Ant Infestation and making progress towards Sydney!!

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10th December 2008 - FINDING A CAMPSITE!!
After leaving Melbourne we headed out on the beach road (brill scenic drive) towards Carrum. We were looking for a campsite...it had been long enough!! It was a relatively short drive but we had real trouble finding a campsite. Unlike in the Outback, nothing was signposted from the road. After searching for a while in 3 towns we stopped and asked at a petrol station. The guy was useless but another customer in there was brilliant. She explained where to go and then gave us her brilliant heavy map book with every single road detailed on. How kind!!! After driving into 2 that had no vacancies we eventually found one and set up for the night.

No cooker so that meant no pasta dinner...we had to settle for something on toast. We realised that with our limited facilities and 1 in three nights at a campsite we are going to struggle to eat all the food we have accumulated. Still...we both like a challenge and I am sure we will try our best to get through it!!! Following food it was nice to go to bed knowing that the morning brought shower time!! Get in!!!

11th December 2008 - ANT INFESTATION AND LOCAL ABORIGINAL DAY IN DANDENONG!!!
It was nice to wake up on a campsite. the sun was shining too and even at 9am it was getting hot outside. I headed for the showers straight away and made the most of it for half an hour!! I was just about to begin cleaning my teeth following my shower when I heard loud footsteps and Nat burst through the door in a panic. "We have an Ants Nest....hundreds...all over the bed......everywhere!!" Oh god...it didn't sound good and I grabbed my stuff and headed for the van. There were a fair few around to say the least. Nat had killed a lot and so we both set to work emptying the van and spraying everything down with Ant spray. I felt a bit like a ghostbuster...only with ants!!! We sprayed every nook and cranny until we could do no more!! It was then a case of hoping we had got the majority and that the others would flee....too scared to come back in case the ant busters got them!!! It wasn't the best start to the day!!

We were supposed to vacate the campsite at 10am but after the ant incident, showers, breakfast and doing a wash load it was around 12.30 when we left. I actually brushed my hair for the first time in over a month too today...it felt good!!!

We headed in the van to Dandenong. Nat had arranged to visit a school there on the 12th and so we wanted to get our bearings and find somewhere near to park. The map book the lady gave us proved worth its weight in gold and we found the school and somewhere to park almost straight away. We then headed to a nearby national park to make the most out of the days sunshine.

There was a bit of a community event going on when we arrived. Turned out to be a local Aboriginal Day where blacks and Whites from the local community met to celebrate the Aboriginal culture. They had food going, music, stalls and games. We didn't intrude but sat on the grass chilling in the sun as we watched an old guy showing some kids how to throw a boomerang correctly, watched a bit of a tribal dance and heard the sound of the Didgeridoo being played. It was a good way to pass the time!!

Once we had had enough sun we headed back to the van for some food. We even got the burner on the go for some soup. At around 6pm we left the park and headed to try and find a cinema or a bar/cosy pub. We didn't feel like an early night and needed something to do so we weren't stuck in the van all night. We happened to stumble upon a library first so passed an hour using the free internet. We are turning into library gurus in Oz....soon we'll be able to do a comparison chart and rate them all.......how sad!!! The library lady told us where a nearby plaza was with a cinema and so after the internet we headed there.

After stocking up on cheap goodies from the supermarket we watched 'Twilight'. Not a bad film but a little weird. All about vampires and I didn't really understand how it had made it onto the big screen. Passed the time though and I can't say I didn't enjoy it. No 'Drovers' in it though!!!! After the fim we were taken pity upon by the security guard who escorted us out the building to the entrance where our van was parked...even though all that section had been locked down. Nice man and saved us walking around in the dark looking for where we had parked. It was then back to our road side parking spot for a night of sleep!!!

12th December 2008 - ON TO YARRUM!!
Not much happened today. Nat went into school at around 8.45am. When I dropped her off it was like talking my child to school on their first day. Even Nat thought the same and I half thought I should have made her a packed lunch for the day. I did shout out of the window to tell her to behave though as I drove off!!

I spent my first hour looking for hayfever allergy eye drops!! I also stocked up on moisturiser at the same time........thats where all my money is going!! I then spent a bit of time on the internet and then drove to the National park we visited yesterday (much quiter today.) The weather was poor and it kept trying to rain. No sunbathing for me. Instead I did a few exercises around the van and was just gearing myself up to go for a run when Nat text to say she was done and needed picking up....talk about saved by the bell!!!

The weather was getting worse so we decided to put some driving in and make our way closer to Sydney. Asfter a couple of navigational errors we made it to Yarrum passing Barry Beach (just for you Kim!!!) and an animal nursery (baby deer, goat and cows) along the way. Yarrum was nice...small town and loads of free roadside parking. It had everything we needed close at hand (well...except a Drover). We managed to get the petrol station owner to boil a kettle for us so we could have a brew and a pot noodle for tea......oh how glamourous!!! We were both longing for a good book too as we finished ours a while ago. We managed to use our charm on the library and they agreed to let us swap our old books for some new ones!! Score!!! Looked like a night of reading in the van whilst the rain bounced on the roof.....may as well have gone camping in England......well....maybe!!

13th December 2008 - MAKING PROGRESS ON THE ROAD!!
The rain hammered it down last night again and was still going when I woke up this morning.......not the summer weather I had hoped for!! Once up and dressed, we spent and hour or so on the internet, got some ice from the petrol station and headed off on the road leaving Yarrum behind. As we drove the sky was grey with no signs of clearing. We decided to use the poor weather to make some distance towards Sydney as we didn't have many nights left and still lots to see. Nat drove the first part of the journey and I the second. We stopped only in Orbost to have lunch and swap drivers. My part of the drive was quite fun. There were three campervans in convoy with us being at the front. A few times the others tried to take us but I told them to eat my dust!!! (Don't worry mum...I wasn't reckless and didn't break the speed limit!)

We arrived in Eden (our destination) at around 5.30pm after making a lot of progress. Sydney had even started appearing on the road signs and we were now in new South Wales!! We checked straight onto a campsite. It was a nice one too with tennis courts and a swimming pool. It was a shame we hadn't arrived earlier as the weather was a lot nicer here too and it would have been good to get the most out of the facilities.

We had a good tea that night...cooked up a cullinary pasta feast after a nice old couple let us use their electric grill pan. Not loving the tinned veg but I have to get my 5 a day in somehow!!! Once tea was over we settled in the TV room to watch some films. Back to the future was up first....not the best as he'll only ever be teen wolf to me but it passed some time before 'The Seige' started at 9pm. The TV room was supposed to close at 9 but the owner said we could stay as long as we wanted and lock up...again so nice!!!

I went to bed full and happy.......nearly christmas, getting sunny again and shower time tomorrow.......what more could a girl want?!!!

14th December 2008 - KILLER WHALES & SAND ART!!!
So much for the weather getting warmer....howling wind, grey sky and that fine rain that wets you through!! I wanted to put my head back under the duvet but I resisted the warmth and got myself sorted for the day. After visiting the information centre we headed to the Killer Whale Museum. Eden used to be very big on whaling and the museum told the story of 'Tom" thier longest serving killer whale in that area. I never knew that killer whales helped humans to hunt other whales and that humans let the killers eat the whales' tongue and lips before hauling the harpooned whale from the water. You really do learn something new every day!!!

Following the museum we went and had a walk along the beach...yes, even in the poor weather!! Really nice beach and most of the snad had been untouched. We had some serious fun from leaving our footprints and doing some christmassy sand art!! Those of you who know anything about my artistic skills should not be surprised by the photos!!! I wanted to make some sand angels too (like snow angels but with sand) but considering it was another 2 days before shower time and the fact that the sand was all wet I thought I had better be sensible (1st time for everything)!!! The rain eventually drove us from the beach and back to the van!! We left Eden at around 2pm.

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