This bushcamp is noteworthy for its quarry location, very reminiscent of the infamous first bushcamp. Pete had done his usual trick of driving through all the lovely weather only to find a spot under the darkest clouds. Eventually the rain came, but then also the wind! I decided the way to survive this one was to stay up for as long as possible so a few of us spent the evening at the "keep warm party" on the truck (the method for keeping warm being dancing). Eventually V and I hit the sack and couldn't stop laughing at the violent flapping of the sides of our tent, which provided a visual and audible treat. I was wrapped up though, so would have slept well except for the side of the tent smacking me in the head at a tempo of about one whack a second, which felt like someone whopping me with a big inflatable hammer. Not a major problem though as we are having lots of truck time at the moment as we cover a lot of miles, so lots of snoozy suzie on the truck. As we rolled out of bush camp the next morning, Kirsten made the observation; "This is definitely an expedition, not a holiday". Ha!
Mr Fence gets everywhere
Bushcamp 4 21st December
We struggled to find a proper bushcamp so instead camped at a closed municipal campsite, ie, no facilities. The lovely swiss couple who were staying there and had the whole place to themselves must have loved it when this big orange and blue truck arrived and quickly seemed to swamp the place with tents, kitchen equipment and chairs. As Ken had been (wrongly) informing us for several days, this was (now correctly) the longest day of the year. Someone claimed the Mayan calendar ran out on this day, 21.12.12, so we of course had an 'end of the world' truck party. Tony decided spiced rum was the way forward and ending the evening by kissing us all goodnight, several times and telling a few people he loved them. I found a ditch with my left foot and the floor with the rest of my body when I wandered outside the truck without my head torch. ;-/
Campsite on a farm somewhere 22nd Dec
A few people probably wished the world had ended at the "end of the world" party and bearing in mind I am on truck cleaning duties, I suggested a bowl in the truck for today's journey might be a good move. This soon became Tony's friend and we made a special "Tony stop" at one point.
Jeanne quietly slept up front and still maintains her gin was 'off'.
We rolled into camp at a farm in the middle of nowhere, with a barn for our use, fireplace and table football.
Jane drying soggy socks....almost Christmassy
Pete taught us the cardboard method for slow cooking lamb on a bbq......put a sheet of cardboard over the lamb and if it catches light, the fire's too hot. Several hours later, it fell apart on your fork. Nice. The best showers are any hot shower after 2 days of bushcamping and truck travel so we were happy. V and I did manage to snap a pole housing putting up our tent though so we now keep our fingers crossed. It'll get welded at some point.
Armadillo. Dead. On a wall.
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