22 August 2021
18 August 2021
30 July 2021
the servo
“If you want to take a good shit, you have to eat a good meal.”
“give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
22 July 2021
18 June 2021
16 February 2021
18 December 2020
road trip log
26 7
much rain. jervis bay. airbnb is right on the water but we spend all our time in the house eating and drinking and talking. we go to the brewery there. been a long time since we've been to a brewery with mates. we go to the beach with the whitest sand in the world. according to legend. its raining and cold and kind of awesome. play 31 for a while and go to bed.
27 7
must set off. say goodbye to brad and matt and casey. northbound to newcastle to pick up new set of monkeys. lisa's place with leanna and hamish in newcastle. kuy and jax are there with indie and the pleasure seeker (TPS). they made it into NSW with just hours to spare. the border is now closed. lisa is packing and sorting. leanna and hamish make us feel more welcome than i ever thought possible. they make a wonderful meal and we have an epicly great night talking into the wee hours. we snooze for a couple hours in the van which is parked right out front. its not fully unpacked so the bed is a little cramped with supplies, but it works ok.
28 7
another departure. goodbye hamish and leanna. so grateful for their hospitality. we must be going. more rain. lisa has a couple last minute things to do and we are off. so much fire damage along the road. rain stops. stop at the big axe for a photo. we make it to a cheap farmstay at eungai creek NSW. they do woodfired pizzas on the weekend here, but its not the weekend. whats a weekend? we are alone, just our crew. jesse, victoria, jacqueline, kuy, indie and lisa. covid hobos. more driving tomorrow and long night last night so early bed.
29 7
go go go. today we get to the big banana. theres all kinds of tourist-trappy shit here. we eat a choco banana do the big slide and we get word from teejay that the QLD border will be closing soon. shit! book it for the border now! we cross with an hour to spare along this hairy winding mountain road that lisa should not have been driving on with her caravan. our border passes work. lisa flirts with the border cop. they ask for a few receipts to prove we havent been to melbourne recently which is blowing up with covid. all good. welcome to QLD. arrive at the campground and await the sparkles. they made it with 30 minutes to spare.
30 7
mt nimmel in austinville, qld. we are in queensland! just under the wire. amazing. a bird lands on victoria's back while she is doing yoga in the morning. grouse. the people camped next to our crew pack up and so we move in across the way. the caretaker cruises by in her cadillac called pearl. it is decked out in sparkles and elvis paraphanalia. we ride our bikes up and down the surrounding highway. no traffic but its too hilly to really get anywhere. very glad we brought our bikes. chilly night so we have a fire and drink into the wee hours.
31 7
we drive back towards the border to do a little boardwalk and check out a waterfall. there are glowworms on the cave ceiling and bush turkeys everywhere.
1 8
goose chase with kuy. caretaker says there is a swimming hole up the hill. we ride our bikes in the sweltering heat and find nothing. sorry indie. disappointment. she said next to a big beautiful ghost gum and etc and we followed instructions but all there was was a dirty mud pit. we still cannot believe that we made it and we are really here.
2 8
twin falls hike. make doris road-ready. its a bit of a pain but something we will have to get used to. drive to the trailhead with the whole crew. they will do the short loop part and we are doing the full 16km waterfall loop.
4 8
gold coast big 4. theyve got waterslides! this place is typical deluxe aussie caravan park. all kinds of shit for kids, a big fancy camp kitchen with TVs blaring local 'news' stations etc. expensive but we are enjoying it. indie gets her nails painted for the first time ever and also first ever pigtails on the same day.
5 8
we casually spend all day on the waterslides. it feels really good to be us right now. the local queenslanders think we are nuts for getting in the water since its not stinking hot at the moment. we have the whole waterslide area to ourselves. indie is very reluctant to get in the water, even the kiddie pool where she can stand up. very nervous. hand must be held. no water anywhere near her head or she freaks. there is a 7 year old kid there who is obvs local. big ol mullet and a longsleeve shirt. v and i are deciding which slide to take and he looks at us like, can i go while you guys faff around? and we're ok go ahead and he jumps face first belly flop, foom! down the pipe.
walking back there is a very old lady with a cane kinda muttering to herself. "mrr muh mrr mm mm neighbor.." we look at each other and decide to investigate. she starts talking to us now about how her neighbor poos in her yard. she talks very softly and invites us around back. he's up in the tree. she points her cane at a round ball of grey fur high in the eucalypt. ahhh neat. thank you for sharing, nana. and we continue our walk the long was back to camp with kangaroos and swans and stuff.
6 8
chill out again. i make chicken wings. we should probably go down the waterslides a coupletimes to justify the cost of this caravan park but too lazy.
7 8
hit the road northbound deeper into queensland. drive through brisbane proper. no desire to stop, really. sorry bris. maybe another time. arrive in landsborough where jacqueline's dad lives. we are wrecked and need some courage for talking to strangers so we pull over nearby pat's house and have a snooze. a
8 8
landsborough. it is indie's birthday and her grandpa is hosting the party. she's 3. we go with kuy to take her to the park while the rest set up the house with deorations. the playground there is deluxe with flying fox and a big slide. there is a weird christian group having a gathering there. its hot and we just laze around in the shade before biking back to grandpas house. surprise! unicorn stuff and bubbles. turns out toddlers dont appreciate a surprise party. she has a tanty when we sing happy birthday. pat is very handy and helps with some van jobs that we needed doing. weatherproofing and knife sharpening. he ground down the extension cord so itll fit into a standard socket. now i can get rid of the old shitty cord that came with doris. getting rid of stuff is a great feeling since space is at such a premium. jacqueline's dad and his partner are mildly racist conservatives and it only rears its head a couple times. he tells the story about his sister who became a nun and shunned the whole rest of his family. doris is parked in the shed.
04 December 2020
road trip log
4 7 20
independence day. one last moving-out errand. boomba has kindly agreed to take his subaru back and keep an eye on her for a while for us so i drive it up to preston and say hello and goodbye to rueben and maeve. uber back to jeremy and candace's house. jeremy pumps up our tires at the last minute. bikes are strapped to the back and we are outta heidelberg. on the road! finally! gassed up and ready to rocket for the northern border.
we have a pretty long day and cross into NSW and arrive at the caravan park in Wonboyn after dark. lots of permanents. victoria meets one of those qanon idiots ive read about. they give us oysters. very friendly.
5 7
on our way out of wonboyn we stop and get some oysters of our own at the seaside. the lady ivery friendly and tells us about how the fires came through. there are burnt thing everywhere and lots of brand new infrastructure. we find wild camp outside a tiny town called tantawangalo. dig a hole. there is a creek nearby for freezing cold swimming and a paddock with a very noisy cow across the creek. we will stay hiding out here until we get our covid test results.
6 7
results in the morning. all clear. we can travel away from the plague zone guilt-free. put oysters on the fire to pop em open. we stay another night because its nice and secluded. victoria gives herself a buzzcut. we have a celebratory party of two while huddling to keep warm.
7 7
this place is not far from the road but still nice an secluded. there are still some van jobs that need doing.
9 7
pack up and head north. we see a camel in a paddock while driving. get to cobargo. hunt around for teejay for a while since we are not quite sure what to do. we need marching orders as we are here to work! check in to the cobargo pub and set up doris out back. expected to park in someones yard for free but we dunno what to do and its only like 15 bucks so we park out back the pub. it is cooold. so much fire damage. reconstruction is clearly ongoing. drink beers at the pub w teejay until nightfall. teejay will sort us out tomorrow.
10 7
no work today. maybe tomorrow. brad meets up w us at the pub. the cobargo pub is an experience. its very big with tvs and pokies and that garbage but that doesnt quite ruin it. there is a massive beer garden and even though its fucking freezing we prefer that to the news or sports or whatever. teejay recommends the schnitty. briefly meet spud and sean. spud says we should set up in the showgrounds. theres power and water there and its free since we are fire relief volunteers. we make the move and brad and teejay come over to the van for drinks and lots of rain happens and we are unprepared and get pretty soaked but the bottles of wine soften the blow.
13 7
first day of work. mill around a bit looking for something to do. brad needs a minute to figure out what needs doing and what we are capable of doing etc. the fire damage all around is harrowing. melted cars. exploded gas tanks. literal scorched earth. the hills surrounding the town are covered in trees that are burnt matchsticks. spud feeds us pies for lunch. we are going to like working here. i don a hazmat suit and start cutting and hanging insulation. spud suggests moving to underneath the horse shed to get out of the wind and rain. winter in cobargo.
14 7
we move to the horse shed and everything has a chance to dry out. not a day too soon because the wind that whips through here is a strong fucker. you can imagine what it was like in january, stinking hot, dry and windy and then here comes the fire. more insulation today, almost done with the exterior walls. we are also right by the showers and laundry which is handy. people drive their dogs to the showgrounds, the dogs get out and run alongside the cars which drive the loop around the showgrounds, then the dog gets back in and they drive home.
15 7
insulation mostly done. hanging plywood sheets onto the framing with liquid nails and brad gun. wally is a good dog. magpies are noisy around the van in the morning. we ride our bikes over to spud's as a nice 45 second commute. cobargo small town vibe. talking of news of who is still in tents and red cross donations and other chartitable acts coming their way. the fibreglass didnt mess me up like i was told. no significant itching.
16 7
trivia night at the cobargo pub. we come in second place. we hear about how folks watched the trees explode on new years eve. it is cold. they think we are martians for riding our bicycles for the 800 meter journey back to doris.
17 7
up to narooma today to make party. meet up with sparklefam and carlos at carlos's dad's house. cheese party and late night steam blowing off. carlos works for red cross and has some intense fire stories. the hot tub seems to not make water hot anymore. attempts are made using the stove to heat water pot by pot. this is the signal to me that it is time for bed.
18 7
get back to cobargo a little dusty. realize i left my camera in narooma. damn. luckily its saturday and no insulation is to be hung today. just us instead.
20 7
brad calls in sick so no work.
24 7
last day at spuds. victoria and i hang the ceiling sheets in the bathroom. it is a very fun job and it takes us all day. quitting time comes on gradually today with more and more pf spuds mates showing up. it feels more and more like a party vibe. the fireplace is in now and spud sparks it up for the very first time. he's so happy. pizza gets ordered. beers. wally is cruising around for scraps. carlos drives down from narooma and drops off my camera. amazing.
25 7
convoy with brad up to jervis bay to meet up with matt and casey. it is raining. it doesnt stop.we eat good food and hunker down.
14 May 2020
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