Dogs and vans and people and that was May 2017

Thursday May 11th 

I booked into Brighton Caravan Park - my favourite place - for a week between house sits. I was located right near the new shower blocks and O - M - G!!!  The best showers EVER!!. About a 12 inch diameter (30 cms for you Metric-ites) and the water literally gushed out. It was wonderful.  Some Caravan Parks have "showers" - tiny little shower head and you have to run around to get wet! My love for Brighton Caravan Park is consolidated. :)

Brighton Jetty

Brighton

I've certainly caught up with a lot of old friends with my Adelaide trips and this trip was no exception. I had dinner with Bob and Carol Ryan. Bob was a friend for many many years of my step father David Sando, who passed away some years back. It was lovely to catch up with them and will make sure I do again on another trip. xx 

Me and Bob Ryan - 83!!! Him...not me

Friday May 12th

The nights are now very cold now- got down to 3 C last night but I am quite cosy with my quilts and wheat bags and hot water bottle. I went for a 7 km walk with Vicki S along my gorgeous Brighton Beach today and had a midway coffee. Very enjoyable and a warm beautiful clean crisp day.

Brighton - sculptures all
along the seafront

Just in case you  get sick of my
 photos of Brighton Beach -
this is Brighton Beach lol

Angry Brighton Beach :)

Friday night was Aussie Rules football night with a twist. My 2 beautiful great nieces have taken up football - normally the domain of testosterone and hairy legs - neither of which Olivia and Jamie can be accused of. Father  Daniel - now thats something else. He's the coach of Olivia's team and is in his element. With 2 daughters and no sons he thought coaching a football team would be on his "not gonna happen" list. I really enjoyed watching Olivia play for the Brighton Bombers -  they didn't win but they certainly played well.

GN#1 - Olivia - Aussie Rules ready

Saturday May 13th

Long beach walk - what else? lol.  The days are gorgeous - Adelaide does autumn so very well.

Sunday May 14th

An early start on a cold morning to watch Great Niece #2 Jamie play her football. Once again a cold start but a glorious day - helped along with a bacon and egg sarny at the oval. Jamie shone and her team won. I so enjoyed watching them.

GN#2 - Jamie xx

Today is Mother's Day and I'm a long way from Lee and Michael but I've  been invited for dinner with aforementioned Great nieces and their Mum and Dad - Samantha and Daniel and Sam's mum Sue. Daniel cooked an exceptional roast lamb and we laughed so much my ribs ached. It was a wonderful night and I was gifted a snuggly rug - electric - to keep me warm on winter days.

Me and Sam...and a......box
......memory deserts me lol

Monday 15th May

Talk about catch ups! I had lunch today with Kathy Read and Fran Bermingham. I started nursing with these ladies way back in 1969. I thoroughly enjoyed spending some time with them and I hope to catch up again in future.

1969 - Me 2nd left - Fran 2nd right

Me right - Fran middle - Kathy Left
 Haven't changed a bit lol

Tuesday 16th May

I start my house sit at Kaye and Kelvin's house today and we got off to a good start with dinner at the Hallett Cove Hotel. Of course I got back to their house and realised I'd left my handbag hooked onto the back of my chair. Grrr. I can only blame old age...I was perfect in my younger days. Not!!
A quick phone call and a mad dash back to the Pub and all was well. I was lucky this time and will try to be more careful. This is getting to be a habit.

Wednesday 17th May

 A quiet day at home with the TV and the pets. Nice.

Thursday 18th May

Because of the "heart" incident back in Mildura I decided I should give up coffee - apparently caffeine can trigger the sort of thing I experienced and it has featured highly in each similar incident so far. I though after giving up cigarettes and drinking - both of which I held  Olympic Gold Medals in - that coffee would be a cinch. Well...no.  Almost instant headache and felt flat and lethargic all day. I hope this doesn't last long.

My Giving Up Coffee kit

Saturday 20th May

Coffee withdrawals - ugly!! Massive headache and absolutely no energy. Who would have thought?

Sunday 21st May

I went to lunch with my ex husband, Paul at the Marino Beach Cafe. What a magnificent view and the food and company were lovely.  My only anguish was the car park which we could see from our balcony table. The actual car parks were sooo narrow and I was stressing that one of the many lunatics that were whizzing in and out with a half inch to spare between cars, might dent my lovely Snowball. Luckily we had a box seat and when I saw a better park become vacant I flew down and moved Snowball to a safer spot. Much better :)  ..... but probably a bit neurotic.

Beautiful view from Restaurant.
 See Snowball squeezed in?

Salt & Pepper Squid and Prawns -
 very nice indeed

Paul - keeping an eagle eye on
 Snowball in the Carpark

Monday 22nd May

I had "not coffee"with Astrid Eacott at Henley Square - an old friend from when our daughters started school together - probably in about 1992. It was a great catch up and we ended up staying for lunch. I hope we can repeat it on another trip. I did enjoy it. Astrid's daughter Alina is a newsreader on ABC TV and is engaged to a young man who does the sport reports on the same channel.  Lovely.

Tasty lunch at Henley Square

Tuesday 23rd May

Today is my last full day in Adelaide and it was spent cleaning and getting sorted for a return trip to Brisbane and taking Mishka (da dog) for a final walk....I should say Mishka takes me for a walk....she just leads me along.

Wednesday 24th May

I left about noon and travelled to Balranald NSW - another one of my favourite CP's. I didn't really think I would get this far because my plan was to take it easy. I didn't want any repeats of the trip down, but it was quite leisurely and I did 530 kms, getting in after dark. Hit the pub for dinner :)

Nothing like a country pub dinner.
Cold night..... Big fire...and pudding

Thursday 25th May

I got an early start and wanted to make it to Peak Hill NSW - another favourite. Not such a good day though. I'd left in the morning without so much as a  cup of tea therefore depriving myself of even more caffeine. I had a crippling headache and there were big blurry spots before my eyes. WTF!!
Tumour? Stroke? No - it turned out to be a too tight Visor type hat and dirty prescription sunglasses.  Doh!!  A quick stop - a cup of tea - a change of hats - clean the glasses... and a cure was had.

Continuing on I again came across a lot of cows grazing in the long paddock and strolling on the road. They really were lovely to watch. Quite calm and in no hurry. Maybe they can teach me a lesson or two. 

No Caption needed

570 kms to Peak Hill and again dark when I got in. I hit the RSL  for fish and chips and had an early night.

Friday 26th May

I had time up my sleeve so I decided to go to Lightning Ridge NSW. I thought I might stay 2 nights and have a good look around at this Opal mining town. Things didn't go quite as planned. Firstly I missed the turn off to the town - how, I don't know. See photo below - you'd think I would have noticed this. 

How the Hell did I miss this turn off?

Lightning Ridge Hilton..?

Gravel Caravan Park.
Every step echoed in the night

The 470 kms I should have travelled was increased by another 60 kms because I went 30 kms past the turn off. Grrrr My preferred Caravan park was full so I went to the other one which was all gravel and the amenities block was disgusting. I decided to stay just the 1 night so I never really got to see much. Everything was very expensive and the BBQ chicken that I paid top dollar for was more like a BBQ'd sparrow.  I will re attempt Lightning Ridge at another time and will book ahead.

Saturday 27th May

I couldn't leave early enough the next day - didn't bother to shower - I only had me to impress. I did make toast in my new toaster and learned that making toast in a camper van leads to the smoke detector going off. In future I will toast OUTSIDE next time. lol. 

 I thought I might head to Toowoomba and spend some time there. I stopped along the way at a bush cafe.  This was a VERY bush cafe. Corrugated iron walls and long drop toilets. This was obviously a truck stop - my bacon and eggs was huge with snags and chips and toast and tea. Just what I needed. I'd just got chatting with another couple when a man walked in asking for a shovel. I'd been listening to  a scary podcast on the way there - murder and mayhem - and the sight of this dishevelled man coming in looking for a shovel in the middle of nowhere excited the imagination. Wolf Creek 3.....?  I left. I locked the doors... just in case John Jarret turned up lol.

Yes - I ate it all

I was breathlysed in a tiny town called Bogabilla Qld......I've given up so many things that I doubt I would register anything on ANY test they gave me lol.

A great day to be on the open road

My no coffee rule has been maintained but it IS a pest. I usually make a Thermos of coffee at the beginning of the day and when I stop every couple of hours for a break, I'd pop in the back of the van and have a coffee and a snack. I tried making tea and Thermos-ing it but it overdraws and tastes bloody 'orrible. I had also tried just water and then add a tea bag as required but the water doesn't stay boiling and you just get brown water. I've solved the problem by getting some decaff. I usually avoid this because it's generally decaffeinated by adding chemicals but Nescafe has one that is done by Osmosis using water. Problem solvered and taste is quite reasonable. Will do the job.

I've had a good day of travel - thoroughly enjoying the drive and listening to True Crime podcasts and when I reached Toowoomba I realised I was only an hour from Lee's place so I pressed on. I'd done about 750 kms and again got in after dark.  My travelling rules are - stop every 2 hour - never let the tank go under 1/4 full - never stop at a roadside rest stop if there is only 1 car there AND don't drive after dark. I have broken all of these rules this trip but have given myself a severe talking too and will change my ways in future.

Derek da dog went nuts when I walked in - he obviously missed me. Just went crazy. So did I ;)

I spent the next few days just relaxing,  doing some chores for Lee and looking after Derek. Lee has been working from home and has always been there to look after Derek. Now she's started a new job where she needs to be in the office so I'm here for most of June to look after the dog. After that they'll be moving to a more dog friendly location and will better be able to accomodate Derek and will be able to leave him during the day.


Saturday 3rd June

Today is Derek's first Birthday Party. Yes...I know....he's a dog, right? Well not really - he doesn't think he's a dog and I don't think Lee thinks so either. The party was at Love Street Dog Park and 20 dogs turned up. They needed to wear Monster outfits and prizes were awarded. I kid you not. Pictures below.

Wee Bruno in his prize
winning costume

Derek the Octo-dog.
 Looked like he was in
his dressing gown lol

Billy from Stafford UK won
the prize for scariest internet
dog lol

Tuesday 5th June

I eventually got around to updating this blog to the beautiful sound of Derek snoring. I'm glad he's finally asleep - it doesn't however stop him from making some dreadful smells  

He's obviously missing Lee and follows me EVERYWHERE.  

HE LOVES HIS ME -MAW

Rain...Broken Cow...Hospital...No Internet....Bloody Big Walk...smelliest loo in the world

Well, I haven't had the internet for a while so I hope my memory doesn't fail me in this post.

I left Janelle's on the 23rd April and spent the night at daughter Lee's place so I could see her and get my Derek fix - I miss him so much. He went crazy when he saw me :)

Derek da Dawg xx

I got up early the next day and took Dezza for a walk and then set off for Ballina NSW to double check on a Van issue but all is well. It was a gorgeous day and the drive was only about 3 hours but it was a "good to be alive" day. 

This feeling was challenged severely when I stopped at a lay by rest stop for a coffee and then went to use the "long drop" toilet. MY GOD!! I nearly passed out from the smell. Never again. I'll risk going bush and sitting on a snake rather than use one of those again.

I headed off again, my final destination being Adelaide, South Australia but I had some days up my sleeve. It started to get a bit hairy as I was heading West and there were lots of big hills and winding roads and then the weather turned nasty with heavy rain and mist. I decided to head for Armidale NSW and stay the night......no point in driving in that weather. I came around one bend and a semi trailer was parked precariously on the side of the road with a big drop on one side and blocking off half the road on the other. At first I thought he had had an accident but a couple of other cars were also stopped. Then I saw it.....right in front of me and on a sharp bend was a cow...in the middle of the road. The poor thing had fallen off the back off the cattle truck!!!! It had a broken back leg. 

Because of the tight bend I couldn't risk going around  him and I was a bit scared it might charge Snowball. Of course there was no mobile service so someone went off to the local Police Station to get someone to come shoot the poor thing. The bloody driver had done nothing and blamed the cow for jumping out. No way could that have happened with high sides on the truck and the number of animals squashed in. I think he just didn't close the door properly.

Hard to see but this is the broken cow

I finally got to Armidale and booked into the caravan park. Armidale is the highest city in Australia at a 1000 feet and also holds the record for the smelliest toilets at a caravan park.....nowhere near as bad as the roadside stop though. lol. Regardless of the toilet humour I had a great sleep and was on the road again fairly early. This time in winter clothes...rather chilly.

25 April

Note to self......shut the lock on the bloody fridge before hitting the road!!  A bit of a food fight on the floor. 

Autumn colours in Bendemeer

The sky got darker and darker and the rain came down heavier and heavier. The semi trailers drove on as if it was a fine summer day. Dickheads!! 

This was the BEST it looked all day

My plan was to get to Forbes NSW but by 4 pm it was absolutely belting down. I came to a small town called Peak Hill and saw a Caravan Park sign so I drove in. What a pleasant surprise. The owners were welcoming and friendly and all the conveniences were clean and not smelly :) The next morning  Mr Owner went round a cleaned everyones windscreens. The local RSL had a Chinese Restaurant (lol) in it so I went and got a $10 schnitzel. Talk about a culture mash up! It was also Anzac Day and there were a lot of people in the RSL who had been there a loooong time and a very doubtful Elvis impersonator was holding court.

So Nice

Mr Owner was telling me about the Elvis Festival held in nearby Forbes in January each year and I had actually seen this years on TV and it looks a lot of fun. On the strength  of this I booked in for a couple days next January. 

Mrs Owner then called out to say there is a free pancake breakfast in the camp kitchen. Love this place and the people.

Snowball's twin was parked next to me so I had a long chat with the other van's owners and learned a lot. They have been EVERYWHERE!

26 April

Quite a long drive to Balranald NSW in the cold and wet. The midday temperature was 11C and that dropped to 5C over night. I think it's twice that cold when you are sleeping in a tin can. I booked in for two nights as its a nice park but needed to nuke my wheat bags during the night to keep me warm.

Cold wet day in Balranald so
snuggled up with coffee and old movies

Me waking up freezing in Balranald.
Thank God for "my precious"
wheat bags and microwave.

27 April

I started to pack Snowball up to continue my trip and I was getting very hot and clammy - even though it was so cold. Once I got going I was fine and I only travelled a couple of hours to Mildura Vic where I planned to stay the night. I went to Coles for groceries and was getting hot and clammy again and very tight in the chest. Returning to the Park my pulse was racing and I really got quite concerned. Result - ambulance and a night in Mildura Base Hospital. Lots of tests because I DO have an irregular heart beat. Upshot - all is well and I will see the specialist when I return to Brisbane. This has happened before and its annoying because deep down I know it's probably an anxiety/panic attack but at 65 you can't take that chance.   When the Dr does the ECG and sees the irregular beat they treat it like a heart attack until they know for sure what it is. It's the first one I've had for a while so I will take care to get more R & R days along the way. I spent the next few days in Mildura just to make sure all was well. The people there were wonderful and fellow park residents did some shopping and washing for me. I felt a bit embarrassed but the doctor says I did the right thing. Breathe Lesley Breathe :) The Caravan park is right on the river so I went for some lovely walks.

2 May

I drove the 5 hours to Adelaide to start my housesit at Rosalie's house. All went well and I was very relaxed. Over the last week I've taken a few walks along the beach at Brighton - a place I love and two longer walks in Hallett Cove Conservation Park. One was tough and one was bloody horrendous and I was so glad when it was over but I was so glad I did it. The scenery was spectacular and the walk was 11 kms round trip. These photos say it all. It was very hard to climb into Snowball when I got back and I am feeling it today. Although it was tough it was really enjoyable. Secret - when I got to the 5.5 km mark I called an Uber to take me back to the car. I gave myself a talking to, cancelled the Uber and made my way back.  It might be a while before I do this again but it was a glorious day with a beautiful coast line. The sea was clear and there were many fishing boats out. Wonderful. Was good for the soul.

See those steps aagh

There are several lots of these stairs

I've had a good week .... caught up with Vicki for a beach walk and coffee which has become our norm when I am in Adelaide. Vicki and I have been friends since 1977 and it's great to be able to renew that friendship when in Adelaide. I also went to the movies..... "Get Out". One to forget but the Choc Top and Popcorn were good.


10 May

Rosalie returns from her "holiday" in Vanuatu today. This was supposed to be a restful holiday in a tropical paradise but they were hit with a cyclone so it ended up wet and windy and stuck in their hotel room and lots of reading. She'll be glad to get home.

I'm booked into Brighton Caravan Park for a few days after today and tomorrow. I have a few personal things to take care of but then I'll be at my beautiful Brighton Beach until the 16th when I start a housesit for Kaye and Kelvin at Hallett Cove. I suppose I will attempt that bloody walk again....or maybe I'll pray for rain lol

Brisbane in April

The end of March and the start of April became a bit crazy with the advent of Cyclone Debby in FNQ. (non Australians - I'm not swearing - it's Far North Queensland). After the devastation in the north she headed south and we had torrential rain which continued all the way down the east coast of Australia. Due to this my house sit with Lorraine was cancelled as all cars were told to stay off the road unless urgent and her destination was under water.... even if she could have got there. I was very sad for her as she was so looking forward to having a break. Hopefully there will be better weather in June and we will have more luck.

The bright side is I got a chance to reorganise Snowball. When I first got her I was on a tight schedule to get to Adelaide so I basically tossed things in and hoped for the best. Now I have removed unnecessary items, added essentials and made the van more user friendly.

I did a house sit for Lee looking after Derek as she had to make an urgent trip to Melbourne for a funeral. Sad but I was happy I could be there to help her out.

Next it was off to Ballina NSW. When I picked Snowball up there was a bit of a "ding" in the rear end which was supposed to have been fixed before pick up but was overlooked. I returned for the fix and was put up in a motel and given transport  for my overnight stay. All excellent and Snowball is looking beautiful. I enjoyed it at Ballina so much I stayed for the rest of the week and got to try out the awning and a few other things I hadn't really tested on overnight stops. 

Snowball - with all her finery

Ballina RSL 

Steak sanger & chips & coffee....nice

Walking along the river at Ballina

 Ballina North Coast Central Caravan Park was great. Quiet and within walking distance to the town Centre, with lovely walks along the river side.  The mozzies in the bathroom were an issue and I did have a visitor in my shower (see below) but all in all it was good and I will stay there again.

Kermit da frog - glad it wasn't Miss Piggy

Ballina

I did a few touristy drives and the coast along there is just magnificent.

Lennox Beach

Finally it was back to Brisbane and I'm currently sitting for Janelle at Westlake....looking after Snoopy. Snoopy is a delight...quiet....follows me everywhere and just gets so excited when I put my sneakers on lol. I put his sleeping blanket on the floor at the bottom of my bed and turned the light out. I could hear all sorts of scrabbling noises so I eventually turned the light back on. He'd dragged the rug to a point BESIDE my bed and bundled it up like a little nest and was ready to sleep. So cute.

Snoopy.

I'm here till the 23rd April and then I need to go back to Ballina en route to Adelaide for a van related thing. The weather in Brisbane is still quite warm and a bit humid even though we are in the second month of Autumn. I'm looking forward to getting back to Adelaide because Autumn there is magnificent. Beautiful sunny days and cool nights. Revisit this come mid winter - I might change my mind re Adelaide lol

Back to Briz.

I continued my trip north and was planning to stop for the night at Coonabarbran NSW. This would have made it an 800 Km driving day but the weather report was for a severe storm with hailstones and I didn't want poor old Snowball to get battered . The night before in Balranald there'd been two big storms that passed over me. Buckets of rain with thunder and lightning. I felt very small tucked up in the van with the quilt pulled up to my nose. Anyway, I decided to drive another 100 km or so to Narrabri to get away from the approaching storm cell. Narrabri ain't pretty but there were no storms.


Next day I decided to head for Tenterfield NSW which is roughly a 4 hour drive. I had heard good things about it but had never been there. The countryside was quite beautiful and the roads good. I went through a small town called Bingara that looked interesting and very pretty. I will make a point of going back and checking it out when I have more time. It's an old gold and diamond mining  town - you never know - I might strike the motherlode :) 

I stopped at Inverell for lunch on the river bank. What I saw of the town looked lovely and I will put that on my "places to revisit" list. The beautiful gardens by the river reminded me of the park next to the La Brea tarpits in LA. Very relaxing.

Beautiful parklands by the river at Inverell NSW

On the way to Tenterfield I ran into this herd of sheep which had taken over the roadway. It's nice not to be in any hurry and to take my time and enjoy watching them running around. The old expression about following like a sheep is so true. One would take off and the others would all follow - one by one.

The day before I had had a similar experience with a very large herd of cows grazing on the "long Paddock".  Once again....nice to have time to sit back and observe.

Sheep. sheep and more sheep

Onwards to Glen Innes - not so pretty. I finally hit Tenterfield and the rain started as I hit the town limits lol. I located a nice caravan park and climbed into my bed and "read" a book. (This means I fell asleep for an hour or two). The weather improved the next day so I had a tootle around town and saw the famous Tenterfield Saddler shop (think Peter Allen), had a real country roast dinner for lunch, and made it back to the Caravan Park for a guided tour around the old Hotel attached to the Caravan Park. This has been "done up" but unfortunately not true to the era and some of the furnishings are more Ikea than 1800's Australia.

Arriving in Tenterfield - WELCOME!!

Tenterfield's famous cork tree

Great song Peter Allen

Upstairs Verandah  of the old hotel

The next morning (Saturday 25th March) I completed my return to Brisbane, getting in about lunch time. Snowball is a joy to drive and great to sleep in. I'm happy to say I made the right choice for me and I'm looking forward to my future adventures in her.

Ah! Snowball

Very comfy - this is why I fall asleep
when I set myself down for a read lol

Adelaide to Brisbane

Well...I have just done 2 house sits in Adelaide looking after

House #1 - 1 dog and 2 cats
House #2 - 50 guinea pigs and 19 chickens and 1 dog and 2 puppies and 6 parrots

LOL  a lot of fun was had all round and a tiny puppy called Liam stole my heart. He's the kid at school that was always in trouble - I totally relate to him.

Camille and Liam

I'm now heading back to Brisbane for 2 house sits up there and then back to Adelaide for a repeat performance with the two listed above.  Brisbane to Adelaide is about 2100 kms so its a fair hike but I get to have a mini holiday in between sits and also get to see a lot of our beautiful country.

I had lots of beautiful beach walks while in Adelaide and caught up with heaps of people I haven't seen for some time. It was great :)

Beautiful Brighton Beach

I left Adelaide this morning and have travelled about 530 kms at a very leisurely pace with a few leg stretch stops along the way. I called it a day at about 4.30 pm and I'm currently parked in a lovely spot at the Balranald Caravan Park. (NSW). It's still 32 C so quite warm and a breeze would be nice. I'm parked right next to the river and while the surrounds are nice the river itself look like the Great Grey Green Greasy Limpopo River (fans of Rudyard Kipling will know what I mean).

Murrumbidgee River -  Balranald NSW

I went for a walk and the noise was deafening. 2,356,412 white cockatoos were all squawking at once having their dusk corroboree.

Tomorrow I'll continue north but with no particular plan of attack as long as I get to Brisbane by week's end.