Life is Full of Unanswered Questions

I can understand why the early Dutch explorers just sailed by. If they could survive the treacherous coastline, they would have considered the land totally useless. The only things that seems to grow are rocky outcrops. Stretching into the distance in all directions are rocky hills, boulders and stones. What I don't understand is the need to have the paddocks fenced. Usually the fences are rather ricketty structures topped with barbed wire. Is this to stop the small rocks (aka stones) from getting out onto the road and getting gravelled?

I can understand that caravan park owners have to make a living. I can understand that the season is relatively short. What I don't understand is why they make it so expensive that campers often can't afford to stay there. I am sure that if rates were slightly lower, there would be a higher income from people staying longer or even staying in preference to national parks. Here in SA an overnight in a NP costs $9 entry and another $ 5 - 9 per person (depending on how old you are) per night. To then go into town and find a shower may be another $2 or $3 plus the fuel to get there. The twenty dollars I paid in Elliston was money very well spent, where they gave me a solo's rate. When rates are more than $30 I have to think twice about staying. And why do most of them charge me the same in my very small camper (and only one person) as two people in a huge rig often with trailers and other attachments?

I can understand that people who live locally have to go about their daily business. I know they have places to go and things to do while I wander around playing tourist. What gets to me is the total intolerance some drivers have for someone who is obviously lost and obviously a visitor with interstate license plates. Many of these men (and I am being deliberate in my choice of words) would admit that the tourist dollar helps keep the economy afloat in a lot of isolated townships. If pushed, they would probably also admit that one rude driver more than balances out the goodwill generated by ten welcoming locals. What I don't understand is how they think that a long loud blast of the horn, with or without the accompanying hand gestures, helps either driver.

I can understand that councils set time limits on parking near shops and in city centres. It means that drivers move on and free up parking spaces, so that more people can spend their money. What I don't understand is why there would be a 4 hour limit on the foreshore in Port Lincoln when parking is regulated from 8.30am to 1pm. Why would you be expected to move your car for half an hour?

.A bronze sculpture of Makybe Diva has pride of place in the grassed area along the waterfront. Her owners lived here but she never visited. I can understand, though, that the people of Port Lincoln have claimed her as their own. The process of making the sculpture was interesting. A base was made of timber, it was covered and shaped with plasticine and then bronzed. What I don't understand is where they would have been able to get 5000 kg of plasticine. Every school in Australia must have been having to make their own play dough for years.

In a caravan park, there is a hierarchy of visitors and I can understand that. Those contributing most to the park owners are those who stay in self-contained cabins at about $150 or more a night. They provide work for cleaners and laundry workers but, as cabins cater for 6-8 people, they are self sufficient and don't mix with the regular campers. Then there are the owners of caravans and motorhomes who use the powered sites and generally have an amenities block close by, which they use in preference to their own facilities which have to be topped up, emptied etc. They pay around $30 - 40 depending on the quality of the park. Spread around the outskirts of the park are those who use unpowered sites, those in tents, cars and people like me who don't bother with power. However, we also pay well for the privilege, usually between $20 and $30 a night. The most important thing for us is the ability to use the showers and toilets. What I don't understand is why a caravan park like the one I am in now puts the amenities right up among the self-contained cabins for those people who don't need to use the amenities. From my camp site, the walk is at least 200m and that is a long way uphill, past the cabins, in the dark with your legs crossed. (Fortunately the smaller parks are more accessible.)

I understand how simple life is with a GPS system. Some are easier than others to follow. Unfortunately GPS Jane died a lingering death along the way. She has been replaced by Kerry who has very odd intonations. I was so pleased to get off juBILLee highWAY west that it was worth getting lost to try to clear my mind of her directions. What I can't understand is how people get out of a town without a GPS. It is easy to get in as you often directions for hundreds of kilometres. Once you get into a town, or worse a city, there are no signs until you get on the road out. It is possible (not that I do it!) to drive along every likely road before finding the first sign to where you want to go, often 5 or 6km out of town. I have a system. Just like a search and rescue team, I work a grid of ever-widening blocks till I hit the edge of town. You can be lost for a long time. Thanks Kerry, for small mercies. At least you get me on the right road, even if you drive me crazy along the way