I thought that I’d erred on the side of caution when I packed for this trip, but it feels like I am starting to run out of clean clothes 🙁
Most things can be recycled for a couple of days – the more observant among you will notice the same shirt/s for a couple of days in succession – but there are some things that are really just a single use item and then need to make their way to the washing basket.
Socks and jocks in particular.
I thought that I’d brought plenty to get me to the first opportunity for washing, but I may have miscalculated.
C’est la vie.
The plan today was to get from Charlotte Plains Station – just east of Cunnamulla – through Cunnamulla and on to Eulo for the night. Not a huge trip, but we need to be in Eulo Thursday morning.
If “packing down the van” was an Olympic sport, I reckon we would be on the podium. Maybe not yet gold medal winners, but on the podium anyway. We had the van packed down within about half an hour – MBW does the “inside stuff” (locking doors, putting dishes away, securing loose items) – while I do the “outside stuff” (hooking up the van to the car, retracting the legs, unplugging and rolling the hoses, locking the outside doors and hatches).
Just like on a plane as it is preparing for takeoff, we do a quick cross-check and we are ready to roll!
Today, the first 23km or so was on dirt, and that was just travelling down Charlotte Plains’ driveway and getting to the highway. Seriously – a 23km driveway!
It was only about 54km to Cunnamulla – almost 80km if you count the driveway at Charlotte Plains Station – so we were into Cunnamulla to see the sights by mid-morning. I mentioned my work colleague (Jay, originally from St George) who was providing tourist tips, and his tip for Cunnamulla was “don’t stop, just keep driving”.
Possibly a bit harsh, but the fuel gauge indicated that we probably needed to stop or we’d be stopping involuntarily somewhere before Thargomindah, so we did a quick reconnaissance of the three possible fuel stations in Cunnamulla.
The first one was boarded up and closed. The second was an unmanned (un-personed?) card only affair that was not particularly accommodating to people with caravans, so we went to the only available option and paid a record (so far) of $1.52 cents/litre for diesel.
That should keep Elsie happy for a while.
By the time we hit Cunnamulla, we were back in the land of the living again and our phones were beeping and pinging and vibrating like crazy with mobile phone reception.
I missed Google 🙁
So with our new-found ability to Google again, we searched for the top 10 things to do in Cunnamulla … and 4 of them were actually in Cunnamulla, while the remainder were around Cunnamulla (like going to look at a kangaroo).
Honestly, we have seen – and manoeuvred – around so many dead kangaroos so far on this trip that I have no real desire to see another one, dead or alive.
Being the good citizens that we are, we injected $9.50 into the local economy on two cups of coffee at the local cafe, and another $6.00 or so on milk and Jatz biscuits at the local IGA.
Last of the big spenders!
We saw the sights too – the Cunnamulla Fella …
… and the Robber’s Tree.
I actually find it a bit hard to believe that this is the very same tree that J Wells hid in back in 1881 after robbing the local National Bank, but I could be wrong.
I hate to admit it, but Jay was right 🙁
After we had seen the sights and bought groceries, we headed off to Eulo, our stop for tonight – about another 65km or 45 minutes up the road.
A bit of a low mileage day today, but that’s OK.
We got into Eulo in time for a late lunch, after a quick look around.
Eulo has a population of 221 according to Wikipedia and it is not much more that a main street, a pub, a post office, a police station, school and a cafe … plus a few houses for the 221 peeps that live here.
We had planned to stay at the Eulo Queen Hotel and Caravan Park, but they are fully booked out until August, so we decided to free camp tonight just outside Eulo.
There is a story that Isabel Gray (1851-1929) was the local publican, storekeeper and prostitute here back in the day.
Now I’m not sure whether that story is true, and I don’t know about you, but if I try to conjure up a picture to go with the word “prostitute”, that’s not the mental picture I get. Maybe it’s because the picture is blurry that I can’t get a proper appreciation of her true beauty?
Or maybe beauty wasn’t so important back in the late 1800s?
Not many sights to see in Eulo, but we saw them anyway.
Look kids – we bought a puppy!!
We found our way the last 5km or so to the free camping area just outside of Eulo and set up camp.
Lunch, a nap, and the camping area is starting to fill up with others who obviously couldn’t get into the Eulo Caravan park either.
I must say that I am suffering some serious caravan envy tonight, with this van pulling in not far from us.
Sadly, we also had the Bogan family move in beside us, including Mum and Dad Bogan and their Bogan teenage sons. And their “Kermit the Frog” caravan.
Apparently it is acceptable to talk to your family at the top of your voice, with no consideration for anyone else camping nearby. No need to watch the 6.00pm news, as I now know everything that I need to know that is going on in the world, plus a few things that I don’t really need to know.
Apparently it is acceptable to park your van on a level piece of ground, even if it means that everyone else in the park will need to navigate around you.
And then it is acceptable to start up your noisy generator so you can enjoy all of the luxuries of home … meaning that we need to talk to each other at the top of OUR voices so that we can be heard.
It could be worse – it could be raining.
And then it started raining … which turned out to be a blessing in disguise because the Bogan family needed to retreat inside Kermit and take shelter 🙂
It’s our first experience free camping in this van and it’s not so bad because luckily the overcast weather means it is a bit warmer tonight. And I don’t really mind being off the grid for a night. And I don’t mind saving $35 in accommodation costs.
BTW, if you are not familiar with the concept of free camping, let me assure you that it is not a euphemism for staying at a nudist campsite – it is simply … nah, if you want to think we are staying at a nudist campsite, that’s up to you.
At least it solves the problem of running out of clean clothes 🙂
Tomorrow we are doing the mud baths at Eulo, then off to Thargomindah for 3 nights. But you will hear about that tomorrow.
Ciao