Distance: 10 km
Fuel: 29 L
Had a day off! It was a chance to get the doona covers, pillow cases and odd items of clothing washed, plan the rest of my journey in WA and think about how I am going to go through Queensland. Because there will be no adventures or sights to cover I will just ramble on about this and that.
But first... What did I do today?
Visited Tom Price's Coles fairly early this morning to get ice and milk but I needed to go again later when the grog shop was open to top up with another six pack and also buy fuel at the service station for tomorrow.
One thing is for sure; if I do nothing else when I get back home it will be to install a fridge freezer and battery system in the back of my car because even at the local Coles ice is $6.50 a bag.
By the time I returned to the caravan park people were packing up their vans, I am not surprised that women live longer than men. Inspite of the blokes often having much worse mobility issues than me they always dismantled the various connections, rolled up the awning, carried the dunny can to the dump station and connected the caravan with all its anti roll paraphernalia to the car without any help from their wife (and I mean absolutely no help at all). It appears that, from my observation, equality of the sexes is alien to caravan life among the grey nomads. BTW, almost within the hour of writing that a couple in their late 30s or early 40s arrived and set up their camper trailer, the lady was as involved as the man in its set up so it must just be an age thing.
Last night I watched the latest version of "The Magnificent Seven", it wasn't bad but I hope that no-one gets it into their head to remake "High Noon" or "Casablanca" because the original was still better. I warned you I would ramble.
Good and Bad
OK, now that I have been living in my camper continuously for four weeks I am getting a handle on its good points and its bad.
The Good:
- The bed is really comfortable; my thick doona, thin doona and sheet selection works well. I sleep well - never too hot or too cold.
- The camper is easy to tow, easy to set up and easy to prepare to move. The reversing camera makes a big difference to hitching it up unaided. Caravans, mobile homes, camper trailers all have different disadvantages, there is no perfect set up.
- The Bunning's table and white plastic chair are a good combination I never get the folding camping chair out now.
- The $10 toaster was a great buy. The combination of toaster, electric jug and microwave is all I need, never get the gas stove out (obviously that would change if there was no powered site available)
- Having the HDD with movies and TV shows was a good idea because by about 9.30/10pm just about everybody in these parks is asleep however what does surprise me is that they are not early risers - I shower when the sun comes up - rarely see more than one other person about.
- Sunrice microwave meals are brilliant when there is no club or bistro nearby - they only take about 90 seconds to cook. After the disaster of trying to carry eggs I have decided that preparing food is just too much trouble.
- The cheese, jam and peanut butter I carry are handy for sandwiches/toast. (Bleeding obvious really)
- Paper plates, disposable spoons etc save a lot of washing up (I didn't say I was ecologically sound).
- The gazebo is really good too as is the side sheet I bought for it but if I am only staying one night I don't bother putting it up. One thing I try to remember is to take it down the evening before I move on. Ideally I do it as the sun is about to set - ie just before it gets dark. It makes preparing to leave in the morning so much easier if it is already packed away
The Bad.
- The Esky - Bad, bad, bad! The bane of my life. As that is the worst thing you can see that life is pretty good really.
- The camper really needs a vent to allow air in for the roof vent fan to extract when the glass outer doors are closed (say for rain). This hasn’t been a problem on this trip but it could be.
- I haven't used any of my pots, pans or rice cooker, it is too easy to go out for a meal or have a pre-prepared one, toast or a sandwich.
Things I just don't get.
There is nothing wrong with these things it is just that I don't understand them.
- I am surprised by the number of people who have said to me something along the lines of, "We are staying here for another 11 days then we are having a fortnight in XXX". What on earth do they do for all this time? I can understand if you have kids then longer in one place is probably better but 10 days? a fortnight? When I was a kid we used to go for a week at a guesthouse (B&B?) but by the end of the week you had exhausted the charms of the place, in fact, even a week at Butlins was enough.
- The couple next to me moved this morning, I asked them where they were going. It turns out they are going to the caravan park in the National Park I visited yesterday. I wonder why? it is 50km away, you can drive there in 30 minutes without lugging a ruddy great caravan with you. As I say I don't get it.
- Car cleaning: some people of all ages seem obsessed with cleaning their car and/or caravan. Remember I mentioned a terrific van that fitted on the back of a flat bed ute? As the fellow was preparing it his wife was wiping every external surface she could reach, as he lowered it onto the ute she was busily cleaning the jacks even as they retracted. Another fellow after spending an hour washing and polishing his car then cleaned his off road caravan's wheels and tyre blacked all the tyres (I mean, he carried tyre black with him on holiday??) - Yes, I know this says more about me than them, I have had my car for two years and cleaned it twice.
That’s it; all my raving has finished.
