2012 Around Australia: Day 22 - 23 6th March

Day 22 Tuesday 6^th March 2012

Well we rose early this morning again after a rather eventful night. Not sure if you have come to the conclusion yet but I am a little scaredy cat. Well at 1:58 this morning I needed to go to the ladies real bad. I didn’t want to wake Oscar and ask him to accompany me so I thought I might just lay awake the rest of the night until it got light enough for me to go. However at about 2:15 I knew that was not going to be possible. So I thought I would give it ago by myself. Forgot to tell you, last night Oscar had dumped the canister contents but had not put the chemicals and a bit of water in, which is what needs to be done prior to using the in-house facilities, so I knew I couldn’t use the van loo. Got out of bed, put them big girl panties on again and grabbed hold of the torch. I can do this. Tiptoe out of the van; look around to make sure there is nothing in sight and start the long walk approx. 55metres to the loo. I am a bit panicked but nothing is happening and I am starting to feel really proud of myself for getting this far. Just as I get to 2 metres within the ladies loo door I see something move to my right. Heart racing I shine the torch in that direction and there it is; a huge bloody kangaroo. Well I do a mad dash for the door and zip right on in to the loo. No lights or anything waiting for the sensor to pick me up and switch the lights on, heart racing at a speed of knots. Lights go on and I realise that for now I haven’t yet wet my pants and I need to get to the loo.

First part of mission accomplished. What to do. Well the roo is outside or is it. I open the door peek out and sure enough there they are, not just one big one, but two. Ok this is it; I will have to spend the rest of the night in the loo. After getting settled on the counter top of the basins I hear a hop, hop, hop outside and guess they must have decided to leave. I go back to the door peek out and they aren’t insight. I start walking furtively back to camp and when I am sure they aren’t around I start a mad dash for the van. Get inside only to discover Oscar is awake and has been listening out for me when suddenly the hop, hop, hop goes past the van window. I beat the suckers.

We drive to Beachport which is our next stopover on the great adventure. Find the 3 Mile Bend Campground’s and guess what, we have to back the van in. Well we have only had one other time that we have done this and we were very successful. This one however came with its challenges. I have to stand where Oscar can see me so I can guide him, in but I can’t stand where he can see me as I would have to climb a tree to do this. So frustration sets in. I throw in the towel but Oscar insists and perseveres and eventually we are in and we are extremely happy he did persevere.

We took a drive into Beachport to look around had a drink at the local pub. We decided to take a drive along the tourist route and stopped off at the lighthouse. Oscar from the “Bocskay Bootcamp” just in case any of you thought I was on a holiday, let me just put you straight, decided we were doing mountain climbing down the sand dunes to the beach and back up again. Not the walk down or up that worries me just the critter’s I have to share the pathways with. Survived that got back to camp had a good dinner sausage, wedges, pouched eggs (thanks Marls) and salad. Took a walk later in the evening and ran into an Echidna. We also had a walk on Lake George which is just about dry.

View from our front deck this morning - How was yours....

Beachport

Beachport Pier

The original Light House on an Island off Beachport

Oscar's prowess at photography

Lake George - Very dry

Day 23 Wednesday 7^th March 2012

We didn’t get up too early this morning. Not sure what happened must be the new camp site. It is in a canopy of Tea Trees so is fairly dark, but extremely private. We were off to Mt Gambier today. I drove, as the ruling is when not pulling the van I drive, until we get to the Nullarbor Plains, then I will give it a bash until then I will stick to the easy driving. Got to Mt Gambier and oh the weather has improved. Not very hot just pleasant. We stopped off at the Information Centre in Mt Gambier and again were greeted and treated extremely well by the staff there. They let us know what was in the region and equipped with the information we set off for the day. We stopped off at The Cave Garden Sinkhole. It is right in the centre of Mt Gambier. This town is very holy. There are another couple of holes here, Umpherton and Engelbrecht, then there are the Blue Lake, Valley Lake and Leg of Mutton Lake which are volcanic lakes. I must admit though they are pretty awesome places to visit. The Umpherton Cave has the most amazing gardens and Blue Lake is exactly that an amazing blue in colour.

Once again we walked around the Blue Lake all of 5km’s and then up the steps during our “Bocskay Bootcamp” session. I am sure I have stated previously this healthy lifestyle is killing me. So was a long day from camp and returned fairly late. Made dinner and then started back on the blog so as to keep all of you up to date. Well I guess it will be early bed, early rise and off to Robe or wherever the road takes us tomorrow. I think we will move out of this area possibly by Saturday.

Well till the next post, you all keep happy and healthy, God knows I don’ have a choice.

O&V