The road to Dunkeld

Departed Caboolture Monday as planned but a little later than planned. Got as far as Toogoolawah and had our first experience of free camping. The site is just off the main road and the trucks rumbled by all night




We were expected at Dunkeld Tuesday but didn't make it. We got as far as Muckadilla and stayed the night camped by the hotel. Wednesday set off down the back road to Dunkeld.




Well! Our first taste of the red dust. We let a road train past then waited for the dust to abate. ( you can see the dust in the next photo)




Had a little trouble finding the Blaze Aid camp as both the GPS and google maps had Dunkeld East of where the camp is, but we finally found it beside the Dunkeld school. Brandt's first job was to wash the van. Then we had some lunch, following which we set off to Mitchell so he could get the correct clothes. He wouldn't be allowed out without something to cover his legs so we got some jeans ( the vendor reduced the price when she found he was a Blaze Aid volunteer) and we also got some long sleeved work shirts.

Saw quite a bit of Australian wild life this day - a snake, some kangaroos, some emus, and a goanna. All were either on the road, crossing the road or beside the road.

Today (Thursday ) Brandt is out in the heat and I am at base camp helping in the kitchen

Location:Dunkeld

Pests etc

Today is Monday, not Wednesday, and we are getting ready to move on. We have been in contact with the organizers of blaze aid and they are expecting us tomorrow. It will take two days to get there. The web site is blazeaid.com

To see Brandt gazing at the walls of the caravan doesn't mean that he is admiring our "home" rather he is looking to see if there are any ants and if so where their trail is. We have an outright war on them. So far they have not infested any food, but we see some scampering across the floor, the ceiling, the walls. They sometimes drop from above and begin scampering across my arm. I think we are winning!
The other main pest has been the flies. All windows and the door have screens so once I locked up all exits, sprayed heavily inside, and left them to it for a half hour or so, we have been free of them in the van, that is until someone leaves the door open! We have two fly swats and our aim is pretty good so one or two we can cope with.

While at Wivenhoe dam there were lots of insects flying around at night. They gathered under the awning and subsequently got trapped. Hence the following photos:










Neighbors thought I was finding the Australian heat too much to bear. No! I thought swimming togs would be better to get wet than my day wear. The water ran down the broom handle and down my arm. I did get quite wet. Using a collapsable bucket for the soapy water meant I nearly lost the contents once. Soon learned to be gentle when getting more water on the broom. And yes, the under side of the awning is sparkling clean again.

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Location:Caboolture

Maintenance

Well the hot water is once again heated by electricity, which saves our gas. Organizing hot water for shower and dishes meant remembering to turn the gas on in time for the water to heat enough and then also remembering to turn it off to save our gas.
The weather this past week has been very wet. There are puddles lying around everywhere. In fact one night I wore Brandt's boots across to the toilet block so that I didn't get wet feet. The rain has meant that Brandt's rust treatment of the vehicle has taken a little longer than expected, so at the moment we will leave here on Wednesday.








Talking with fellow travelers we realize just how superb Adventure Caravans are. One couple we met were, like us, new to caravanning. They had been sent for a weekend to try out their van, but had been told absolutely nothing about how things worked. (we had been given a thorough walk through our van). Also it appears that their dealer was not very polite to them. Dealers, you should know that word of mouth is your best form of advertising! The whole caravan park here now knows to avoid, or be careful, when dealing with that particular company. And everyone knows now happy we are with Adventure Caravans.

I had been looking at the map to see where I thought we should head when we leave here. Brandt has seen something about volunteer farm help. I think it is helping flood victims take grass off fences, repair them if necessary, help in the kitchen, help with office work etc. so I guess that is where we will be aiming to go on Wednesday.

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Location:Caboolture

Busy, but going nowhere fast

Having spent the last week in Burleigh Heads gives time to reflect. Our learning curve should get a bend in it soon and then flatten out. We have found that not all camping places have water close, so now have a second longer, much longer water hose; that there is a need to carry a two-outlet water hose connection; we even have had the occasion where the power point is not the regular caravan one. In this instance the caretaker loaned us what looked like a multipoint that had been altered to take our caravan plug. (in Australia the caravan plugs are almost like our 3 pin plugs but the earth pin is thicker and deeper); the tiny wildlife that seem to fly around from dusk onwards like me with the result that my limbs look a little like I have chicken pox.
The week in Burleigh Heads was so that the vehicle could have a service plus a cargo barrier installed, then on the Thursday the automatic transmission also had a service.
We came to Lawnton because it was close to the location of BCA (bush church aid) Bible and Bush day. We reasoned that as we have been accepted as BCA Nomads we should attend the day and get to know about the organization. As it turned out it is a day for supporters to find out a little about the work they are supporting. We enjoyed the day and returned today for the North Pine Anglican Church family service - a very friendly congregation. I was impressed with the number of folk who noticed that I was a new face. Brandt had gone to get two cups of tea while I went to sign the visitors book. My cup of tea was a little on the cool side by the time I got there. We also met today the three-day lay director of the team that brought Cursillo from the Brisbane Diocese to Wellington, which was the first in New Zealand to encompass the Cursillo movement.

This afternoon the hot water was no longer hot. The fuses are all OK so it may mean a trip back to the dealer. This makes it seem like we really ARE just going round in circles.

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Location:Lawnton Showgrounds