Week 1, on track

Monday 13th June 2011

Finally my way feels clear enough for a wee post (that's Scottish for small piece of shared information not 'dog' for telegraph pole)!

Aurora and I had a lovely farewell dinner with Edna and Nance (below) in the midst of our packing up and clearing out.

I managed to get a lovely group of young things to rent the house as well as look after the pets; Peppa (left) and Matilda (below left) who we are already missing. At least we know they're in good hands.

The lead up to leaving was hectic to say the least as it involved packing down the house as well as packing up the van which I only got registered a couple of weeks before d day. I also cleaned out the two redundant vehicles ready for pick up by the wreckers (soon hopefully). To further complicate matters (not something I am known for, usually), two days before d day, I decided to purchase an unregistered pop top caravan which requires at least new windows in the canvas if not a whole new canvas! The caravan is an empty shell which will be great for storage and extra sleeping. It cost me $600 and my man reckons he'll be able to fit it out when I get back to Melbourne. The Mazda is running like a dream and, apart from a visit to the Horsham auto elec to replace and rewire the trailer plugs on Mazda and caravan we were unstoppable! The arctic conditions did somewhat spur us on. A great time of year to be leaving Melbourne and heading north! I stocked up on supplies from my friend Andrea who repurposes woollen garments, felting and transforming them into gorgeous, cosy articles such as hot water bottle covers and arm warmers, nice.

We spent our first, freezing night at a little caravan park just off the highway at Dadswell and the following morning drove into Horsham for the above-mentioned auto electrical experience (right on lunch time; a minor repair which turned into a semi major debacle for the hapless, hypo-glycaemic wiring expert!-oops)

Our second night was spent at Pendlebury Farmstay, a bit before Keith. Another freezing night in the van with two hot water bottles and a child to cuddle up with. We woke to yummy bacon and maple syrup sandwiches for breakfast (thank you Annie) which we felt slightly guilty about eating in the presence of the pig (sorry Mary). Us all fed, we went out with Brian the farmer and Dick the farmhand to help feed the animals which was a lot of fun. Brian was great with the girls and we all learnt lots of interesting facts about grains, sheep, buffalo, irrigation etc.

We also learnt that Brian and his wife Rhonda used to be neighbours to Ian and Rosemary Clarkson, long time ago pastor and his wife at my church, Truth and Liberation Concern, in Melbourne.

Brian and Rhonda appear to be 'salt of the earth' kind of people with big hearts and an unassuming way which is in keeping with the way of life, I guess.

We met Rhonda, who was unwell, just as we were preparing to leave. She was apologetic at taking our money but we talked her around! $25 for an overnight site and a 2 hour farm experience was pretty reasonable, I thought.

I'm kind of hoping to wean Annie off the grid a little and do mostly free camping but it was great to meet these people and well worth the cost. Onya Annie for finding and booking. My own personal assistant; just what I always wanted!!

Another bit of driving took us to Tailem Bend for a nosh up lunch at Helga's cafe after a brief stop at the wire sculpture gallery which Annie has amply highlighted. We did the dreaded descent in to Adelaide and negotiated the traffic to Grandma Boucher's with out too much stress considering our lack of trailing experience. Well done us!!

Currently, my van is sitting in Dario's awaiting a transformation which can't commence today as it is a public holiday (happy birthday Liz). I am having a new fridge installed and a couple of solar panels as well as getting the gas and electricity sorted for cooking and lighting etc.

We are hoping to be out of Adelaide by the end of the week. Georgina has a bit of a hectic week ahead wrapping up a project. We had a delightful day yesterday hanging out with the grandkids. Xavi (Georgina's daughter) and husband, Michael came for lunch and a spot of totem tennis! I didn't go anywhere yesterday and didn't spend any money (which I have been doing with alarming frequency of late)!

We went to the Adelaide folk club on Saturday night to see Fiddle Chicks. Very good fun with a broad range of material including original songs from both of the 'chicks'. The repertoire was described by one of them as 'bi polar' due to the mood swings between songs; from rollicking toe tapping to haunting shiver me timbre melody!

Well, that's all from me for now.

See you a little further up the track, maybe.

Pauline.