Despite a very disorganised week thanks to the head cold from hell I actually surprised myself at how much packing we were able to achieve Friday afternoon and Saturday despite torrential rain and freezing wind Saturday. Determined to achieve that planned early start Sunday morning I woke at 5.00am thinking about all I still had to do this morning - watering plants, feeding fish, packing last minute essentials, cleaning out the fridge at home and making sure nothing alien (read mouldy) was likely to meet us at the door with the stench of a thousand unwashed camels in 3 months time. "Instead of thinking about it - get up and do it" was the 5.00am logic that resulted in me springing out of bed and ..... OK so maybe dragging my knuckles across the carpet and into the shower to wake up was a slightly more accurate description.
The fun actually began Saturday night when I again went in search of fish food at the supermarket only to find this is a commodity that apparently no-one else in Colac requires be supplied - not even a "sorry we're out" sticker on the shelf - there just isn't even a spot for fish food any more!!!! Poor Fish. So bad thing #1 - instead of a hasty exit - we have to wait for Petstock to open at 10.00am. That's OK - a bit later than we hoped but we can still achieve the 6 hours it will take to drive to Ouyen factoring in lunch and toilet stops.
Back to Sunday morning's shopping spree at Petstock, having brought back a couple of other things to put in the van - this is when I notice #2 - a slightly flat tire on the van. Means another stop to check the tyres again, but we can still achieve the 6 hours it will take to drive to Ouyen.... right?
So by this stage it's almost 11.00am and by the time we load up the 4 legged supervisor, say farewell to the Old Cheese, play vehicular chess to get the caravan out of the yard we were finally on the road! Yippee! It's then you feel the dread - the fear of what you've forgotten, it taps you on the shoulder, mocks you and makes you forget about the hours you spent writing a comprehensive list of all the things you've ever needed on every single trip you've taken in the past 10 years. But still that fear burrows inside your head.......
After topping up tyres and getting on the road, suddenly that breakfast you ate at 7.00am seems such a distant memory that the thought of having to wait the whole half hour to Camperdown before lunch is a welcome distraction making old Wodger Forget fade into the shadows from where he came.
It was on our return from purchasing lunch that #3 reared it's ugly head - I noticed that the roof vent in the van's bathroom was sticking up despite having been wound down as a part of our final check before leaving. I'm not sure if a part has broken off but on investigation it would seem that there is nothing holding it down and despite winding it down several times during our trip, it continued to pop up, no doubt not helped by the blowing gale that was the weather we had the pleasure of driving through for the best part of the next 4 hours.
Travelling at best at 80km/hr in a good part of the journey just trying to keep the van on the road meant that our 6 hour estimation was a tad off and when it got to 4.30pm and the was GPS telling us we still had an hour and a half to go I decided to pull the pin and just find a place to stop.
As luck would have it we came to the township of Beulah and a welcome blue "caravan" sign appeared just as I was ready to pull over into anyone's driveway and offer cash for a place to park. It turned out to be a nice little spot by the river, power and water and just $20 for the night! After getting everything set up, tackling that pesky vent to secure it with some velcro so it NEVER opens again EVER, dinner was the next point of focus. Given we have a freezer (and quite a large freezer at that) full of pre-cooked meals and frozen meat, it wasn't long before meatloaf was simmering along on the stove. And the wine - don't forget the wine - it might not have been outside, and it may well have been too overcast to watch the sun set, but it was a fine campsite and a tasty dinner, and the wine was cold and the internet works and life is good again.
So day one - well done! You did good despite the attempted sabotage by the bad 3! The wind was horrible, the light was crap and so photos are in short supply today, but it's day 1 - we'll do better.
Is it bedtime yet?
Total - 362 km
That looks a very pleasant place to stop for your first night. We were the same, planned for a 10am departure which turned out to be 11.50 am. Hope you have better driving conditions tomorrow.
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