Steve's Trip 2

Monday
Steve was back here again by 10am today.   That's 50 hours since he left here, including 28 hours of train travel.   I had hoped that he would sleep Sunday night back at home in Victoria but he said that the house was freezing.  Oh well, 7C when it was 23C up here!  Naturally, the Landcruiser needed a lot of persuading to start up.  He wasted no time gathering up the bits and pieces that we needed and set off again.  He spent a little time with his Mother, Betty and was in Deniliquin by 6pm.  
Up until then, I was constantly in contact with him by phone and text.   At that time, I got the distinct impression that he wasn't going to let the grass grow under his feet;  I slept the night with the door unlocked, so that he could get in if he arrived during the night. (When he got home, he reminded me that he had keys with him!)  He cat napped when necessary in the car and keep on coming.

His train trip was interesting.  When he first got on in Moree, he was allocated to a seat that was turned around the wrong way and faced another seat.  He said that his legs were entwined with the two ladies opposite him!  Many station hands tried to turn the seat but it wouldn't budge.  Finally, the conductress directed him to a seat in first class.  Neat! 
He wasn't impressed with Sydney Central Station, mainly because he had to go outside for food.  He phoned me from there, saying that there were only 8 people in the whole carriage.   His jubilation didn't last, as many people boarded at stations further down the track.   A man joined the woman in front of Steve and to his disgust, they struck up a loud and animated conversation at 1am.  By the time the man got off, Steve felt that he knew both of them and their family details intimately.

Meanwhile, back here in Moree, I was never lonely.  I was visited by Marion, Emily, Carissa and Lilly on a number of occasions.   Carissa told her mother that she felt very sorry for me being all alone, so she spent hours here with me.  Sweet.  Even Lindy said that she would hate it, as she likes to be surrounded by people at all times.  I missed Steve but I liked the alone time, (not that there was much.)
 During Sunday afternoon, everyone rushed outside when we heard a loud plane, coming in very low.  Keith, over the road from us, took an artistic photo overhead.  He would laugh at my description of artistic;  he, like I, just wildly clicked the shutter button.

 Meanwhile, I was swearing because I was trying to get photos close up, for Steve to identify the plane, but keeping it in the view finder, on full zoom, was almost impossible!   I wasn't even sure that I  captured anything, until I transferred photos to the computer.    

Carissa told us that the Navy was putting on a day for Sea Cadets.  And what a demonstration it was.  The plane did all sorts of rolls and dives and stunts over our heads.  Steve hasn't yet named the plane but he believes it was one that would have been on an aircraft carrier in the 50s and the wings probably folded up. 

 

Lindy and Nev picked me up on Sunday night and we went out for dinner at The Tavern.   Good meals, nice people.  I had a little flutter on the pokies and managed to turn $5 into $47, which I brought home in $1 coins!!!    There was already around $30 in coins in my handbag; now it's so heavy that I can barely carry it!   I'm not complaining, mind you!

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Steve's Trip

Steve is catching the train in Moree at 8am today (Sat) and everything is packed ready for his departure.    I couldn't sleep so I got up at 4.30am;  I wish I could go with him.   I'm very nervous ---- country boy in the big smoke!!

The trip to Sydney is 9 hours.  He has over 3 hours there before he catches the overnight train to Melbourne, an 11 hour ride.   There's only an hour wait before he gets on the train to Kerang, where Dom will meet him after the relatively short 4 hour ride and take him home.  There he will gather up a few things we left behind and head back here in the car.

This was all his idea, so that we would have the car up here.  Riding around in the truck, without the van on behind, is very uncomfortable, so we tend not to go anywhere.  But I'm not too sure how comfortable 28 hours of train travel is going to be!!!   Then he will have to reverse the performance to get both car and truck back home.  I won't think about that until December!

He has fussed around making sure that I'll be OK while he's away and I've been given instructions that I'll never remember.  He has made up my medication in its little boxes and put meals in the freezer.   He made sure that I have the staples ---- chocolate and cigarettes!   It will be easier for me to live here than to live at home alone ..... heating, lighting and people around if I need them. 
LATER 9.15am
I rode down to Reception on the Gopher and saw Steve off with Neville.  He had been willing to walk to the station but Lindy offered a lift.  I was in my swim gear so I had a great swim.  Lots of people there --- a very different group to the ones we usually see.  First ever time on my own in the pools --- I managed beautifully!
Marion and Lindy insisted that I take mobile numbers in case of emergency!!  They also invited me out for tea on Sunday night.
Here I am, trying to enjoy independence and everyone wants to take care of me!!!

Steve has 'texted' me from the train ----- HIS FIRST EVER!!!     He hates phones.

Carissa has been up to entertain me for the morning.  After a cuppa, she dried the dishes and offered to help me to tidy out cupboards.  I could do with the help as the overhead cupboards are a bit high for me and Carissa is much taller than I am but I didn't have the energy.  Pity to lose such a good oportunity!

It's a glorious day -- no wind, not a cloud in the sky, temp is 20C at noon.

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Tuesday

When the sky turned grey on Sunday morning, Steve put up the annexe and by night it was raining.... not a lot but any amount is gratefully received.

I had been planning on getting some loose cotton from the sides of the road but now I'll wait for it to dry out.  I had no idea how the cotton is transported from the farms but yesterday, I saw 3 huge bales filling the back of a trailer on one semi.

I visited Mrs Heffernan's shop yesterday ---- "Heffernan's Family Outfitter".    It's always a great pleasure.  She is a sweet, chirpy lady in her eighties and has been running the shop for over 50 years and living behind it.   It's quite small but it is jam packed with nice clothing, a few shoes, jewellery and a room full of second hand books.    The clothing is of good quality; nothing is cheap but by comparison with large department stores, it's not terribly expensive either.   She had a variety of lovely tops on display and she explained to me that she will only buy one of each design so that people can be sure that they won't bump into someone else in town wearing the same top. 
I went in for a pair of bathers and that's what I asked for.  She looked blank, so I quickly substituted 'swimsuit'.   I think they call them 'swimmers' in NSW.  In Qld, they are 'cossies'.  As always, she had a few pairs in my size. 

We had seen the refurbishing of the town's oldest hotel written up in the paper so we cut out the 2 for 1 coupon and went in for lunch.  I had nice roast lamb and vegetables and Steve had fish and chips with salad, all for  the grand total of $10.

Steve bought his railway ticket from Moree to Melbourne, for next Saturday morning.  He'll arrive in Melbourne 24 hours later and be back at home by 1pm.  He has a few things to gather up then he plans to hit the road again, in the Landcruiser.  With that up here, we will be freed up to travel wherever we want.  Driving the bobtail truck is very uncomfortable and we never take it anywhere further than into town for shopping.

I had lovely visitors this morning ---- Tracey and her 3 month old girl, Kodee.  The little one slept over my shoulder for an hour while we talked and then rewarded me with lots of smiles and gurgles.   Steve told Tracey to be careful, that I had all the signs of a babynapper!   I love interacting with babies and little kids and that baby smell drives me crazy.  If it could be bottled, I would wear it as perfume!
Tracey is Lindy's sister (reception), Marion and Richard's daughter, (kiosk).  We went to her and Scott's wedding this time last year.  Lillee is Tracey's older daughter and unfortunately we were out when Lil came to see us yesterday.  She is 10 and I think she is sweet.  She is still having a lot of trouble at school, mainly her behaviour and interaction with other kids.  I feel sure I could help her but I can't interfere.  I can only do my best when she is with us.  She responds beautifully to one on one kindness and consistency. 

The rain has gone and the new washing machine is rumbling gently away.  The first lot of clothes came out clean but it's a mystery to me how they do, with so little water!   This is my first experience with a front loader machine.

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Massage

Tom greeted me enthusiastically, with 3 kisses ----  one cheek, the other cheek and back to the first.  How common is that?    He has put up his fees by $5 and spent a long time apologising.  Nice massage (but I miss my usual masseuse, Kat.)

Great news coming from Holland.  Carla, who stayed with us in January, has had brain tumours removed and is doing well. 

How nice it was to hang out the washing at 11am and bring it in less than 1½ hours later.   Rain is desperately needed.   We left our hoses behind so we haven't been able to water the garden yet. 


Steve finally managed to get his Telstra pre-paid mobile phone going.  After 3 visits to the shop and numerous phone calls, he was getting pretty hot under the collar.

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Thursday in Moree

SLEEP, SLEEP, SLEEP
I woke for breakfast at 10am, lunch at 5pm, tea at 9pm and was asleep in between.  By midnight I was sound asleep and dreaming again.  Anyone would think I had jet lag!   Fibromyalgia sets its own agenda for recovery!   Massage with Tom today so I should be well set up for the weekend.

The 'new' washing machine has had its first workout and passed the test.  This is the first time we have ever used a front loader and I'm unsure of how much I should put into it.

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Arrived in Moree

 So, here we are in Moree, setting up and unpacking for the next 6+ months.
It is Wednesday 12th.  Note that the dates and times are American.
Also, note that the newest posts are at the top.

In an effort to get me moving faster this morning, we decided that I would just get dressed and into the truck.  We stopped a little way down the road for breakfast.   It worked quite well but I wouldn't want to do it very often.  None of my body parts worked and I staggered along like a drunk!

The Warrumbungles looked magnificent in the early morning sunshine.   They have sharp peaks, smooth rounded tops, flat bits, pieces that look like turrets on a castle, hills that look like houses......  In the hazy sun, they looked as if they were painted onto the sky line.   The truck negotiated the hills very well, unlike the Toyota pulling the old van.

      For the first time, we saw cotton being harvested on one farm.   Perhaps the harvest was a little later than it normally is??  The road from Narrabri was littered with cotton, more than usual.  It just sits there, stuck to the grass.  That's sad for me ---- I like seeing these things move and take on human characteristics!!!

Lindy kept sending text messages, telling us to get a move on.   One message told us to come straight up to our usual site, without stopping at reception.  She arrived up here later with the girls, not telling them first that we were here, so there was a lot of yelling and squealing!  They have both grown a lot.  It's funny how kids always seem to grow, even though it's only 6 months since we last saw them! 

Our section of the park, the old part with the en suites, is quite full.  We haven't been to look at the rest of it yet.   As this is the last section to fill up, I imagine that the rest will be jam packed.

Time to swim!!!   The rest of the unpacking can wait.

Later

Wonderful, magic artesian water!!!    We started off in the 37C pool then had a short time in the 39C pool.  I then did a quick plunge into the cool pool to get the adrenalin flowing!!   The other swimmers thought that I was crazy as the outside temp was pretty cold!  Little do they know!!   The buzz that I get from the plunge from hot to cold is mind blowing and well worth the minor discomfort!!

We caught up with Neville (Lindy's husband and the skilful man who maintains the whole park), for a long talk.   He gave us all the news ---- the by-pass road is still unfinished, after many years; BigW is still a possibility (after many years);  Richard and Marion are running the kiosk again after their daughter found it too much, (we had a jubilant retirement dinner for Marion just before we left here last November!);  Steve, the author of a book about artesian pools, lost his wife to a heart attack a month ago.   They have stayed here in their van for the past year, with Steve going off on his Harley every so often, to explore more pools.   Steve said that she had had a severe heart attack about 8 years ago and was told that the next one would be her last.  The result of the autopsy showed no problems with the heart.  It was then handed over to the police for criminal investigation.  Steve is now in Western Australia where his wife was buried, trying to collect information from doctors about her heart.  (Or so the story goes.)

Tomorrow we will stock up the pantry, get books from the Library and do a tour around town (to see how many more houses have burnt down!)

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Gilgandra

The seat is wonderful!   I don't feel like I have to pick gravel out of my bottom every time we hit a bump.  It has some lumbar adjustment and it lays back a long way further than the previous seat.   I can lie back with my feet up on the dashboard (and drive from that position!)   Just kidding.   The seat is filled with air from the compressor tanks on the truck and I can have it adjusted to whatever level I want.

We left Temora at 10.30am and arrived in Gilgandra at 5.30pm, with an hour off for lunch at Parkes.  That was about 400kms.  We don't travel very fast.    The trip was about 2 hours too long for my comfort. 

We are having a bought lunch each day and cooking something simple for tea.   This is much easier for Steve who has to set up the van, power, water, TV and internet when we arrive.  He became cook a few years ago when I had difficulties.  The Clubs along the Newell Highway have excellent meals at good prices.  Only $8 for cottage pie and vegetables.

This caravan park has a disabled toilet and shower ---- well they are OK --- it's the people who use them who are disabled.   It's going to be a great relief to be able to sit down and have a shower again.

For most of the journey, swarms of locusts battered themselves against the windscreen.   We thought that the cooler weather may have put paid to them.  During summer, we had the little buggers hopping around in the kitchen.

The most fascinating scene of the day has been the seed heads that have blown across the road, twirled and danced in the wind and piled themselves up against fences, trees and walls.  One long paddock had them  stacked up against fence posts, in a regular pattern, with nothing in between.   I don't know what grass they come from and have no name for them.  Steve calls them "Father Christmases" but he doesn't know why. Each one is shaped like a tree, with branches.   If anyone, (maybe Robert or Roger?) can tell me the proper name of the grass, I would be delighted.  I'm still delighted with them, even if I never know the name of the grass.  They behave like the tumbleweeds but they dance instead of rolling.  They flit and flee at the whim of the wind.

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Days 1 and 2

As usual, we left bitching at each other but stopped before we turned the first corner (as usual.)  We know to expect it now.  The pressure of trying to get everything right when you plan to be away for at least 6 months, is definitely bitch making!!

We left a few hours later than planned, (as usual) and spent the night in Deniliquin instead of Jerilderie.  Nice to go to a different park.  We had a lovely site, close to the Edwards River.

The truck is rolling along very nicely, giving no trouble at all, unlike last year.   We travelled  via Wagga, to a huge wreckers' yard.  Steve bought a new wheel to use as a spare for the truck and also ---- wait for it ---- an air suspension seat for my side.    He already has one of these and says he doesn't really feel the bumps.   I not only feel the bumps, I wallow in them!

The van is towing well.  We are still chasing insurance for it.  The first quote, 2 years ago, was $700, so we  insured just the truck.  Now I've found an insurer who specialises in motor homes and they are willing to count the truck and van as a motor home.   We have a cover note and are slowly negotiating the deal.  I've sent photos of our no claim bonus and of the van being built.   The hardest thing now is to get it valued.   We might have to stop in at some caravan dealers along the way and see what they say.

We had lunch at Lockhart, a town that I've never visited before.  It's fascinating and I plan to spend a few days there on the way home.   Both sides of the main street had verandas the whole way.

The original quaint names of most of the stores were painted on the verandas or set into the brick facades.  Each shop was beautifully restored and many of the overhead stained glass windows remained.  Some of the original outside tiles were still in place.  There were some vacant shops, as in most rural towns, but it was quite hard to detect which shops were vacant as all of them had window displays!    These clever people are catering to tourism!

Many of the light tan bricks in the footpath were sponsored by district families and engraved with their names and often a small picture.  I walked with my head down, reading the bricks and a number of locals spoke to me, to say how pleased they were to find a reader.   One brick interested me ---- it had the name O.Gilpin.  That rang a bell ---- it's the name set in the doorway of the newsagents in Cohuna.  An 85 year old lady saw me reading that particular brick and came up to tell me that O.Gilpin had employed her at his store. He sold haberdashery, the same as in Cohuna.  A very quick google showed me that O.Gilpin had many country stores.

Our home for tonight is in Temora.   I can't imagine that we'll get out of here without seeing the aeroplane museum!   This is a funny little caravan park.  There is no resident caretaker.  We rang the phone number to tell her that we were here and because I was urgent, asked for the code for the key pad at the toilet!   When I was on my way back to the van, a man stopped and asked me how I got into the toilet, as his wife was desperate.  She was trying to wait for the caretaker to come around at 6pm to collect fees.

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Friday and Sunday were the two possible days that we would leave.   I continued with the "farce" of Friday up until a few hours ago but now it's quite clear that it will be Sunday, Mothers' Day.  There's still a lot left to pack.  I can't wait for the day when the van is finished and we won't have to pull anything out to work on it.  (Let's not kid ourselves!!  I'll be long dead before that van is considered "finished".)

Steve rang a large wrecker's yard in Wagga Wagga and found that they have a wheel and an air suspension seat that will fit the truck.  They aren't open on Sundays so if we get there on Monday morning, that will be fine.   Our first night will be at Jerilderie which is only two hours from Wagga.
The driver's seat is air suspension and is extremely comfortable, Steve says.  My seat, a good one out of Tarl's old car, is not so great.  It bottoms out on every bump in the road.  This was probably due to the springs, which Steve recently worked on.  We should probably forget about the new seat this time and give the repaired springs a trial.  (The seat is worth 4 weeks rent at the caravan park!)

We slept comfortably in the van last night and woke up to the bird songs.  It's much warmer than our bedroom, which is very welcome now that the weather has turned cold.

We're still on the trail of insuring the van, despite the fact that it has done a few trips already.  Because it's considered neither a caravan nor a motor home, and because it's home built,  it has been difficult finding someone to insure it, without mortgaging the house!  Finally, we have found an insurer who will take it on, at a reasonable price.  They want to consider it to be a motor home, so all of the literature refers to it as one unit, although we have to insure  truck and caravan separately.  Questions are asked which are impossible to answer!   The value?  Well, Steve has a heap of receipts;  I wonder if they want those?   They want to see our No Claim Bonus.   I asked our local broker and the answer was to send them a copy of the last invoice, which shows NCB 60%.   I didn't understand that but I was told that 60% is the top rating.   Huh???????

This problem of insurance, plus numerous other loose ends will occupy us for the next couple of days.
Meanwhile, half the house is inside and the other half is in the van.  It isn't easy to take off for 7 months!!
I tremble when I write that figure......  the thought of not seeing family for that long is gut churning.  Thank goodness for email. 

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Ready to Go

Nature says it's time to go........ The green tumbleweeds have turned brown and are preparing to roll away. They have been plumper and more plentiful than ever, this year. There are so many paddocks that haven't been watered, due to the drought, and the tumbleweed has really taken hold in the bare ground.
When the time is right, they break free from the earth and start rolling in the wind.

They blow along in groups, reminding me of a bunch of lemmings making the death rush! When they reach a fence or bridge, they pile up on top of each other. I hear them screaming, "Me first, me first."

Steve has been busy making more cupboards in the van (and making more sawdust to clean up, but who's complaining??)

The toilet has been shifted into the shower room and the old toilet room is becoming a wardrobe. There will be a breakfast bar where we planned to put the wardrobe. I think. Originally, Steve thought that the plans he drew up were fixed. Then I looked at them!! This 5th wheeler will probably be a work in progress for the rest of its life.

There's a big pile of "stuff" in the house, ready to be transferred to the van. The weather has cooled off and we've had to light a fire so our departure is imminent. As far as I can recall, we left on Mothers' Day last year. It's quite likely that we'll do likewise this year.

Thermal pools of Moree ----- I'm ready for you!