Day 1: Home – Wallumbilla

We have a poster on our wall at home that says that ”… the journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step.”

Very profound.

This journey – the Retirement 2024 trip – started some time ago. Specifically it started on 31 October 2023 when I clicked the cessation button on our HR system and said ”I’m outta here on 03 May 2024”.

You’d think that 31 October 2023 to 03 May 2024 would be a lifetime, yet it came around in a flash, and I was being farewelled from QR.

The plan was that we would be hooking up the van and heading off into the sunset (literally, heading west) on Wednesday 08 May 2024 for a loosely arranged trip with some specific bookings for things that we wanted to see and do on the way.

The first issue was that we needed to get the van serviced, and the only day that we could get it done was – you guessed it – Wednesday 08 May 2024. So we deferred our departure for a day to leave on Thursday 09 May 2024.

And then MBW came down with a nasty vomiting bug on the Tuesday night. Honestly I’ve never seen someone be that sick for a very long time. So there was some doubt about when we would finally leave. Or whether MBW would survive.

I didn’t see MBW all day Wednesday, but the retching and vomiting noises confirmed that she was still alive. She had a day in bed sleeping (and vomiting, as noted previously).

I was so tired last night that I slept the sleep of the dead, and I woke at around 7.00am to find myself alone in the bed. Where, oh where, could MBW be?

She was in the bathroom, showered, fresh and (mostly) ready for the day. MBW is alive!

We did all of the last minute packing so that we could get away at a reasonable time. And when I say ”last minute packing”, what I actually mean is that we started putting out some clothes to suit a variety of possible weather conditions and temperatures. While this trip will take us to Winton, Darwin, Cairns and back home again, at least we won’t be living in a third world country where we can’t buy necessities that we forgot to take.

Like chocolate.

Anyhow, MBW went out for a quick haircut and we were packed and ready to hit the road by 11.00am. A bit later that I would’ve liked to be leaving, but at least we were going on (almost) the day we’d planned to leave, and the likelihood of someone vomiting in the car was mostly mitigated.

We left home and headed towards Toowoomba and beyond. I always feel that there are a few things that truly make me feel like I am on my way into Western Queensland:

• You get off the Toowoomba bypass road and there are open fields all around you
• There are lots of trucks on the road
• You see your first B-Triple just before Dalby
• The chatter on the CB radio Channel 40 goes from X-rated to helpful and interesting
• You stop to stretch your legs and all you can smell is the smell of cattle (and cattle poop) in the air
• You get past Chinchilla and the roads turn to 110km/h. Not me though … this responsible, retired grey nomad travels at a safe 95-100km/h.

We have done this road several times already, so really not much new or exciting to tell. Same old, same old.

Other than stopping for a cuppa in Dalby, the only real highlight of the trip was stopping briefly in Drillham (population 126) to post a letter. It will be interesting to see if that ever reaches its destination because it looked like that post box hadn’t been used for a loooong time.

Tonight’s stop is at the Wallumbilla Sale Yards/Showgrounds. Drive in, don’t even unhook, power and water hookup for a $10 donation. How good is that?

No pictures yet because we arrived just after 5.30pm and it was getting dark.

I had thought about going over to the shower block for a hot shower tonight, but the mossies are so big, and so fierce that I’m afraid to go outside the van for fear of being carried away. It will be a quick shower in the van tonight, and I will have a decent ablution in the morning.

But now I need coffee.

Ciao

#Retirement2024