This is Not My Australia

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DAY 463


This is not my Australia, most unlike last Saturday when we were wandering around the Multicultural Festival in Canberra Centre. Yesterday when I was in the office a colleague forwarded an email giving a flash flooding warning, citing that the mail was from a reliable source, I was not one to disbelieve especially checking out the meteorological website that shows the radar picture, with those lovely shades of blue.

So flash flooding means rain, lots of, therefore it was no surprise to awake in the night as the dulcet tones of raindrops fell in the canvas, it was quite heavy but not enough to keep me awake, I slept on and awoke just after 6.30 when Andy was stirring, the rain was still pitter pattering away on the canvas over our heads.

Andy got out of bed to put the kettle on, I heard him say, “Shall we still go today?” “Of course!” came my mumbled reply from the warmth of my sleeping bag, “a bit of rain wont harm us and lets face it, if we were in England the rain would not stop us”, if we let the rain stop play every time over there we wouldn’t do anything.

Now, I know that everyone here wants rain, more so than anything an email from Helen over at Woodstock tells us that selfishly they want the rain despite what plans we have for the weekend and who can blame her, with temperatures regularly reaching the 40’s and the dams mostly near empty, or just plain empty, 100mm of forecast rain would be a blessing.

So I guess that as I expected rain I am not too disappointed, I knew that it was likely to be wet but today we are going to the 4wd and Camping Show in Queanbeyan, just down the road from Canberra and just over the border into New South Wales (thank goodness there is no time difference!), passports or even currency change required

We have not been able to get to a camping show at all since we have been over here so this is our first one and it looks like it will be a wash out and another first today means that I will be wearing a rain coat, which if I remember rightly the last time I wore it was actually back in August 2008 when I went to Cowes on a day out with my girl friends, it rained then, quite heavily in fact, we had a fairly choppy crossing to the Isle of Wight, but that is typical of the weather over there, the previous year when we all went to Cowes, it was hot, it was a fabulous day to sit on the beach and watch the yacht racing, albeit I am sure we talked more than we watched.

Anyway, after breakfast we jumped in the truck and headed out, we packed sandwiches, raincoats, hiking boots, spare clothes and a towel, oh not to mention the gators, not only do they help avoid the occasional snake bite, they actually help to keep your socks dry, although I was still feeling optimistic that it might actually dry up today, ha ha!

No more than 20 minutes later we arrived in a rain soaked Queanbeyan and in no time at all we found the showground, just follow another 4wd and you are bound to find it.

Our entrance fee was $10 each, not bad really, we can see that there are plenty of stands and are both keen on getting a good look around, so kitted out in hiking boots, rain coats and of course Akubra’s we are good to go, the bonus with being here at the opening time of 8.30 also means that it is still fairly quiet.

The rain is light to start with, we have a look at a couple of stands, there is always something that you want to buy for camping but you do have to think about what you really need, because everything you buy of course adds weight and takes up space so sometimes those nice to haves are not so nice to haves because you may get sick and fed up with moving it or keep packing it away.

We were making a beeline for the camper trailers that were on display, we are of the mind that perhaps it would be a good time to upgrade our current trailer for something a bit more, hmmm…. Difficult to explain but I would not say that luxury is the right word but something a little bit more practical.

Don’t get me wrong I love our camper trailer when you look at what this great little camper trailer has achieved its amazing and it has done everything we wanted it to do, it has been comfy to sleep in, we have been kept dry and I was going to say warm, but lets just say that in the cold we can wrap up warm and in the heat you just open all the flaps and hope for breeze, but you are not going to get any different with a camper trailer the temperature outside dictates the temperature inside.

One thing that I would like is a hard floor, this means no banging pegs in every time you set up, you just open it up and bingo! Your home is ready for use, along with a slide out kitchen and easy to access storage spaces. Are you getting the picture?

The market here though is saturated with camper trailers and off road caravans like you have never seen before, they all have something that you want and something that you don’t want, but the marked difference is the price, our current trailer is entry level but you could spend at least $55,000 on a top of the range Kimberley Kamper where as you could go for more middle of the range but does the same thing $21,000. Our only stipulation would be that whatever we buy has to be off road capable, we want that accessibility to get to the far flung places in Australia again and discover new ones, Andy with his interest in Len Beadell wants to go and Explore the Connie Sue, the Gun Barrel Highway and Gary Junction , Oh and we still have the Red Centre to finish off our first go.

I even detoured to look at a Jayco Outback caravan, yes it is off road but not a full size caravan, basic but very nice on the inside and at a snip of $33,000.

We have some decisions to make right now about work and how long we intend on staying in Canberra and if we stay for now, where do we live in the winter? One thing is for sure I am not convinced that I want to stay in the trailer over winter, but over the next few weeks I am sure that things will fall into place.

We have a good look at the various different trailers on the market, some I like that Andy doesn’t and vice versa, but we do find one that is mid range, affordable and gives us what we are looking for, however there is homework to be done and while we figure things out we will have to wait and see and perhaps I am not going to share it with you because it would ruin the surprise.

By now the rain is coming down harder, it is mid morning so we treat ourselves to a bacon sandwich, the smell was too much to walk past and we both felt hungry. I think it is all the talking we have done so far, we have both been asking very pointed questions about the trailers we have seen, I think our year or so on the road has taught us a thing or two so we need to use that gained knowledge.

We stop by the ACT 4wd club and have a chat to Lesley, very helpful lady who shows us loads of photos about where they have been and what they do etc. What amazed me is that looking through the photos I recognise most of the places and I felt really pleased that we have done the hard graft and achieved all of this on our own, ok so we have not done the Simpson Desert yet, but give it time.

Lesley informs us of a small get together on the last Sunday of February, the 4wd club will meet, have a drive out and then a sausage sizzle, well there is food involved so anywhere food is then I am happy to go! It will do us good to get involved in a club, it will help us pick up some more practical experience in off roading and of course get to meet new people and learn more about the area, well, you never know but we may even be able to teach these Aussies a thing or two!

By lunchtime there are large puddles of mud forming, we head back to the truck for a sit down and a sandwich but half hour later we are back in amongst it, the crowds are getting heavier, the puddles deeper and the mud, well muddier I suppose.

We sympathised with one of the stallholders about the weather, he did say that at least the people that are here are the keen ones. I cannot argue with that.

We see everything that we wanted, Andy’s coat is full of brochures, our Akubra’s are soaked on the outside but dry on the inside, despite the now very heavy rain and the puddles which are almost ankle deep we are both very dry, but time to head back to camp, the paths here are so churned up there is no grass, just mud.

We are back at camp by about 3.00, Andy has a nana, I make a cup of tea and type the blog and guess what? Yes, it is still raining, if anyone has a spare boat out there, please can we borrow it?

I was just thinking though, we have no idea if there is a mini golf in Canberra, I feel a competition coming on.

Andy is awake and finishes off his tea I made him a good while ago, we are still talking about what an excellent day we had today.

It is still raining really heavily, it hasn’t really stopped all day, we send a text to Helen to see if it raining on the farm, Good news it is and hopefully it will keep raining for them.

It is already 7.00pm, Andy Rustles up dinner, which is welcome, whilst ferreting in the fridge the fridge Stand collapse, we have had this from the start of the trip, but as the new fridge weighs about the same as an elephant we can not complain.

Well that’s about it for today’s blog, we have been pretty busy but have had a great day.

We have a simple mantra, as long as we stay dry, sleep well and have food in side us then it’s been a good day.

Finally we have revised our blog profile, bringing it up to date, we are looking for a different photo and out of over 20,000 we have taken on this trip we are struggling to find a nice one of us both.

Good night all

KJ.

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Photos

And It poured
The rain was coming down in stair rods

Wheels off
On the ARB test rig testing the air locker system

Off Roader
Not only do Australia have off Road Vehicles but also off Road Caravans, as people here don't just want to go to a Caravan site but go off road to some of the most beautiful places on earth.

An Ultimate Camper
One of Caroline's favourites, but i'm not a big fan

4X4
Nice wheels John !!

Kmberly Camper
This is considered to be the Rolls Royce of Camper Trailers, fantastic Quality, go anywhere do anything and very well.
It will set you back a fair wedge of money

Tear Drop Caravan
One of my absolute favourites, a tear drop caravan.

How cool is this
This fella was doing a fishing demonstration in to a tank of live fish which were chasing the lures.

Soggy Lambs
All the aminalswere soggy in the petting zoo

An excellent Idea
How about a portable BBQ that fits on to the tow bar of your car.
In America it is called tailgating

Comments

[ken h]

not raining here HA HA
hello both well you canot have the weather all the time ? its not raining here. its bloody snowing ,HA HA .well not right now but we have had some verry cold weather lately ,but we manage,.glad you are both well and haveing a wonderful adventure .i might not message you often but i do think of you ,and yes a little jeliouse ,sorry can,ot spell it ha ha but thats me .love you both , have a wonderful and happy time out there .xxxxxxxx ps will email you a bit more often now iam geting use to the comp ,bye bye

[Amelie Gough]

not my Australia
You have spent a good unusual day but so interesting!