NQN and the Petulant Puppies

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Hello and welcome to my first blog of our 2012 holiday. If you followed our travels around the west of Australia last year and found it entertaining enough to return, welcome back. If you are a new follower, I hope you enjoy reading about our trials, tribulations and adventures. This year we are staying in the east, but are still heading north, going as far as Hervey Bay most likely.

There are a few differences this year. Last year was our inaugural trip in the fifth wheeler and was an excellent performance test of the van and set-up. As some of you may know, we had weeks of frustration with our fridge last time causing delays in departing and extended stay in Mildura before getting a replacement part in Adelaide. All up, we lost about ten days travel time. We had no troubles with the fridge for the remainder of the trip or on a short trip to The Grampians earlier this year. No troubles until the day before our planned departure, that is. And then it all happened again. Another rushed trip to Melbourne to buy another replacement part and some assistance from our friendly and extremely helpful electrician and we were off, only one day late.

The van now has a very nice dedicated crockery cupboard, fold-down shelves at either end of the couch for our coffee cups/wine glasses, a TV in the bedroom, a ducted vacuum, a built in fold-down table under the annex, and a dog cupboard. Yes, this year the dogs are travelling with us. The cupboard is for their stuff; we don't actually put them in there, although sometimes it wouldn't be such a bad idea. Apart from going to the vet, the girls have only been on one trip before, and that was a trial run for a couple of days to Buchan. That trip saw Sally (Whippet) sustain a three-corner wound on her thigh after an altercation with Indy, a big mean Golden Retriever. We have packed the super glue in case it happened again. If not, the super glue will come in handy in the repair kit.

So far we have been away from home for five nights. We spent three nights in freezing Buchan and the last two in Mallacoota. I checked the thermometer one morning when I woke in Buchan and it was actually warmer in the fridge than it was in the van. It has been suggested that I should have opened the fridge to warm the van. Besides the cold, it was good to spend some time with Frank's brother, Wally. Camping at Mallacoota was good except that it didn't stop raining our first day there. Yesterday we tried our luck fishing in the lake and surf fishing. Both were unsuccessful, however Frank did see a fish, so we know they are out there. Then, last night we left our lines in the water, outside our van, while showing an interested couple through. When Frank went back to check the lines had been wrapped around the mooring posts and so fish and tackle were lost while freeing them. I hope this doesn't set the tone for the rest of our fishing. It would be very disappointing.

I have decided to title this years blog NQN and the Petulant Puppies go north. NQN for Not Quite Nomads as our trip is of limited duration and we do have a home. We have established in the past that we can't really be Grey Nomads because one of us spends too much money on hair colour, so NQN it will have to be. If, in a moment of nastiness you think of another word for the second N, I would like to point out that we are perfectly normal, thank you. Or at least one of us is. I can't vouch for Frank. Ok, so we know the reasoning for the first part of the title, but where does Petulant Puppies come from, you may ask. Well, let me tell you that Sally and Bubble (Terrier of some description, in theory owned by our son but supported and cared for by us) have both had a major personality change. Gone are the excitable dogs who want to run here, there and everywhere, and who want to jump on everything and everyone. They have been replaced by "we don't want to" and "you can't make us" dogs. Honestly, it is like having a couple of thirteen year olds with us. Yesterday when we took them down to the surf beach, we actually had to coax them to come on to the sand. Did they run freely exploring and chasing seagulls? No. They stood there like we had taken everything they cared about from them. Occasionally Sally would come and stand behind me just in time to trip me as I moved backwards to avoid an incoming wave. When night time comes they take the middle of the couch delegating Frank and I to squish in a corner each, because they refuse to move. One thing in their favour is that they are travelling well in the car.

Today we moved further up the coast to Berrmagui, a pleasant coastal town in NSW. We stopped at Pambula on the way and bought some oysters for Frank to shuck. The day finished with a walk along the beach, over the road from the caravan park. My challenge before the end of this trip is to get the dogs to run and play. Frank’s challenge is to catch a fish. I wonder which of us will be successful?

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