Warm, but cool

There was s prediction of a small amount of rain in the early hours, so last night I decided to work on my erection skills in the new van. 

With the added height of this van, it was a little more of a challenge to reach up high enough and not have my mountainous midriff break free for the world to see, but being the shy guy I am, I let it all out as I set up the awning to provide the required shelter. 

And sure it enough, it was about 5am when I got woken up to the sound of about 8 drops of rain and then sunshine. I lay there for a couple of hours swearing at the weather man and wishing I had got up to go pee, and finally at just after 7 when I couldn’t hold on any longer, I got out of bed and did what I had to do. 

After the traditional Weber breakfast of bacon and eggs, I started pottering around trying to fix the issue of no mains water getting into the van. After becoming a Google certified caravan plumber, I finally managed to locate and undo the pressure limiting valve, release the stuck spring, and replumb, giving us the flow we needed. 

I celebrated with a 30 minute paddle on the kayak, battling a 30 knot head wind, only to be tipped out 15m from shore as Taz jumped aboard and upset the balance. 

After lunch saw us heading off to Raikkan, which is s little ghost town just past Narrung, that is home to the church featured on our $50 note. It was a good excuse to take some photos and to read up on some of the history of thiis old town. 

I would have liked to have gone for s further drive down the local dirt roads to just explore, but quite clearly my love of the ocean, farm lands, country roads and fresh air was not shared with others. So instead we headed back to camp to have a quiet drink or two (yes.... our 1st alcoholic drink of the day st 5pm..... what’s with that????). 

Tea tonight was steak, snags and salads with s few more drinks and a Cornetto for everyone kindly donated by the in-laws who were camping with us. 

Again, it became very cold, very quick, so bed was the obvious choice. 

Tomorrow looks like there will be no wind which will be a pleasant change, so should be a great day for the kayaks. 

Not so hot after all

After suffering through a 42 degree day yesterday, I was looking forward to today’s cooler forecast of 32 and being able to wallow in the shallow waters of Lake Albert, hoping people don’t mistake me for a beached dugong. 

This trip was the first in our “new to us” caravan. We now have a 17’ Outback Expanda and despite being the same design as our last van but with a few additions, I was constantly finding stuff that I had to work out. 

We were packed and ready to go at 10 am, and I was sweating more than Colonel Ssnders’ pet chicken. It was already the estimated high of 32 degrees and I needed to be in air conditioning. 

I got about 500m away (3 streets) when I realised I left my phone behind. To me, this is the equivalent of leaving the caravan behind. I managed to convince Tyler to run back as I couldn’t turn around with the van, which he was very nice and obliging to do. Luckily for us that this all happened because on my hot sweaty rush to leave, I had left the roller door up for all and sundry to explore our back yard. 

The trip very quickly turned from a “crickey it’s hot “ kinda day into a “what the...?” moment. The wind had picked up and by the time we got out the car, it was 21 degrees. 

Once mostly unpacked, the kids took the kayaks (which I discovered had almost fallen off the roof racks during the trip here) and headed into the Lake, which seems to have a maximum depth of about 70cm. 

The wind and cloud cover kept changing the “feels like” temperatures to anything between 12 and 23 degrees, which resulted in me getting frustrated and burnt thanks to my laziness and lack of desire to go back to the van to find s jumper and hat. 

Tea tonight was some beautifully cooked Pork chops on the Weber with some equally beautifully prepared mixed salads. 

It very quickly turned too cold to sit up past dusk, so into the  van we migrated and off to bed. 

Weather is going to be similar tomorrow so we may end up driving and exploring yet.