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So now we are most definitely on the road! After some minor repairs on the van in Sydney we decided to give it a bit of a test drive out to the Blue Mountains for a couple of nights. A couple of hours into our journey the van is making the most awful screaching noise which would only happen when slowing down or accelerating away, which provided for some very embarrassing moments at each set of traffic lights, roundabout, junction etc!! So the next day, instead of spending the day in awe of the Three Sisters, we spent four hours in Penrith while another branch of the garage changed the alternator belt to the correct sized one!
The next day we headed on back to Sydney to pick up JJ and Sam from the Airport and whisked them away to Bondi Beach, where we got to have a very quick catch up before taking them to their hostel and for us to head on back to Hayley and Gary's for a final night out in Sydney and some very yummy ribs!
Up and out early the next morning to watch Tyler playing football (soccer) and then a fabulous walk with Sue and Tyler along some of the North Beaches, before hitting the road again back to the Blue Mountains, which this time we actually got to see!! Sasha got to see more than she expected on a quick trip to the toilet block at the Richmond campsite! Opening the door to enter she is presented with a man sitting on the toilet! Now, what exactly is the etiquette when walking in on someone on the toilet?? Do you quickly close the door and shout sorry through the closed door, or do you say sorry to them while you have the door open and you can see them?? Sasha of course said sorry with the door open, it's rude to not look someone in the eye when talking to them after all, right? and the man's reaction to Sasha's intrusion . . ."Awww CRAP!", quite appropriate don't you think?!
After a couple of nights in and around the Blue Mountains, one night of which we spent with the temperature dropping down to -1'C, we headed up to Ourimbah so that Sasha could be Hayley's experimental patient at University! Thankfully she survived being proded with sharp implements, and came away with a free dental check up and clean!
From Ourimbah we have being doing a very quick drive up the NSW coast to get up to Queensland where we have heard all the fruit picking jobs are at the moment. On the way up we stayed mostly at free camping sites, some of which where a little bit off the beaten track, which certainly gave the vans suspension a bit of a test! 10 kilometres definitely feels a very long distance when all of that 10km is dirt track! Being off the beaten track also provides for some extra visitors in the van, mostly in the shape of mosquitos! Plus at one site near to Port Macquarie, after parking up and having a quick wander around the field, Sasha decides to change out of her three quarter lengths as the tempurature was dropping. And there on the inside of her thigh was a leech! A bit of screaming and jumping up and down seemed to do the trick of getting rid of it, until that was, she realised there was one on her ankle too!
Our stop just outside of Byron Bay also provided a bit of entertainment in the shape of a huge cockerel who decided to stand outside each and every van parked up and cock-a-doodle-doo at 4:30 in the morning, for a full two hours!! And just out of spite, we had chicken for dinner that evening!
From Byron Bay we headed over the border into Queensland and through the very stunningly beautiful Gold Coast with Surfers Paradise looking particularly amazing! But it was very much a look and don't touch visit as all the campsites were very expensive and so we headed up the coast a bit to Jacobs Well, and then onto Ipswich where we find ourselves now!
A wander around the city centre was a little disappointing for a town with such a great name! It was full to the brim with chavs, or bogans as they are known here in Oz, and many of the shops appear to have closed down, so all in all not too similar to Ipswich back home!
Once back at the camper, while Sasha is cooking, Ollie decides to clear the van of flys and mossies before we get back in it for the evening, only to realise that instead of picking up the fly spray, he has sprayed the entire van with spray olive oil!! So we had a nice greasy sheen over all the inside surfaces! And still had flys!
Today we caught the train into Brisbane which is a really lovely city, and one that we would definitely return to! We had a great wander around the shops looking at all the things we wish we could afford, and then to the Botanical Gardens before catching the train back to Ipswich.
There has been no luck with jobs just yet, but those we have spoken to have all said the further north you go, the better the prospect of getting fruit picking jobs, plus we have been given the tip of following the agriculture shows around as they travel, as there is usually a good chance of getting cash in hand work! So watch this space!
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Kirsty Leeches?! Ugh!! And good work on oiling up the camper van too!