AND THE HEAVENS OPENED UP

Well the Aussies can shut up now about it never raining, one downfall added 230mm to one dam catchment in Northern NSW. I will admit it was all costal towns that got it and very few inland farmers saw rain at all. Some NSW farmers got the rain as flood torrents as it swept through their property, drowning sheep in the hundreds, from one extreme to another.
The rain had an extreme effect on us too. When we got the trailer tent the salesman said we had to weather it a couple of times to make it water proof. He said set it up in the
backyard and soak it down with the hose, let it dry and then do it again. Good theory.
In actuality, for us it was bloody useless advice; 1) we had no hose 2) we had no back yard. So we resigned ourselves to weathering it on the road. Well, we were told it hardly ever rains here, so we thought it would be a while before we encountered any issue.

First few nights in the trailer were a dream, and the bed was “oh so comfy”, Wendy and I were very surprised. Then on the 3rd day in Ballina “the heavens opened up” and they had an unusually large tropical storm, lasting several days. You guessed it, we got flooded out as every seam in the tent leaked like a sieve. Litres of the stuff came in and the beds got soaked. So, at extra expense we booked into a cabin and spent 4 days waiting for the weather to change and the tent, and everything in it to dry out.

Well we are now back in the tent, and guess what, it bloody rained again, all night however not a drop came in. Thankfully Johnathan had spent the previous day applying silicone spray and seam sealer on all the seams, “what an angel”.

All good experience just part and parcel of getting on the road.

We have been doing a lot of fishing and the other night after dusk Cassandra & Wendy both landed a Shovel Nose Shark (Head like a ray & tail like a shark).

Whilst staying in Ballina we caught up with some of Wendy’s relatives, Lyn, Gary & Judy who she hasn’t seen for some 17 years. Excellent day and visit, as Lyn & Gary were a wealth of information as they have been on the road travelling for years and they gave us some great advice. We watched the rodeo, which was on at the showgrounds where they were staying. (They stay for $10.00 a night, whilst we are paying about $27 per night, all part of the learning curve)
We have planned to meet them in a couple of weeks in a town called Miles (300 odd Km’s inland from Gympie). Gary has said he will take me for a fox hunt. (One of my goals) They gave us heaps of practical info to get us started especially about ways to reduce our spending, and other very important things like how to go for a shovel walk, but more about that in the future.

Wendy has christened our tent trailer Lucy ‘yes’ after her pet pig (which we ate).
I have enclosed some pictures to give you an idea what we are living in. Basically it is a tent 18’x18’. We sleep on top of the trailer on a super queen size space, the tent has a tub floor 9’x9’ where Cassandra sleeps & we store stuff. We have a step stool to get into bed, as it is high up. Then we have an optional awning we can attach with 3 walls, so we can totally enclose it if we wish. When I stand in the centre of the tent with my arm outstretched I cannot touch the roof of the tent, the side height is almost 6’ so I don’t have to bend down to enter, luxury! This week’s pictures the tent. www.castawaycampers.com will give you more of an idea.

I must say it is nice to be finally on the road, I can’t wait to dispense with Brisbane and hit the small towns.