Settling In

Settling In

Well, we have been in Oz for 10 days now so it’s time we got something written here. It’s surprising once you get away from the ‘daily grind’ how life takes on a whole new meaning and timelines mean nothing at all. We have settled into the lifestyle really well. We picked up the van in Brisbane and, as there were no supplies in it, we headed off to a shopping centre to kit out the van. Unfortunately our ‘NavWoman’ navigator had not yet learned that red dots in the Brisbane mapbook were traffic lights and red circles were roundabouts and she also had trouble directing the driver into the correct lane so we ended up doing a bit of backtracking. Good news though, she is getting better as we go on but still has trouble sorting left from right to find a major road.

We found on our shopping spree that we had different views on what basic supplies were. Maureen was searching for food, utensils and bedding while I was checking out Dick Smiths for the CB radio, a TV/DVD player and the like. We decided to start with just the basics so we could ‘top up’ as we go and get a feel for what we needed. So by the time we got to Coolingatta, I have bought further essentials such as a new TV antennae and a power inverter so I can run the TV and the computer from the house batteries. Maureen topped up by buying things like a toaster, an electric jug and a duvet – we are heading South (against the flow) towards Christchurch weather conditions. The only things we bought with us on the plane were a couple of bits of bedding to get us started, essential reading/maps, plus our clothing.

Anyway, by about 2pm on the Sunday, we were all set to go with our Australia Wide Camps 4 book which maps out all the freedom camping sites which are either free or run at small cost by local councils. Our intention was to go North of Brisbane and ‘chill out’ for a couple of days while we got accustomed to the van and camping. We also knew that these are the sights the ‘Grey Nomads’ head for and these are the sorts of people we are hoping to meet up with. So we found Caboolture on the map - inland from Bribie Island, where there was camping at the Showgrounds. We did not know that Monday was Labour Day holiday in Queensland and lo and behold, we stumbled into a great “Urban Country and Western Feastival’ that went all weekend. There were hundreds of people about and loads of campers. At the gate, we asked a guy where we could camp. He picked us as being New Zealanders and asked us if we were in the CMCA – the Caravan/Motorhomes Association. We said ‘Yes’ and so he introduced us to a group of Sunshine Coasters in the CMCA who were camping there for the weekend. They called themselves the ‘Fun Rovers’ branch of the Queensland Chapter of CMCA. Sounded to us like bikies, but no, they were just the sort of people we could equate with and we ended up being made most welcome and had a great evening. The pattern seems to be that you meet up with people at a camping site like this for happy hour then at some point break off to have your evening meal in your camper.

It has been the same at later camp sites we have called in at – mostly show camping grounds. Go and introduce yourselves to other campers nearby then bring your chair over for a chat and a drink. At some, they light up a fire – this seems to be the Aussie camping thing (see picture below) and it’s really nice and cosy. Subsequent to Caboolture, we headed off South, doing only a few K’s each day camping inland from Surfers and then at a place called Murwillumbah about 100k South of Tweed Head. Oh! We stopped one night at a rest area off the Pacific Highway. Life is good and we are coping well with the confined space within the Campervan, so Maureen will not be on the next flight home. From here we are driving on towards Coffs Harbour.