To 18-Dec-06 (Yackandandah Vic to Cherrybrook NSW)

THE LAST MAP
Well, we’ve finally made it home and praise God for keeping us safe and getting us home OK. We’ve had a wonderful adventure, met some great people, seen some amazing places and driven heaps. Here is some info for those (like Spencer) who like a few details - we’ve been on the road for 305 days, driven 41,500k in the Pajero, towed the van 25,500k, averaged 18.2 L/100k (that’s 15.5 mpg for us older set) and stayed in 129 different places – phew! Here’s the final route map:



Another pretty neat version is the following mud map (courtesy of friends Ross & Barbara):




GUNDAGAI (Gundagai Tourist Park)



Some roadworks and a new service station made this little fella a bit hard to find – but not for us!! He also looks a bit more like a pig than a dog from this angle. He looks OK in real life though. A little booklet about the dog suggested that he may have done more than just sit on the tucker box and this might account more for his fame – who knows?






YASS (Yass Caravan Park)
We enjoyed our 3 nights here and did some serious checking out of Yass. A nice place (hot though). We also raced back to Sydney for an overnight visit so that we could attend Troy’s graduation. A great and wonderful night. We are very proud of Troy.



QUEANBEYAN (Queanbeyan Riverside Caravan Park)
It was great to check out old haunts and to discover just how much things had changed since we had lived in Canberra during the early 80’s. The mandatory check of our old house showed it to be in good repair and looking OK. We also caught up with good friends Angus and Joan, checked out the National Gallery (didn’t find a real lot of hope there!), drove around the lake and did heaps of other stuff.


BATEHAVEN (Pleasurelea Tourist Park)



This is Pooh Bear’s Corner on the way to Batemans Bay - a place our boys really liked many years ago. We thought we would stay a few nights at the Bay, one of the favourite holiday places for the Canberra set. It was great and a delight to stroll along the beaches – a bit too cool for swimming though.









We also took time to visit the Mogo Zoo and the only white lions in Australia – they are not albino as we’d originally thought, they are just missing the “lion-colour” gene. There were two 3 month old cubs and this is one of the beautiful lionesses.









KIAMA (Easts Van Park)
We stayed our last 4 nights here and did some serious relaxation. We also enjoyed a very pleasant evening with friends Ben, Natalie and Cameron in Dapto.



The big blowhole was pumping and brought back many memories. A short stroll from the van park brought us to the Little Blowhole which was also sending huge spouts of water skywards.









CHERRYBROOK (Home)
Phew, by the time we wrote this, we’d managed to move all our furniture back into the house, Rhonda has put everything away and the place looks pretty much as though we’ve never left. However, the big white box in the driveway and Rhonda’s 7,500 photos are great reminders that we’ve really been right around Oz.

It’s been a little sad to come to the end of our big adventure and to realise that return to suburban and working life means that we won’t be able to be together 24 x 7. However, it has been marvelous to see family and to catch up with friends in person. It has also been great to admire how little Alesha has grown (she is now 11 months old - a delightful age). We’re very impressed with how Alesha can wave, clap, stand (well, when she is holding onto something) and dance. She is also trying to talk and sing. Sound like doting grandparents?? You bet!!

This is our last planned entry in this blog series. Thank you to everyone who has joined in our adventures via the blog and for your encouraging feedback. Who knows, we might even do another one if we succumb to the temptation to hook up the caravan and take off again.



AND NOW FOR SOMETHING SPECIAL
We received this poem out on the track and Spencer really liked it so we thought it was worth sharing (the author is unknown and wouldn’t mind we’re sure). “Caravanning Bliss” might just bring back a memory or two for anyone who’s sampled the delights of caravanning:

There was movement at the Station
So wrote a famous man –
But how did Banjo know this?
P’haps he towed a caravan.

Perhaps Banjo had been woken
In a ‘van park’ from his sleep
Some two hours before sunrise
By strange noises from the deep.

All the ‘erk, erk, erk’ of van legs
Being screwed up in the dark,
As the first nocturnal trav’ler
Starts to wake the sleeping ‘park’.

Then, just like a feral mating call
Some others answer back,
With their ‘erk, erk’ flaming chorus
As the first start down the track.

Now, it’s best to warm the motor
If you’re leaving in the dark,
Especially if it’s diesel
And jackhammers all the ‘park’.

Because now it’s time to hook on
And you hear the circus start –
‘Move left, NOT right, I said THIS way
You pig-headed, deaf old fart”!

And ‘how dare you call me brainless,
You ungrateful, senile drone –
If you don’t want my directions
Do it on your bloody own”!

Because now it’s almost daylight
And the ‘camp’ picks up the pace
As these geriatric gypsies
All begin their morning race.

For the next ‘park’ is their target
Where like metal ants they flock,
For the first in gets the best shade
And close to the ‘ablution block’.

You can’t beat ‘em so you join ‘em
In this hyperactive spree
For the laundry’s now in full swingThrobbing like a DC-3!!!



With best wishes & may God richly bless each person reading this. May you have a safe, happy new year and a marvelous 2007.


Spencer & Rhonda


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