Broken Promises

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DAY 369

I can vaguely remember Andy getting out of bed while it was still dark, but I slept on being unaware of what time that was, eventually I awoke, it was daylight and I could hear Andy tippy tappying on the laptop at the bottom of the bed.

It was 6.45, a little voice asked if I wanted tea now, a little voice drifted back from somewhere between dreams and reality “yes please,” so I gradually came round from my slumber, the sun is shining outside there is just blue sky and barely a cloud in sight, a huge difference to the last couple of days and the constant cloudy sky and showers.

Before I managed to tumble out of bed Andy asked if I wanted a scone, sounds like a great idea to me, so I dressed, made the bed and joined Andy, Jeanette and Walter, they were all sitting outside the camper van, it was a hot day already, so Walter pulled the van forward so that we could all sit behind it in the shade, such a relief and it is only 7.00 in the morning!

Andy now tells me that he got out of bed at 4.15, he could not sleep so he logged onto the internet to check his emails, at 4.30 he sees an email from Helen at Woodstock, more bad news from the farm with Jason being injured which puts him out of action for the harvest.

This is not good news for them, so Andy and I discuss how much sooner we are likely to be able to arrive to help out. Andy wants to be there by Sunday, however I am more realistic, we need to ensure that we don’t overdo it on the daily mileage and knock ourselves out before we get there, so I am likely to think that it could be Monday, maybe even Tuesday, only a few days early, but at least we will be there.

We sit and chat to Jeanette and Walter for ages, enjoying our tea and scones for breakfast. Sadly they leave Maroochydore today for Brisbane, they fly to Sydney tomorrow where they will pick up another camper van and head out to Dubbo to see friends and then will head back up to Brisbane before flying home.

It is quite likely that we may bump into them on the road again as we will be driving down inland so we will end up on the same road at some point, it would be bizarre to bump into them on our way down to Wagga Wagga.

Breakfast over it is time for showers so we all disappear and reappear 20 minutes later clean and refreshed! But maybe not for long it was photo time and the one thing that I have been keen on doing since coming over here and Walter happened to mention that he was keen too, that we should all go and play on the Jumping Pillow.

When I say jumping pillow, I imagine most of you will be thinking of a pillow that jumps, but oh no, it is a huge rubber inflated pillow embedded in the ground and surrounded by sand that is about 40 foot long and 25 foot wide. Mostly you will see kids play on this, however there is a sign here that say “for kids and adults” so we oblige and push all the kids off so that we can play, before long we are all jumping on this huge pillow like kids.

There is a group of adults sat nearby having morning coffee, they look at us all as if we are mad, but hey this is great fun. Ever mindful though that these things although great fun, I am accident prone and even though the rubber is inflated you could have a hard landing and even landing in the sand may hurt.

We take some photos for posterity, and then chat for a while longer but the time arrives for Jeanette and Walter to hit the road, so we say our goodbyes and bid them good luck on the next part of their journey, with promises to stay in touch. We hope that we bump into them again they are a lovely fun couple.

All quiet on the campsite once again, there are only 2 other caravans remaining, the only decent thing to do is to have another cup of tea. I sit and read while Andy finishes yesterday’s blog.

Eventually it is time to pop out to Camping Country to see our friend Jarrod and sort out what we are going to do about the water tank on the trailer, and update him on EvaKool who incidentally still have not telephoned us as promised.

Jarrod, as usual stops for a chat and gives us his time, even though exceptionally busy with getting ready for this Camping Expo at a bush retreat over the weekend, Andy and I had planned to go but because of events at the farm we have changed our plans so cannot hang around past Friday.

We explain to Jarrod about Evakool he soon telephones them and gets them to admit that they have not delivered on their promises. This time they promise to call us by 2.00 this afternoon, they still have no news to impart to us regarding the condition of our fridge! Lets hope that they don’t break another promise.

Andy and Jarrod sort out things that we need for the water tank that we are having fitted, and tells Andy that we can put the trailer on the grass strip outside and borrow the tools in the workshop to fit it. This is really helpful of Jarrod as we do not have access to any power tools while we are travelling and Andy really does miss his workshop at home so he is happy that he can tinker with something.

We are going to buy a 70 litre water tank to improve the trailer and make our lives easier, at the moment we carry around a 10 litre, 40 litre and a 20 litre container of water which takes up a lot of room in the patrol and inside the trailer, with the tank fitted it sits on the underbelly of the trailer with the added benefit of keeping our water cooler as it is in the shade.

We pop into Maroochydore for some lunch and have a wander around, but we forget to take our mobile with us so when we get back to the truck we find that EvaKool finally telephoned to say the fridge was ready, at 2.20 I hasten to add, 20 minutes later than expected, but we are not surprised.

We decided that it would just wreck the rest of our day to drive down now to pick it up, so I tell Andy that I will pick it up in the morning when he is doing the trailer, that way it does not eat too much into our time.

I telephone EvaKool to speak to Brody, but he of course has “just stepped out”, I ask the receptionist what was wrong with it, she said “Hang on a moment he has just appeared in front of me now,” of course he has I think to myself, he just did not want to speak to me or Andy. Turns out that all the gas leaked so they put a new evaporator plate in it and re soldered it and has apparently been working and cooled to about minus 18, so fingers crossed tomorrow we will have a working fridge along with all the other EvaKool items that stopped working on us that will be replaced.

We pop into Bunnings for some fixings and Supacheap Auto for some spare fuses for the tool kit to keep in the truck, but I can hear a swimming pool on this hot afternoon that is beckoning for some use so we head back to camp.

As soon as we get back, we get ready and head to the pool, there are a few people sat around it today, a few more than yesterday when it was obviously too cold to sit around. The water was cool but still not as cold as it was the other night when we went swimming.

We swam for ages and watched a Water Dragon running around the edge of the waterfall and occasionally take a drink from it, I wonder what he thinks of the taste, as it is a salt-water pool. The water dragon basks in the sunshine on the rocks for quite a while before disappearing.

We get out and make ourselves a cup of tea, do a bit of reading but soon it is time for our dinner, we are having leftover pizza so I head off to the camp kitchen fridge and found that my sacred Dominoes Pizza box is still there, I take it out of the fridge to find a few faces looking at my pizza box, “Last nights dinner” I say as if I have to explain myself or do I just feel guilty at having pizza for two nights in a row. “Lucky its still there” came the reply. Yes, I am lucky its still there because if it wasn’t I would have had to spend the evening tracking down the culprit who took it and make their lives a misery.

Back at base camp, the kettle is on again, the chairs and table are put inside the tent so that we can sit and eat while watching the new episode of Flash Forward online. We enjoyed another great episode but afterwards while I typed up the blog for today, Andy retired to the bed with the Nintendo, he is quite enjoying doing the Professor Layton puzzles.

I find my friend Babs is on Skype so I call for a chat, we are on Skype for quite a while, it is great to catch up on things over in England and find out what everyone is up to. It is hard really because everyone can read about what we are doing but we don’t find out what is happening in everyone else’s lives unless we speak to people or get emails.

It is time for me to get into bed, I am tired, Andy is already asleep, it is not long before I catch up.

Goodnight.

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Photos

Andy, Me, Jeanette and Walter
Exhausted after the Jumping Pillow session!

Walterand Jeanette
Ready to hit the road to Brisbane

Walter and Caroline
Always wanted a go on one of these.

Jeanette
Doing the Pillow Jump

Comments

[Walter&Janette]

Pillow Talk !!!!!
Hi Andy and Caroline....Walter and Janette here....What great photos of the pillow jumping morning......What a fantastic way to start the day. Scone and Jam Tea and a Pillow Jump. You were both stars...... We are presently in Brisbane airport awaiting our flight home.....19th Nov. Back to the Scottish weather and run up to xmas. Good Luck.