Easter at Roxby Downs & BCA Nomads

Somehow this email didn't send at the right time. so it is out of sequence. It really comes before the Hard Graft entry. So here goes. Lets hope this works this time. 
Roxby Downs is the venue of our first stint at volunteer BCA Nomad ministry work. I half expected it to be similar to Woomera but it is so different. There are lots of trees in spite of the dry sandy soil and this make such a difference and thus makes Roxby is an oasis in comparison. It is a modern good looking town. Shortly after our arrival at the RD Community Church, the minister, Mary Lewis welcomed us and we soon set up the Robbiebago in its new temporary home and relaxed. On Easter Friday there was a combined churches ‘Stations of the Cross’. We had first heard of the Stations just last year for the Catholic World Youth Day in Sydney. We started at the Catholic Church with a short bible reading and a song before walking behind a hand held crude cross on to 8 more sites where there was a reading and song at each location, concluding at the Community church where we concluded with fellowship over Hot Cross buns. It was also covered by the local paper with a front page story about the unity of the churches and “it’s all about Jesus’-a quote from a 5 year old. It is great to get Jesus mentioned favourably in the media. However Bob decided that he had enough of my cooking and decided to visit the local hospital which is just 300m down the road and get himself admitted with possible Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT). He reports that the hospital meal was good and huge, he had ribs and mounds of chips and vegetables, followed by a gigantic apple pie. Apparently the meals are cooked by the Worker’s (miners) restaurant and they are really good... no such thing as boring bland hospital food here! He is discharged the next morning as his leg has gone down and he is allowed home with very little restrictions, though he has to report every 24 hours for further injections and to await the results of blood test.

After church on Sunday morning we decided to visit Andamooka, a opal mining town just 30 km away. Dusty, old for the most part and seeing all those mounds around the holes is quite ugly really. The people that attended the afternoon church were very friendly. One guy, Con, offered to take us into the historic cottages and show and tell us the history of the town. This guy has a interesting history all his own. He has basically lived here since his teens, with a few breaks such as army service etc. He has been the Mayor of Andamooka. Con. The history tied up in the 3 cottages are very interesting on their own and doubly so when related to the personal history of Con and the way he tells of these characters really brings them to life. It was a tough life but one that he or ‘they’ would never have swapped for anything else. The rooms are basically made of local stone with a dab and wattle roof. They are dug into the side of the hill and very tiny. Often not much more than a cot (narrow bed) , a chair , maybe a table which more often than not is a recycled packing case. There is a small window and it is surprisingly cool in the cottages.

On Monday, Bob was told that he has to go back to Port Augusta as soon as possible for further tests. That is a bit of a worry. We managed to get an appointment at 12.30 on Tuesday. The tester was able to tell us that it is NOT a blood clot....so now what is it??? Bob went straight to the hospital on our return. He has Bakers Cyst. We don’t know much about it. Apparently if it gets bad enough the only treatment is to have a knee replacement. In the meantime it appears it is just a waiting game. We thank God that it is not potentially fatal.

Starting up the centre

After Port Lincoln we travelled up the centre of Eyre Peninsula. Now we are really starting up the centre of Australia. First stop was Woomera. It is the largest test and evaluation range in the world. Tracking, observation, measurement and record of performance of missiles bombs etc was vitally important as well as dangerous and this combine with national security is mainly why Woomera was out of bounds for many years and a ‘mystery’. Outer atmospheric research as well as hypersonic research is vitally important today looking towards future aviation and space missions and satellites. A fascinating place but outside the museums though there is nothing to recommend the town to visitors. We couldn't wait to start our BCA work TA Roxby Downs. We had no idea of just what to expect here.

Coffin Bay Photos

Dawn at Port Gibbon

A picture paints a thousand words.

Ports, bays and beaches galore

After our lovely rest stop in Port Augusta we moseyed on down the coast road of the Spencer Gulf. First stops were Lowly Point with its lighthouse and Stinky Bay just north of Whyalla. It was low tide and the area is so flat that you can see lots of low lying flat areas in False Bay and other areas further south of Whyalla. In Whyalla, we expected to do some sightseeing but were disappointed on several levels: the proposed bike trip around the wetlands doesn’t work out as the wetlands are still being developed and are incomplete. The shipyard/museum didn’t look much so we passed on by and so forth. So we continued down to Cowell where the caravan parks were booked out . We found a site at what appears to be in a showground, but you had to be fully self sufficient which was OK except for that we still had to pay for the privilege of parking there. Blow me down, I don’t mind paying for something if I get something in return for it but there was no toilet or shower facilities. There wasn’t even any shade or grassy area to park in. So what was the charge for??? So we just kept going down the highway until we came onto the next campsite which was on the beautiful Port Gibbon. The sunrises here are spectacular, not that many people were up at 6.30am to witness them first hand.
One thing that surprised me here was the depth of the seaweed on the beach; it was up to 5 feet high in some places and for miles along in one direction. Also the march flies are bad here, though Tony M’s homemade insect repellent works wonders. There was lovely fresh water on tap. We stayed here for 2 nights and we used our solar shower water bags for the first time - not bad, it is certainly hot enough! There is a ‘beer garden’ area set up under some trees where a lot of the guests come in the afternoon to chat and mingle. Once again we made some wonderful friends esp in Bill & Dawn who we hope to meet up with again in about 4 weeks when we both realized we will be heading up the Centre at roughly the same time. We also received many suggestions in what to see and where to stay at various places along the way. I am starting to take a notebook with me everywhere as you never know when someone has a gem to pass on. Soon it was time to head further south to more bays and such, Arno Bay & Tumby Bay are 2 more worth mentioning.

Go Go Go .... at long last

The sparking waters

False Start

After a false start on Saturday 13th March 2010, we were finally off and away just after lunch on Monday 15th March. The false start was due to one of the trailer brakes locking on. Thankfully we were less than 20 km from home. So after trying to repair it on the road unsuccessfully we turned around and carefully came home to buy a new unit which Bob had to go to Sydney to pick up first thing on Monday morning. (Thanks Mark for all your help).

Junee

We spent the first 3 nights in Junee (near Wagga) with Bob's cousin, Evert and his darling wife, Willie. She introduced me to Line Dancing. What a blast!

Hay

From Junee we went west through Narranderra to Hay. We stayed at Sandy Point Reserve which is a beautiful free campsite right on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River. This is a great spot for families with BBQs, easy walking tracks, swimming and canoeing at this spot. It had rained heavily just weeks beforehand and the mosquitoes were out in force once the sun starting setting. I really didn't want to know just how many bites I had but it was well over 23 before I gave up counting. After a quick visit to the local shearing shed, we went straight onto Mildura.

Perry Sand Hills

Mildura

An early morning start the next morning saw us climbing the Perry Sand Hills just outside Wentworth and then a quick peek at the Darling River and Murray River junction, however we missed the turnoff and decided not to backtrack with the Robbiebago on the back.

Burra

Burra Copper Mine

So onwards ever westwards, this time to spend the night in Burra which is a great little town with a rich Copper mining history. We attended the local Anglican Church in Burra, which was our first experience in a high church, They sang a few familiar hymns and the sermon was great. Before moving on, we visited the old copper mine and gobbled up some history as well as the town lookout.

Port Augusta

Finally we reached Port Augusta via Jamestown and Port Pirie late on Sunday afternoon. We'll stay here and rest for a few days before moving on south towards Port Lincoln.

Crossing the Darling River by ferry

Ready Set....Set....Set...

The reclining lounge in the slideout is opposite the dining area

I got the idea of the title of this post from a sermon our senior minister did at the end of January. He was talking about "what you do next is important." He was leading us to think of making the most of our time, each and every one of the 365 days in the year.
To think about where are we going now, this year and even 10 years from now. He pointed out that churches in the western world are in the ready, set...set...set mode, where we train and train and plan but not actually get going. He wants to challenge us to change that trend and get going.

Well that sort of made me think of our life and especially our big trip. We hoped and then planned to travel in the future. We made inquiries of what and how. We decided to make the Robbiebago for the trip. We had to wait for the right time as far as family and the business is concerned, So we made do with smaller excursions and make minor adjustments while we waited for other things to fall into place. We looked up magazines and viewed some travel DVDs. We talked to other travellers.

We made sure the Robbiebago was set up right and the LandCrusier readied. (I don't know much about vehicles but this one has been tuned, tweaked, new tyres added etc, etc in preparation for the big trip). We have bought some extra goodies that will make life easier on the road or just plain fun like some folding bikes, night vision binoculars, an awning etc.

Looking at the Dining area with the slideout open

Now we are just about ready to pack the clothes and the perishables and hit the road. The pantry items, linen, games, the few winter clothes we just might need, and of course my craft stuff is in the Robbiebago already. It is amazing how much we need to take (or rather we think we need to take. LOL) and how much of all this we can actually fit in and still have some room left over.

So now it is not long before we actually can add that last word to the title. Here are a couple more photos of the interior. It will most likely never look this clean again! Our comfy lounge and dining chairs are opposite each other with the kitchen you can see in the background that goes right across the van with the entry behind the little wall you can see behind the dining chair.