Rain what rain

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DAY 384


We both had a bad nights sleep, everything seemed to disturb us, not just the camper next to us that went to the camp kitchen at 11.30 and turned the TV on and left the volume turned up, that did not last for long, but then he went back to his camper and could not have made more noise if he tried.

It was a warm night so most of the mosquito nets were exposed, a nice cool breeze started which was very pleasant but at some point turned into a fairly high wind then the wind turned quite cold so we both dived under the sleeping bag, I have no idea what time the rain came but I jumped out of bed to close the outer flap before the rain came in, I did the ones up by the bed although I don’t like having those closed up, I like the air to come through and the daylight when it appears.

I awoke just after 7.00, as usual Andy was already up, he was in the camp kitchen drinking tea and reading a book, Stars Over Shiralee, the follow on book to Diamonds and Dust about the Million Acre Cattle Queen, Sheryl McCorry, he is enjoying reading the book as she talks about places that we have been to and feel that we know.

We both sit in the shade of the tent, it is already a warm morning, today will be hot! We both feel tired I think things are just catching up with us, we have our tea and toast, but I need a shower so off I head.

It feels strange to be back out on the camping circuit again, choosing the right shower cubicle etc. You might think it strange having to choose the correct one however you would be surprised at the reasons for choosing the right one.

Anyway this morning I chose the unlucky one, not only did it have a new shower head it happened to be a poor shower head and the water barely trickled out, but I must not grumble it is a shower and the water is hot.

The really unlucky bit comes once I had showered I wrapped the towel around me and stepped out of the cubicle and then “Crash!” up I went, slipped on the wet tiled floor, landing in a very undignified position on the floor, with both feet poking out from underneath the shower door. I muttered some vague expletive and once checked nothing was broken (only my pride!) got to my feet only to hear a click as someone opened the door of another cubicle.

A voice appeared “are you alright?” I was hurriedly dressing by now, and I don’t even remember drying myself before getting dressed, I just wanted to get back to the trailer and sit down, it shook me up a bit, the cubicles are quite small so falling over in one of them is not recommended.

I chatted to this woman, she sympathised because she nearly did the same thing this morning. Gratefully I accepted the offer of some ice and hobbled back to the trailer where Andy was fast asleep (he must be tired!) I rested my banged leg and the lady appeared with the ice so keeping the ice on it for a while helped with the bruising and swelling.

A painful bang, but I can just add that to my ever growing list of disasters and bruises.

We sit around for the rest of the morning, Andy is still exhausted and has a couple of hours sleep, he managed to work 121.5 hours in just over nine and a half days, so felt that he had earned a couple more hours in bed.

We had some lunch then we venture out in to Wagga Wagga just to mooch around, Andy still needs some new t- shirts and under crackers (Andy says that the one pair he has had on for the whole trip need washing, so he does need to get a replacement pair!!) Thankfully he is only joking!!

The remote key fob for the Patrol; needs a new battery, but before that we have to go to Bunnings for the tiniest screwdriver to take the back off the fob to see what battery is required.

We have to go and do some banking and a few bits and pieces, and wander in to Myers the department store, Caroline has left her wallet in the truck so I go and get it, when I get back she is in full swing of conversation with the lady behind the cash register, we do the transaction and the lady concludes by saying have great travels and if you come back this way drop in to see me here and you can come over for a BBQ. How kind.

It starts to rain so we go and get coffee, we gave Helen a call, she is on her way into Wagga to collect parts for the header but didn’t have time to hook up for coffee, Caroline said she didn’t seem her usual up beat self, I guess she feels sad about the situation also, neither of us feel our usual selves today either.

The rain has turned into big rain if there is such a thing and it is throwing it down, at least the weather boys and girls have got it right this time, as we knew it was coming. I guess it matches our mood for today.

We haven’t seen rain like this since the Great Ocean Road, way back in Mmmm, March I think, I will have to go back and have a look at the blog and I will let you know. We have had some rain, such as the tropical rain in Broome and Cairns, but this rain is different it is cold and windy with it, it reminds me of the rain we get in England!

We had hoped to have a good look around some of the sights of Wagga, but the rain is too heavy so we head back to camp, on our way back from town, we turn into a road and find it blocked by a tree, so we make a detour around to the other side of the carriageway, we see that there is a car underneath the tree, it looked as if it was parked so hopefully no one was hurt.

Back at camp, it is still raining, not quite so heavy, but we sit inside the tent for a little bit of shelter, not long after getting in the tent, we can hear rumbling in the distance, the rain gets heavier by the minute and the rumbling gets louder! We are now having a ripping thunderstorm, we have not had a storm like this in while.

While Andy has another sleep, he must be tired, I finish up the blog, however the deadline approaches for my tax bill to be paid so thought I should deal with that while I have some time, so the taxman is a little richer and I am a little poorer!

We cook our dinner in the camp kitchen a nice simple tea of pasta, bacon and dolmio washed down with a cup of tea.

We have not played cards in a while, so Andy throws me a challenge, however I have expired within the first two hands, I am either plain unlucky tonight and the cards just are not falling in my favour or I am not concentrating hard enough.

We finalise the evening by uploading the blog, Andy looks at the stats and we have just past 40,000 Hits on our travel blog, we think that is pretty amazing.

By 10.00 it is still raining, we get back into the tent and make sure everything on the inside is still dry (believe me the rain was that bad, anything could happen), we get into bed and put the lights are out but within 10 minutes the rumble of thunder appears in the distance, it is not long before it is above us, they are not just small rumbles but huge long lasting cracks.

The storm goes on for ages, I sleep and then I wake, but sleep eventually takes over as the storm diminishes.

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Photos

Oh No !!
The weather was so bad, a resident of Peters Street found this.