Day 4: We box our way across the South Australia border

We got away at a reasonable hour, to the goodbye of our new friends (and their concerned looks about our free camping plans – it obviously wasn’t their cup of tea). We headed north, having to be stern with our new GPS who thought we were better off heading west and persisting in trying to turn us into every farm road heading that way. Persistence won, of course and we sailed into and through Warracknabeal and on to Hopetoun. From there we went east until we joined up with the Sunraysia Highway to Mildura – our path to Ouyen.

So we finally got to Ouyen, whose charms we had so callously spurned on the Big Trip of 2012 in favour of the better-known attraction of Mount Gambier. Well, it is a small place, pleasant enough to have lunch in the shade and get bitten by ants in the process. Then we set off for Pinnaroo, just across the South Australian border, our destination for the day. The road was very good – the Mallee Highway – and it runs between the two Victorian desert national parks. The land is fairly sparse, and mainly farmed for wheat. Just short of the border we investigated a free camp a couple of kilometres off the road, which turned out to be a set of abandoned tennis courts in the middle of nowhere. Along with nowhere there was no-one, and Joke could just not feel comfortable staying there. So on we went. Pinnaroo had a cheapo caravan park, but it was packed. What to do now? In the end we went on down the Mallee Highway to Parilla, 25 kms further on.

There we found a rest stop opposite the pub (and the other 2 or 3 houses that constituted the town). I grumbled about tennis courts and lost opportunities, but in the end we pulled up in between some trees and settled ourselves in. Camps 6 had said there was a toilet there, but the good folk of Parilla had also provided a shower (with hot water!!), all for free. What more could you want? The facilities were new, fresh and clean, so things looked good.

Meanwhile, we had found ABC local radio on the AM band which was broadcasting the Boxing Day Test. The commentary has always been better than the TV one, and we listened with great enjoyment and also concern when it seemed as if England would be in with a chance. We also heard that Kerry O’Keefe was going to retire from commentating after the Sydney test.

Day 3: Christmas in Horsham (25/12/13)

Well, we said we would spend Christmas in Horsham, and so we did! We had cast about for a church to go to, and we found that the Anglicans were the only ones scheduling a Christmas celebration – at least online. So that is what we set our sights on. Armed with an address in the GPS we went into town and found the Anglican church in the middle of it. We passed a Lutheran Church on the way with lots of cars parked around it and I wondered whether we shouldn’t change our plans and go there. But we didn’t, so we went on to the Anglican Church and joined the service there. The program had a number of carols on it, most of which we had sung at the Christmas Concert, so I thought it would be alright.

However, this was high-church Anglican, of which I have heard and read much over the years, but had never experienced in the flesh. There were priests and priestesses, canons (single-n, non-firing), surplices (non-army) and lots of chanting, genuflecting, spraying the crib with holy water and formulaic calls-and-responses. A lot of cat’s passports and doll's cupboard, as the Dutch would say*. It is sad to see that there is a part of the Church of England which might as well have stayed with the Pope back when Henry VIII was doing his thing, for all the notice it took of God’s work in the Reformation. However, we persevered right to the final “O come all ye faithful” and took our leave.

Lunch with our caravan park neighbours Stewart and Ursula was moved by mutual agreement to dinner, and a late one at that. Our chook was big, and required a long stay in the Weber, so we had dinner at 7. Good conversation, good company and a scrumptious meal.
* Poespas and poppekast

Day 2: Towing to Horsham for our Christmas date (24/12/13)

We got up bright and early (har har) and made ready to leave by the appointed hour (10:00 am). After many bits and pieces having been done, including fitting the battery back in place, we were ready to leave at 11. I had a chat with Hank, the friendly Beaufort Caravan Park caretaker. He charged me $20 for the unpaid storage fee (“yeah, 4 weeks is about right, can’t be bothered working it out on the calendar”). I said that we had looked forward to hearing the banjo frogs in the lake again and he said, “The what?” I described the frogs we had heard in October (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151974965384289) and he said, “Oh, you mean the pobblebonks!” So, pobblebonks they are.

Off to Horsham! The caravan settled in behind the Ranger as if it had been towed by one all its life, and the Ranger pretended it had nothing more than a little trailer behind it. They got along fine. So did we, enjoying the jaunt in reasonably warm sunshine to Horsham. It was not going to be our longest day journey on this trip, and it was not meant to be: we were going to ease into this ever so slowly before tackling the big kilometres out west.

At Horsham we drove to the Wimmera Lakes Caravan Park, where we had camped many years before when we ended up in Horsham with mechanical trouble with our Lite Ace. The park was not as spick and span as it was then, but it would do us fine. We were surprised to see that it was almost empty; there were only 2 other vans there plus some campers and a few people in units. Apparently the place would fill out after Boxing Day. We found a spot near the amenities (always a plus, ask John Williamson who describes the phenomenon in his song “Old Farts in Caravan Parks”). Our neighbours came over to say that they were glad that we were there as they had started to feel lonely. They were Stewart and Ursula from Melbourne, he Scots and she German. They were first-time empty-nesters and feeling the loneliness of having a Christmas without family. So we agreed to pool resources and have a Christmas lunch together.

Off we went to the shops for our re-stocking expedition, picking up a gas cylinder for the Weber on the way, as well as a chook that would be our symbolic Christmas turkey.

Horsham is a nice country town, and having been to a few in recent years on the mainland, I can’t say that I dislike the breed. They may not have the fast pace of the big cities, but make up for it with uncomplicated charm and friendliness.

The temperatures were reasonable to mild, being quite a lot warmer than what we had had until now in Tassie, but not to the extent that we could not cope. Nights were very mild indeed, yet we did not regret only taking the summer doona.

Day 1: Reunited with the caravan after a boring boat trip (23/12/13)

The day has arrived! We are off on our next adventure with our little caravan! It feels strange to set off without having it in tow, but it makes for good speed to Devonport for our 9:00 am sailing. We want to be there before 8:15, so we go full speed ahead and get there by 7:45. A bit of anxiety does not come astray… Anyway, we were waved through and drove straight onto a three-quarters empty deck, hearing later that only 2 out of 5 passenger vehicle decks were being used on this trip. It must have been the other one that was full. We were installed in our seat-of-choice, watching a car arrive at 8:12 at the check-in and obviously not being allowed to board. Sure enough, we were moving off the wharf at 8:28 for our 9:00 sailing!! Another grrrr!! to add to the many we have concerning the TT-Line.

Our seat-of-choice turned out not to be, so we moved to our new seat-of-choice at the stern of the boat. We lasted an hour there before moving to our final seat-of-choice two decks below and out of the cold draught which blew around that upper deck. Interpersonal relationships were maintained in a cordial way throughout the seat changes. Our final s-o-c allowed us to sit and read and sit and sleep and sit and stare at the (too-docile) Bass Strait. We are agreed that the daytime ferry journey is just a tad boring……

Port Phillip Bay was reached after which the ferry lost most of its speed as it inched its way towards Port Melbourne. We appreciate that it is necessary to slow the ferry down in Port Phillip Bay on account of not disturbing the yellow-toed sea-urchin or some such, but it does add an hour or two to the already boring experience.

Last on, (almost) first off at Port Melbourne and by 7 pm we were well underway on the road to Ballarat and Beaufort. We marvelled at our new Garmin GPS with its understated Australian voice, and, fickle people that we are, totally forgot the lovely British Serena who had guided us for so long and so far with our discarded TomTom. The Garmin gave us lovely pictures of the Melbourne freeway system as it guided us smoothly on to the Western Highway.

At Ballarat we made a quick stop at MacDonalds to do away with having to organise an evening meal. Then the final run into Beaufort. At the caravan park we found the keys they had left for us, but would we find the caravan?? Yes, there it was, under its cover, looking as good as when we left it. We whipped off the cover (well, a slow-motion whip, anyway) and attached it to the Ranger and towed it 100 metres to our en-suite site. We were caravanning again! Inside looked good and clean and it was just good to be back.

Day -8 Only a week to go... (15/12/13)

I have just set up this blog for our next big trip: a visit to our children in Western Australia. The itinerary in a nutshell is: we leave home on the 23rd of December and take the day ferry to Melbourne. We then drive out to Beaufort to be reunited with our little caravan. The next day we start our trip and go as far as Horsham where we dig in for shopping, Christmas Day, resuming on Boxing Day and going (north) west towards Port Pirie and beyond. After Port Augusta we swing down into the Eyre Peninsula for a look around, resuming the trip westwards at Ceduna. If the weather and travelers' tips are positive we will swing northwards at Kalgoorlie as far as Leinster and then westwards to Mt Magnet. Then it's a run into and beyond Perth to Rockingham and specifically the suburb of Singleton. After staying with Adam and Miriam we will proceed southward to Albany and specifically the suburb of Lower King/Bayonet Head (whatever) to stay with Renske and Len and Stacy and Dominic and ......
In due course (....) we will go eastwards again, this time through Esperance and then back across the Nullarbor to meet up with the ferry on 30th of January.
You will notice that immediate plans are very definite, but become progressively vaguer for dates further out. This is quite deliberate, because the (herewith) stated aim of this holiday is to relax from the busy-ness of everything and retrieve our puff, as the Dutch would say. That is why we will have Christmas at Horsham and New Year somewhere round Ceduna or parts west.
The only downside I can see to this plan is that we may be out of communication range for the Boxing Day Test. Oh well, we've as good as won the Ashes, anyway.