Crikey, Where’s the Sun Gone?

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DAY 367


Oh happy day, we are staying in the same place for a few days, we are at the Big 4 in Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast, but wait a minute I can see two problems here, the first one is where has the sunshine gone, this is after all the Sunshine Coast and the second problem is that despite staying in the same place we still have to pack the trailer up!

Andy is already up and about, the tea is on the go, so I get up, get dressed and get the inside of the tent ready for closing. It should be simple today as we are not going to repack the trailer.

A breakfast of toast and jam, we are showered and by 9.00 we are leaving the campsite with Camping Country first on our list of things to do.

At Camping Country we see Robert, Jarrod’s Dad, and Eeva, we wheel the trailer into their workshop and whip the top off so that they can have a look at the zips. Now we are realistic in what can be done in the short space of time.

We are living in our tent, so we can only leave the tent here until later this afternoon, so that we can collect it and then have somewhere to sleep, so after much discussion and review with the experts a decision is made on what can be done. Unfortunately there is not really enough time to deal with the zip in the main door to the tent, so a compromise has to be made which will hopefully get us by, and that is to sew up part of the zip in order to stop the zipper pull thing (no idea what the technical term is) going to far back and therefore not being able to zip up properly.

So we leave the trailer and drive to Caloundra, next stop EvaKool to drop off the fridge, the light, the power pack and another mains adapter. We see their warranty manager Brodie, he graciously accepts everything, our food is transferred into another fridge (not for us to take away with us by the way!!!), as we don’t have anything to put it in, (like a fridge).

We were keen on catching up with Ruth and making arrangements to see her and David for dinner while we had time in town, so we headed up to Nambour where we bought the Patrol and where we first met Ruth, it seems really strange being here after such a long time.

Ruth was thrilled to see us, we chatted for a short while and then left her to get on with some work, we had a quick look around he showroom, I think Andy was hoping for a good deal on a Toyota Landcruiser V8 with cab chassis etc., but no such luck there were none in at a give away price!!

Just as we were leaving we had a phone call from Camping Country, our tent was done so we could swing by and collect the trailer.

Great timing as Buderim is on the way back from Nambour, so off we go, get the trailer, the repairs cost us $153, but it was time only. We were also told that there was a rip in the cover, which they repaired, the stitching was done on the main door a new pull thing was put on the zipper on the outer cover and the zipper that is used to access the trailer from the tent was basically re seated.

Robert made the comment that most people buy these things for a 3 week holiday each year, so our trailer tent has had about 17 years use in 1 year, I have to say if you could see the colour of the fabric on the new tents then you can see how much ours has faded in the sunlight.

Robert assures us that we don’t have to worry about reproofing, it should be good for years yet.

Back at camp we are set back up again in record time, we get chatting to Jeanette and Walter who are next door but one to us (there is actually no one on the site in between us anyway) they make us a cup of tea and a scone while we pitch the tent, we chat for ages.

Jeanette and Walter are from Paisley in Scotland, they are here on a 3 week holiday and will fly back to Sydney on Wednesday, hire another camper and then drive North to Brisbane before flying home again.

It has been a busy time for us and another busy day so Andy feeling a Nanna nap coming on and disappeared. I on the other hand went for a walk around the little lake at the back of the caravan park, sadly the water is quite low at the moment, but Jeanette tells me that there are supposed to be some eels in there, I never saw any but there are plenty of ducks around. I take some photos, there are a few drops of rain so I head back, the rain does not come so I sat outside reading trashy gossip magazines, it seems that I really cannot help myself at the moment, I am still reading the ones that I picked up in Townsville.

Jeanette comes over for a chat, but it is not long before Andy joins us, then Walter appears, so the decent thing was to put the kettle on for a cup of tea and insist that Walter an Jeanette bring a chair over to sit on while we chat.

While the kettle boils the rain suddenly started, we all run inside the tent for cover, but as quick as it came the rain stopped. We sit around drinking our tea and chatting but I ended up putting a fleece on, the sun has vanished, the cloud has taken over and blue sky seems so far away, we are not used to this, it suddenly feels so cold.

Long after it got dark, Walter and Jeanette left us to sort out their dinner, Andy and I were not too hungry and as we have nothing fresh to cook up (remember our fridge is at EvaKool along with our food!) we open a tin of spam, Andy uses the new griddle to fry it up, but then another issue appeared, I have no butter for the bread, that is in the fridge, so Walter and Jeanette kindly lend me their butter so that I can butter the bread for a sandwich.

We sit inside to eat, it is dark and cold outside and inside we can at least be a little bit cosy. I write up the blog while Andy plays on the Nintendo for a while.

We catch up on blogs for the Wallaby Wanderers, and Lurpak34 I also see that we have a message from one of our readers, Jane, challenging us to come up with our top 5: best National Park, best beach, best town, best kept secret and best kodak moment. There is some food for thought there and we don’t like to disappoint. We will start thinking about those and when we have a day on the road we can think of some answers. I am not sure about the best kept secret though, if it is the best kept secret then how can we share that with all of you? I am sure we will find a way! I think Andy and I will have different answers for different reasons, so watch this space.

It is great that we have had congratulations messages from so many of you, we are thrilled to bits, I think quite an achievement in itself, we didn’t know that we could do it but we can and the amazing thing is that so many others are out there doing it to, we just all seem to approach it differently and have different time constraints, the one thing we all have in common is that we are all just passing through. It does not matter if you have a Winnebago motorhome, combi, caravan, off road caravan, trailer, tent, swag or just sleep under the stars, we are all doing it the best way we know how or just the best way that suits for now.

Andy succumbs to sleep rather early and climbs into bed, which of course is accurate, as we have to climb the ladder every night to get into bed.

I have finished the blog and read it out to Andy while he is in bed, I thought that he was asleep by the time I got to the end, however he tells me that he heard every word. I don’t even think he remembers me getting into bed.

That’s the other thing no sooner than I got into bed, the now familiar sound of the pitter patter of rain on canvas appeared, I had to close my window to stop the rain coming in, so much for being on the Sunshine Coast! I must not grumble we have been thoroughly spoilt by the weather in the last 6 months.

So another day tomorrow, we have to shift the trailer again, so we will have to pack up again in the morning even though we are staying on at Maroochydore a bit longer.

Good night Bloggers, from the not “Sunny” Sunshine Coast.

KJ XXxx

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Photos

Waiting for repair
Waiting for repairs at Camping Country, as the trip has taken its toll,17 Years of Camping in one years worth of Action. Yikes