a bit of a ‘bumpy ride’ or ‘thanks a lot Murphy, I was doing fine without your input’

This was begun on 20th .. or was it the 19th lol… been a big time my friends. Ok so the first part is as follows….
wow I have written down each step today as it happened, thinking I would not blog till tomorrow night; give myself more to talk about but its been huge! Where to start… well at the beginning of my day I guess lol…..

Alex and I got on the road again this morning… funnily enough that song had been running through my mind of late. No surprise there lol. This time though I decided to leave around the time most motorhomers and caravanners do… 10am. I wanted to make sure Alex was relaxed and happy before we took off so I not only took him for our usual daily walk but we also played ball just as we had every day for the last couple. I know he is only fourteen months old and being a kelpie/smithfield cross, he has been bred for lots of exercise chasing sheep or cattle. Kelpies can run for sixty ks without trouble so I know he must be exercised and his mind active too as both breeds are highly intelligent and I have noted that he is more than capable of outsmarting you if you don’t watch it lol. He has been on a lead a fair bit though I join some together to give him heaps of leeway when not walking. He isnt used to being tied up and considering that, he has been pretty good. He is mischievous and loving as a rule and that hasn’t changed any on the trip lol so he has made a lot of new fans in the humans we have encountered and, as always, new doggy mates too.

Today was ,for some reason, a totally unexpected and chaotic day even where Alex is concerned, our walk setting the tone for my day though I wasnt to know that at the time. Alex really mucked up on the walk, pulling mercilessly and even having a tantrum at one stage. Well I did say he wasn’t used to being leashed so much and so I forgave him the bad behaviour and, after he had a lovely long drink back at the motorhome (me too I might add lol), I took him back out on the oval and threw the ball for him over and over till he was all tuckered out. We went back to the motorhome and I proceeded to pack up ready to move on. I swept the floor and cleaned all the surfaces while I was at it and rearranged some of the stuff to make storing easier. That will most likely be a long term project as I learn the most efficient way for me to organise things so I can actually find them again lol. Thankfully I have lots of time to practice!

Finally, after one last cuppa and a last check that I had everything this time, I got underway. The motorhomers and caravanners who were still in the showground wished me safe and happy motoring and waved enthusiastically as I took off. Such a lovely mix of people doing this sort of thing.
One of the Blue Wrens I had gotten to know came over and told me to look out for where they would be each month as it would be advertised in the Wanderer and he said if I am in the vicinity everyone would love it if I came and joined them …which I assured him I would do! I really enjoyed their company,they were so full of fun and warmth that I felt completely at ease right from the start. It has been a lovely couple of days, filled with a lot of fun, rest and umm some doggy antics to boot!

I am wondering if maybe I have found my nitch for I no longer feel like a square peg in a round hole lol.. though I have not regretted one single minute of it, my raising my beautiful grandson alone put me in a funny netherworld. I didnt seem to fit in anywhere LOL .. well I am ok with my own company, though sometimes I was a bit lonely…arent we all though one time or another? :)On the other hand, I have also been showered with a lot of love from those who appreciate the person I am, not the least of which is the grandson I am raising so you know adding it all up, I think I have been one fortunate lady..not everyone is given such a gift.

Back to the journey…. I left just after 10am this morn, always just a touch nervous about it but determined to do it anyway. I will say that the more I drive the manual, the more the changing of gears has begun to have an ease about them. Today I had only one glitch but that was further along so won’t go into it now. Lets just say that at the time I penned this into my notebook I was glowing with a sense of accomplishment as I had sailed through some very busy towns and lots of traffic lights and roundabouts and I had changed up and down the gears with surprising aplomb!

One is feeling a lot more optimistic that one will become quite the expert on them by the end of the trip LOL….I really did not get over 80 Kms an hour either, the highway was hilly with a lot of tight bends and it is not a road I have travelled before now, so it was much safer that way. I was very thankful that I had few problems with other vehicles as the highway was delightfully wide shouldered in most places and I was able to move onto that shoulder and wave them past 🙂 Happy drivers all round lol… only two were a problem. A motorcyclist who came up my blind side and would have been crushed if I were not so paranoid about them that I had kept a weather eye on him when I saw him coming up behind. He waved to say thanks as he whipped past…my salute was somewhat less friendly lol…the other was a four wheel drive and that was simply a miscalculation on their part. I had moved over to the shoulder to let as many past as I could and lo and behold as the shoulder ran out, the fourby laboured slowly and painfully past. I only just managed to move over without hitting them or the guidepost dead ahead ..whew! Makes one wonder if one should be so courteous lol…

By now I was a long way past Nowra and ready for a bit of lunch and a cuppa. I knew Alex would appreciate a walk and a chance to relieve himself, have a drink and mooch for my lunch lol….five more k’s down the road was a very basic rest stop by name of Basin View, but it was off the road and would suit my purposes. There was a recycled loo.. big hole in the ground with a loo on top lol… and some picnic tables. Well it had been raining steadily for the last hour so the table was out of the question. I walked Alex, had a feed..gave him some of course; who could resist those beautiful soulful eyes of his lol.. and a cuppa; we both made our pitstops and I got back on the road again. My intention was to drive to Mystery Bay today but I was getting a little tired by then and I do not drive fatigued if I can help it. I almost stalled in the middle of a busy cross road with lights on all sides as I missed a gear and had to take her back to first again… I didnt look at anyone lol, I am sure there were a few amused and not so amused faces out there. I was thankful that I did not allow myself to get flustered and just kept on keeping on lol.

I decided I would turn off at Moruya North Heads Camping Grounds, a bit closer to where I was now, instead… it sounded great in the camping book though no electricity.. well that was ok, I only planned to be there overnight. Besides I am on holiday and I want to amble around and drink in the sights lol. I knew it had a beach and I knew Alex would love it as much as I would….

I ended up staying for three days instead… there is a story to why and I guess now is the time to share it… remember I mentioned my blonde dna,mental fatigue and Alex’s bad behaviour? Of course we had a perfect mixture to whip up some Murphy’s law to add some drama and spice to my journey 😛

I got in around 2:45pm and immediately noted how many campers were already there. I could see no sign of the caretaker though I had pulled up in front of the office. Well the sign said to find somewhere to settle and she would be around later that day. Ok then! I climbed back behind the wheel, gave Alex an apologetic pat and slowly tootled around the campground. I did stop at one but that one was pretaken apparently. A man waved me over to a place across from him and though I wasn’t sure I liked the look of him, I acquiesced.. anything to settle down LOL.. hmmm well more on that later. I noticed as I drove to it that there was a fair bit of dirt and bugger all grass but I was tired and it was crowded so I settled for it .. as I say it was only one night or so I thought lol.

I climbed wearily out of the driver’s seat and turned on the gas and stove, making myself a very welcome coffee. Though I had put Alex on a long leash so he could wander a little, he was staring at me with those big eyes of his that were pleading to go for a stroll, check it all out and maybe play? Please mummy? lol… ahh well. I scoffed my coffee and gathered up his ball, the ball tosser…apart from me LOL… and my keys. I knew I should put them in my handbag but my shoulder was aching so badly from his pulling that I couldn’t bear to put it through any more pain. I looped my fingers securely through the key chain, put his lead on him and set off for the beach.
Alex took up right where he left off, pulling mercilessly and I almost gave up and went back. Should have lol…I persevered though and when we were on the beach (dogs had to be leashed at all times in the grounds), I let him loose. He had been jumping and trying to get the ball out of my hands on the way down but nothing to how he acted when I was finally playing with him. He was loving chasing it and he would always bring it back. I took him down by the water after a bit so he would learn to play if not in the waves, then continue to enjoy the ripples on the edge. Again he bunted my hand, so hard he hurt me actually which isn’t my Alex let me tell you.

I roused on him and held on to the ball tighter. I had a laugh with a fisherlady watching us with a grin of amusement on her face and kept on my way,muttering that sometimes fur children were worse than human ones though not very often lol. I took him further up the beach and I know I still had the keys then only because when I came back to search for them, the same lady told me so lol…anyway somewhere between then and when I went back to the motorhome, I had managed to lose them. Have you ever tried to find a set of keys on the beach?

A guy who had tried to grab my attention must have noticed the change in my demeanour because he ambled over and asked me if something was wrong. I told him what had happened and so he and his mate, along with the lady and a couple I had met when I was on the beach, joined me in my search. All to no avail! They promised to keep on looking and I put on a brave face as I wondered what to do.

There was a couple of people next to me and one of them asked if I had spares. I do, I told them but they are all in the motorhome LOL. Besides I had the new one cut because these were not good with all the locks! Well we put on our thinking caps and I remembered I had left one of the windows slightly cracked. I borrowed their two step ladder.. lucky for me they took it with them!..and I proceeded to climb up. Yeah Sandy good try but you are a bit of a short ass LOL…one of the guys volunteered to do it, so we held the ladder as the ground was soft, while he climbed through…poor bugger it was not easy and though it provided us with great amusement, I was also deeply grateful that he did it! He was a little red from squeezing through, the windows do not open far LOL.. but he beamed with pride as I thanked him profusely. His friend had been admiring my motorhome and began asking me all sorts of questions as he and his wife were looking to get out of the caravan way of travelling, opting for a more convenient way to go. While I was busy answering his questions. my mischievous Alex somehow managed to close the bloody door once more! Poor man went back through the window lolol… I will always remember the sight of him dragging himself through that window, legs flailing as we helped to push the rear of him through LOL…

I immediately went in this time and made another coffee, waiting for my heart to stop pounding and my hands to stop shaking. For a scary minute there I envisaged how different the outcome might have been if I had done that in an isolated place! Even my phone and purse was inside! Grrr at Alex, an even bigger grrrrrr at me… sigh.
I settled down to write my blog but I didn’t even get this far before my computer and my phone ran out of battery so I quickly pressed draft and got off here.
Now I needed to have my phone charged but did not want to run the motor for that long… diesel costs lol… and I totally forgot I could use the outlet for the telly as it is just like a cigarette lighter and I have my car charger with me.. it would then be charged off my solar batteries lol… anyway I decided I did not give a hoot.I would worry about it all in the morning.. right now I just needed to take a deep breath and let it all be.

Just then the caretaker came to my motorhome and I asked her how much it was.. it is usually fifteen dollars but as I have a sole parent pension card, it was eleven dollars. Great! I said and informed her I would just go get my purse… yep Murphy still was alive and well.. I couldn’t find it anywhere. I knew it was there because I had not taken it anywhere … well I did get petrol at Ulladulla way back lol but nothing since then… hmmm. I refused to entertain the thought any further and kept upending everything in a mad panic, praying it was there somewhere. By now the caretaker had been told by a couple of the other campers what had happened earlier and she told me not to worry, I could have the night for free. Hmm well I don’t really like taking advantage in that way and I promised her when I found my purse I would pay her. She laughed at my independent fire and said she would be back around in the morning. In the meantime I was beginning to wonder if I had left it!Something I just never do..,. five minutes later as I moved the bed out to get something that had fallen, I found it! I rushed out but she was gone. I was so relieved that I almost cried lol.. what a day! I decided I was going to keep a low profile that evening;cook and have an early night. Uh huh.. chance would be a fine thing lol. I dashed over to the public loo…saves me emptying my own one’s cassette in a hurry lol..and when I came back I noticed that the cops were visiting the guy who waved me over to the spot across from him.. oh no! I am mostly on my own, I do have my darling Alex its true but just the same I reacted like a ‘girl’ instead of the fiery woman I am for a second. Kneejerk reaction! Whatever they wanted, the cops left not long after and so I figured all was ok. The guy and some friends of his who had turned up must be ok right?

I bet you can guess that I had a very disturbed night, what with my worries and their noise. I could smell the umm sweet smell of what they were smoking all through my motorhome and as it gives me migraines I was not impressed. They were so loud I could not hear the telly over them but they did seem to go to bed (or pass out) around midnight and the campsite became sublimely peaceful once again. Alex roused me around five am the next morning and though I was feeling distinctly seedy, I took him for a walk… letting him do his business before I gave him his breaky and I had my coffee. Frankly I was now a little miffed by the turn of events but as I came back to my motorhome I noticed the cops once more across the road lol.. This time they searched all the cars and ordered the men, and a woman, to leave the grounds. Ahh maybe then I might think about staying another night, I would wait and see what I felt later on.

True to her word, the caretaker was around dead on 8am. I rushed over, waving my purse in her direction, making us both laugh. I gave her the money and said I might stay longer, I would know later on.

Alex and I had a relatively quiet day. I took him on a lot of walks that day but none on the beach, he was still pulling and I decided some training was in order lol.
I also had been thinking about how to get my mobile phone charged up. I went over to the airfield’s office, Alex in tow and securely on the lead. I tied him up outside and went in search of the office manager. She turned out to be a kelpie lover and immediately she was under my Alex’s spell lol. The upshot was I got to charge up my phone for nothing and Alex was allowed to come inside with me while it was charging, much to his and the waiting passengers’ delight! I was feeling much more positive when the caretaker came around that evening.

The only thing though was if I was going to stay I wanted to be on one of the grassy sites lol.. I was fed up with how much dirt Alex and I were tracking into the motorhome, not to mention that man who had taken a fancy to mewas bveing far too attentive lol.. He was really attractive looking but there was something about him I felt suss about and I have learned to listen to my intuition.

Anyway I told her I would like to spend two more nights and could I please move to a nicer site. Oh yes she said of course you can..with a big grin on her face. She has offered me the weekly deal if I stop in when I come back even though I wont be staying a week then… she intends to marry this stopover and the one coming back.. works for me lol…

It poured last night, really heavy for the first time since Taree actually I was in a torrential downpour but I was lovely and snug in my home on wheels.
I got up this morning and decided it was time to move on. The weather is still not good so I have not gone far, madness on the roads of course. I can never understand their thinking.. gee its horrible driving conditions so lets speed our little hearts out! LOL .. anyway here I am at Dalmeny Camping Grounds… and its got power!! I have paid for two days. I will wait out the weather I hope but it has a beautifully unexpected added bonus.. as I sat here typing away to you, I am looking over onto a beautiful stormy ocean…not bad for this little bird who has flown her coop.. for just a little while anyway 🙂 I hope all who are reading this are safe. If you are in one of the areas that is copping either fire, huge winds or torrential rain,may the Goddess hold you protectively in her loving arms till I blog again…xxx