I think I could live here

Armidale is a beautiful city. Three days is not enough to soak it up. I stayed at the show ground with plenty of space and good hot showers. To orient myself I went on the free heritage tour bus. It was a bargain, even at twice the price! People were very generous with their donations, and rightly so. It is a great service for visitors. With its lovely cool weather and four distinct seasons it reminded me a lot of Ireland. Even the rain was generally a light Scotch Mist that barely warranted an umbrella.


 


We toured historic Armidale with beautifully preserved and carefully renovated homes in the older part of the city. And it is a city, because of the cathedrals. Both the Catholic and Anglican churches  have a Bishop here.  So even if the buildings were small and insignificant, they would still be classed as cathedrals. They are neither small nor insignificant, built from the local blue brick.

As well as these cathedrals, there are other impressive churches, schools and city buildings. The university, UNE, is an important part of the city and the large number of international students has probably helped provide the wide range of ethnic restaurants dotted around the city. The Main Street is an eclectic mix of old and new or new and modern on the ground floor under period facades.

Driving east out of the city today, I followed the Waterfall Way. The recent rain and the current occasional downpour meant that the waterfalls were flowing. Unfortunately most were obscured by cloud, mist or heavy rain. It was almost impossible to get decent photos but that didn't detract from the beauty. In fact, there was an eerie atmosphere with the sound of the waterfall muffled by rain and the falls only glimpsed through the drifting cloud. Spectacular!

As usual, the people I met along the way contributed to the enjoyment. On the bus tour I met Lynne from Brighton and Carol from Bracken Ridge who just happen to be Red Hatters. We will connect again when we are all back in Brisbane. Last night I kept to myself, arriving after a late dinner when everyone seemed to be settled.  The Show is on next week and most of my neighbours were Showies getting ready to set up. They were interesting to talk to but most were busy getting domestic duties out of the way before the Show started.

Tonight has provided an interesting mix of travellers. I had planned to camp closer to Dorrigo but the recommended camp ground was very wet and soggy. I drove around the area and decided that it wasn't worth the risk of getting bogged so continued to Bellingen sports ground. Bill from Cairns was first to arrive with his dog Shadow. Next five German girls in a van and a car came and set up in the shed to play cards. Three friends travelling together have come across from New Zealand, two are Czech and one Japanese. Since then a young woman has pulled up in a car. She hasn't socialised and appeared to go straight to sleep. There may be another car up further but I will never know. Usually by the time I surface in the morning, everyone else has left,

We are fairly close to the road but the grounds are pretty dark and the road is not busy and will get even quieter over the next couple of hours. I will try to be like my neighbours. I will batten down and try to sleep.

Paddington Bear

The very adventurous Paddington Bear wore a label, Please look after this bear. Although I am not looking for a protector, when I leave on a trip I feel  a bit like a storybook character setting out on an adventure.  I am well labelled. I have my Silver Gypsy sign on the back window. I often have to tell people that I am the silver gypsy, not the motorhome. Her name is Angel.

As well, I have my CMCA membership sticker so that my fellow Campervan and Motorhome members recognise me. Recently I signed up to the Solos' Network. I love their logo which made total sense when I discovered that all the Solo chapters have bird names. This gives them a profile among other CMCA chapters.


 On Friday I finally got out of the driveway at about 9.30.  I had dozens of fiddly bits to do before I left, including another 2 hours trying to get an internet dongle working. It must have been well after 2pm before I got on to the motorway. My only objective was to get out of Queensland, not because I don't love my home state but because I wouldn't feel as though I was on my way if I was too close to home.

I spent the first night at Yelgun roadside camp, a very popular spot. My immediate neighbours were a couple from Austria who had flown into Cairns and bought a. campervan. They had four weeks in Australia, leaving Sydney in less than a week. On the other side of me was a woman from the Sunshine Coast, probably my age but, unlike me, fit and energetic. However, like me, she had no fixed destination and was making decisions on a day by day basis.

Day two was spent in Ballina, just poking around and exploring the area. I finished the day at New Italy. I spent some time (and money) in the museum and the glass maker's gallery and enjoyed a coffee and cake in the cafe. Once again, this was a popular camping area, free of charge, with toilets available and the cafe open for morning coffee. I hauled out my camp chair and joined my neighbours  Lorraine and Cec who were on the last leg of their trip and heading for home. I got a few good ideas for camping spots and had a valuable lesson on Wikicamps.

Next stop was with my friends Tracie and Darryl.Tracie and I taught together at Humpybong way back in the eighties. She was a newly graduated teacher and I was already long in the tooth but we worked brilliantly as a team. We've spent time reminiscing. I think those couple of years were career highlights for both of us.

Rosu Purporio

 My Red Hat Society friend Lynne gave me a companion for my travels. It is a little purple dog in Red Hat regalia. I thought it appropriate to give her a gypsy name as she is travelling with the Silver Gypsy.  Drawing on fairy tale names like Rose Red and Snow White, I have given her the name Rose Purple or Red Purple. In Romanian that is Rosu Purporio, pronounced Rozoo.  So Rosu is ready to leave.

I am also ready but my Angel is still feeling a bit battered and bruised from the hail storm.  The damage to the roof and lining can’t be fixed until materials arrive at the end of the month. I’ve decided to risk heavy rain and go away for a couple of weeks anyhow. The repairer has bogged up the part of the roof which he thinks has leaked so hopefully I won’t drown as I drive around.

The time spent waiting for quotes and repair dates hasn’t been wasted. I have had a reversing camera and mirror fitted. My drive home was an interesting experience as the mirror had been set in reverse. When I checked in the mirror, I’d see a car on the left hand side, then it would zoom past on the right. This was very disorienting. I took it back for the 30 second adjustment that was needed.

I’ve also had some drawers made. There is plenty of room under the double bed but it is only accessible from the outside which involves getting out and walking to the back of the van. This would not be much fun in the dark or the rain or a lonely spot. I’ve had two banks of drawers made and have had the fun today of beginning to fill them. Of course, I immediately discovered that the tubs of clothes, food, utensils and stationery, games and books are more than enough to fill them so the second part of the day was spent taking stuff out again.

A drawer under single bed pulls out into doorway

A bank of drawers behind driver's seat

Drawers under bed, solar screens on doors,
single bed widened and lengthened.

 While I was busy spending money, I had solar screens made for the front windscreen and windows and the rear barn door windows. These are heavy duty insulating panels, made to measure with strong suction pads to hold them in place. I am hoping that this will give me a lovely dark sleeping area so I don’t get that horrible feeling I should get up early and start moving just because the sun is up. Besides, I've just had a custom built inner-spring mattress made. Getting up too early wouldn't help me get my money's worth. I have enough Scottish background to make sure I get good value.

 

Toe Tapping

No, I am not dancing for joy! I am tapping my toes in frustration. I had every intention of being on the road this weekend but the universe has conspired against me.

My main problem has been the huge hailstorm a few weeks ago. I have a moonscape of hailstone dints across the bonnet, smashed indicators and a chipped windscreen. This has all be assessed by RACQ insurance and is scheduled for repair in a few months. (With so many houses and vehicles damaged, it took four weeks just to get an appointment for damage to be checked. Repair time can be months so I booked for the June school holidays, when I can be home again.)

According to the assessors, there was no damage to the roof. Guess what! For the long weekend, I took Angel down to the Gold Coast for my daughter and family to camp. It rained! It rained all day and all night! Rain came in around the air conditioner and soaked the bench seat, the foam double mattress, towels and everything else that could be drenched. Then the water ran under the roof lining, just to make the view upwards as interesting as the view downwards.

This meant another trip to the insurance people, who sent me to a caravan repair business. They found a lot of damage to the roof and to the silicon seals around everything, as well as the linings that will have to be ordered. They are waiting to have their quote accepted but have promised to bump me up the queue to prevent any more damage and to allow me to hit the road.

Still, I am an optimist by nature. Just after Christmas I found a handyman / tradie who thought my plans to put extra drawer space in the living area was not only possible but he was able to quote on it immediately and do the work as soon as he could order his materials. I could not believe my good fortune. I didn't even get another quote as I accepted the miracle at face value. Would you believe that suppliers have not yet been able to deliver the fittings! However, now the work that was going to be completed is scheduled for next week. Being an optimist, I believe that will happen.

Am I sounding negative and frustrated? Don't think that for a moment. I have solar panels adapted to plug directly into the van without having to clamp them onto the batteries. My son Andrew's mate Tim did this for me - and at mate's rates. What more can you ask? I have crates of goods and chattels all ready to be loaded into the wonderful drawers which will be ready next week. I have even packed the existing cupboards with a variety of items. Angel and I are ready to fly as soon as we can spread our wings.

There is nothing like a deadline to focus attention on important things. During the past couple of weeks I have caught up with friends, supposedly to say goodbye, but in reality to show off my motorhome and induce a little bit of envy in my housebound friends. I have signed off on club meetings. Although I am keeping my club executive roles with Toastmasters because most of the work can be done online, I have put in apologies for non attendance. Now I have to decide whether to swallow my pride and turn up for meetings or stay at home and sulk. I am still in two minds about that. At the rate I am going, I may even be here for the Red Hatters lunch in a fortnight and (no, please, no) the SeeChange meeting at the end of the month. Because I was going to be gone, I have done a pre-poll vote for the State Election tomorrow and will definitely still be here when the results are announced, for what that is worth!

Isn't life wonderful!

A Clayton's Camp

There was an ad on TV a few years ago for Clayton's - the drink you have when you're not having a drink. This week I took the  boys on a Clayton's camp - the camp you have when you're not having a camp.

Timothy has been down from Mackay for about a fortnight and I thought he should have an overnight in the van while he was here. I couldn't leave Cory and Hudson so I took all three of them for an exciting evening at Pelican Park at Clontarf, a good fifteen minutes from home. We had intended to set off mid afternoon but I discovered that Krista had cooked chicken and roast veges. A crispy-skinned roast potato is one of the foods which can change my plans in an instant. We had dinner before we left and arrived on the Redcliffe Peninsula in the cool of the early evening.

I learned a lot from taking Cory, Hudson and Cooper to Goombungee. Even though Tim is older (11) and I wasn't expecting too much nonsense, I knew that attempting to settle the boys too early was not a good idea. Pelican Park is not really a camping area. There is a very busy boat ramp and large parking bays which now seem to be overnight spots for up to a dozen travellers. With the Information Centre, boat ramp, picnic area and children's playground, there have to be good facilities so we did what good campers do and used the toilets, showers, and barbecue as though we weren't a mere 15km from home.

We had a bit of a wander around, checking on the tide (going out), the boats (a couple of tinnies tied up), and making sure that our van was a reasonable distance from others.. But I couldn't put bedtime off forever. After the Goombungee weekend, I had decided that three people could be comfortable and four was a squeeze. So, with four of us, I was prepared for yet another squeeze. What I wasn't prepared for was a night of musical beds. Tim stayed on the floor but moved his head from one end of the mattress to the other a few times. Hudson started in the double bed but complained that he was hot. Cory was happy to swap with him as he had decided that his bed was too narrow. Cory and I experimented with making the double bed work. We tried both heads at the same end and then top to tail. We slept across the width of the van and then tried sideways on the bed, which suited him but left me with either head or feet overflowing onto the bench.

However, eventually we all slept - and got up early, for cereal in the barbecue area and a half hour in the playground. By then we had reached 6.30am, far to early to go home. You can't call it even a Clayton's camp if it is less that twelve hours. For more than forty years, our kids have gone to the Cotton Tree Forest at Scarborough, also known as the climbing trees. That's where we went next, knowing that they could fill in quite a bit of time. Of course, this was followed by a visit to the Shields Street cafe and my first coffee of the day, before arriving home at about 11.30.

Each time I go out in the van, I find something else that I would like to change. I will definitely have to do something about the single bed as the boys are all growing tall and need a full length bed. I have bought a folding solar panel and will find out a bit more about it soon. I am not in a hurry to do anything as I plan to spend a few weeks travelling by myself before I make any modifications. But in the meantime I am slowly preparing for the next big adventure.

Introducing Angel

I am ready to travel again. I am so excited to finally have a motorhome. I have been looking for most of the year. After checking all sorts and all sizes of vehicle, I decided that the Mercedes Sprinter was definitely what I wanted but everything I could afford had huge mileage, Then, by a stroke of luck I checked Search Queensland instead of Search Brisbane and there, at Trinity Bay,was exactly what I wanted. By a further stroke of fortune, my son Greg was going to Cairns on business. He checked it out, recommended it and voila! I had a motorhome.

Truly, I landed on my feet - or on my wheels! The van was previously an ambulance and had been done up by Paul and Belinda. They couldn't do enough to make life easy for me, taking it to Cairns for Greg to check, taking it again for a RACQ master check, fixing the one thing that needed attention and then, very kindly, replacing tyres even though they were legal. I'm sure they realised that I would love the van and travel with joy, which I certainly plan to do.

My brother in law John flew to Cairns and drove it back over a few days, stopping with relatives in Mackay, Rockhampton and Tinana. Angel had been checked out by lots of family before she arrived in my driveway. Until I go away at the end of January, the van is there to be used. I had the long weekend (G20 in Brisbane) visiting my sister Cecily in Goombungee on the Darling Downs where the weather is generally very mild. The temperature reached 41c. Praise the lord for good air conditioning! This weekend Greg and Nikki have taken Cooper and Mia to the Gold Coast, in rain and storms - but nothing like the golf-ball sized hailstones which battered the poor van last week.

When the little boys first saw the van, they noticed the shadow of the paramedic logo and asked, 'Why are there angel wings on the windows?' Deciding that the protection of angel wings would be the most reassuring way to go, I have christened her Angel so I will be travelling with an Angel. Actually, I will have two angels as my GPS Kerry has been my guardian angel in former travels - what could be safer. (And if the worst were to happen, I'd have two angels to take me straight to heaven. Not that I am planning for that but I believe that when your time is up, the best way to go is when you are doing something you love.)

My Angel.
In a certain light you can see the angel wings on the windows -
 and also the word Ambulance with the 000 emergency number.

All the comforts of home, sink fridge, microwave,
double bed at the back, single bed on the side,
seats for 4, as well as porta potti and shower.
The colour scheme will eventually be shades of blue.

Looking in the back, bed and extra mattress,
 single bed partly underneath, storage in the rear
and the hot water tank.

My three Brisbane grandsons (Cooper, Hudson and Cory) the day Angel arrived.

First trip away, a weekend in downtown Goombungee
Cooper asleep on double bed, Cory on the single,
Hudson on the mattress on the floor;

Saving for the next big trip

The next trip may be quite a way off but I would like to be ready to roll when the time comes. This school term I think I will offer some literacy coaching at Cory's school. His class seems to be very slow moving the kids along. As he is the best in his class, that should give me some credibility. I was going to volunteer in his class as well - but volunteering doesn't pay very well! Just at the moment, though, I am not keen on an early start to get to the school so I will wait till Winter is over. I am also hoping to offer some professional development for teachers at the beginning of next year. There are at least 10 schools within a ten-minute drive of home. I will draw up an outline and get it out soon. That pays well and is over in a few hours and it adds up if I do a few sessions. Just recently I signed up with eLance which is an online business site. I have just completed my first job, taking three weeks to do. To get established, it is necessary to bid low for tasks. I was not quick and I am sure that I was paid about $3 an hour max so I have to get better paying jobs or work much faster. I will browse the site again and see what is offering. I'd really prefer to do speech writing and document proof-reading. I will try to do enough work to get a positive profile as it is something I could do while I am travelling. I have done a post research project for at least the past three years. I just receive mail and enter it online daily. It pays about $150 every two months - not much but not a big time commitment either. There are a lot of small jobs out in the wide world but I really should look into training projects. A few days a year provides a nice little boost to my travel fund. I just haven't felt motivated enough to start anything since I got home. It is time to get myself moving.