The Who’s Who - Shelly, Eric & Bonnie, Chris, Shirley, Paul & Tottie, Aaron and JC.My Lot - Auntie Margaret, Carolyn, Michael & Chuppy
The Wednesday Before - On the Wednesday before I rang Carolyn and Michael to confirm our trip. While doing so I mentioned how I hadn’t seen Auntie Margaret (Michael’s mum) for a long time and how it would be really good to see her again.
Friday, Naidia Here We Come - Early Friday Eric rang to tell me that they going to take the scenic route and might be a bit late. They arrived at about 12 midday to an empty campsite they wondered where is JC? About that very time in Hillbank JC was just leaving, surprise, surprise!
Just before 4 pm, as the sun was somewhere over the yardarm, over the rise and into the campsite came JC & the Black Pearl. Eric stated, amongst the rain drops, "We thought we would be spending quite night in the bush but that’s the end of that", little did he know.
Eric Campfire Expert, I Don’t Think So! - After our evening meal the 4 of use smuggled around the campfire to enjoy a very pleasant night. Eric grabbed his shovel claiming the rights to tend the fire.
Warning if any of you are present at a campfire in the future and he tries to become the stoker again, don’t let him or you will freeze as we did!
Bright Lights & Loud Noises - No it wasn’t a UFO or was it? It was a night of bright lights and loud noises, starting with the excited roars of the 2 tractors and their rigs as they feverishly prepared the soil after the rain of that day.
Then when we all thought it was safe the late night sky lit up like it was midday on a hot sunny day. With a roar of the engine and a multitude of very bright lights over the crest of the rise came Chris and our mobile dunny.
After our shock we were all very relieved for all the reasons you can imagine.
But this was only a flying visit as he had a job do on a train early next morning. So after a cup of coffee Chris (or maybe it was a UFO) disappeared the same way he had arrived (promising to return in the morning) in a blaze of noise and bright lights.
Time for Bed - It’s hard to believe but the campfire even became colder. When we asked Eric whether this was the best he could do, in a huff he took his shovel and scurried off to bed.
So did the rest of us much to Bonnie’s delight as it was way past her bedtime.Saturday, a Bright New Day - I was lazily lying in bed in a sort of a semi daze (as per normal you say) when there was this incredibly loud roar of car quickly approaching. It got louder & louder, then suddenly stopped right outside the Jane’s caravan.
It was Carolyn & Michael’s son Todd in his hotrod called 'T-d' in which he competes in the local demolition derbies. What a character and what a car (see photo), soon he had blasted off promising to bring back some wood that even Eric could make a good campfire out of if we let him, alas and alack he never got the chance.
Todd and the wood some really large mallee roots arrived soon after.Next come Shirley, Paul and the amazing Miss Tottie prancing around indicating "I’m in charge, I’m in charge and just be grateful that I am!" Followed by Aaron then Chris with Carolyn, Michael, Auntie Margaret and the cool pooch Chuppy arriving soon after.
At last we had all arrived, so come on let the fun begin.
Sand, Lovely Sand - Even though we had had some rain each of the areas we used had some difficult bits to negotiate. The sand behaved quite differently on each of these locations keeping us all on our toes which made for some great driving.
Happy Hour - Then it was happy hour, the evening meal and a lovely hot campfire, with Eric taking notes. Aunty Margret, Carolyn, Michael and Chuppy came back to be with us for a while which was great.Again it was the dogs wanting their owners (servants) to go to bed that finally won out. Mind you after Chris’s very long days with not much sleep he didn’t need much encouragement.
Sunday Already - After another lovely sleep-in it was up and at them and after breakfast it was out to try out the areas we didn’t get to the day before. More surprises and more interesting driving with the snatch strap and shovel coming into play with good, sensible and safe training carried out.
Then it was back to camp for lunch and all too soon it was time to depart.
All Over Too Soon - Thank you all for your company, all the dogs and the people were very well behaved.For me again it was a journey back to a very special place in my life and it was great to see Carolyn, Michael, Chuppy and especially my Auntie Margaret who for me is a very special person.
JC
Disclaimer : please note