07/05/2023
Bear with me on this ... it's a longish read.
COULD THIS HAPPEN FROM A HOTEL ROOM?
Sometimes I just sit down and gather my thoughts by tapping away on my laptop, I usually hit delete and move on, ready to write another rant ... in this case I didn't.
They say it's the journey not the destination, well I'm not sure ... we have recently arrived home from a five-week journey with lots of wonderful destinations.
We gathered with a hundred plus like minded Coromal owners in Dimboola, a fantastic township with a very well set out caravan park, large sites and park manager that bent over backwards to please.
In Naracoorte we met and consumed way too much alcohol (their influence of-course) with our new, second-best friends :-) from the UK, we'll definitely keep in contact, and who knows, maybe even visit.
While staying at Lake Bringalbert we met German born Martin, a tiny home builder/owner travelling mainland Australia. A wonderful charismatic character, a watch maker by trade that not only built his 'van', but carefully shaped a sleek timber canoe and then a remote-control model cutter with left over wood.
Just out of Boort in Victoria, we visited the home of the late John Piccoli, met his wife and saw his creations made from spanners ... yep spanners.
We dropped in to Wangaratta to catch up with ninety-four-year-old podcast mate Max Tayler, he has done the lap of Australia eight times, as bright as a button and as we learnt on this visit, he can recite the alphabet perfectly ... backwards.
We had happy hours with people we hadn't met before, we shared cheese, wine, stories and we laughed (lots).
Meeting all sorts of people, hearing their stories ... I reckon that makes the journey for us.
We visited the townships of Beechworth, Porepunkah and Bright as autumn started to cast its spell.
Beautiful trees changing colour and the nearby Mount Buffalo, simply stunning scenery, worth the drive skyward.
We set our GPS to avoid freeways, so we discovered some other wonderful little towns, great camp spots and caravan parks. Longwood, Maldon, Laanecoorie and Harrow spring to mind.
On some days we were in shorts and t-shirts, the next we were in coats, a Driza-Bone, a beanie, and even our trackydacs got a run for their money.
We were fog bound, rained upon, really rained upon with thunder and lightening as we sat or slept, dry and comfortable in our van, there was even a report of snow nearby, but we didn't feel or see it.
One night we walked 30 metres from our van, standing alongside each other, but couldn't see each other, we then looked up ... the stars, so many shining in the night sky ... who needs 5-star luxury when you can have this?
Other nights, with glass in hand, we sat around our small campfire in silence, warmed and mesmerized by it's everchanging beauty.
Caravanning is more than just pulling a small house on wheels around the country, it is a journey, a way of life, a way of building and re-building relationships. You experience nature at it's best (and worst), you'll hear birds chirping, dogs barking, kids giggling and their parents or grandparents laughing, you can't help but smile.
Groups gather, solo's roam, young families discover and grey nomads re-discover.
We did this in 5 weeks, so much more to see, many more people to meet and lots of things to do.
It's was time to head home, clean up, service and repair van and vehicle, save up and head off again, planning has already begun.
All part of our journey, we can't wait to find more destinations ... make memories and live the dream!
