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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