I woke up in a sweat. Did we or didn’t we? We got sooooo close, but walking the camping in the morning the ear-to-ear smile on the Queenslander’s faces gives me the answer. It was no nightmare. The Blues really lost with 20-21. There are not many Australian sports (or non-Australian sports for that matter) that I really care about but Niki and I rarely miss the State of Origin. If we can’t be at the game all dressed up in blue then we’ll watch it together on a big screen.
Better over to nicer subjects. Apart from the unfavourable game result, the night went well. The dogs have a good night sleep, Nossi jumps on our bed at around 6.30/7 am and Dotti waits patiently and when we have finished breakfast and she is getting too hungry and we don’t feed them quickly enough she murders a sheep for appetizer.
We decide that one night at an orderly camping is enough, our clothes are clean and we are refreshed with hot showers so on to the next place. While we are packing up, Nossi finds a spot to sunbathe.
We take a quick stop outside the gates of the camping and walk the beach with the dogs. This beach is strict on leash only and to just let Nossi enjoy his zoomies we undo his leash for a minute. He must feel that something is wrong as he just looks at us as if to say “what’s the big deal here?”.
On the trip from the camping to the side of the road the bus showed some flickering dashboard lights. I figured that the v-belt would be loose but after checking see that it’s all ok. Then it appears that the regulator of the alternator is gone. The voltage goes up and down with the revs of the engine and also if we turn on lights or use the indicators the voltage shows strong fluctuations. This has happened once before 4 years ago and I could find a replacement (mechanical) regulator. That lasted 4 years. Now they seem to make and electronic one that is available only in the US. So I’ve ordered it and while it is in the mail we need to keep a good eye on the charging.
Then we are on our way, all the way back from Woodgate to Goodwood where we see the rural sign for schools. Outside of cities Australians seem to care less for their children or drivers have a quicker reaction. Where everywhere 40 kph is deemed a safe speed to stop quickly, for rural schools twice that limit seems appropriate. Strange.
Everywhere along the road we see small stalls with produce and buy fresh fruit for a bargain price. Nossi seems very nosey every time Marjo leaves the bus.
While we’re driving he seems content with just his coffee.
Then we arrive in Agnes Waters, a town close to 1770. This strange name for a place is for the tourists, so they can remember when Captain Cook landed there for boat repairs after he was the first to start damaging the barrier reef.
The main reason Agnes Waters is on the itinerary is that kitesurfing is a major sport here. And I happen to have an interest to learn it.
We are staying at a bush camping, maintained by the council, not expensive ($5.50 pppd) and has pit toilets (send a comment if you want explanations of what that is) and a surfy shower.
We find a nice spot, scouted by Marjo and unpack. This is not a big job and consists of:
– hang up fly screens (magnetic, so easy clicks on the bus)
– open gas bottle
– get the dogbeds and chairs from the trailer (we’ve started automatically to call it the shed)
– get the table from the back of the bus
– open the roof hatch
– put the guitar on the driver’s seat and the sun reflector behind the front window
Done!
First we go to the beach. There is quite a bit of wind (handy for kitesurfing) so we dress appropriately and after a 3 minute walk check out the three beaches, separated by rocky breakers. Very nice. Then we sit down for a picture.
There is no wind at all on the beach and I text the French Swiss dude that operates the kiteshop to see if kiting lessons are still planned for the day after tomorrow and he says “of course, in fact do you want to start tomorrow”. I’m doubtful with no good wind but confirm anyway.
The rest of the evening was a fabulous Marjo meal again, feeding the dogs and early inside. This is a no-campfire camping, so the evenings with wind get a bit chill. The temperature at night is vastly improved though and stays in the double digits.
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