Case for the Prosecution by Guest Author, Sadie Powers.

If anyone out there is under the impression that the Backsons are roughing it around Australia, I’d like to set you straight.

Last Sunday the Powson 4 hotfooted it across the Wimmera to spend a week in Robe getting a taste of life Backson 5 style.  As we had left it a bit late to book our rental caravan, the only one available was the top-of-the-range-luxury version, so we were pretty smug in the knowledge that our expensive van would at least allow us to “keep up with the Joneses”.   How wrong we were.  One look inside Kimmy and we wanted to back ours off a cliff into the Southern Ocean and move in.  Hot and cold running water, full size sink with flick mixer,  full sized fridge,  queen size bed , spacious walnut cabinets, bathroom, and a kitchen that turns out caramelised onion, blue cheese and rocket pizzas with quinoa and pomegranate seed salad.

And if anyone (like me) was concerned that a year of sleeping in close proximity with the kids might put a strain on marital relations, I can report that the master suite is miles away, and sealed off from, the kids’ room.

We rattled into the Robe Big 4 and parked our van on our 3 square meters of paradise. Ollie, Ned and Ivy greeted us and took our kids off for a tour of the jumping pillow.  Then the Sars and Hamma pit-crew descended on us and had us levelled, stabilised, awning out, and connected up to power, water and sullage in about 2 minutes.   So it seems they have learnt something these last 3 weeks.  Sars was then able to give a quick biography of all the families within a kilometre radius of their site, all of whom they appear to have shared a cup of tea with, even though they had been here less than 24 hours.

It’s a new holiday experience for us, lined up cheek-by-jowl with about 500 other happy campers.  But it has its benefits, one of which is the stunning beach about 2 minutes walk from our campsite.   The kids are roaming happily around and not bothering us, so all that remains to do is unfold my chair and sit outside the van and take in the view (of the side of the next-door caravan).

S (for Sadie)

PS: In case anyone else is wondering, Sarsie’s shower tally for the trip so far is 3 in 3 and a half weeks (but the last one was only this morning and I suspect mainly as a result of my enquiry).  So her ambition to conserve the water of Australia hasn’t wavered.

The Wind Beneath My Wings (Annexed version)

There are things one can control, and there are things one can't. When one cannot control something, the best advice available seems to suggest that you prepare yourself as well as possible, then sit down with a cup of tea and cross your fingers.

We're in Robe now. Dramas with bookings have ended up working in our favour. We are in a good site with great neighbours. Barry and Bettina from Casterton also have a 23 foot van. What they have that we don't is 5 extra daughters. Eight year old twins, a six year old, four year old twins, and a two year old. Bettina does three loads of washing a day in her own washing machine. She also makes pavlova most nights so things can't be too bad.

On Sunday, Barry helped Sara and me park the van. He then helped us set the annex up with all walls in place. This morning I woke at 5 to the arrhythmic sounds of a northerly wind trying to lift our van up, up, and away. Barry went back to work yesterday. The annex is a massive canvas construction held in place with a series of clamps, zips, and pegs. I've checked it all, zipped flaps up, and re-pegged. It's still making a lot of noise and I just want Barry to tell me that that's normal.

It's almost 7 now, and because I can't sleep and don't want to go for a run because I may not have a van to come back to, I'm writing. We've been without a computer for over a week because of some IT issue. Luckily, Mark, our very own IT guru is in Robe also, and lent me his. If he can't fix it, I went for a surf yesterday with Perry who works for IBM in their Windows department. If I spring for coffee and doughnuts we'll be back online!

We left Nelson after a quick snorkel in Ewens Ponds which is a series of freshwater pools. Too cold for Ned who gave it a shot. lost a flipper, and was out in less than 30 seconds. Ollie and I explored a bit; the water amazingly clear and fishless. The drive to Narracorte was short, but difficult. It was a very windy, rainy day everywhere, and Kimmy the Wondervan does have a tendency to slide around a bit if you go too hard. Happily it was a Sunday, so the logging trucks were off the road, and we got a great site on top of a hill overlooking the amazing Narracorte swimming pool.

In two minutes we had met Ty and Janine from Altona. Ty loves 4WDing, and has travelled a lot of outback Australia. While Ollie and Ned began to make cubbies with his son Jy, Ty rearranged our schedule. All week he kept popping up with maps and suggesting places we need to go to. When we weren't trying to keep up with his enthusiasm, we visited the caves at Narracorte, crawling through tunnels, learning about Australia's prehistoric megafauna, ticking off great egrets and ibis in the bird book, and watching bats with thermal imaging cameras. Oh, and we also taught Ollie how to read a form guide and put bets on at the Coonawarra Cup. He did alright, being one dollar and two straw hats up at the end of the day. That's arithmetic covered for the year.

During all of this, Ivy recovered from gastro, and Ned decided he had an allergy to Narracorte water. Could not make the boy drink, and he was pretty badly dehydrated by the time we got to Robe. Luckily the rain water here actually tastes like rain water, and he's back on track. Stubborn little bugger. He's happy again, as are we all with Mark, Sadie, Roy and Della bringing some urban familiarity back to life in a caravan park.

The wind and the noise haven't gone away in the time I've been sitting here, drinking tea and typing. Can't say it's any worse though. The annex is still attached to the van. The walls are intact. Nothing's taken flight. I think all is well. Barry, stand down. Thanks for your help mate, but I've got it all under control. You've probably got enough to worry about as it is.
H

I'm Hiding Lemons in my Guitar Case...

Got out of Narrawong  having almost convinced our bikie neighbours, (the one on the Harley was Keith) that we had some idea that we knew what we were doing. That was until I drove past them all having breakfast, with the caravan's jockey wheel still down. Laughs and knowing nods all around. Still, it had been a brilliant place to stay, and the kids loved the space.
We didn't have far to go before our next stop, and I negotiated the almost drive through spot perfectly until Sara reminded me which side the annex was on! Nelson is a pretty place. This campsite is in a lot of bushland, and if you love fishing with ferals, it's heaven.
We went for an explore, with a walk around the estuary. The highlight for the kids was the dead and very stinky wallaby next to the boardwalk. The highlight for me was the discussion about what to do with our fruit and vegies because we're not allowed to take them over the border into South Australia. Ollie piped up with a bizarre fact which proved strangely relevant. Apparently Johnny Cash used to smuggle his drugs around when on tour in his guitar case; maybe we could do the same with the fruit? Sara started singing, and now I've written a country song, hence the title of this blog.
Next morning, Ivy vomited a lot, and so Sara and she missed out on the boat trip up the Glenelg River to the Princess Margaret Rose caves. Ollie, Ned and I had a good time anyway. Happily, after a lot of games of Uno & Rummikub, Ivy came good, and was running around with the boys after dinner.
This morning, we went on an estuary discovery tour, so those of you worried about whether the kids are learning anything can sit back down. We caught some tiny fish called smelt, and learnt about the local eel that swims up the east coast of Australia to spawn in the Coral Sea (again, why wouldn't you). We then drove to Mt Gambier eating all the fruit we could very sneakily. In Mt Gambier, we went straight to the Blue Lake, and a more apt name you could never find. Kids were underwhelmed, but Sara and I thought it amazing, despite the fact that we never did find out why it is so blue.
Tomorrow the kids and I will hopefully go snorkeling in one of the local freshwater ponds before we leave for Narracorte and 5 days in a fancy park. Kids very excited about the fact that it's a Big 4. I'm excited because there are a lot of wineries very close by!

H

To 12 Volts and beyond

See the thing about caravaning for Sara and me, is that neither of us has done it before. Sure we've slept in a van, but they were the onsite kind, not the transportable kind. So when people start talking about three way fridges, solar panel connections, Anderson plugs, anodes for hot water heaters, electric brakes, inverter switches and the benefits of awnings with zips, we get a little lost.
Apparently though, getting away from it all requires an understanding of at least the above. If there is no understanding, you are guaranteed to be the only person in the caravan park drinking organic green tea.
So Sara and I decided that it would be important to try out staying on an unpowered site. No electrical hook up, no tap with really ordinary tasting water running out of it. Just us, Kimmy the Wondervan, and nature. Oh, and about a hundred other campsites filled with Harley riding people who grew up in Oztrail mosquito tents.
So we left the site by the beach and drove 200 metres to the edge of an oval (opposite a really nice Harley and a nicer Triumph Marg) and Sara reversed in at a slight angle. Near enough. Annex out without walls, no problem. Kids running around happily, no problem. Disco disconnected, no problem. 12V system working...dunno, but the solar panel will fix that. Hot water...dunno, but if there's sun, we've got a solar panel. Fridge on...dunno, but we think it works on 12V especially if the solar panel is hooked up.
So it was time for the solar panel to do its thing and let us live off the grid. We connected it (Anderson plug) and sat back. Every so often Sara and I would check the voltage on the battery. We were like proud parents as the battery now consistently pushed 13.5 on the ampmeter. No worries, everything under control. A quick call to Ian Grant the van man, answered a couple of issues, and we settled back.
The first only slightly chilled light beer didn't raise concerns. However, by this morning, when we found the battery still healthy, and the freezer defrosted all over the floor, doubts were expressed. Back to the manual. Apparently, the 12V doesn't do much except turn lights on, with or without a solar panel. It'll run the fridge when you are moving, but only just. The three way fridge really only works two ways; gas and 240V which is what you get when it is plugged in to a power point. Banished the panel, got the gas working, and by 5:30 tonight we had cold beer. Anyone want a solar panel?

PS In between all of this, the boys were jumping off a bridge into the river, Ivy and I went boogie boarding, Sara took the kids fishing, and Ollie and I watched Punter get a century, after lunch.
PPS Ivy took the photos of the site and Ned in the river.
PPPS Bikies do play cricket, Ned and Ollie right in the mix.

Never Judge a Chicken...

If ever we were to have a moment when the reason became obvious as to why we are putting ourselves through the pain of learning to reverse park a 23ft van, it was yesterday. Our neighbours in Port Fairy, Ron and Margaret were a great couple, who as I have already said, have been coming to the Catalina Caravan park for 15 years. Why exactly still isn't clear, but it ended up being to our benefit.
Last night, Ron came over with his easel and paints, and took the kids through oil painting 101. He's no Jimmy, but  he can certainly paint anything that flys. Ron is a twitcher (bird watcher / ornithologist / parka wearer / serious binoculars owner), and among other things, also visits schools with his local Lions Club in Werribee giving lectures on all things bold and beautiful. He gave us his painting of two blue wrens, then took Ollie, Ned and me out to see the mutton birds / shearwaters / moon birds.
These birds are amazing. Landing in their tens of thousands every night from November through to April, when they leave to head back to summer in Siberia, as one does. They live in burrows in the sand dunes, returning to the same one each year, and can live for 4 years on the ocean without going near land.
The kids were rapt with both the painting and the biology lesson. I was happy because Ron also runs his own engineering shop (knows about Furmanite Tony, and also Biland Trading Jacko!), which meant that I got some useful caravaning tips such as let Sara do the parking.
We left Ron and Margaret this morning and drove 60 k up the road to Narrawong. Much nicer park, but again, great neighbours. Very small site, after twenty minutes of fruitless manoeuvers, someone came out and did it for us! Then the hose on the gas bottle blew off, and Darryl replaced the hoses with copper piping. Much safer. Then, he refused any payment, even beer. I could say that was un-Australian, but we'll buy him some chockies tomorrow. Very hot, Sara has collapsed, and I've told the kids to disappear. They've done that a little too easily.

Happy New Year everyone,
H