1991

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Day 78

Not so up and at’em this morning, we had trouble getting our lazy ars*s out of bed as last night was a terrific storm, lightening, no rain but what I could only describe as a mini Cyclone. It was so humid I lay on the bed all night, at around 1.30am the wind was blowing right through the camper trailer and strangely enough the wind was really warm. The tent poles are rattling and the awning was blowing, I was sure Caroline was going to suggest I go out side and have a check around, she likes to do that to me in the middle of the night you know.

We are staying on this fairly tiny Camp site in Forbes, a Big 4 at Lachlan view, by the river. We were asked to take our tarp ground sheet up today as it kills the grass and the owner said he works hard to keep his grass in good condition, Fair comment but they could have told us that when we booked in.

Eventually we got around to showering and shaving and then drove in to town to have a look around. I managed to get a hair cut, which was 6 weeks overdue. Talking to the bloke in the barbers he has been there for 46 years, I saw his razor strops hanging and I asked him if he still shave’s clients with a straight razor, he said those days are long gone.

Caroline has not been to the hairdressers in 11 weeks, in fact we last had a hair cut the day before we left England. Caroline will wait until we get to a big town before having a hair cut (really miss you Sharon!).

We got back and did some chores, washing clothes and stuff like that. Whilst sitting drinking a cup of tea, a lady dropped by and gave us some peaches. Her and her husband left home 4 months ago and have been fruit picking the whole time, they finish here next week and drive to Melbourne to see family for a week then drive home to Bundaberg, re-pack then head off for another 4 months fishing I think she said. We can’t say Pom as she was Scottish. They have been fruit picking in this area for 6 years, and said that they really liked it as it kept them fit and they didn’t have to dip in to their savings or use their pension.

She was a £10.00 immigrant She did tell us where the term Pom comes from; it’s not P.O.M but P.O.M.E (Prisoner of Mother England).

We had a quick dip in the pool, its not very big, but that’s not always the point. It was nice and fresh after such a hot day.

The camp kitchen was absolutely pristine and we were going out at 7.30pm back to the radio telescope to get some night pictures. Just as we were about to cook our dinner on the BBQ, another family who’s children live in the local area descended with a plate full of meat that was enormous. Still no hard feelings, we waited our turn for availability of the BBQ plate, but by the time we had finished eating it would have been too late to drive to the telescope. So as the sun was going down and was right for photography we drove into Forbes to look at the lovely old buildings. We noticed Woolworth’s were open so we popped in for groceries and a 45 Gallon drum of white wine for her ladyship.

We sadly could not resist the temptation to pull in to MacDonald’s car park, just to spark the laptop up and see who was online, on Skype and also have a look at how many had read the blog.

Last month the total hits for just December alone was 1966, we thought it wasn’t bad at all, today 24 January we have had 1991 hits for this month and we are pretty pleased with that, though we hope it will go through the 2000 barrier.

As we went on line we were able to do Skype out phone calls to our dear friend Gary Barber, whom we came to Australia with last time, and his wife Karen (Pikey) see past blog’s about Pikey.

We have arranged a full Skype call at 9.00am Australia time. Sunday Morning, 10.00pm UK time Saturday evening, I spoke to my sister who is setting a Skype call up with my mum at 10.30 Australia time tomorrow evening, (It’s so confusing) so when we get back from The Dish tomorrow evening we will park in our VIP seats at our favourite burger chain and log on to their free WiFi.

We got back and unloaded our shopping. Caroline dived in to the newspaper and a glass of wine, whilst I went for my favourite brew. We sat outside, Caroline getting bitten to death, her swearing now becoming quite impressive (its not that bad!!!!), and I type up the blog for today.

The evening is warm and still and the night as impressive as ever, we get our star chart and have a look around the night sky of the Southern Hemisphere, until we can’t keep our eyes open. Then zip up for the night and get in to bed.

P.S. Happy Birthday to my brother Steve, sorry for not sending a card, but I did send you a message via Skype. Hope you had a great birthday.

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Photos

Forbes Town Hall
One of the many heritage buildings of Forbes

Th Vandenburg Hotel
A traditional Aussie style pub and hotel

Busy Saturday Night
This is just how Forbes main street is on a Saturday night.

Bandstand
Looking very tired and weary in Victoria Park

Post Office
Another heritage building

St Andrews Church Forbes
There were 3 churches all virtually in the same street.

Vampire Jet
No this was not heading straight for us, this is on display on the edge of Lake Forbes.

Victoria Park
Bandstand

Victoria Park
Just on the edge of the Park. The lawns are kept in pristine condition here.