Day 4 - Adelaide
Tuesday, May 29, 2012 at 08:37AM Interesting start to the morning, as I was hooking up the van to the car, I lowered the jockey wheel which was sitting on blocks of wood to stop it from sinking into the soft ground and the Van started to roll back!.... It had been sitting on a hard plastic levelling block, but when I raised the stabilizing legs it rolled back 12 inches off the levelling block and the drawbar dropped to the ground!
Now we have a drawbar weight of 250+kg so there was no way that Ness or I could lift it back on to the ball. Luckily my Bear Grills skills came to the fore & I quickly grabbed a shovel, slid it under the jockey wheel to stop it from sinking & then raised it back up and on to the tow ball!....Phew!!!
Now the handbrake was on extra hard, but it obviously is not holding the full weight of the van! Will have to get that checked!
So once the van was hooked up & checked, I jumped in the car & Ness put my chair in the boot, the last thing we do before we drive off is check that the gas bottles are off & the handbrake is released. Ness yelled out to me ‘I can’t get the handbrake off!’ she tried a couple more times with no luck so I said to get me out, so poor Ness had to get my chair out, I got out and released the handbrake! It was on very tight I must add. I really need to grow some muscles.
So we eventually dragged ourselves away from Mt Gambier, early start and on the road by 8.30am, just in time for Annie’s morning nap.
Drove out through some amazing timber plantations, timber is one of the biggest industries in Mt Gambier, employing and supporting thousands of locals and small businesses…. And then the current S.A. state government goes and gives the contract to harvest this timber to overseas companies! What are we doing to this country, selling everything to the highest bidder regardless of the consequences? When will governments start to look past what they need to do to win the next election? What this country needs is leadership! Not “you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours” imbeciles that don’t see further than 4 years ahead.
We travelled the coast road from Mt Gambier to Adelaide, this is one really nice road, some of the small coastal towns along this route look like they have been untouched by the developer or touristy dollar, awesome. Some of these blogs sound like I’m writing for tourism SA….. you reckon they’d pay me?
The GPS nearly killed us tonight, we were driving into Adelaide through Tailem Bend & then about 30km from Adelaide it told us to turn off the freeway and go via the Belair National Park! Now who are we to argue with the GPS but I don’t think it actually realises that we have over 3 tonnes of caravan behind us! It started to take us up and down these winding mountain roads. From now on we will call it Bullshit National Park, because every corner I went around I was saying “Oh Bullshit!”
We eventually got to the caravan park in Adelaide,(Christies Beach) right on the beach & nice grassy sites, have a look at the before & after shots of the van. These shots will go up tomorrow….
Just a few reader questions, Brad Atkins said that my blog should have a “Like” button. That is only because he is too lazy to write a comment!
Karen asked about the expiry date on the nuts, seeing as they have been in Vanessa’s car since January! They don’t expire till July Karen, I have been going to throw them out for months but every time I say something she says “Leave them in the car.”
Juan commented on the shower, which reminds me of a story that happened to me last week, I went to the State of Origin at Docklands, just before half time I decided to go to the loo to beat the rush, only to get around to the wheelchair toilet to find two able bodied (drunk) guys standing in the loo with the door open just peeing on the floor! They were not even using the bowl. I told them they were weak So & So’s but they just looked at me…… but then I noticed there was a drinking fountain nearby & a couple of empty plastic cups!....I filled them with water and went back to the loo and threw water on the two guys. I turned & bolted, I hope they froze the rest of the night! Don’t use a wheelchair toilet unless you have to!
Hey the last thing I have to share with you tonight, before we left I bought this Grabber Thingy, it has a trigger that when you squeeze it closes two arms. It is for picking things up off the floor or reaching things too high. I needed to use it tonight & asked Ness where it was, she said “On the top shelf!”
Great, now I need to buy a Grabber thingy to reach my Grabber Thingy! Check out the pics. Oops…
Annie’s Blog
Today was another great day, the box on wheels is still following us, I kind of like it now. We drove past lots of big baths today, I never knew there was so much water in the world, I guess there are a lot of things I don’t know yet.
We stopped at Meningie and guess what? The magic flying fairies followed us all the way, mum took me out on the jetty and they even flew out there with us, I’m so lucky to have magic flying fairies with me everywhere I go.
When we got close to Adelaide we went down this really scary road and Dad kept saying “This is Bullshit” and Mum doesn’t swear much but she also said Shit, Shit…..I think she felt bad about saying it in front of me….. But I am used to it, Nan says it all the time!... I love you Nan XXX
I also heard from my Granny tonight, I was a bit quiet on the phone to her but I smiled when I heard her voice, she speaks funny! Maybe I’ll speak like my Granny one day?
Night everyone.
AnnieInAVan
Reader Comments (3)
Hahaha to the grabber thingy on the top shelf...you are a nuff nuff VW!
Absolutely LOVING your blogs - am so jealous! We took 3 months to do Melb-Adelaide our first year on the road, and you can understand why. Oh, and now you guys know how we felt coming in the wrong way to yr place last November.... At least you didn't need a tow! Or the brandy.. James, we nearly lost the van down a 1.5 metre drop by relying on the handbrake. Was early in our travels and have never relied on it since- and others feel the same way. Be interesting to hear N's comments. So glad you took an extra day at Mt Gambier. After all the preparation to go, it was probably the first time you'd stopped for weeks. Love and hugs. M
Hello Lovelies, Looks like another great trip ahead of you ... already love reading the blogs and Annie's little updates are just beautiful !! Photos are the BEST keep them coming ... some beautiful ones of Ness & Annie .... Love the teeth ... Chels has just broken some molars ... now that is not fun !
I start work on Sunday :( so no more lady lunches, Conrad pre-opernning gig looking forward to it ... working on F&B and Spa marketing so Ness might need some help !!!
Jerome has exmas this week, and started a new area director role, so busy man ....
Take care lovely Woods, we might not write that often however rest assured we are always keeping up with you .... watcing and reading :-) sounds llike stalking really doesn't it !!
Loads of love XXX
Lou, Jez & Cheeky Chels XXX