Wagin Solos Rally

Hello Friends,  I am having a ball. I travelled across the Nullarbor with a fellow solo and met quite a few travellers. By the time I got to the solos' rally at Wagin, I had met about 20 others. The first timers (50 or more) went in two days early and got to know each other before the next 120+ arrived. We had a busy program of dancing, technology, games, dinners etc, finishing with a talent quest on Sunday night. Without skiting ( well, okay, with skiting) I wrote a couple of campfire type songs that the entire group joined in. Lots of the oldies said it was the best first timers item they had seen - hence the skiting! I also did a news broadcast with several roving reporters. I wrote all the scripts with a great deal of humour. It was easily the best item of the night (skiting again). Oh, and our table won the quiz night as well!

I am currently in a convoy of about 20 solos going from Wagin to Albany, taking 5 days to get there. One of the WA women organised our accommodation and gave suggestions for side trips during the day. We meet up at night for campfires etc. Some travel together, some meet up at various places and others go straight to the accommodation and have a lazy day. Tomorrow I am sleeping in, driving straight to Walpole where we are free camping at the pub, and just lazing around. Friday we are due at Albany for 8 days.

After Albany, I will travel for about a month and then head home, hoping to be back in Brisbane by about 5th December.

Shannon and Margaret O'R

May, David, Jolanta, Monica

May, Russell, Jolanta, Monica

Cathy, Johanna, Lyn, David

Shannon, Jane, Angry, Carmel (hiding Russell), Margaret, Johanna, Cathy, Lyn, David, May

Margaret & Cathy (Johanna behind)

Lyn, David, May, Russell, Jolanta

Brian being interviewed by Monica

Ros being interviewed by Monica

Ros and her poem

Watching the talent

The two songs we sang were to the tunes of The Gypsy Rover and Rock My Soul.

 The Gypsy Rover

                                                

We’re friendly folk and we love to greet

Friends old and new that we me-ee-et                                                          

We spend some time and we’re on our way

Travelling the nation’s hi-i-igh-ways. Chorus                                             So give us freedom and wave us goodbye                                     Don’t ask when, where or wh-y                                         We pity those who will never know                           The joy of travelling so-o-o-lo.

                    

                                   

As you see, we’re a motley crew                          

Ex-cepting me and yo-ou                                                      

We travel a-lone but we’ll share your load                                            

Be-cause we’re mates on the  ro - o- ad

Chorus

                                           

It’s not about family or work or home                                   

It’s all about where we ro- oam.                                                            

It’s where we’re going and where we’ve been                            

And every-where in betw-e- een.

Chorus

Repeat chorus

Rock my soul in the bosom of Abraham

We’re saying goodbye to this rally for solos

We’re saying goodbye to this rally for solos

We’re saying goodbye to this rally for solos

We’re having a ball, oh Lordy!

Chorus

Chorus

Solos, camped to the left of us

Solos, camped to the right of us

Solos, camped all around us.

We’re having a ball, oh Lordy

Let’s give a hand to the organisers

Let’s give a hand to the organisers

Let’s give a hand to the organisers

We’re having a ball, oh Lordy!

Chorus

                  

Let’s say thanks to the volunteers

Let’s say thanks to the volunteers

Let’s say thanks to the volunteers

We’re having a ball, oh Lordy!               

Chorus

Raise your hand if you’re going to Albany

Raise your hand if you’re going to Albany

Raise your hand if you’re going to Albany

We’re having a ball, oh Lordy!

Chorus

We’ll see you all next year at Forbes

We’ll see you all next year at Forbes

We’ll see you all next year at Forbes

We’re having a ball, oh Lordy!     

Chorus

Repeat Chorus 
(We could have gone on forever but decided we should give others a go.)

                                                          

Tin Horse Highway

I spent the last couple of nights in Kulin. The town offers 72 hours free RV parking, with toilets and showers. Over the three days I was there, I met another 6 going to the Solos rally and probably a dozen couple heading for Albany at the end of the month. The camping area has a tin for depositing receipts. It gives the town businesses an idea of how much free campers spend in these small towns. Those I spoke to had spent anywhere from $50 to well over $300. It is easy to do. Just to fill the van costs me up to $100, depending on the local prices. Add a couple of meals at the cafe and a few drinks at the pub, and there is not much change from $200 - and that is without grocery shopping.

Having the NRL grand final on Sunday meant a long evening at the pub for dozens of eastern state football supporters.Just in case I forget, the Cowboys tied with the Broncos in the last minute of play and then went on to win by one point with a field goal by Thurston in extra time. This was the first all-Queensland grand final and was a cliff hanger to the end.

The big fund raiser in Kulin is the annual Bush Races over three days. I arrived on the last day and didn't go to the races. A few years ago a local lady made a tin and hessian horse to advertise the Race Day and mark the turnoff to the field. This became an annual challenge with hundreds of tin horses made over the years. Some have been there for years. Others are proudly replaced in time for the event. I drove the Tin Horse Highway three times and know that there were still some that I missed. I took far more photos than I needed to but couldn't resist just one more.

kulin.wa.gov.au/main/tourism/tin-horse-highway

Mainly Photos

The wild flower season i over but there is still plenty of colour

 

The causes of death - with so many dying of thirst!

 

These salt lakes are fascinating. A photo can't do
them justice - I should stop trying

The little town of Hyden is the closest to Wave Rock.
It has an imaginative way of portraying the town's history

Wave Rock - an amazing formation

My Hitchhiker

I had forgotten how persistent the flies are in this part of the world. Big buzzy ones aren’t too bad. You can see them and hear them and ultimately swat them. The Bush Flies are the worst. They swarm all over you, squeeze in through a crack in the screen and fill the car the minute you open a door. However, with windows down and the air conditioner on full blast, they will blow away as you drive off.

Sometimes, though, you get one who defies the norm. Let me tell you about my hitchhiker. This little fellow started in my life as just a nuisance, as I pulled out of my parking spot. I thought he was on the inside of the screen until I flicked him with a towel. (Notice I say ‘he’ – as I am sure that no female of a species would hang around for so long knowing that she is unwelcome.) Not only did he not fly away, he waved one little leg at me. With his suckers in full sucking mode, his other little feet hung on grimly to the outside of the windscreen. I tapped the screen where he clung, I directed cold air onto him, and I swerved back and forth across the quiet country road. I swear he fixed his beady little eyes on me and grinned with utmost evil. For a few kilometres I was totally distracted from the road and focused on the hitchhiker.

I don’t back down from a contest easily. I thrive on competition. I could have outlasted him. I could have outwitted him. I just couldn’t let him make me a traffic hazard if anyone else came up this road. That is why I did what I did, the only reason! I flicked on the windscreen wipers and sent him flying into oblivion. This may sound like self-justification or a petty power struggle. It wasn’t. I was thinking only of other innocent road users. Besides, isn’t hitchhiking illegal?