Nature Arrgh!

I knew it was too good to last. Last night I stopped at a campground in a National Park - Woody Head near Iluka. I tried to do the right thing and appreciate the natural environment. I walked on the beach, well down to the beach! Really, I would have walked on the beach but the tide was in for a very long time! Then I found a shady table and sat there, having no trouble with the birds and the scrub turkeys and the kangaroos in the background but when a couple of furry grubs landed on my arm, I went back to the van and sat quietly at my own table and chair and did some knitting. Nature is so much better in the abstract!

I don't think I've ever seen or heard so many kookaburras all together at the same time. I can understand how the early explorers thought they were being mocked. I'm sure they laughed at me every time something fell from a tree onto the van. In fact, I wouldn't discount them pelting me with seeds and sticks just for the fun of it.

During the night I had the moon roof open. What a brilliant sky! I even got out my iPad at about midnight to use Sky Walk and identify some of the stars. The next time I opened my eyes it was drizzling with rain and I had put my little annex (back door privacy screen) up. By the time I got it down, it was damp so it is rolled up in the back until I can get a good clear day to get it dry.

There aren't many good things about getting old but I found one! National Parks NSW give free membership and day entry to all parks just for registering a government pension card. I saved $7 just last night. Just one problem, they have to post the card to the address on my concession card to ensure it goes to the right person. Maybe I will have it in time to drive back through NSW if I can find an address to have it redirected to.

Tonight I am staying with Tracie and Darryl and their young adult kids Jaz and Gy. I've been told that the first rule of camping is, Never turn down a good bed and a hot shower. Far be it from me to break the rules, especially the very first one. I worked with Tracie at Humpybong, including team teaching for two years. I have brought several photos from that time which I will leave with her.  Tracie and I talked non-stop for about 6 hours. We went through some old school photos and reminisced about our teaching together. We spent ages identifying former colleagues and relating events which have stuck in our minds. I had a pile of snaps and we had fun recreating the events and working through some of the kids where one of us knew their histories. It doesn't seem possible that this all happened twenty years ago. We were thoroughly compatible as teachers, and as friends it has been wonderful just to sit and take ourselves back to those days. She is still teaching as she was newly graduated as a teacher when we shared classes. We will have to be more regularly in contact from now on.