuesday next week.

Saturday, 25-May-2002 I had a phone call to work a three hours shift at Brentwood Nursing Home in Geelong, from 8:30 am to 11:30 am. It was a very busy three hours! Later that day we received another phone call; this time from our nephew Peter at Werribee, asking us to come to their place tomorrow night for his wife Sue's birthday party. We were happy to oblige. It will be good for Andrew to catch up with his cousins he had grown up with in Innisfail.

[Bells Beach VIC]

Sunday, 26-May-2002 we were ready to go to Norlane as usual when the car began to have problems. The engine was running rough at low engine speeds, but smoothed out at higher engine speeds. We arrived at the first meeting late. I tried unsuccessfully to fix the problem. It was a bit of a worry for the trip to Werribee later. The car did not improve on the run to Werribee; however we managed to get there and back to Bannockburn without incident.

Sue's birthday party was a nice relaxed affair, with all our relatives from Melbourne and Geelong area present. We also met Sue's mother and Sue's brother and his wife. The main meal was nice and easy; Peter had ordered plenty of different pizzas to be home delivered. This was accompanied by side salads and pasta dishes.

Monday, 27-May-2002 I took the car to J & B Automotive Repairs at Bannockburn to have the engine problem fixed. The initial diagnosis was the spark plug leads (which I had suspected). New leads and spark plugs were to be fitted. The car was left at the service station for the day. I walked the two kilometres back to the house and then had breakfast. The day turned out cool but not windy. I moved the ride on mower out of the shed, started it up and mowed the front and back lawns.

About 3:00 pm I rang up to check on the progress of the car. Not good news! The new leads and plugs were on, but the problem was still there. The car also needed a coil pack (supplies high tension spark to the spark plugs). The garage rang back later with the total cost $369.60. The coil pack alone was $170.00. It turned out to be an expensive fix. Our bank balance is reducing fast.

Tuesday, 28-May-2002 I worked an orientation shift at Grace Mackellar Centre at Ward 11. The Unit Manager, Renate was one of the nurses who interviewed me. It turned out to be a good shift (7:00 am to 1:30 pm) and the staff were all helpful.

The car is running well now; but the hot water system in the house seems to have a problem. The water is not very hot, barely taking the chill off the cold water.

Wednesday, 29-May-2002 the hot water system is definitely not working properly. We rang Cath and Brian and left a message on their mobile phone. We also rang Julie their daughter who arranged to have an electrician check out the hot water system. The electrician will come on Thursday about 8:30am. Julie will also come at the same time.

Andrew and I went to Geelong. Andrew transferred money from his New Zealand bank account to his Aussie, Commonwealth Bank account. I went for a blood test for Hepatitis "B" antibodies for Barwon Health's records. Andrew checked out Centrelink for job prospects. He later bought a set of "P" plates and I let him drive most of the way back to Bannockburn.

Thursday, 30-May-2002 the electrician Doug confirmed that the hot water system heater did not appear to be cutting in appropriately. He thought it might be the timer and wired the heater for direct heating instead of off peak heating for a couple of days. I worked a six hours shift at Grace Mackellar Centre in Ward 12 that afternoon; with another shift rostered for the next day as well.

Friday, 31-May-2002 I worked eight hours on an early shift today. The money from Mum's estate was paid into our bank account today. There were sufficient funds available to enable us to pay off the balance owing on our Falcon sedan.

Winter In Bannockburn

We settled in at Bannockburn and I obtained shifts at both Brentwood Nursing Home and at Grace Mackellar Centre in Geelong. The house was very comfortable to live in; however the hot water system was still playing up, Doug the electrician came around again and managed to work out what was happening. The heater was working, but the water pressure valve was leaking and the hot water was running straight down the overflow pipe into the drain! He put in another pressure valve and we had no more problems with hot water.

Andrew decided he wanted to buy the VK Holden Commodore we had test driven at Geelong. The price was now $3,899.00. Andrew paid a holding deposit of $200.00. The car will be ready in a couple of days to be picked up. We are contributing $3,000.00 and Andrew will put the balance on his credit card. Later, Andrew will pay back $1,000.00 when he has the money.

On Tuesday, 4-Jun-2002 Andrew and I drove into Geelong to pick up Andrew's car. I stopped off at the Commonwealth Bank to arrange a Bank cheque for $3,000.00. We then drove to Barwon Motors and finalised the sale. Andrew put his "P" plates on his new car and drove it out of the car sales yard. We noticed it needed petrol. I drove ahead of him in the Falcon and Andrew drove the Commodore behind me. At Newtown we stopped at a Caltex garage so Andrew could fill up his car's petrol tank.

We had driven through Fyansford and were on a country road heading to Bannockburn when I noticed Andrew's car slowing down. I pulled over and waited for Andrew to catch up. I then began to pull out, but Andrew gesticulated frantically to pull in again. Andrew pulled in behind me. The Commodore's motor was running hot and losing power. Upon investigation the engine was quite low on oil! We were about halfway home, so I went to Bannockburn in the Falcon and bought six litres of engine oil. The Commodore ran well after it was topped up with engine oil. The other minor drama was working out how to open the Commodore's bonnet. It's easy when you know how; frustrating when you don't know.

Rachel had a test drive of Andrew's car and liked it. She prefers the size of Andrew's car to the Falcon. She has always liked a medium size car to drive. The Commodore continued to run well and the engine gave us no more trouble. Andrew was very pleased with his car.

I contacted the Unit Manager for Barwon Health's, Aged Care facility at Belmont to see if she could offer me a short term work contract. After checking her rosters, she rang back to tell me she could offer me a contract for early shifts for 58 hours per fortnight from 17-Jun-2002 until 17-Oct-2002; plus other shifts if staff went on sick leave. The Human Resources Officer at Grace Mackellar Centre will contact me to formalise the contract. Meanwhile, I continued to work on a casual basis at both Grace Mackellar Centre and Brentwood Nursing Home until the contract commenced.

We decided to give the caravan a good clean inside and out. It was then parked back in the covered area and raised up on stands to take the weight off the suspension and tyres. The van probably won't be needed for quite a while. Most of the items in the van were transferred to the house for storage. Fortunately, there was plenty of storage inside the house to store our bits and pieces.

The weather turned cold and stayed that way. We were now rugged up in warm winter clothing each day. Cold, biting winds, sometimes accompanied by rain and hail became the norm. Even if the day looked lovely and sunny from inside the house, the cold winds soon brought you back to reality the moment you stepped outside the door. The weather was often cold and miserable; interspersed with odd periods of slightly warmer, drier conditions. Windless days became very rare and often they were preceded by very cold nights and frosty mornings. Fog was another problem to contend with, with quite heavy patches on the way into Geelong. I often encountered fog patches on the way to work in the early mornings. Some days it would be around midday before the fog lifted. We began to really appreciate periods of nice weather.

Brian had told me that I would not have to mow the lawn hardly at all over winter. How wrong he was! The frequent, drizzly showers of rain helped the grass to grow and usually within two weeks I had either the ride on mower or the 4 stroke push mower out mowing the lawns. Their half acre block meant plenty of grass needed to be mowed.

Bannockburn has a fairly new shopping centre which had been open for about two years. The shopping centre had a large Foodworks supermarket, a liquor store, pharmacy, newsagency, post office, a cafe, hairdressing salon and a branch of the Bendigo bank. The town also had a petrol station, hardware store, two food takeaways, a hotel, a fruit and veg shop, a video store and a produce store. It was also serviced by a medical group, a dental clinic, a police station and a CFA fire station. V Line ran a bus service to and from Geelong and Ballarat at frequent intervals. All the basics were catered for at Bannockburn.

Geelong, Victoria's second largest city had two big shopping complexes, plus numerous other shops in the CBD. The outer suburbs had large shopping complexes at Corio, Newcombe and Waurn Ponds. Belmont had a K Mart shopping complex plus a very good strip shopping centre, which included a Bi Lo store. West Geelong had the very trendy Pakington Street shops. Numerous strip shopping centres were located in the suburbs; Highton was a good example.

Geelong looks out over Corio Bay; the foreshore has had a recent redevelopment which is not only picturesque, but user friendly as well. The redevelopment has been thoughtfully and imaginatively carried out. Strolling along the foreshore promenades and the jetties was a pleasant experience. The foreshore area definitely enhances the city of Geelong.

We found Belmont shopping centre to our liking, the Bi Lo store had excellent specials on food and grocery items. Belmont has a good public library which we both joined. Rachel has always been an avid reader and usually borrows a pile of books to read.

I was missing my computer and was fortunate to pick up an old second hand PC for $250.00; complete with software, a modem and a colour inkjet printer; however the printer did not have any print cartridges. It needed a colour cartridge and a black ink cartridge before it would work. After parting with another $103.00 the printer worked well; however I could have bought a brand new printer with the $103.00.

I required new spectacles as the middle distance field on my current spectacles was becoming blurry. I needed a new pair of multifocals; as I am short sighted I require distance vision, middle distance and reading vision. I ordered a set of multifocals with progressive lenses and new frames. I also ordered special transition lens material which is sensitive to light (in other words they can be used as sunglasses outside). The progressive lenses do not have demarcation lines and look like ordinary spectacles. They are difficult to get used to in the first couple of weeks.

I soon got used to the early morning drive to my job at Belmont. Drizzly rain or sometimes patches of fog were often encountered. Nursing in the nursing home facility was demanding and constant. My usual shifts were for six hours with a couple of eight hours shifts included in the fortnightly roster. I would often come home tired and drained of energy. The upside was the early finish on the six hours shifts, allowing time for other activities.

We had a phone call from Cath and Brian to tell us that their son from Western Australia would be coming around to borrow Cath's car. He would be using it for a couple of weeks whilst he was in the Geelong area on holidays. A few days later he came around with Gonny (pronounced Honny); his sister-in-law, Brian and Cath's daughter-in-law.

Towards the end of June, Michael rang to tell us that he was coming down from Brisbane in his Uni semester break and that he had booked a Virgin Blue flight for Saturday, 6-Jul-2002 arriving around 8:30 pm at Tullamarine Domestic Terminal. The day duly arrived; I was rostered off that day, hence we were able to go and pick Michael up. We set off about 6:00 pm; it would probably take up to two hours to get to Tullamarine depending on the weather and the traffic conditions on the M1.

We arrived in plenty of time, parked the car in the short term parking station and walked down to the Virgin Blue terminal. Two surprises awaited us! Michael's flight was due in at 9:30 pm, not 8:30 pm. Virgin Blue's entire computer system was down causing major delays in processing passengers and baggage. Michael's flight was delayed; it did not arrive until 10:55 pm. On top of this the baggage carousel jammed just before Michael's flight arrived. The carousel could not be restarted. So... the baggage had to be brought out piece by piece. Another 40 minutes delay! We arrived home in Bannockburn at 1:30 am.

Michael enjoyed his time with us. We took him on various day trips around southern Victoria. Andrew and Michael also spent time tripping around in Andrew's car. The three weeks soon went by and Saturday, 24-Jul-2002 found us in the Falcon taking Michael back to Tullamarine airport for his flight home at 7:10 pm. We left home in plenty of time; the weather was cold and windy with rain periods. We did not stay to see him off. Michael rang about 9:15 pm to let us know that he arrived safely.

We took opportunities to visit places of interest around Victoria. Rachel and I went for a drive around the local region visiting Steiglitz, an old gold mining area in the hills. After this we journeyed to She Oaks, Lethbridge, Meredith and Teesdale; small rural communities around the Bannockburn area.

Another day, accompanied by Andrew, we visited the Serendip Wetlands Bird Sanctuary near Lara. What a fascinating place! The wetlands lagoons were surrounded by wired off enclosures, with kangaroos, wallabies and emus. One section had a large walk through bird aviary. Well constructed bird hides with viewing windows were located on the larger lagoons. An excellent well shaded picnic ground, near the main entrance was a great spot to have lunch.

After lunch we headed to the nearby You Yangs and drove around the National Park area. The views out towards Port Phillip Bay and back towards the Geelong area were well worth the visit. Avalon airport was clearly visible as well. There were plenty of picnic areas scattered around the National Park. We were fortunate the weather was warm and sunny on our visit.

When Michael was holidaying with us, the four of us took a day trip to the Mt Macedon region. From Bannockburn we took the back route to Corio, then linked up with the Bacchus Marsh road, drove to Bacchus Marsh, crossed over the Western freeway (M8), journeyed to Gisborne, crossed over the Calder freeway (M79), then on to Mt Macedon. The weather was very cold and windy. There was ice on the road to the mountain.

The footpath to the Big Cross on the top of the mountain was also icy, and great care was needed on the path. One older person had already slipped and fallen down. The wind was quite strong and bitterly cold. Our noses blocked up and we had to breathe through our mouths. The huge cross had been erected in honour of Australian soldiers killed in World War 1. It was too cold to stay at the cross; the wind chill factor made it well below zero degrees Celsius.

The view from the top of Mt Macedon was worth the trip. Rolling hills and cultivated fields stretched out into the distance. We could not stay to enjoy it, the winds were too cold. We retreated to the warmth of the car and put the heater on full blast.

Travelling around Victoria, time and again, we came across memorials to fallen soldiers in World War 1. The drain on Victoria's male population from that war became more evident as we travelled around the State. The loss in the smaller communities was even more noticeable.

We decided to have a look at Hanging Rock which was nearby. Hanging Rock was made famous by the film "Picnic at Hanging Rock", where schoolgirls went missing and were never seen again. Hanging Rock itself was easily located.

['Hanging Rock' near Mt Macedon VIC]

An information area located at the base of the rock formations was very informative; particularly in relation to the legend of the missing girls. The paths to the top of the rock formations were easily accessible to any moderately fit person; however the climb up to the top was steep in parts. The place is sacred to the local Aboriginal tribes. It has an eerie, timeless feel about it. There were lots of paths branching off through the rock formations. It was a fascinating, eerie experience.

The "Hanging Rock" is a huge boulder that hangs over an opening between two cliff walls. The pathway to the top goes underneath the rock and we were able to get a very close look at the underside of the famous rock.

We had lunch in the picnic grounds located at the bottom of the rock formations. A well cared for horse racing track was situated behind the picnic area. The track is used each year by the locals for a huge picnic day of horse racing. After lunch we packed up and then drove back to Bannockburn.

On another occasion, Andrew, Michael and I drove up to Ballarat in the Falcon. We went to Lake Wendouree, and then visited the Botanical Gardens. I was keen to show the boys the bronze busts of all the Australian Prime Ministers from the first prime minister, Andrew Barton to the present incumbent John Howard. Next a short drive across town to historical Sovereign Hill, a tremendously interesting insight into life on the goldfields in the 1850's and 1860's. We watched a gold pouring exhibition, and later a lolly making session at an old fashioned lolly factory. We played bowls with heavy wooden balls at the Bowling Saloon (nine pins); using both hands to roll the balls along a central wide gutter.

The entry fee to Sovereign Hill also included entry into the Gold Museum located across the road from the Sovereign Hill site. This is a very interesting place, with displays showcasing the importance of gold from ancient civilisations up to the present day. The valuable contributions the goldfields have made to the nation of Australia should not be under estimated. The gold seekers streamed into the Colonies in search of instant fortunes. Some indeed made their fortunes; the majority did not. Many goldseekers stayed and settled permanently in their new country; bringing with them a wealth of experience from all walks of life. When we left the Gold Museum it was fairly late in the day and it was time to head back to Bannockburn.

House sitting has many advantages; however, sometimes it has disadvantages. For instance, the bracket holding the hand held shower rose loosened through usage; the shower rose fell down breaking off the porcelain soap holder on the wall of the shower cubicle. So, we were up for the expense of a new soap holder tile. We needed a new tile and a tiler to do the job. The tiling grout was not the standard white colour. I was worried that if I did the job myself and more tiles were damaged the repair bill would sky rocket.

That's when the fun began. Rachel rang a local tiler who promised to come around. Several weeks and several promises later, he still had not come around to quote on the job. By now we were getting a bit frustrated. Rachel spotted the telephone number of another tiler in the monthly Bannockburn community newsletter. This chap was working on a new house in the street behind us. He agreed to do the job; $150.00 for half an hour's work was a rude shock. We were not happy about the price; however he had us over a barrel as we had to have the job done. It turned out to be an expensive accident! We never saw the original bloke who promised to come and quote on the job!

On one of our frequent shopping trips to Geelong, Rachel and I decided to buy ourselves a meat mincer. After much fruitless searching, we were directed to a place called Mr Deli; where we were successful. The hand operated mincer cost us $39.99 and was made in Czechoslovakia. Our rationale for the purchase was to buy beef roasts and make fresh, lean mince. This worked well and the off cuts from the roast made excellent soup meat.

One Saturday in July when Michael was with us the four of us went to Rachel's nephew, Jonathan's birthday party. Jonathan and his wife Rebecca had recently moved from Hoppers Crossing to the Melbourne suburb of Bulleen. The journey from Bannockburn took us about two and a half hours; and we got lost near Bulleen which did not help matters. At the party we caught up with our relatives from Werribee and Melbourne. We had an enjoyable time but had to leave early as I had an early start for work in the morning. On the way home we experienced a couple of minor problems finding our way back and arrived home about 11:30 pm.

Life is full of little surprises, Andrew's car decided to leak oil over the floor of the shed. The car was immediately banished to the pebble driveway outside. The task of cleaning up then began. The shed floor was by no means perfect to begin with. Two cans of degreaser later, with plenty of water and elbow grease, saw the floor in pretty good shape. Andrew meanwhile, arranged to have the oil leaks checked out. A new fuel pump was required. Oil was being forced out under pressure, causing a fine oil mist in the engine bay and over the bottom half of the engine. With that job fixed more degreaser was needed to clean up the engine bay of Andrew's car.

Have you ever had dealings with Centrelink? (Formerly - Department of Social Security).

Since Rachel and I only had one income; we decided to reapply to Centrelink to try and get some more assistance for Michael through the Youth Allowance scheme. If he was eligible Centrelink would pay him the princely sum of perhaps $150.00 per fortnight; provided he met all the criteria, otherwise, a sliding scale downwards was applicable. Two sets of forms were mailed to us. One set for the details of the previous financial year, the other set for details for the current financial year. This exercise was much worse than filling in a personal income tax return!

Centrelink wanted to know not only what you have earned in each financial year, but wait for it, where you have spent that income! When a personal income tax return is filled out, the Australian Taxation Office is interested in your total income for the financial period; what you are legally able to claim back against that income, and that you have paid the due amount of personal income tax. Centrelink, on the other hand, want to know all your assets, including bank accounts etc. - plus the total amount of what you have spent; broken up into categories.

I spent a whole day working out the information and filling in the forms. Fortunately, we keep a rough daily cash book and I was able to work out the categories from the cash book. Pity help those who don't have records! The completed forms were then sent to Michael to take into his local Centrelink office at Toowong in Brisbane, Michael also had to fill in his own forms as well!

Telephoning Centrelink is an experience in itself. Rachel rang them on several occasions. Each time a different person, each time different advice given; and sometimes conflicting advice! Before we began our big trek, Rachel had been self employed as a Family Day Carer. Funny thing, if you are self employed, warning bells seem to go off at Centrelink. Immediately your application is treated with suspicion.

You, who have been legally claiming expenses on your personal income tax return, have it would seem gotten benefits from the Commonwealth Government through the taxation system; and this automatically earns you demerit points. It doesn't seem to matter that they are legitimate claims.

The upshot of all this was that Michael received just over $60.00 per fortnight. He was already receiving via Rachel, Family Allowance of about $55.00 per fortnight. Family Allowance was stopped. Michael now had an extra $5.00 per fortnight to play with! About three payments later Michael got a letter from Centrelink; stopping his Youth Allowance payment. The reason, he was late in lodging a form. Now, the clincher, he had to pay back one payment! Rachel swung into telephone mode again! More conflicting advice, some said ignore the letter, others said you must pay up. The end result was we had to pay up.

Rachel then tried to have Family Allowance reinstated. Again, conflicting advice was given, some said it would be automatically reinstated; others said we would have to reapply. The result was we needed to reapply. When the forms arrived, I did a double take. The income threshold had been lowered and Michael was now eligible for about $36.00 per fortnight.

A ludicrous situation had now become laughable!

In fairness to Centrelink, subsequent enquiries revealed that Michael could have gotten the full $150.00 per fortnight, provided I earned less than $26,000.00 per annum, and wait for it; I guaranteed to stay at that level for two to three years. An untenable situation, compounded by the fact, that earnings over $26,000.00 would mean a portion of Michael's Youth Allowance would have to be paid back. Also, Rachel would be unable to work at all. We washed our hands of the matter - it was just too ridiculous!

Andrew picked up some work as a builder's labourer through a friend of his at his Church fellowship. We became accustomed to him coming and going to a job site at Barwon Heads. He appreciated the work and the companionship at the job. Andrew was becoming quite accustomed to finding his way around the Geelong area. He would often drive into Geelong to shop or go to friends' places for a visit. He had settled into life at Bannockburn fairly well and appreciated Mum's cooking again.

I had a surprise in the mail one day, a speeding fine from a hidden camera. The fine was $125.00. Victoria had recently introduced "Zero Tolerance". I was booked for doing 65 km in a 60 kph zone. The funny part about it was that I was normally careful about sticking to the speed limit, by setting the "cruise control" to the speed limit, wherever possible. As the fine arrived several weeks later, I had no recollection of the incident. A check in my diary showed I would have been coming home from work at that time and would have been on that stretch of road which has downhill gradients. A momentary lapse in front of a hidden camera and suddenly I was $125.00 poorer. We found that most Victorian drivers exceed the speed limit on country roads and highways. A Queensland number plate was like waving a red flag to a bull for some drivers. We had to be passed at all costs.

Our nephew Peter's son, Anthony was having a birthday on Saturday, 10-Aug-2002 and we were invited. On the due date the three of us headed off to Werribee. We had a very enjoyable time. I came away with a bonus; Peter gave me a spare Pentium CPU which had a larger hard drive and more memory. With a bit of swapping between both CPU's, I now have a better computer system.

Rachel and I decided it would be good to give the caravan an outing. The trip was planned for Wednesday, 21-Aug-2002 and Thursday, 22-Aug-2002. As pre-trip preparation, I hitched up the van, pulled it out of the covered area and gave it a good clean up. Rachel then packed it ready for a trip to Echuca/Moama. We left Bannockburn on Wednesday morning at 8:30 am. The car engine began to hesitate in mid range up hills; which was a bit inconvenient.

The day turned out bright and sunny. This time, we took a different route to Echuca. We headed up the back road to Ballan and then on to Daylesford, bypassing Ballarat. From Daylesford we drove to Castlemaine, then to Bendigo where we stopped for lunch. About an hour later we drove into Echuca. We booked one night's accommodation at Maidens Inn at Moama, on the NSW side of the Murray River. What we liked about the NSW side was the fact that the properties come right to the river's edge. Victoria on the other hand, has an area of reserve land as a buffer between properties and the river's edge.

We checked out rental lists in Echuca and also in Moama. Prices ranged from$155.00 per week to $195.00 per week. After a walk around the shopping area and the River Port precinct, we went back to Maidens Inn. The day remained warm and sunny. The river was very low; paddle steamers no longer came up the river in front of Maidens Inn. As the sun went down, the weather turned very cold. It was a cold night, much colder weather than Bannockburn had been experiencing. Our little heater was put to good use.

Next morning we set out about 10:15 am to retrace our steps. The trip to Bendigo was nice and sunny. On the other side of Bendigo it began to rain and the weather changed to cold and miserable. We had lunch at the Stoney Creek Reservoirs' picnic area. Driving conditions were not pleasant. When we arrived back home, I had problems backing the van into the covered area. The car's rear wheels spun in the wet slushy conditions. We had to leave the van half in and half out of the covered area until the weather fined up. The caravan was given a big clean up on Tuesday. Boy it needed it, after the trip back from Bendigo it was very grubby with mud and road grime.

The next day Friday, Andrew went off to Adelaide by car with some friends for the weekend. They were off to a Christian Music Festival. Andrew won't return until Monday. He had a busy but very tiring weekend. Andrew's Adelaide trip was the reason he declined to come to Echuca with us.

Rachel booked two months accommodation at Maidens Inn for November and December. We planned to go there; I would try to find work as a nurse and we would have a real good look around the region. Sadly, this was not to be. I was unable to secure work in Echuca and we had to cancel the accommodation.

Around this time, Peter rang with an invitation to a barbecue at his place. Our niece Judy and her husband David, from Sydney, would also be there. Judy is Peter's older sister. David and Judy will soon be off to Durham University in Durham, England for David to study. They will be in England for three years. It was good to catch up with them both. The barbecue get together was great. It's good to catch up with family, particularly when you don't see them very often.

Two caravan parks in the region needed couples to manage the parks. Rachel and I decided to have a drive by look at them. Sherwood Forest Caravan Park was in Geelong. It seemed to have mainly permanents and hardly any tourist accommodation. We were not attracted to the park, or its layout, so did not check it any further. Green Valley Caravan Park at Ocean Grove seemed to be a nice van park. It was run by the local Lawn Bowls Club and accommodation would be provided. There was a catch however, the salary was $25,000.00 per annum for one person; yet it needed two people to run it, and it was a seven days a week proposition. No back up staff, or relief was provided. Obviously, we did not proceed any further.

Spring in Victoria

Winter came and went; the cold, wet, windy weather continued. We were thankful for the second hand clothes dryer we had purchased in Geelong. One week before the three months warranty ran out, it started making horrible, thumping noises and tripped the safety switch. I had a quick look at it to see if something was jammed. As there wasn't any apparent quick fix, I had to take it back under the warranty to have it repaired. The clothes dryer needed new parts, which had to be ordered. It was about ten days before I could pick it up. Rachel was sure glad to see it back!

As we were now in September, I began to think about where to go after our house sitting stint; Tasmania, or Western Australia were our preferred choices. Tasmania was closer, so I rang Oxley Nursing Service in Brisbane to see if they could arrange a work contract for me in Tassie. A few days later the reply came back in the negative. We crossed Tasmania off our possibilities. An advertisement in The Advertiser for a Division 2 nurse at Penshurst, near Hamilton VIC, caught my eye. I made enquiries and subsequently sent in a job application. I updated my resume to send with the application. A few weeks later I received a phone call to come in for a job interview, on Monday 14-Oct-2002 at 2:30 pm.

Andrew decided to return to New Zealand; he was missing his friends and the NZ lifestyle. As a result, he booked his car in for a road worthy certificate and then set about detailing it for sale. Andrew and Rachel gave it a thorough clean inside and out. Andrew told us he would sell the car on Saturday, 21-Sep-2002 and fly back to Christchurch on Saturday, 28-Sept-2002. Blow me down, that is exactly what happened! True to his words he sold the car on Saturday, 21-Sept-2002 for $3,000.00 and flew out on Saturday 28-Sep-2002.

The proceeds of the car sale were split 50/50. Andrew kept $1,500.00 and we received $1,500.00. Andrew received heaps of phone calls about the car for several days. He sure was lost without his car that last week.

Victoria had a record hot day for September on Saturday 14-Sep-2002 it reached 28.2 degrees Celsius. We were wearing shorts for a couple of days! But, then the normal cold, wet, windy weather came back.

Before Andrew flew back to NZ, our Scottish friends the Browns invited the three of us to lunch at their small property at Birregurra, between Winchelsea and Colac. The Browns are very warm hearted people and made us very welcome. Ronnie, the son runs a small herd of Scottish cattle, which have long horns and a shaggy coat. They certainly looked different! The cattle were kept in place with electric fencing. We had an enjoyable afternoon with the Browns. Ronnie told us he was a volunteer member of the local Country Fire Authority (CFA) and was on 24 hours call, via a pager system. Fortunately, they are not called out every day. He also obtained some part time work at a local Produce distributor. After an enjoyable lunch and a good chat session, we returned home in the late afternoon.

I had a day off on Thursday 26-Sep-2002. So Rachel and I decided to do a day trip to Penshurst and Hamilton. Bannockburn is fairly close to the Hamilton Highway, which runs from Geelong to Hamilton. We connected up with it near Inverleigh. The drive to Penshurst took just over two hours. The highway passed through a lot of open country, lush and green with the constant rainy weather.

Penshurst is about half an hour's drive from the southern tip of the Grampians mountain range. It is a small town with half a dozen or so small shops, a caravan park and a motel or two. We drove past the hospital and the accommodation offered with the job. Penshurst seemed a nice, sleepy little town; from which you could access Warrnambool and the Great Ocean Road. Hamilton was about half an hour's drive west of Penshurst.

From Penshurst we drove on to Hamilton, which was much larger than we thought it would be. We had passed through the southern part of Hamilton on the way to Portland, back in early April. We did not drive through the main shopping area on that occasion, so were not prepared for its actual size. Hamilton is a very prosperous town in south western Victoria. It receives good rainfall during the year. The region is renowned for wool, crops and stock.

Saturday, 28-Sep-2002 duly arrived; Andrew was heading back to Christchurch today. Rachel and I did some grocery shopping in the morning. We watched the AFL Grand Final between the Brisbane Lions and Collingwood until 4:00 pm. We then packed the car and took Andrew to Tullamarine airport. We listened to the rest of the AFL Grand Final on the car radio. We were happy to hear that the Brisbane Lions won.

Weather conditions for driving were lousy. It was cold and raining heavily, with strong winds. The road works on the M1 did not help the driving conditions. We arrived in good time for Andrew to go through Customs. It was sad to see him go, we had gotten used to having him at home again. Rachel was quite teary. Andrew's plane was due to leave at 7:30 pm, but we didn't stay around to see it leave. We wanted to drive home in as much daylight as we could. The road conditions on some sections at night on the M1, particularly in the rain, made it difficult to see the lane markings.

The house felt empty! All the next week we felt a bit sad. Andrew moved back in with his friend Alistair, who lives at Cashmere up in the hills overlooking Christchurch. Andrew was a bit unsettled for a few days.

Our time at Bannockburn was coming to an end; Brian and Cath were due back at the end of October. I was pinning my hopes on the Penshurst job. It seemed like a good move when I finished up at Barwon Health.

We wanted to look at the Mornington Peninsula area, so on one of my days off, we drove down to Queenscliff and boarded the vehicular ferry to Sorrento. Fortunately for us it was a fine day. We were able to sit on the top deck for quite a while. Ferries left on the hour in daylight hours. If the weather was inclement, the inside passenger lounge was quite spacious with comfortable seats. A kiosk on board served snacks and sweets. Embarking, sailing and disembarking takes approximately 45 minutes.

[Our Falcon sedan aboard the Vehicular Ferry bound

for Sorrento on the Mornington Peninsular]

Sorrento is quite a trendy place; we drove around it for a while and then headed to Portsea. Portsea is famous for the rich people who live there. It is also famous as being the place where Prime Minister, Harold Holt died in the surf in 1967 on the wild, ocean, beach side of Portsea at Cheviot Beach. His body was never found and all sorts of theories were mooted at the time.

Taking our leave of Portsea and Sorrento, we drove up the Peninsula to Arthur's Seat State Park. The views from the Arthur's Seat area across Port Phillip Bay were excellent. A ski type chair lift operated from the lower level to the top. We elected to drive to the top with some great spots to stop and admire the views on the way. After a good browse through the craft shops we headed back down to the main drag for a late lunch at a KFC store. Lunch over; it was time to drive back to Sorrento to catch the ferry back to Queenscliff. We could have driven home via Melbourne, however, we would have run into early peak hour traffic and it would have taken much longer, time wise.

[Arthur's Seat - Mornington Peninsula VIC]

The ferry trip with a normal size car was $28.00 each way. Trucks and long rigs were extra. Foot passengers had a fairly cheap trip, as they did not take up space on the vehicle deck. We arrived back at Sorrento in good time and did not have to wait long for the ferry. The return trip was pleasant, sailing conditions were excellent; the weather continued fine and sunny. It was an enjoyable day's outing. At Queenscliff we disembarked and drove back to Bannockburn. We reflected on the fact that Victoria is a fascinating State, so compact and accessible.

Next day, I had another day off. The weather was fine and we decided to do some gardening. We had a big clean up in the yard and gardens, I cleaned up some huge weed patches along the back fence. Rachel concentrated on weeding in the garden beds. I also dug around the trees in both yards to get rid of the weeds and grass. The back yard was looking good! The front yard needed some more work.

The following week, we decided to drive up to Daylesford to look at the arts and craft shops, antique shops etc. We browsed along the main street, looked through shops, visited the Tourist Information Bureau; and then drove up the hill to Wombat Botanical Gardens. It has a look-out tower. The look-out tower has an internal circular staircase. The view from the top was quite good, but trees planted in the 1800's have since blocked some of the view.

From Daylesford, we took a drive to Hepburn Springs which is famous for its mineral waters. Spa country! We had a quick look around and then drove to the old mining town of Clunes. Clunes was like a snapshot from the past. The old buildings were mostly intact; so good in fact, that they shot scenes from the latest Ned Kelly film, starring Heath Ledger, in the town. Apparently they used one side of the main street as one town, and the other side as a different town. Clunes has a good Bakery/Cafe where we had lunch. I had a Beef and Mushroom pie with side salad and Rachel had a beef mince pie with side salad. The meal was simple and delicious.

Leaving Clunes we drove home via Ballarat. We approached Ballarat from a different direction and were amazed at the shops and services available in that part of the city. This was obviously the growth area of Ballarat. In Ballarat we drove past a Rays Camping & Outdoors store and stopped for a browse. I bought a spare 8 watts neon tube for our camping lantern. We also bought a pinewood and metal folding table, with two folding benches, for just $55.00. It was a bit rough in parts (for the rustic look), but solid. Because they folded up we could store them easily in the caravan, or the car. So, after a good day touring and some retail therapy, we returned to Bannockburn.

We scheduled another clean up day for the yard. We gave the front yard a final clean out and tidy up; then concentrated on finishing the back yard. All the green waste went into Brian's large compost area. The yard areas now looked neat and tidy. It was time for lunch. Rachel was enjoying a piece of chocolate, when she broke a front tooth! A quick phone call to the local Dental Clinic and an appointment was made for 3:00 pm. The result, we were $163.00 lighter in the pocket; and a follow up appointment was needed the next morning at 9:00 am. Another $179.00 disappeared from our coffers. Rachel was warned to be very wary of what she eats. Harder foods have to be cut into smaller pieces, or into slivers.

Monday, 14-Oct-2002 came around. I had arranged the day off for my job interview at Penshurst. The appointment was for 2:30 pm, we made sure we were at Penshurst in plenty of time. The interview seemed to go alright. I was given a brief tour of the hospital. A two bedroom flat was available for a moderate rent; with an area to store the caravan. I was feeling good about the day.

Next day, I also had the day off and somehow managed to come down with the flu. The following day, feeling lousy, I received a phone call from Penshurst, my application was not successful; that made me feel even lousier. I was sick on both off my days off. I rang John Robb House and reported in sick for the next day also. I was on my last week at John Robb House. My contract runs out on Thursday, 17-Oct-2002; although I had agreed to finish the fortnight's roster and leave on Sunday, 20-Oct-2002.

Saturday, 19-Oct-2002, I went back to work. I was still getting over the flu virus and found it hard going. Many of the residents were not happy about me leaving.

Sunday, 20-Oct-2002 came around; I worked a six hours shift and was given an afternoon tea send off by the nursing staff. Some of the older female residents began to cry and did not want me to leave them. It made the final going a bit awkward.

Five months of constant, demanding work was behind me. Only two of the residents could walk; the remainder were either bed bound, or needed assistance into wheelchairs or powered wheelchairs and powered scooters. Consequently, a lot of time was spent assisting those who were not bedbound with their toileting requirements and bathing.

Monday, 21-Oct-2002; I was a free man again! We turned our attention to Brian's shed and gave it a thorough clean. We also gave Cath's car a wash; it was grimy from being stored in the shed for several months. The shed was pretty clean at the end of the day.

Our house sitting contract was nearly finished. 'With no job at Penshurst, what will we do next?' I could go back on to the Nurse Casual Bank at Grace Mackellar Centre; that meant staying in the Geelong area. The other option was to move to another area and look for work. We decided to look at rental accommodation around Geelong. Thus, we began a round of the Real Estate Agents in the suburbs. We checked accommodation with various agents but found nothing really suitable in our price range. Barwon Caravan Park had long term sites for $65.00 pw + electricity. That could be a viable option as it was close to the Belmont shops.

Next day we looked at rentals in Highton, Belmont and Newtown areas. We were not impressed with the offerings. The only decent place was an unfurnished, one bedroom flat in Highton we had looked at previously. It was close to the shops and transport. We contacted the Real Estate agency and told them we would take it for a 6 months lease.

Thursday, 24-Oct-2002 we mowed the back lawn and tidied up the yard. We were curious, we had not heard from Brian and Cath as to when they would be home. Next day we drove into Geelong to look in the furniture stores. We were still considering our options. Upon our return we hitched up the caravan and moved it to the front of the house.

Saturday, 26-Oct-2002 I had to move the van on to the front lawn, because it had bird droppings and stains on the roof and rear from the tall trees in the front yard. After we cleaned up the mess we began to pack the van ready for travelling. The boot of the car was also packed to the hilt. The caravan tyres needed more air pressure in them. I got out my 12 volts air compressor and pumped them up to the required pressures.

Next day, we received a telephone call from Cath. They planned to be home on Wednesday, 30-Oct-2002 sometime in the afternoon.

Monday, 28-Oct-2002 we planned a big house clean today. Cath rang again; they now planned to be home on Tuesday and would move back into their house on Wednesday. So, our plan now was to move to a caravan park in Belmont on Tuesday, and drive back Wednesday and hand over the keys. We concentrated on cleaning the house, room by room. The house was fairly clean anyway; as Rachel had been cleaning up for the past week and packing our belongings.

Tuesday, 29-Oct-2002 we gave the house a final once over. It looked like a show home! When we were hitched up and ready to leave, we phoned Cath's daughter Julie; she was not home. We phoned Cath on her mobile phone. They were on their way home and were 10 minutes away at Lethbridge! We waited for them. Brian drove around the back with his rig. We handed over the keys, gave them our clothes dryer, chatted for about half an hour and then departed.

That was it! Our house sit was over!

We drove into Belmont and booked two nights' accommodation at the Riverview Caravan Park.

Wednesday, 30-Oct-2002; Jane from Elders Real Estate at Highton rang; the flat at Highton was only available on a 12 months lease, not 6 months. The landlady needed a 12 months lease. I did not want to spend another winter in Victoria; reluctantly we let it go. Rachel was very disappointed!

The car needs two new tyres. I had two new tyres and a wheel alignment done at K Mart at Belmont which cost $248.00. The front disc brake pads are still OK and didn't need replacing.

Thursday, 31-Oct-2002 it is my birthday today. We left Belmont to drive to Echuca/Moama via Ballarat and Bendigo. The day was cold with strong winds; so much so that we had problems with the caravan awning. We were near Lethbridge when a yellow Volvo sedan passed us; the driver signally frantically for us to pull over urgently. We did so! Half the awning had unrolled and was flapping wildly in the wind, on top of the caravan. It was difficult to undo and roll up again in the strong winds. Some tearing was evident in the vinyl and the mechanism was a bit stiff. What a way to start to my birthday!

Feeling a bit disconsolate, we drove on. We had lunch in Bendigo and then continued on to Echuca/Moama. We booked into Maidens Inn Holiday Park again, for one night. The van park was completely booked out from Friday to Wednesday. After setting up the caravan we inspected the awning carefully; some tears on the right hand side were noticeable. The damage was not as bad as we first thought. A section of the vinyl will need to be replaced.

Later, we went into Echuca for some food items and some magazines to read. Upon our return we walked over to the river bank. The water level of the Murray was a lot higher than two months ago. After the spring thaw in the Snowy Mountains, water had been released from one of the huge catchment dams. The result was quite noticeable.

We had a couple of options to pursue - we could head up into NSW, or head across country to the alpine regions of Beechworth and Bright. After some fruitful discussion, we finally decided to go to Beechworth - Ned Kelly country!

Friday, 1-Nov-2002 we left Echuca/Moama and drove to Beechworth via Kyabram to Moorooptna, Shepparton, Benalla and Wangaratta. We headed in a general, easterly direction across the top of the State of Victoria. We booked into Silver Creek Caravan Park at Silver Creek about three km outside Beechworth, for one night.

The weather was good; the temperature reached 31 degrees Celsius, with a beautiful, clear blue sky overhead. We set up the van and then headed into Beechworth. It is a nice town with well preserved buildings from the Gold rush era of the 1800's. The prison is still in use today. We found you could send a telegram from the old Telegraph Station to anywhere in Australia for $2.00. The courthouse where the bushranger Ned Kelly was tried is now a museum; but at $12.00 per person to get in, we gave it a miss. However, there is a group of buildings around the courthouse area that is well preserved. Beechworth was once the centre of governance for north east Victoria. The original hospital was once the only hospital between Melbourne and Goulburn in NSW.

Our hosts at the caravan park gave us complimentary coupons for free tea or coffee at the famous Beechworth Bakery. Guess where we had afternoon tea? We had a couple of cream donuts with fresh cream, absolutely delicious, followed by our free "bottomless" cups of coffee. It was a very enjoyable afternoon tea. We meandered along the footpaths, browsing in the many shops offering antiques and/or arts and crafts.

Silver Creek Caravan Park has a lovely quiet, peaceful ambience. We found ourselves unwinding in the peaceful surroundings. The van park is home to lots of bird life. The creek flows through the side of the van park, near the designated camping areas. A bush walking track across the creek wound its way into Beechworth. Warning signs made it very clear not to stray off the track - numerous old, abandoned gold diggings and mine shafts were in the area!

We took a drive along the road past the van park to Stanley and Mount Stanley. Stanley is a small village with a few buildings and a shop or two. We continued on up the road and came to a fork in the road. Bitumen gave way to gravel and all of a sudden we were on a logging track up the mountain. We did a quick "U" turn and drove back down the mountain to our caravan. The day continued hot with clear skies. The night was cold! As the sun set the temperature dropped rapidly. We needed our small fan heater to warm the caravan interior.

Saturday, 2-Nov-2002 we headed out of Beechworth for the short drive to Bright. We drove into Bright and looked at a caravan park, which looked very busy; then drove back to Porepunkah about 8kms from Bright. We booked two nights' accommodation at Porepunkah Mill Holiday Park; a nice van park, well looked after, and part of the Big 4 group. The Ovens River was just a one minute walk away at the rear of the park. We walked down to the river and saw a chap fishing for trout. The rivers in this part of the world are famous for trout fishing.

We spent a quiet day at the van park. There were a lot of families in the park for the long weekend. Melbourne Cup Day, always on a Tuesday, is a public holiday in Victoria. Many people take the Monday off and make it a long holiday weekend. Quite a few onsite caravans with solid annexes were scattered around the park. It seems many families have purchased these onsite caravans to use as holiday accommodation. They pay an annual fee to keep them on site. Children were in abundance and were having a great time. Tomorrow we plan to drive up Mt Buffalo and look at the ski areas.

Sunday, 3-Nov-2002 there was red rain overnight! The car and the caravan were covered in dust and mud. We heard the rain during the night, but this was something new! The rain had washed red dust from the drought areas out of the air on to everything below. The car was a real mess; it was parked under a tree, so it had detritus from the tree as well. I could not even see through the windscreen. Out came the hose, bucket and sponge; we could not use the car until it was cleaned up.

Mt Buffalo National Park was close to Porepunkah, so we headed off to it. Entry fee for a day was $9.00. The drive up was good, except we caught up with bicycle road racers on a race up to Mt Buffalo Chalet. The Tour of Bright road races was on! We passed rider after rider and then caught up with the main bunch. Those guys were extremely fit, averaging about 20kph on the steep slopes. We could not pass them for a long time as vehicles and other bike riders were coming down the mountain. The main bunch had a motor cycle escort in front, a car with a loudspeaker system directly behind them and a utility with spare bike parts as well.

Near the top the road gradient must have eased off a bit, suddenly these blokes were sprinting uphill averaging 30-40 kph! Not long after this burst of speed we were given the all clear to pass safely. The loudspeaker came on and warned the riders that they were being passed. After that we came upon a solitary rider, who slowed us down again. This chap was really powering on; he caught up to one of his team mates. They rode together momentarily, and then the chap who caught up gave his mate's bike a mighty push with his right hand. The other bloke seemed to gain another 10 kph and really powered up the mountain road. The other poor bloke seemed to have run out of puff and slowed noticeably. We think his mate won the race! We passed both of them a little while later up the road.

We continued on to the Mt Buffalo Chalet area. The Gorge Lookout car park opposite was choc a block full with cars, 4wd's and bike riders. We parked the car and walked to the Lookout, but could not see anything as a cloud rolled in just as we got there. We got back into the car and drove around to the ski areas. We saw two ski runs, Dingo Dell and Cresta Valley. Our return down the mountain was a complete contrast, we saw only two recreational bike riders on the way.

We decided to stay another night and booked accordingly. I then set about cleaning the red muck of the caravan. It was filthy! It was worse than the usual road grime. It took me all day to clean all the red dirt off. I slept well that night.

Monday, 4-Nov-2002 we woke to a sunny but cold morning and promptly decided to sleep in until 9:00 am. I was not able to get a good reception on my mobile phone. We went into Porepunkah to fill up the car with petrol. Mobile phone reception was better there. I rang Oxley Nursing Service; still no word from North Queensland about jobs. The storekeeper, where we obtained fuel, told me it had snowed on Mt Buffalo overnight.

We decide to drive to Mt Hotham for a look. Rachel saw snow for the first time in her life! It was snowing very lightly on the mountain. We saw the Mt Hotham Ski Resorts and chair lifts (which were not operational). The Great Alpine Road runs through the middle of the Ski Resorts - amazing! The views up there were truly breathtaking. Patches of snow could be seen on the mountain peaks around the area. Snow clouds were moving towards us and light flakes were falling on us. It was November and it was snowing! We took a few photos to remind us.

[Snow at Mt Hotham VIC - November 2002]

We headed back down the winding road to Bright. We stopped in Bright for some food supplies. A big Market Day was coming to a close. The centre of the town had been blocked off to road traffic and stalls were set up everywhere. Heavy rain showers had caused a premature closure for some of the stall holders whose merchandise had gotten wet. Most stall holders had some sort of awning set up over their merchandise and were OK.

I took the opportunity to ring Oxley Nursing Service as the reception was good. There was still no news - perhaps some definite news tomorrow. Rachel rang Elders Real Estate in Highton but the flat we were interested in had been let. Rachel was disappointed. I promised Rachel a house with a garden, somewhere soon.

We decided to head to Wangaratta tomorrow, pending news from Oxley Nursing Service. The night was settling in to be cold; after all there was snow up on the mountains! I promised Rachel that we would find a house to live in, in the months ahead.

Decision Time

Tuesday, 5-Nov-2002 we drove to Wangaratta; however I decided to keep going to Wagga Wagga in NSW. The countryside was very dry and desperately needed rain. We drove along the Hume Freeway to Albury on the NSW border; then headed North West through Culcain, along the Olympic Highway to Wagga Wagga. The highway was bitumen and quite bumpy in parts. We then made a decision to head for Forbes as it was still fairly early in the day. We drove in a north westerly direction, on a bumpy, bitumen road to Temora, then to Wyalong; where we joined the Newell Highway for the run up to Forbes. We bought some bacon and cheese rolls for lunch at Temora.

At Forbes, we booked in again at Lachlan View Caravan Park for two nights. The caravan gas bottle ran out of gas just as we were about to cook our evening meal. Fortunately, the camp BBQ area was nearby; it cost us 20cents for half an hour usage. Our lamb chops sure tasted good! It turned cold during both nights, although the days continued to be hot and dry.

Wednesday, 6-Nov-2002 we were able to fill our 9kg gas bottle for $24.00 at the caravan park. We spent the day cleaning the car and van, doing our laundry, and then we sorted out the caravan for hot weather conditions. A telephone call to our friends John and Denise brought an invitation to have dinner with them at their farm outside Forbes. We had a nice meal with them. We then inspected Andrew and Joanne's new house and were quite impressed with it. Joanne is expecting her first child later this month.

Thursday, 7-Nov-2002 we left Forbes about 8:30 am to go to either Goondiwindi on the NSW/QLD border, or Tamworth in the New England area of NSW. That's the beauty of travelling with your caravan; you choose whichever direction you want to travel, and your accommodation comes with you.

Coonabarabran will be the place to decide which town to head to. You can leave the Newell Highway at Coonabarabran and head east to Gunnedah then to Tamworth. As we drove through NSW, there was lots of smoke in the air from the numerous major bush fires in the State. We headed up north along the Newell Highway to Parkes, then to Dubbo and Gilgandra. At Gilgandra I received a telephone call from Oxley Nursing Service to inform me I could have a contract with Ayr Hospital at Ayr in North Queensland, commencing Monday, 18-Nov-2002. I needed to be in Brisbane on Monday, 11-Nov-2002 for an interview regarding the contract. Upon receipt of this news we decided to head straight up the Newell Highway to Goondiwindi.

We continued on to Coonabarabran, where a Police road block prevented us from using the Newell Highway to Narrabri. Bush fires were raging in the Pilliga Scrub and the Newell Highway was closed indefinitely. We had to detour through to Gunnedah and then back out through Boggabri to get to Narrabri, a 90km detour.

It was a long tiring day on the road; but definitely not boring! On two occasions we had to brake sharply. On the first occasion a semi-trailer was overtaking us; when an approaching car appeared suddenly. I braked heavily and pulled over to the left as far as I could. The approaching car did likewise and the semi managed to get through safely - a very close call! On the second occasion, a car pulled out on my left on to the highway with absolutely no regard for the speed of the approaching car and caravan on its right. Another bout of heavy braking! (In Australia you give way to vehicles on your right.)

The trip today was further delayed through road works and consequently frequent stoppages. It took 10.5 hours to travel approximately 760 km. We continued our drive to Narrabri, Moree and Goondiwindi and then booked into the Goondiwindi Tourist Park for one night. We left the car hitched to the caravan. Goondiwindi is on the Queensland side of the NSW/QLD border. The trip tomorrow would be a shorter trip as Brisbane is about 360 km from Goondiwindi.

Friday, 8-Nov-2002 we headed to Inglewood along the Cunningham Highway. We left about 8:30 am and stopped at Inglewood at a service station for petrol on an inside bowser aisle. The driveway was a bit squeezy on the exit, it curved to the left; so when it was time to go, I opted to reverse the caravan away from the bowsers. The manoeuvre was a bit tricky, but it was better than scraping the side of the caravan on a petrol bowser.

From Inglewood we continued along the Cunningham Highway to Warwick. In Warwick we noticed lots of new shops. The economy around the Warwick area must have been in good shape. Whilst we were in Warwick, Rachel made a telephone booking to Gateway Village at Rochedale. Ipswich was our next major city en route. We had a fairly good trip down Cunningham's Gap; and did not get caught up behind any slow moving trucks. Recent evidence of bush fires could be seen on both sides of the highway. The Toowoomba area had also had problems with bushfires. Traffic from the Toowoomba turnoff at Ipswich and all the way into Brisbane was quite heavy for off peak hours. We drove through heavier than normal traffic to Rochedale and set up the van for the four days stay.

The caravan was back where it started from!

The day continued hot. We rang Michael and arranged to see him after our evening meal. He was still at Uni and did not expect to be home until dark. We drove to Indooroopilly after dinner. Michael was home with his cousins Chris and Jamin. The boys had ordered themselves pizza for dinner. Three quite large pizzas arrived, which more than sufficed them. There was plenty of pizza left over. While we were there we picked up some of our camping equipment; the gas stove, stove stand and gas bottle. We reckoned we could use it outside, for cooking in warm weather. We said our goodbyes to Michael as we would not see him again over the weekend. He was off to a Christian Youth Leaders Camp.

Saturday, 9-Nov-2002 was another hot day. I gave the car a good wash. I then unpacked my computer and hooked it up. It booted up OK, so I set up a new program on it to track personal finances. Later, a telephone call from our niece Claudia saw us heading off to her place for dinner. Whilst there we caught up with another niece Janet, also Daniel, and Suzanne and baby Emily. Emily was nearly one year old now and quite a bright little button.

Sunday, 10-Nov-2002 we went to the Brisbane meeting to remember the Lord at the breaking of bread meeting. We stayed for lunch and the afternoon meetings as well.

Earlier that morning, I booted up my computer, but it kept coming up with an error on the CD ROM drive. The operating system would not come on. I tried again later in the afternoon and was still unsuccessful! It was time to look inside the computer! I undid the outer case to the CPU, pressed the plugs to and from the CD ROM drive firmly home and tried booting up again. Success! I screwed the outer case back into position and carried on with my update on my work resume.

We went to Sam and Italia's for dinner that night. We had an enjoyable meal with them and left about 9:00 pm. My appointment at Oxley Nursing Service was scheduled tomorrow morning.

Monday, 11-Nov-2002 I drove to the Eight Mile Plains Bus Station and caught a bus into the Brisbane CBD. I got out at the terminus under the Queen Street Mall and walked along Queen Street to the building Oxley Nursing Service was located in. My appointment with Sharon went well. The contract at Ayr Hospital would be at agency rates of pay, for a three months contract; however there was no accommodation for married couples at present at Ayr Hospital. I filled in the required paperwork and was given confirmation to start the assignment in Ayr Hospital on Monday, 18-Nov-2002. I then returned to the bus terminal and caught a bus back to Eight Mile Plains.

I decided to go to Macgregor and transfer my Victorian driver's license back to a Queensland license. I drove to the Queensland Transport office to put the transfer into effect. Whilst I was there they held a minutes silence at 11:00 am for "Armistice Day". With my 'new' Queensland driver's license, same license number as before, I drove back to Rochedale. The afternoon was spent getting ready for the drive north to Ayr.

Tuesday, 12-Nov-2002 we hitched up the van and left Gateway Village at 8:30 am. Traffic on the Gateway Motorway was much lighter than expected. We had a good run to the Toll gates and were pleasantly surprised to pay the same amount as a car at $2.20. We crossed the Brisbane River via the Gateway Bridge and later joined the Bruce Highway for the long haul north.

We bought petrol at Tiaro and had lunch in the park in the centre of town. We planned to spend the night at Benaraby; (where the Gladstone turnoff is situated). We had a lovely afternoon tea at Jimmy Macs Restaurant in Gin Gin. Two delicious cappuccinos and a shared slice of peach and mango cheesecake were very much appreciated. We stopped at Miriam Vale for petrol and then headed to Willowgrove Holiday Village at Benaraby, on the banks of the Boyne River. We booked overnight accommodation and stayed hitched up.

It was a short walk down to the river's edge. We could picture in our mind's eye, Cath and Brian relaxing at this place. Brian would head down to the river with his fishing gear to try his hand. It was a very pleasant spot. Day time was great! Night time - we had trouble sleeping! The heavy transport trucks rolled through Benaraby all night long. At one stage a huge convoy seemed to be moving north! The park was great, but the traffic noise would take some getting used to. Caravans and motor homes with air conditioning units probably would not have noticed the noise.

Wednesday, 13-Nov-2002, Mackay was our destination today. We left Benaraby about 9:00 am. We needed to stop at Marlborough for petrol; so we pulled off the Bruce Highway at the BP service station. The bowser aisles were full of vehicles. We could not drive straight in and waited at the edge of the driveway area. Our rig was blocking the way into the restaurant parking area. A white older model Toyota Camry sedan was in a suitable aisle for our car's refill. The other suitable aisle had a semi-trailer in it. The semi driver was obviously in the restaurant as he was not refuelling. The Camry driver finished refuelling and went to pay his bill. Good, we shouldn't have long to wait for that bowser. Out came the Camry driver and proceeded slowly to wash his windscreen and squeegee it dry. Then he did the same thing to his head lights. Meanwhile another car driver on the other side of his bowsers got tired of waiting and backed up behind the Camry and began refuelling!

Thankfully, the semi driver saw the situation and came and moved his truck. We were still blocking people trying to get to the restaurant parking. A white Holden Commodore sedan drove in behind us and tried to come around us to get to the restaurant parking. He was now in the aisle the truck had just vacated! Fortunately, he realised we were trying to get to the bowsers and backed up slightly. We swung around into the aisle vacated by the truck. All of a sudden the problems vanished! I began refuelling the Falcon. We were nearly finished refuelling when the Camry driver (who had also wiped his dashboard clean) drove off; blissfully unaware of the problems he had helped to create!

The run to Mackay was uneventful! We laughed and laughed about the bloke in the Camry who had been oblivious to the hold ups he was causing.

We booked into the Beach Tourist Park in Mackay for one night. A male staff member showed Rachel how to guide me to place the van in position. I had problems unhitching the van. The van rolled slightly forward after unhitching. Dopey Jon forgot to unhook the chains and started to drive forward. The jockey wheel dug into the soft, sandy soil. I had problems sorting it out. This shows why you must keep your mind on the job - tired or not! We set the van up and relaxed. Later we went for a walk along Far Beach in the cool of the late afternoon.

Thursday, 14-Nov-2002 we went for an early morning walk along Illawong Beach. Far beach and Illawong beach can be directly accessed from Beach Tourist Park via walkways over the sand dunes.

I drove into Mackay for petrol and tried unsuccessfully to get a replacement screw from the local Jayco dealer for the caravan door lock. We left the caravan park at 9:10 am and headed out to the Bruce Highway for the drive north to Proserpine, Bowen, Home Hill and Ayr. The day was hot, with very dry conditions; except where the sugar cane crops were irrigated. It was right at the end of the cane crushing season, so new cane plants were prolific in the cane paddocks.

We had morning tea at Proserpine at a Red Rooster store. We ordered a meal and made it our morning tea and lunch. We then drove on to Ayr; and refuelled at Ayr - our destination.

Destination North

Rachel was not happy with the accommodation options. We looked at several caravan parks at Home Hill and Ayr. We ended up booking two nights' accommodation, on a drive through site, at Silver Link Caravan Park at Ayr. It seemed to be a workers' van park with a tourist section and a back packers section, as well.

During the night we had problems with falling nuts on the roof from some kind of nut tree. Also squealing and squawking birds or flying foxes after mangoes on the mango trees. Rachel was ready to move on and not start the work contract!

Friday, 15-Nov-2002 was another very hot day. Rachel was still not happy. I decided to move to a long stay site. Rates were $80.00 pw for the first month + electricity; $70.00 pw for the second month + electricity; and $62.00 pw + electricity thereafter. One of the proprietors Keith guided us on to site 11, where we set up for a long stay. The caravan and car were grotty from travelling, and also the muck from the trees on the drive through site. Both were given a much needed clean up.

I contacted Ayr Hospital; the Director of Nursing was on a rostered day off. After two more telephone calls to the hospital, I was advised to commence work at 2:30 pm on Monday, 18- Nov-2002 and report to the General Ward for further instructions.

Rachel decided to contact local Real Estate agents for rental opportunities. Places with fairly cheap rates were available; however four weeks rent for bond + two weeks rent in advance were required. Our cash flow was restricted until my contract was under way.

Saturday, 16-Nov-2002 we looked at caravan parks in Home Hill and Alva Beach and were not impressed. Later we went shopping at both Woolworths' and Coles' supermarkets. The caravan fridge was struggling in the hot conditions. We thought maybe we had too much food in there. We decided we could use our portable car fridge. The problem was we needed to use the 12 volts transformer to charge the mobile phone as well.

Heavy rain fell in the evening and continued into the night. We had to move the outside furniture in close to the caravan wall. The concrete slab under the awning was very wet.

Sunday, 17-Nov-2002 was another very hot day. I got out my two silver coloured tarpaulins from the caravan boot. The long tarp was roped over the caravan awning to reflect heat away. The smaller tarp was roped to the front cross arm brace and pegged on an angle to the front of the concrete slab. This arrangement seemed to work well. I went to Supercheap Auto Parts and bought a triple socket adaptor to use on the 12 volts transformer. The car fridge was then cleaned up and switched on. The mobile phone could be charged at the same time the car fridge was on.

Rachel checked out prices on long term cabin weekly rates at the van park office. $120.00 for two weeks then $105.00 pw thereafter, electricity was as additional cost. The classier tourist cabins were $160.00 pw + $25.00 pw air-conditioning power fee! It rained heavily again in the early evening. The concrete slab was only wet down the end without a tarp. The smaller tarp at the front was doing a good job.

The weather in Ayr was hot and humid. It stayed that way for the duration of my work contract. Rachel had problems adjusting to the conditions. We commenced a round of checking the Real Estate agencies for short term, furnished rental properties. We also had a look over in Home Hill. Most of the offerings were not suitable. Many of the properties had not even been cleaned up. Some had layers of dust on everything. Meanwhile, we stayed in the caravan at Silver Link Park.

I commenced work at Ayr Hospital on Monday 18-Nov-2002. I was in for a bit of a shock when I was told the contract was only for seven weeks, not three months. As I was already in Ayr there was not a great deal I could do about it. This would make it very difficult to find a furnished place to rent on reasonable rates for such a short time.

Ayr was a good hospital to work in and the staff were friendly and helpful, from the Director of Nursing down through all levels of the organisation. I was back on normal nursing shifts again. It had been quite a while since I had done shift work. I found the late/early shift combinations hard to adjust to. I settled into a steady routine working for one fortnightly roster in the Aged Care Unit, and the remainder of my contract in the General Ward.

I was keen to get up to Innisfail and catch up with friends and relatives. I had a Sunday and Monday rostered off later in November. We made plans to take the car up on the Sunday for the day. We could stay all day and come back after the evening service at Wangan. Monday would be a rest day.

Sunday, 24-Nov-2002 we got up at 4:00 am to get ready for the trip to Innisfail. We left Ayr at 5:00 am. The trip along the Bruce Highway took us through Townsville, Ingham and Tully to Innisfail. We arrived in Innisfail at 9:00 am and drove into the CBD for a quick look. We wanted to check out the street landscaping; which had not been completed when we left last December. It was finished and it looked good! We then drove out to Wangan for the Sunday School/ Bible Study at 9:30 am. It turned out to be the last one for 2002. After morning tea we stayed for the breaking of bread meeting. Everyone was pleased to see us again.

We had packed our lunch and decided to stay at the hall to eat it. I had a nap for half an hour then we went visiting. We called in to see Arthur and Eunice at Wangan. Then we went in to Innisfail to see Rudy and Esther. Finally, we went back to Wangan to have dinner with Rachel's cousin Eva and her husband John. I was asked to take the evening service at Wangan, which I was happy to do. It was a long day. We set off from Wangan about 9:00 pm for the long drive back to Ayr. We arrived back in Ayr at 1:00 am feeling very tired.

Next day we had a second look at a furnished flat in Graham Street, Ayr. The landlord's partner happened to turn up at that time and seemed to be OK with us having the flat for the duration of my contract. She was related to the girl from the Real Estate agency, which also helped matters. The upshot of this was an informal arrangement directly with the landlord, bypassing the Real Estate agency. Normal bond and rent conditions applied, except no actual lease was signed. Rent was $125.00 per week for an air-conditioned two bedroom flat. Also, our caravan could be stored in the yard; an added bonus.

Wednesday, 27-Nov-2002 we picked up the keys and moved some bits and pieces into the flat. Rachel had organised for the electricity to be put on the day before. The flat had plenty of cupboard space. We also met our new landlord, John.

Next day we hitched up the caravan for the very short drive to the flat. I reversed the rig down in front of the garage area. The transfer of goods then commenced. It was another hot day; it did not take long to work up a sweat. We spent the day setting up the flat to our liking. As we now had a normal size fridge and freezer Rachel was able to do a large grocery shopping list. Rachel also appreciated the use of a good washing machine. The flat sure made a difference; especially the air conditioned bedroom.

My first wage from Oxley Nursing Service arrived; it did not seem to be enough money. I tried unsuccessfully to contact them. Their telephone was busy all day. I managed to contact them the next day. They had erroneously only paid me for four shifts instead of five. It would be adjusted on the next weekly pay.

On one of my rosters I had three days rostered off in a row. We decided to take the caravan for a run to Rollingstone, above Townsville. A new caravan park had recently opened; it was called Rollingstone Beach Caravan Resort. On Friday, 29-Nov-2002 we set off with the caravan and arrived after lunch. The resort had only been open for 10 weeks. I booked two nights on an ensuite site for $46.80. The ensuite was excellent.

We had glorious views of the ocean, with Great Palm Island in the distance. A good sea breeze was blowing to cool things down. The beach reminded us of the Coconuts near Innisfail; with lots of driftwood on the shore. It was so relaxing! I read a book and Rachel did crossword puzzles. In the late afternoon we went for a walk along the beach. Also in the late afternoon things got real busy when scores of campers arrived for the weekend. A tent city sprung up around the resort. The campers seemed to be mainly family groups. The large swimming pool sure got a good workout! The weather continued hot and humid.

Saturday was a nice relaxing day at the resort. The campers' added variety to the weekend, more families arrived to camp for the weekend. Rollingstone is fairly close to Townsville and is known to be a good fishing area. A lot of the campers were from Townsville and its surrounds.

Sunday morning we packed up, hitched up the caravan and drove back to Ayr. We had a scary moment leaving Townsville. I pulled on to the Bruce Highway in a gap in the traffic; and accelerated up the 80 kph speed limit. Two motor cycles came up quickly behind me. I left enough room for them to pass safely. I was now off the merging lane into the main lane when a green Toyota Corolla sedan flew past, just managed to squeeze through, and then nearly ran into one of the motor cycles who had just passed us! It could have been very nasty indeed! This was not a once off thing for the Corolla driver. We saw him carry out more stupid, dangerous passing manoeuvres further along the Highway.

November came and went; December continued hot and humid. I had settled into the working routine at Ayr hospital. I had two days off followed by an afternoon shift coming up. It was a good opportunity to spend a couple of days in a beach area.

Monday, 9-Dec-2002 we hitched up the van and drove down to Bowen. The trip took one hour and twenty minutes. We drove around the beach areas looking for a suitable caravan park. Coral Coast Caravan Park on Horseshoe Bay was our choice. We picked a site right near the ocean. To take advantage of the fabulous view; we were instructed to drive into the site so the caravan faced the view. We could then either back the car out across the concrete pad, or, find an unoccupied site and drive out and park in front of our site. We chose the latter option. Accommodation for two nights was $50.00.

In front of the caravan was a manicured lawn, with a concrete promenade on the edge of the Bay. Palm trees, picnic tables, wooden benches and two BBQ areas were set out for the enjoyment of the park's patrons. A moderate, cool sea breeze and a beautiful sunny day added to the relaxing atmosphere. This is the life!

[Coral Coast Caravan Park - Bowen QLD]

Tuesday, we slept in late then had breakfast, showers etc. It was time for a good look around Bowen. Bowen was the second official settlement in Queensland. We drove into town, to the jetty area at the harbour. We were intrigued by the jetty which had old rusty railway tracks running all the way along the jetty; which split into two separate jetties further out. The railway lines ran along both spurs, to the end of their respective jetties. Goods trains used to load and unload cargo right alongside the ships in port. Interesting to note, two ocean going Pilot boats (Tug boats) still operated from the right hand jetty. This was a very busy port until Abbot Point loading facility was opened. The left hand jetty is now mainly used by amateur fishermen, who fish off the wharf. A marina was located to the left of the jetty area, which was home to numerous power boats and smaller fishing vessels.

We later drove up to the lookout at Flagstaff Hill; with 360 degrees panoramic views of Bowen, its beaches, the ocean and the islands offshore. A recently opened restaurant catered for lunch and dinner patrons. The restaurant was situated to take full advantage of the tremendous views. We drove back into Bowen had a brief look at the boat marina and then headed back to the caravan park. We drove back on a different route and discovered a newish shopping complex only two minutes drive from our van park. We also did a quick Cook's tour of the beaches and coves around Bowen. There were some real gems, some beautiful small coves and beaches. It was well worth the drive to see them.

[Jetties at Bowen QLD with two Pilot boats at their moorings]

Wednesday morning about 8:00 am we packed up for the drive back to Ayr. As the caravan was front on in the site; it had to be reversed out. The manoeuvre went well; the road way was fairly wide in front of our site. I was scheduled to work a late shift, beginning at 2:30 pm. The weather remained hot and humid.

We bought a portable Teac CD player so we could listen to some of Andrew's CD's he had left with us. Our small black and white 12 volts DC decided to play up. It would not stay locked on to the TV channels. Time for a new TV set! Off to the electrical appliance shops to get the best deal. At Harvey Norman in Ayr we purchased a Celestial 34cm colour TV set for $198.00 with an extended warranty (5 years). We happily carried it one block home.

Michael rang with news that he had passed his exams; however Centrelink had not recommenced Family Allowance. We need to reapply. So, Rachel went into the Centrelink office in Ayr regarding recommencement of Michael's allowance. Another fruitless time! So many mixed messages! Does anyone in Centrelink know how to give clients the correct information?

Rachel came back to the car looking upset. A young man had walked all the way from Home Hill into Ayr, about 12 km, in the blazing hot sun to lodge his mother's benefit form. She was laid up in bed and unable to come in person. Centrelink staff refused to accept the form. He was told to either get a letter from his mother authorising him to lodge the form, or, mail them at Home Hill post office, with a covering letter explaining why she could not come in person! The poor fellow had to walk all the way back to Home Hill, not knowing whether his mother would have her benefit paid on the due date, or not. Naturally, he was very upset. As he left before Rachel came out of Centrelink, we could not find him to offer him a lift home.

I began to make enquiries about work further north. Atherton hospital and Innisfail hospital were not able to offer any contract work. I was referred to the Director of Nursing at Tully hospital. She could offer me four days per week, for as long as I liked. The upshot was I agreed to commence work at Tully Hospital on Monday, 13-Jan-2003. Rachel immediately booked us into Beachcomber Coconut Caravan Village at South Mission Beach; one of our favourite caravan parks. We will sort out what to do with accommodation later.

December continued hot and humid. We had a phone call from our friends Arthur and Eunice from Wangan. They were coming through Ayr on their way to visit family at Mackay. I just happened to be on a day off. They arrived about morning tea time and we had an enjoyable morning tea together. It was good to catch up with them. They did not stay long as they had another 245 km to go to reach their destination.

Christmas Eve 2002 arrived! It was very hot and humid. Ayr CBD was crammed with Christmas shoppers. It will be a hot Christmas. Christmas Day duly arrived; and the hot weather continued. Rachel and I had a quiet morning together. I had to work a late shift. I prepared a fruit platter to share with my work mates at the hospital. Michael rang from Brisbane. Joel and Andrew rang separately from Christchurch. I went to work after lunch.

Boxing Day 2002, I had to work an early shift. I woke up feeling like a Zombie! It turned out to be a busy shift. Eunice rang in the afternoon, they were returning from Mackay on Monday, 30-Dec-2002. We invited them for lunch, as they were only going as far as Townsville that day. I was scheduled for a day off that day. Friday and Saturday I worked another late/early combination of shifts. I was very tired after two late/early combinations in a row.

Next day, I was rostered off so we went for a drive around the surrounding areas. We headed inland to Clare, a small sugar cane town. We had a brief look around Clare, and then decided to have a look at the Burdekin Dam. When we ran out of bitumen road and a longish drive on a narrow winding gravel road loomed up, we called it quits and retraced our journey. Burdekin Dam could wait for another occasion. If we come in from the direction of Giru there is a bitumen road all the way to the dam.

We drove through Home Hill to Mt Inkerman lookout. We had driven past the lookout for many years on our trips from Innisfail to Brisbane. Now we had the time to stop and check it out. A gravel road leads up to the lookout. The views were well worth the short drive in from the Bruce Highway. Panoramic views to the ocean and back over the Home Hill area greeted our eyes. Grazing land and lush green cane fields merged into the blue of the ocean. Overhead was a clear blue sky. The sun shone brilliantly over the whole scene. It was a good day to be at the lookout.

We headed back to Home Hill and drove out to Groper Creek for a picnic lunch. Groper Creek is a tidal creek which flows out into the Coral Sea. The boating and fishing fraternity use it as a base. It has a good boat ramp, plus a jetty. A well grassed camping area lies adjacent to the boat ramp and jetty area; obviously, very popular around school holiday times. Groper Creek also boasts a small residential community, which is serviced by a general store. It was a nice spot to have a picnic lunch.

[Groper Creek near Home Hill QLD]

Monday, 30-Dec-2002 came around, Arthur and Eunice called in on their way back from Mackay. We had lunch together as arranged because I was on another day off today. Arthur and Eunice were able to stay for a few hours. They were heading to Townsville which is about an hour's drive north of Ayr.

The property management person from the Real Estate office made an appointment for 4:00 pm for a couple to look at our flat. Our landlord, John was anxious to have it rented again as the middle flat was currently vacant.

New Year's Eve 2002 arrived; I had an afternoon shift to work which finished at 11:00 pm. We quietly watched the New Year 2003 ushered in and then went to bed.

New Year's Day was hot and humid. I helped out our landlord John by mowing the lawns and trimming the hedges. John had been bitten by a dog whilst riding his bicycle; he fell off and injured his back and one leg. Consequently his mobility was limited; he was unable to push his lawn mower. I went to work later for another afternoon shift.

Our time at Ayr was fast running out! Saturday, 4-Jan-2003 was my last shift at Ayr hospital. Rachel began to clean up the flat and move items into the caravan. I had a day off on Sunday. We spent that day packing up and some final cleaning. We were hoping to move tomorrow morning. We estimated the trip to South Mission Beach would take between four and five hours, depending on traffic on the Bruce Highway.

South Mission Beach

Monday, 6-Jan-2003 we left Ayr at 10:05 am. We had no problems with the rig on the way to South Mission Beach. Our trip today would take us through Townsville, Ingham, Cardwell, Tully and then to South Mission Beach. We would follow the Bruce Highway up to Tully, and then turn off the highway to drive to South Mission Beach. We stopped at Ingham for lunch at a McDonald's restaurant. We tried out the new Billabong burgers; with two beef patties, tomato, cheese, lettuce, sauce and grilled onions on a damper roll. They were quite delicious.

We encountered rain from Townsville up to Tully; quite heavy at times. The day we leave Ayr it decides to rain again! We arrived at Beachcomber Coconut Caravan Park; looked around for a good site, then paid for one week's accommodation. I had problems backing on to this particular site. Another chap came over to assist. Then it began to rain - real heavy! We had to unhitch in the pouring rain. I could not get the caravan boot open. The lock had suddenly stiffened up. I needed the pipe extension from the caravan boot to lower the weight distribution bars and put the jockey wheel on. I struggled with the lock for about five minutes. Finally it turned; the boot lid was quickly raised, the pipe taken out, the weight distribution bars lowered and the jockey wheel clamped into position. My helper and I aligned the van into its final position; by now we were both soaked to the skin.

It was a wet welcome to South Mission Beach. It had not rained here for two months! I quickly unrolled the awning and we put the pop top up. The heavy shower eased up and petered out. I had to change into dry clothes as I was sopping wet. We then completed our setting up of the van.

Next day there were more heavy showers during the morning. Later we went to Mission Beach, picked up some rental lists and checked out some possible rentals. There was nothing really suitable at present. I organised an appointment at 2:30 pm, with Suzette the Director of Nursing at Tully Hospital. I drove into Tully for the appointment, took home the necessary paperwork to fill in, and was told to start work on Monday, 13-Jan-2003 on an orientation shift.

The next few days we kept busy looking at accommodation options in South Mission Beach and Innisfail. Grocery shopping in the Mission Beach area was fairly expensive; Tully or Innisfail were definitely cheaper places to shop.

Monday, 13-Jan-2003 was Orientation day for me at Tully Hospital.

We were back in the North after a very interesting time away!

###

[View from South Mission Beach to Dunk Island]

Epilogue

We stayed in the caravan at South Mission Beach for a few weeks, and then moved into a rented unit. We stored the caravan with Rachel's cousin, Eva at her home in Wangan. I worked at Tully Hospital eight days per fortnight, as per my fortnightly roster.

Meanwhile, Rachel began making arrangements to recommence with Johnstone Shire Council in Innisfail as a Family Day Carer. We were all set up for this, but, the Family Day Care Scheme was not able to provide us with children from the South Mission Beach area. The upshot of this was a move into Tully, into a rented house. Rachel commenced with Hinchinbrook Family Day Care Scheme.

The caravan was retrieved from Eva's house. We sometimes took the van away for weekends at nearby locations. Later, however the owner of the house decided to move into it herself. We found another suitable house in Tully and moved there. We stayed in Tully for about two years. We then decided to have another long holiday in the van. But, that is the subject of another story.

We had come full circle, back to the area we had left on Christmas Eve 2001. Our trip away had many highlights. We saw areas of Australia we had never seen before. We did not get to Western Australia or the Northern Territory; however, there will be another time and another journey.

[Jayco Eagle caravan at Tully QLD]

Australia! What a fascinating continent, a land of incredible natural beauty and variety. There are amazing places to discover. The recreational vehicle lifestyle; or the camping lifestyle is a great way to get out and about our wonderful country.

Do your sums, work out a budget. How long will you be away? How far will you travel? Do you need summer and winter clothes? Work out a weekly budget amount for the entire trip; based on accommodation, food, fuel and miscellaneous expenses. Try and stick to your budget, or you may find your costs blowing out.

Travelling longer distances each day than planned will exacerbate your fuel costs and you may overrun your budget. Keep a track of your actual expenses against budget, otherwise, you may find yourself curtailing your journey. You may run out of your holiday money early, or worse, end up in the red!

Hey! Give it a go if you can! Get out and enjoy this great land of ours!

About the Author

I am a retired male nurse, married with three sons, who have grown up and left home. I live with my wife at Innisfail in tropical North Queensland, Australia. The main agricultural crops of the region are sugar cane, bananas and paw paws (papaya). Innisfail is situated at the confluence of the Johnstone and South Johnstone rivers; adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef. The closest major city is Cairns about 88 km further north.

I am a committed Christian and I fellowship with like minded Christians at a Gospel Hall in Innisfail. I enjoy writing and reading my Bible and Christian books. I also enjoy reading other non-fiction books in my spare time, particularly biographies and autobiographies

You are invited to check out my other current ebooks.

'Port Robe' http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/208837

'Iron In His Soul' http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/217935

'The 1950's - A Time To Grow' http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/222328

I also blog on my two blogs:

Biblical Perspectives blog http://www.jon-peasey.blogspot.com

Words of Life blog http://www.jrpeasey.blogspot.com

Email: mailto:jon.peasey@gmail.com

Back to top

