I love Spring....

I just love spring.  When spring comes it brings with it, a new sense of hope.  A new growth, of dreams and ideas.  Creative inspiration.  There's a real FEELING that comes with spring.  And every year I appreciate it more and more.

Today we have a cloudy day, that would seem more like a wintry day, but if you REALLY look closely, you can see the freesias and azaleas blooming, the wisteria has new shoots reaching and stretching up to find the lattice work to climb up on.  The jasmine is in bloom and there's pink blossoms in the trees announcing that spring is here.  The baby plovers born in the middle of our paddock, have been herded by mom and dad, back into the bushes for their protection.

And all the while, I have the 1812 Overture running through my head as the house has been sold and the pace of our situation seems to be set by this music.  Slowly at first as dawn awakens, and then the finale, ...grand and large, as it stomps into the finish.  But the hope is there.  New inspiration is there.

Spring.  New beginnings.  A fresh start.  A new canvas to start the next stage of our lives.  I guess that's why they have 'spring' cleaning, and why diets are started, and why exercise seems to be so enticing as the sun's rays soak into your soul.

Yes, I just love spring.  I love the colour of spring.  The pinks, baby blues, lemon yellows, and light greens of spring, as nature works her finest magic.  Such wonderful hope and inspiration.   Yes,  this is where your dreams start and motivation kicks in.  Goodbye Winter,..hellooo Spring!!!

Patience takes a new test......

I haven't been writing much about our trip to the desert.  It's been about 3-4 weeks now since we've been home.  It took me a while to get the photos online, but they're there now.  But it IS hard to write about something that happened a while ago...ESPECIALLY when there's new horizons and planning to do.

And here we are,... we're in the process of selling the house, moving kids out, and generally planning the next trip.  It has been THE ....SLOWEST.....process I have yet to come across.  It's driving Chris and me crazy.

Liz and her hubby, James, have moved out this month.  The 'babies' of BOTH families finally bit the bullet and moved out on their own.  I'm so pleased for them.(as well as for us!)  This is their first house together as man and wife.   And they both seem to be settling in nicely.  Liz has taken Jack, (her dog) with her, so they're now one little happy family.

Chris and I have cleaned the house as far as you can go.  We've gone through all the nooks and crannies of this place.  Thrown things out, sorted boxes out, fixed up little things that you never touch until the last minute.  The only thing we have left to do now, is to pack up!!

We have checked out:   costs of flights, costs of storage, costs of insurances, costs of RV's, registering of RV's, highways and byways in the US.  We've checked out taxes for the new house, and investments.  We've looked at new houses and new motorhomes until we're blue in the face.  We've sorted out the bulk of what needs to be done.  But until we sell the house,...we're stuck.  And here.... is where patience starts.

We have been offered a contract on the house.  HOWEVER, it's the first offer.   It's a 'fancy' name business contract that basically allows the buyer to have a 6 week contract with an option to pull out if the council doesn't allow them to do what they want to do, on the property.  We had the solicitor have a look and we've made the counter offer.  So!  in the meantime, we wait.  And wait.  And wait.  And then yesterday, someone else is came through the house and THEY'RE interested too.  So!  we'll see how this all pans out.

We're both going crazy at the moment.  We're trying to find things to do to keep ourselves occupied now.  We're in limbo so to speak.  Not wanting to start any new projects. (just in case) 

Well, I'll go play in the garden and then read a book while I wait it out.  Might as well take advantage of this 'pause' in our life.

The NEW experience for us city dwellers....well,..at least ONE city dweller

So THIS is roughing it eh?  Getting up at sunrise, putting the pot of water on the fire.  Immediately, you start packing up and getting dressed.  And bathroom etiquette?.....well,....there's sand, there's bushes, and occasionally, if you're lucky, a bushy tree.  I think this is where I feel that camping is designed more for men.  I DID finally work out what was needed and how to approach that side of things.  I won't go into it, as I'm sure most of you are aware of it anyway.  But I'm glad that I did get that part of camping sorted out. 

And for packing? well....it's very cold in the early mornings, so EVERYTHING is stiff.....fingers, back, hips, and then there's the things your trying to cram into small bags that are stiff from cold as well.  So, there was no leisurely mornings in the desert.  Funny, though, that even if you were up at 6:30am,...we still didn't leave until around 8am.  You wouldn't think it would take that long to get everything ready to travel, but for some reason it did.  I guess there was more to do than I thought.

Not having a shower for 4 days wasn't too bad, although, ....it WAS  a pleasure to have a HOT shower and wash my hair.  It didn't seem like roughing it too much.  Once we were out of the desert, showered, and had some dinner into our bellies, it was just like normal. 

I must say though, that my first shower was actually in 3 days.  It was at Purni bore.  Chris and I had gotten our truck in first, so I grabbed my gear real fast and headed for the shower that had been set up there.  There was a sign on the door that said ' turn on all the taps in the sink and the shower and let the water run for at least 10 minutes".  well, it ran for about 5 to 10 minutes, and when I got in, it was tepid.  Strong flow, but the hot water from the bore hadn't come through yet.  So my first REAL HOT shower was at the next stop at the  Mt. Dare station.

 

 

Those blue buildings are the toilets and showers.  Cement floors with colourbond walls and roofs.  While it wasn't 5 star, it was most certainly a VERY WELCOME sight and feeling for which I can only thank the folks at Mt. Dare for opening up their site to us.  It was here too, that we met a man who was VERY impressed with the Scout.  He wanted one just like it and his robust enthusiasm was met with good hearted humour and banter. 

 

 

 

 

It was here that we were also woke up with the screeching Corellas coming in for their morning feed.  There was about 200 or more Corellas and Galahs coming in.  They almost looked like bats in the earlier hours, except for the screeching noise.  It's a bit disconcerting to see it, but exciting too.

I really think the hardest part was going over those rocky roads.   That was on the way to Alice Springs from Mt. Dare.  For as far as you could see the scene changed around every corner.  But, when we came across the gibber plains, there was nothing....nothing but red and purple rocks for miles and miles.  And that included the road.  It looked like a dried up ocean bed.  I don't know what it was; whether it was the short wheel base Scout, or the springs, or what.  But it was like being on a washing machine that was unbalanced ....for miles.....and miles,.......and MILES.  And after driving on that kind of road for so long, you welcomed your bed at night.  The following morning, you woke up stiff, but felt pretty good after things warmed up.

 

You may notice the rocks on the ground here with Chris's truck?...notice the line of rocks?....that's the edge of the road.  Notice that the road itself is all rocks too?  Yep, that was a hard one to handle.  By the end of THAT road, I welcomed bitumen roads as soon as I saw them.  Even Chris was rattled after that road, so I didn't feel too bad.  Oh..and Chris under the truck?....well, he's putting the screws back on the diffs.  All of the screws had come undone and we had already lost one screw.  It wouldn't have been a pretty picture if we had lost the diffs.

 

 

I do have to say here, that Chris did most of the work.  I just wasn't physically capable of doing a lot of the packing.  Things like putting the sleeping bags into their TINY little bags.  Wrapping the canvas camp beds up and putting THEM back into their tiny little bags, and then putting everything into the back of the truck.  That's not to say, I couldn't camp and I did help, but in smaller ways.  I just would have done it a different way, that's all.   I do now understand how a swag would come in handy.

And so the red sand begins..........

The next morning, we all scrambled around trying to pull our tents up and get the trucks ready.  We still had to fuel up and pick up whatever goodies we were going to buy.  It was getting late.  So while Chris fuelled up, I started to buy one or two things, but then a queue happened while I was shopping and I ended up waiting in a very long line.  Then, Chris and I stopped and took pictures of the Birdsville Pub while the others gathered up their own stocks.

It was then I spotted the the bakery.  Hot Dog Buns!....I knew I needed those for our 4th of July dinner.  So we headed over there as well.  As usual, Chris and I were the last ones ready for driving out.   I even missed out on the buns, as the bakery had run out.  But I DIDN'T miss out on the Lamingtons!!

FINALLY!!  it must have been around 9:30am before we finally headed out.  Sorry Col!.....I could feel, that as the leader of the group, the stragglers were starting to frustrate Col and some of the others.  They were all anxious to get on the road.  But, we  finally got there.

Just outside of Birdsville, we hit a muddy patch and then some water crossing over the road.  It was exciting to go through the muddy patches and go through the 2 feet of water on the road.  We all stayed to the center of the road and made it through easily.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were the 5th of our group, so we missed out on the dingo that was hunting a calf, off to the right hand side of the road. 

Well, it wasn't too far out of Birdsville that our first sand dune came into view.

Big Red as it's fondly called.  Well, it didn't LOOK that big, but I'm only a novice, so what would I know.  We all parked along the bottom of this sand hill.  And the bird on the sign post?...well, that's Claude.  He's a garden gnome crow.  He's part of the Clough family and he goes on all the family trips as well.

 

The boys took the air out of their tyres and put their sand flags up.  Their turn was about to start. 

Surprisingly, there were people already there going over the hill.  So we waited for them to cross and then we started over the hill too.

One by one. 

 

This.  This is what the trip was all about.  Going over 1100 sand dunes.  Four wheel driving.

Fuel up at Windorah and onto Birdsville......

Windorah's one of those small towns that have a great country atmosphere.  It reminded me so much of Dinuba, although it's A LOT smaller.  Wide street(s) that are tree-lined.  There was a bit of activity there.  The council workers were putting in sidewalks, the Royal flying doctor service was flying in.  The tourists were all lined up at the petrol station.  Not only did we have six trucks fill up,but there were 3 other vehicles and two motorcycles.  It was a very busy place.

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

The thing most memorable there, was feeding the little white pony part of my apple. (next to the store) and someone telling me that the guy who ran the petrol station was blind.  Also, what's interesting, is that Col grew up in that area as well.  Everyone stocked up with snacks and goodies, as this was the last stop before Birdsville, nearly 400klms away.  No more shops or petrol stations until then.

As you can see, there's just miles and miles of open space and land.

So that when you finally got to see a mountain, or emu's or even cows and horses, you jumped for your camera.  I don't know how many eagles I missed because I just wasn't fast enough.

 

One side step to Birdsville, was Haddon's corner.  This is just the turnoff to the corner.  Haddon's corner is where 3 states come together.  Haddon's corner incorporated Queensland (Qld), Northern Territory (N.T.), and South Australia(S.A.).  It was very gusty winds out here.  As you can see there's no trees to break it up.  We all had lunch there at the corner before heading off to Birdsville.  It was amazing to watch fresh bread dry out before your eyes.

We made it into Birdsville at dusk.  So the mad scramble began.  Once again, trying to figure out which position to set the tent up, which way the door was going to be, which direction the beds were going to sit.  How fast can you shower and be ready for dinner, etc. etc. etc.  I managed to grab the camera to take a photo of the sun setting.  I think it was at this point that I was thinking to myself, that I'm having a hard time keeping up with everyone else, as the majority of our party had already set up, showered, and gone up to the pub for dinner leaving only a couple of stragglers behind.  Me, Chris, and another party.  But all was well, once I got to settle down to the best steak I've had in a very long time.  But once Chris and I were finished with dinner, we headed straight back to the tent for some shut eye.  Tomorrow, we head off through the desert.

On to Cooper's Creek......

Well, after packing up and making sure everything was okay, we set off to our next location, Cooper's Creek.

 

 

 

We stopped at a local roadhouse that Col used when he was working in the region.  We grabbed something to eat, filled the petrol tanks, and watched the semi trucks coming and going.  These trucks had 3 trailers.  Most of them were hauling cattle.  It's amazing to watch.

Here we are at Charlesville filling up.  The Scouts had the attention of some of the locals.  Blokes, of course, think the scout is really 'cool'..and  'they'd like to have one too"...and our guys joyfully tell them that the Scouts are 'the best car in the whole world' etc...well, you get my drift.

 

 

Quilpie is what I thought of, as the last town before the outback.  It's out there, but still not the furthest town, as I was soon to discover.  The center median strip was decorated with metal cutouts of cattle.  Obviously a country town with mining and cattle on everyone's lips.  We even stopped just on the outskirts of town to see if we could find opals in the rocks left behind for tourists.  I kept a couple, which have strands of blue running through them. 

  This was our first camp dinner night.  I wasn't sure what to expect, so I prepared tinned food for us.  We both experienced our first Chocolate Chip Damper for desert.  It was yummy.  And with everyone tired from travelling around 500klm that first time, we all fell into bed.

We broke camp the next morning.  Still trying to establish a routine for packing and unpacking.  We did sleep well.  The night wasn't as frosty as the night in Mitchell.

Chris packed most of the gear, and I was sent off to take pictures.  "LOTS OF PICTURES, Kath".  So I did.

Last minute pictures, last minute toilet calls, 'everybody ready?"  Okay!  We're off to Windorah today.