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Catching up some more

So, Tuesday the 31^st of March, 2015. First time I've stayed at one camping more than one night. Just a bit of walking in Tin Can Bay and some catching up on here. Probably tomorrow the trip goes on up north quite a bit. I'll need to look into where the trip goes to from here later today.

But first, catching up. All the way up.

Sjors picked me up at the drop–off point for the Jucy camper van and took me to his place in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane. He has a great pad on the sixth floor of an apartment building, close to where it all happens in Brisvegas. Not that I partook of that aspect of Brisbane, though. I mostly just did my laundry and took in a little of the beautiful city and river.

Sjors and his girlfriend, Elizabeth, took me to see her apartment that she is selling and that they had been giving a new coat of paint and generally readying for sale. After that we headed over to Kangaroo Point to walk a little along the river there. A lovely walk–way complete with the ubiquitous public BBQ place. Quite a lot of joggers that use the steps up and down the cliff–side as a training exercise.

Just when we were farthest from where Sjors had parked the car we felt the first few big drops of rain. Soon it was pelting down pretty hard and we were soaked. Not that I really cared. Getting soaked over here is a lot better than getting soaked in cold Dutchland.

The next day was Monday, so both Sjors and Elizabeth had to go to work, which they did very early in the morning. Nothing like my lazy–ass starting times back home… I, of course took the opportunity to sleep in.

The previous day Sjors had explained a bit about what I could do in Brisbane, so I followed his advice and took a walk along the newly rebuilt river walk–way all the way to the Powerhouse, where I had some lunch. From there I took the City Cat up–river, using Sjors' public transport card.

I can recommend doing that, because you get a nice view of the city from the river. I took the City Cat all the way to the end–point at the University and stayed on for the trip back. I got out about half–way back and walked through Queen's street to Fortitude Valley, taking in the main shopping area of Brisbane.

That evening we tried to watch a documentary on Heath Ledger through on–demand TV, but for some reason half–way through it started to act up, so we were unable to watch it all.

The next day, Tuesday, the trashhh started at Mt. Warning National Park, to the south of Brisbane. I had managed, with the help of Sue, the organiser of the trashhh, to arrange a lift with Liz, who worked about nine minutes walk from Sjors' apartment in Fortitude Valley. Which was great, but even then nine minutes walk in the sun with a heavy back–pack and a heavy ruck–sack was a bit much. I really need to learn to pack less. Although, a lot of the weight was due to the laptop I'm now typing this on, which is an old model and so pretty heavy. Also, I needed a pair of running shoes which adds to the weight. Luckily most of the time here I have transportation where I can stash everything and not have to carry it all.

The trashhh was great, as usual. Different than in Europe. For starters, there were a lot less people than usual. I think there were around 35 people this year, compared to an average of 60 or 70 most times in Europe. Partly understandable, of course, but a shame none–the–less. Keith and Audrey managed to come, so what excuse did a lot of others have?

No, I understand why it was hard for some to come. Too bad Erik had to cancel at the last moment. I was looking forward to seeing him again, as he had consistently been on the 'coming' list. As it was, the only younger–generationers that were there, were me and Sam and Kirstin. Bad show.

Also different was the number of Ozies present, which was also expected of course. Quite a few I didn't know, or just from one or two earlier trashhhes. It was a great event regardless. Glad I made the trip over. Not just for the trashhh, of course, but it had been the trigger for me to plan a trip Down Under. Still very happy I did.

After the trashhh I picked up my 'new' camper from the Spaceships depot in Brisbane. It's the exact same make and model as the previous one Sam and I drove up from Melbourne, but it was quite a bit cheaper from this rental company. And the setup is a lot better than the Jucy camper, too.

For one, there's a proper refrigerator in it which runs off an extra battery hooked up to the car electrical system. A lot better than the coolbox that was in the Jucy van. There are two gas stoves, although I've only used one at a time, it's nice to have a back‐up, especially as I'm going to be on the road for quite a long time. Also nice is that the front seats don't have to be moved to setup the bed. The storage space for the kitchen is underneath the bed instead of in the back, which makes that possible.

There's also some negative points. Adjusting the mirrors with the controls from inside doesn't work, but the mirrors were almost completely correct for me to start with, so I don't mind that. The front–left speaker is dead, but I'll also survive that. At first I thought the right–hand side window was not working either, until I figured out the 'window–lock' was on.

So, after I picked up my 'Moon Dust' camper van I drove off up north. I made an early stop, and spent the night at a camping in Beachmere.

The next day I went on a shopping spree, buying some stuff to make my stay in the camper a little better. Top of the list were a couple of storage boxes to put my clothes in. Living out of a back–pack gets tedious, as I seem to always need that thing that is all the way at the bottom. Now I have a large box for my shirts, a smaller one for my shorts, an even smaller one for my underwear and the smallest for my socks. Everything within reasonably easy reach in the back of the van.

I had passed a sign for Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo, so I decided to go there the next day. I spent most of the day walking around and watching the various 'shows'. The first was the main show in the 'Crocoseum' at 12. A number of birds fly around the arena and of course the main attraction of the show are the crocs. Well, two. One small juvenile croc and a proper big one. Robert, Steve's son, was part of the show, too.

Other shows I picked up were the Tigers and the Birds of Prey. Both low–key, but interesting and well done. All in all a nice day at the zoo.

After the Zoo I drove on to Maleny, where I stayed the night on the showgrounds. An excellent and cheap alternative to a camping, complete with warm showers and toilets. Only missing thing was a kitchen sink to do the dishes, so I made do with the regular sink. First time I had electricity (I finally bought an extension cord) so I spent a while writing the previous entry outside in the camping chair with the laptop on my lap. I actually ended up changing into my jeans and putting on a fleece due to the significantly lower temperature.

While I was cooking (pasta with shrimp, broccoli and green pesto) I was alerted by a ruckus in the tree. Looking up I saw what I think was a possum. Later a rat passed before my van and ran up in to the bushes, too. Welcome to the outdoors.

The next day I drove back to the coast and ended up in Tin Can Bay, a nice little town across from Fraser Island. Where I'm now sitting in the camp kitchen typing this, looking out on the rainy camp grounds. It just started to rain a bit, but it's picking up, so I'm not sure when I'll be able to get back to my van reasonably dry…

Although, what I actually want is to get to the front office first, so I can get on the Wi–Fi and post this…