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Published: April 7th 2010
DAY 511--514
Ok, its not going to be that bumper because I am not going to bore you with all those details of the chores that we have been doing.
Firstly though, Happy Easter everyone, we reminisce that over Easter last year we started our trek across the Nullarbor, Easter was a week later than it is this year so we are almost one year on, but nonetheless we have come a long way since then!
My first issue with this weekend is what happened to the Easter Bunny? A mystery that was only partially solved by the arrival of the Easter Bilby that seems to be plentiful of over here. Still it tasted nice all that lovely chocolate and they have much longer ears than bunny rabbits so perhaps a little more chocolate than your standard chocolate bunny or is that just wishful thinking?
As I started to type this up I notice that some of our day numbers are wrong so I have to sort that out, apologies but I will have to look back and correct some of them.
Friday was a busy day, we were up relatively early, the sun as
usual was shining but no sooner than I was out of bed I got the washing on the go, did the washing up from last night, showered and was ready for the day ahead.
The dynamic of the campsite has changed somewhat in the past week, it feels like a different place than the one of 7 days ago. The Vietnam Veterans have all packed up and moved on, the school parties have stopped coming in and in the meantime to be replaced by families as each state started the school holidays, the number of children have increased and now a day does not go by when the children are racing around on scooters, bikes, playing football and just generally running around with the joy that they are finally on holiday!
Unfortunately as Andy is so busy at work we have to head out to his office so that he can do a few things, but of course that means a little bit of work for me too as he has an excel spreadsheet that needs tinkering with which is my ball game so he leaves me to it while he gets on with some other stuff.
The good thing is that I have given Andy some training on excel so hopefully he can lose his training wheels on excel soon and be free to write his own formulas.
Andy has had a little project on, as we have had to roof rack on the Patrol since Christmas and we do put the spare wheel up there and other assorted things,and it is made of alloy, Andy wanted to make a ply wood floor for the roof rack so it will spread the weight.
As it is his project, it has to be perfect, all the corners are rounded to an exact fit and everything is smooth and perfectly formed, so whilst we are where he works he is tinkering with the roof rack floor.
The other advantage of this floor is, it will be painted both sides which will reflect the sun and keep the Patrol cooler in side.
Later in the afternoon we headed over to O’Connor Ridge for a little bit of exploration, it is right next door to where we are staying and is part of Canberra’s Nature Reserve. It is still lovely and sunny, although the day
has been quite warm as the sun is getting lower the temperature is also getting lower.
We explore the area and are pleased to find a rather large Kangaroo watching us, great to see the wildlife so close to the city, if only you could guarantee that the wildlife stayed in the nature reserve rather than venture onto the bitumen.
We are sad to see the usual spread of broken bottles spread around the environment, we are not certain what other wildlife shares this area but hope that they do not get injured by the broken glass.
The views over Canberra from up here are pretty amazing, we spend some time looking over the views and working out our bearings with the associated landmarks that we can pick out such as the Telstra Tower on the Black Mountain, which seems that you can see it almost anywhere in Canberra.
So Friday turned out to be quite a busy day but we were thankful for the long weekend and the need to relax on Friday night, of course though we had a game of rummikub, both of us with our competitive heads on and a couple of
Just a Fun Guy
I'm sure I have used that one beforebeers to help the game along we had a great night, but all too soon it was bedtime, Andy was exhausted from his heavy week and was still recovering.
Saturday morning brings more sunshine, a lovely start to the day, we were both up early, oh go on then if I have to admit it, Andy did bring me my tea in bed, spoilt as usual.
This morning is our only opportunity to go out and do some grocery shopping, unfortunately so did the rest of Canberra, Woolworths was absolutely heaving, the queues at the checkout were long and the queues to get out of the car park were even longer, no different from an Easter Weekend in England then!
We needed to head over to see Jan and Keith, we will be renting their house from them while they go away on holiday and Jan wanted to take the opportunity to introduce us to a few of the neighbours and of course show us some of the fundamental things we need to know about their house.
We arrived just in time for lunch, Keith had prepared some barbecue food for us and as usual we
just talked and talked, the time was running away with us, so Jan took me in one direction and Andy and Keith headed in another, we were both fully briefed in what we needed to know, bin day, where to put the bins, where to collect the mail etc. etc.
A very short time later the neighbours started to arrive, the wine is poured and the nibbles are on the table.
We will no doubt see more of them in the weeks that Jan and Keith are away, but one thing is for certain, I don’t think there will be a dull moment around here! Especially with Arthur around.
Rest assured for Keith and Jan that they have good neighbours and no doubt if we get any problems we should be able to call upon them for help.
The afternoon rolls on, plentiful amounts of wine have been drunk by some of us any way, Andy is driving but all too soon darkness is descending and it is time for us to go, however Keith has already put some dinner on for all of us, so Keith, Jan, Arthur, Andy and myself tuck into a hearty
The Telstra Tower
No its not falling over beef stew, a great meal for the cool Canberra evenings.
Back at camp there is no alternative but for another game of Rummikub, thanks Wallaby Wanderers it appears that we are hooked on this, it makes a nice change for us to play this instead of cards, it has given us something different to think about and of course come up with tactics.
Sunday morning brings with it a busy morning, we have to pack up camp today, because of Easter all of the pitches were booked out and even though we booked our 28 days in advance we could not get this one day, so we busy ourselves with packing everything up and waiting for a phone call from reception to say our motel room is ready.
By midday we are comfortable in our motel room and great we have tv for the first time in ages!! However Bunnings is needed as once again a few chores are in hand so we head out to pick up some bits and pieces.
Afterwards we go for a walk, this time we go across the road to explore another part of Canberra’s Nature Reserve, the Black Mountain
where the Telstra Tower sits. I believe you can walk up to the Telstra Tower from here, however that will be quite a walk and we will save that for a cooler day.
We don’t see many people out and about but a few people are busy kneeling on the ground taking photos so we investigate and find that they are looking for Orchids, apparently they have found about 5 different ones today although this is not the best time of year for them, the one they are now looking at does not look like an Orchid to me but I am assured that it has all the right bits, whatever they happen to be.
We see plenty of Crimson Rosella’s playing around the environment and of course all the usual Australian Magpies looking for their share of mischief, but not a single Kangaroo or Wallaby in sight, never mind, maybe another day.
Unfortunately we have not got any cooking facilities in our motel room so we cannot do dinner as I had planned so tonight it is a Red Rooster Roast Dinner, washed down with a few beers and a few games of Rummikub (watch out
Wallaby Wanderers, next time, just be prepared for the fierce competition!)
As I can only get one channel on the TV (ABC I think), the Aerial is not attached to the TV and there is no base so you have to be very crafty in the positioning of it in order to get a picture, so 8.30 there is a film on TV so as I can only get one channel on the TV, the film it is, so we settled down to watching a good TV film with Robson Green (British readers will know him, not sure if he is an international star?)
It is great to be indoors for a change, a little bit spoilt too soon, there is no heating in this room, but I don’t think we need it yet.
A beautiful Sunday morning and time to pack up and move again, it does not take long to pack the truck up with our bits, but of course we have to wait for our site to be vacated before we can move onto it.
By 10.00 we are on the move, pulling onto our new pitch this morning the first thing that
Quiz Questions
On the caps of the beer we like.
(Barefoot Radler) we needed to do was to fill our very empty water tank up, so while connecting the hose the chap in the caravan next door to us, shouted across “It’s great to see more Queenslanders down here!” We turned around and had to explain our deception to him that we were in reality “fake Queenslanders” thankfully Bruce was ok with our explanation and we chatted to him and his wife Linda for a short while before setting up camp.
By midday we are fully set up again, only a stones throw from where we were the day before yesterday. We wave to Pam and Geoff who we were camped next to, they live on Magnetic Island, we got chatting to them the other day and they were disappointed when we told them that we did not get over to the Island but promised that we would next time we head up to Townsville (Don’t worry Heather, I will warn you so that you can hide the red wine!)
Dare I say hopefully this will be the last time we have to set up for a while, we only have another 6 days camping, I have enjoyed every moment that we have spent in our Wendy House, but for now we need a little bit of stability and of course the warmth for the oncoming winter,
Our Easter weekend has not worked out as expected, having to move has taken up two valuable days, however it was a necessary evil, so for the rest of the day we decide to relax.
Relaxing of course involves sitting around and reading and a few lengths in the swimming pool, so off we head, there are a couple of people in there, they confirm that it is cold, surely no colder than it has been in recent weeks?
Oh my! When I say cold, I actually mean the water is ffffffreezing, as we both gasp for our first breath and swim our first length, I remark “I think this will be the last swim of the season!” The water is far from comfortable, it takes longer to acclimatise and even Andy is not keen, still I am in and now I am in I intend on doing my exercise so I manage to knock out my 30 lengths, Andy is already out and drying off, he counts my lengths while he keeps warm in the sunshine.
I enjoyed my swim and perhaps could have stayed in a little longer because it had become more comfortable, but a cup of tea was on offer and of course a lovely hot shower!
The rest of the afternoon passed and after dinner we had yet another game of Rummikub, we will be experts before long!
An early night is needed, work tomorrow, for some that is, it is my birthday tomorrow and I am off shopping!
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John and Sylvia
John Wallace & Sylvia Bowman Wallace
Camper Trailer group
Hi Guys. Noticed the temp in Canberra yesterday was 2C in the morning. That's a bit cold in a camper. I think you'll enjoy moving into your new, albeit temporary, home. I have had to postpone my trip to Canberra so regrettably, from my side, won't meet up with you soon. I have found an Australian Camper Trailer group on the web. If you don't already know them, you might want to check them out - www.campertrailers.org. I don't know much about them but they look interesting. Regards, John