A Very Wet Camping Holiday

On September 19, Louis' eleventh birthday, he was put in kennels for eighteen days while I went on a camping holiday to join the Australian Camper Trailer Club for their annual get together. This year it was in a tiny town in southwest NSW called Ganmain which has a population of 600.

I left early on Sept 20 heading off to Millmerran which is my normal overnight stop on the way to western NSW.  I had decided to take a slightly different route to bypass Toowoomba. My first stop for morning tea was at Yarraman where I camped last year and I tried to use my Android Tablet as a GPS to plot my route around Toowoomba but it didn't want to work so I headed of following signposts  and ended up in Toowoomba!  I had forgotten to switch on Mobile Data on my tablet! I had added about 40Km to my journey for nothing.  I has also not topped up my fuel before leaving home with about 100km on the clock.  A few kilometres south of Toowoomba my low fuel light came on and I still had over 50Km to go.  Fortunately I found a service station along this isolated stretch of road called the Gore Highway. 

As I approached Millmerran I began seeing illuminated signs beside the road saying that there were road closures ahead including the road to Goondiwindi which was on my route next day.  The southern states, NSW, Victoria and South Australia, had had a severe rain event with extensive flooding and it had also affected south east Queensland.  At the camping ground I met a caravaner who had just got through but the roads were very wet.

I had my dinner at the local tavern and went to bed in my trailer tent as the rain began to fall.

Fish and Chips for Dinner

The next morning, Sept 21, I packed up in the pouring rain and set off. The road to Goondiwindi was open with care and I had a very wet 370Km drive to Narrabri for my next overnight stop.  The caravan park had been flooded but they found me a camping site.  Some big caravans had been bogged overnight.  I had dinner at the local RSL.

The next morning, Sept 22, it was dry when I packed up and set off to Parkes where I intended to camp.  I had made good time and after a coffee break pushed on to Forbes.  At Forbes the caravan park owner was surprised to see me as somehow or other I had missed the "Newell Highway Closed" signs at Parkes!  In Forbes flooding had begun and I would have to return to Parkes and take a long detour to get to Ganmain next day. I had driven 420Km

The caravan park owner gave the NSW Live Roads Apt for my tablet and I started my long detour by driving back to Parkes then taken minor roads east then south to Cowra where there were more diversions before I head west to Young where I stopped for lunch.  After lunch I had to take another diversion south to Junee before heading northwest to Ganmain.  Forbes to Ganmain is 200Km but with diversions I has driven 390Km.

The meet was at the local showgrounds and I soon checked in and put up tent and annex.  The weather was dry but the showground was water logged in places.  The next ten days I stayed put.  The weather ranged from nice, mild and dry to wet, windy and cold.  As usual we had big bonfires at night.  I cooked in my annex most nights and had takeaways from the local pub a few times.  Ganmain has a bakery famous for its meat pies and a pub. There is museum and a Men's Shed which we visited during the week  The nearest real store saw 15Kmin Coolamon where I stocked up my supplies and used the launderette to wash my clothes.

During the week we had social events, lectures on camping and visits to the local area but these were limited due to local flooding.  My tent and annex were dry and I was warm and dry at night.  After one night of heavy rain one camper drove his four wheel drive to the dump point to empty his cassette toilet and got bogged.  He was rescued by other members and drove of home only to get bogged again on the way home.  He has a great Facebook Page here https://www.facebook.com/groups/185940218095607/permalink/1217389141617371/ 

On Sunday Oct 2 I decided to leave a day early as the roads were still closed and more diversions were necessary.  I drove to Young, about 160Km and camped at the local caravan park on a very wet grass site.  A big RV pulled in behind me and my only way out next morning was forward and in the wet grass my front wheel drive Jazz towing a trailer could not get going and bogged.  After uncoupling the trailer and using some planks under the front wheels I got out.  The caravan park owner was not amused with the ruts in his grass but he put me there.

I decided to drive across country to Dubbo as the Newell Highway was still closed. Forbes had been evacuated and the shorter diversion were carrying heavy traffic.  I asked my tablet to give me a direct route and followed its directions all day.  It was very interesting as it selected a route using minor roads which finally got there after a 400Km drive.  I was back on the Newell Highway.

I got a dry site for the night and had a lovely warm evening before going to bed.  Overnight a windy, wet chnage blew in and really rocked my trailer tent.  In the morning it was pouring with rain and blowing a gale.  I dressed in a pair of shorts and T-shirt and wore plastic crocs on my feet and packed up the wet tent and coupled up the trailer.  I had a warm shower and changed into warm dry clothes before setting off.

I was warned that the Newell Highway was a mess and the road surface badly damaged so I used my tablet to get me to Armidale.  This was a 450Km drive along the New England Highway.  It poured with rain all day.  I stopped for lunch in Tamworth but wasn't interested in sight seeing.  When I got to Armidale I found a cheap motel for the night and has a terrific dinner at a local pub, scotch fillet.

The next day the sun was shining and I set off back to Queensland.  I decided to camp one more night at a little town called Crows Nest north of Toowoomba  which was about a 450Km drive.  The day was bright and warm and I made good time until I got to the border between NSW and Qld when I discovered that the cable connecting my indicators to the trailer had come adrift and dragged along the road completely destroying it.  I Googled auto electricians and found one in Warwick on my route.  He was a grumpy  bloke at first but warmed up as he sat on the curb next to my trailer and soldered up a new connector and also made sure that the new one was properly secured.  He charged $55.00 which is less than the "call out" fee locally.

I camped at the Crows Nest Caravan Park on a nice dry grassy site and sat in the evening sun before dinner which I cooked in the camp kitchen. 

On Oct 5 I set off for home via Yarraman and had a 265Km drive home in sunny weather.

At home I unloaded the trailer erected the tent to let it dry out and also spread the canvas walls and roof of the annex in the drive to dry out in the warm sunshine.

Next morning I picked up Louis from the kennels. He was in great condition and had been shampooed that day.

I had driven over 3,000Km, camped 14 nights and spent one night in a motel.  In spite of feeling very tired because of my AF and medication I had had a great time.

A few photos from the trip.

Ganmain Showgrounds

The nearest town - Coolamon

Ganmain Farming Museum

A sunny day and boles competition

The competition is fierce

The finalists

The winners

My set up all closed up in the rain

A Thai meal in Dubbo

A redundant notice in the men's toilet Dubbo

My final camp at Crows Nest

Louis making himself at home

A Belated Update From Tewantin Part Five - Health Matters and It's Louis' Birthday

This year has not been great health wise. I have been in Atrial Fibrillation continuously for over 12 months which has an affect on my daily life.  I run out of breath quite quickly and start to stagger  after walking Louis on his normal one hour walk.  Now staggering is not an unusual thing for me especially  after a bottle of good red wine but I am talking about 4.00pm before I open a new bottle.

It also affects my cycling and I tire after about 20 t0 30KM and need to rest for an hour or so. Fortunately it doesn't affect my driving nor is it likely to kill me if I take my regular medications.  I get on quite well by dividing my day into 2 to 3 hour periods.


A typical day is up about 5.00am, shower and shave, have breakfast then walk Louis.  Back home I rest in my recliner armchair and rest while catching up on my emails, Face Book  and regular blogs which I follow.  I fill in the time to 9.00am having a snooze when Louis is normally snugged up beside me.

At 9.00am I either do my chores or go shopping and am back home by 11.00 to 11.30am.  If  I am delivering Meals on Wheels I go out at 10.30am and get home at 1.00pm.  If not, I normally  have a light lunch and read for a couple of hours.  I am trying to read all the classics I avoided as a teenager.   I have downloaded several book from Gutenberg including War and Peace, Les Miserables, Jane Eyre etc and find them quite enjoyable.  I haven't enjoyed mush Dickens however.

In the afternoon I potter around the house and garden before taking Louis for his afternoon walk which normally takes  about one and a half hours as I rest in the shelter in my local park and catch up with the local gossip with my other dog walking friends.  I the cook dinner and dine,drink wine about 6.30pm .

After clearing up I watch TV for while am in bed about 9.00pm

I was coping very well with this routine a I got three 20-30km bike rides each week as when ever possible I us my bike for shopping and have short ride with my club most Saturday mornings

Late last year I began to have a typical old man's problem with my prostate.  It gradually became more difficult to urinate and more annoyingly difficult to remain continent  for more than an hour.

In July it had become so bad that I decided to have what in the medical trade is called "a re-bore"  more accurately known as TURP  .  I you are a male read the Wikipedia article which will make your eyes water and females will tell you they have had to put up with this sort of thing all their lives.

Actually the procedure wasn't too bad and I spent three days in hospital before coming home to a reasonably normal life.  The worst thing was that I couldn't ride my bike for at least eight weeks.  I also had to come of my anticoagulants until told otherwise.  With AF anticoagulants are used to minimize the risk is another stoke.

After three weeks I went back to see my surgeon who was very pleased with her handiwork (she is a Kirsten) and as I had stopped having blood in my urine put me back om anticoagulants.  As part of the TURP a number of samples of the material removed from my prostate were sent for biopsy.  The results were a bit of a shock they showed that they had a Gleason Score of 4+3=7 which a bit of worry as  it shows that I have cancer

Over the next week I had a comprehensive full body CT scan,  a 100%  bone scan and a blood test.  These showed that the cancer had not spread and as the blood test showed a PSA of 1.4 the cancer was not particularly active.  It has been decided to do nothing but "wait and watch".  Every 3 to 4 month I will have tests and if there is no change I will probably "die with not of" prostate cancer.

I have had couple of problems with blood in my urine and had to come of my anticoagulants for a while and defer cycling a bit longer.  I have been OK fro a week or so  now and am back on my anticoagulants.

Tomorrow I am of a camping holiday  with my camper trailer group - life goes on!

Now today is Louis' eleventh birthday and he as demanded equal billing with his predecessors.

Louis at six week old.  The breeder sent me this photo for me to show to Margaret when she was in hospital.  She said "I want him."

Our friend Bettie brought a hooping basket to carry Louis to the hospital. I waited outside with him and Betty wheeled Margaret to the outside decking where Margaret gave him his name and a cuddle..

Louis first six months

Six months and guess what?

 

Louis I one year old - we were seventy

Louis slept at the foot of Margaret's bed

Louis is five - From a previous blog

Louis is eleven

A Belated Update From Tewantin Part Four - A Camping Holiday and More Nostalgia

The Australian Camper Trailer Group had scheduled a camping weekend at Atkinson's Dam for the weekend  the 11th and 12th of June and the organisers Robyn and Lindsay invited members to arrive any time from Friday 10th of June and leave on Monday 13th June.

I decided to make a holiday of it by extending the camping trip by staying at the little town of Esk, where Margaret and I stayed with the Caravan Group we belonged to in 1998 to 2001, for a couple of days.


On Thursday I put Louis in kennels where he made his, now, usual piteous whining "Don't leave me!" act only to trot off wagging his tail on the way to the kennels.  Back at home I packed my Camper Trailer and little car.  I was relieved to see that the CT tent had dried out and there was no mould on the canvas.

Ready to go

I had actually cleaned the Jazz for the trip

On Friday I drove to Atkinson's Dam via Esk to check that I could stay in the caravan park and arrived just after lunch.  

Parked in Esk's main street

Robyn soon had me parked in a spot fairly close the the facilities.  I camped here last year and commented on the blue loos.

They are still blue!

Last year I got very cold so I erected both my tent and annex and also made sure that I rugged up warm.  For dinner I warmed up a tin of chunky beef soup and together with bead and cheese washed down by a good bottle of red wine was ready for an evening around the campfire with the other new arrivals.

Sunset at Atkinson's Dam

My little CT is just left of centre

Chunky Beef Soup

 The weekend was a great success and it is written up by Robyn on the CT Group webpage which is worth a look at as it has some photos by Rob showing some of the bird life near the dam.  Click on the thumb nail to enlarge the image.

Atkinson's Dam 2016

On Monday the few of us who were left packed up and said our good byes we all hope to meet in September for the Annual Meet in NSW.

I drove the 50 kilometres to Esk and was checked in at the caravan park just after lunch. I didn't put up my annex as I would not be cooking at the CT.   I bought some fish and chips for dinner and sat in the caravan park's cosy camp kitchen and lounge which had an great log fire.  I drank a bottle of white wine and chatted to other campers until quite late before going back to my CT.

At the dam I had no power and used my solar panels to charge my battery which powered my fridge and LED lighting.  Here I had mains power and even had my electric fan heater to warm up the tent but I switched it off before I went to bed.

The next two days I took long walks around Esk in the mornings, had lunch in the town and dinner in the local pub.  I spent the evenings in the lounge chatting with the other campers.  It was very relaxing and but me in a great state of mind for my next update.

Esk is on the Brisbane Valley Rail Trial.

I walk several  kilometres along the Rail Trail each day

My cycling club rode this part of the trail a couple of weeks ago.

Nor for some nostalgia.  When we stay at Esk just before Christmas in 1999 Margaret bought statue of a fox cast in plastic resin which sits on the top of my china cabinet till this day.  We also took our big black Standard Poodle with us so her are a few pictures of Margaret's dogs starting with the fox.

Margaret's Fox

 Old Kim

The first thing Margaret did when we moved in our first house in 1962 was to buy a little dog which was a Corgi Cross mut.  He was a lovely little dog but when we went to England in 1964 we put him in kennels run by our local vet.  Here contracted hepatitis and died a few weeks after we came home.

Kim

Kim really loved Helen 

Margaret, Helen and Kim

Young Kim

Margaret missed Old Kim and we soon bought a purebred Corgi and also called him Kim.  We actually showed Young Kim a few times but found dog exhibitors were a bitchy crowd and he just became a pet.  In 1968 Young Kim had a nasty ear infection which didn't respond to treatment.  He was in so much pain that he became aggressive and he had to be put down.

Young Kim with Margaret

The show dog

 Barney

After Young Kim's death Margaret wanted another mut so we went to the Dog Rescue Home where we fell in love with Barney.  He was supposed to be a little larger than a Corgi but our vet told us he would become a large dog and was a Border Collie crossed with an Australian Cattle Dog - both very energetic breeds.

Barney was another lovely faithful dog who had a long and happy life.  When he was young the Nuns from our local church came to visit.  The came in through the side gate, patted Barney and tried the back for which was locked.  When they tried to leave he would not let them and herded them into a corner where they stayed until Margaret came home and rescued them.  I put a Do Not Enter sign on the gate.  He never actually touched the Nuns.  He could open the gates and would visit the Collie bitch down the road and she had several beautiful litters before he was neutered. 

A the age of nine he has a massive tumour removed from a front leg.  We were told that it was very aggressive and he wouldn't last long.  Luckily they didn't tell Barney and he died at the right old age of seventeen.

Barney loved playing ball

He was Margaret's most faithful dog

He was also handsome and knew it!

He got quite large as he got older

A few months before he died in 1985 he was joined by Danni.

 Danni

 Danni was another rescue dog.  She was obviously a well bred Doberman who had had a litter then dumped.  The rescue home had had her spayed and she came home with her stitches in.  Barney loved her and made he welcome.  He even played with her.  In 1986 Danni developed cancer of the spine and was put down when her pain could not be managed.  She was Margaret's favourite dog

Danni settles in - I love Margaret's Afro

A fwe days before Barney died

Danni was a lovely girl

and loved our cats

just before she died - her back is bent by the cancer

.

 Hildegarde

Hildegarde was bought from a local breeder and was a Rottweiler.  She was my favourite dog before Louis.  She was an energetic puppy who grew into an huge old dog weighing about 50Kg.  I never once saw her get angry.   

The only time Margaret saw her react was after being attacked several times on her local walk by a Staffy  Hildi picked him up by his neck and held on.  The Staffy screamed and its owner came out and abused Margaret.  The owners father came out and told him that he should control his dog and stop abusing Margaret and rescue his dog.  Hildi wouldn't let go but stood perfectly still.  Margaret told the owner to hold his dog's rear end and pull when she said so.  She then stamped on Hildi's paw and she opened her mouth,  the Staffy was released without harm and Margaret continued on her walk.

Hildi lived a happy life and died at the age of ten which is OK for a Rotty.

 Pierre

 Margaret decided that much as she loved her dogs it was time to get one that did not shed and leave greasy marks everywhere and in late 1994 she bought a  purebred Standard poodle which she called Pierre.  He was sold as a pet although his parents we both Australian Champions and he was neutered at six months. 

Pierre was another lovely dog and devoted to Margaret.  He lived a happy life and died after also contracting spinal cancer in 2005.  At this time Margaret had been seriously in and he used to visit her on hospital.  Margaret took him to be put down one day before she has a relapse and ended bak in hospital for four weeks.

Pierre was six month old when we got him

But he loved laps

He was very companionable

and he grew very tall

he also liked camping

armchairs

He played with other dogd

the dog in the background, Charlie, died two months ago the last of Pierre's old friends

visiting Margaret in hospital

Louis

He came in 2007 and is still alive and too young for an obituary