And we’re off, escaping winter

It felt like we had weeks to get organised, and then suddenly we had a couple of days.

The packing list was updated and then scribbled over with more changes to be added and subtracted. The weather suddenly turned freezing, and I wondered if I should put the 2nd quilt back in that I had just yesterday taken out to make more room. We are travelling north after all.

Despite Mark insisting he needed 4 new large storage containers for the rear hatch, he has not used a single one of them, instead reusing 2 of the original, slightly larger ones we had to store his tools, recovery gear, and general man-stuff.

The attempts to eat most of the food we had in the house were mostly successful, but the slightly smaller fridge in the motorhome is still packed with no room to spare.

On the morning of departure from Windellama, we got up early knowing that we still had to pack the food, clean the fridge, move the property security cameras, re-hang the towels that were still damp from yesterday on the clothes horse inside, wash up, clean up and lock up, hoping to leave by 1pm at the latest.

We left at 2pm, after one false start when Mark remembered that we hadn’t hidden the other cars keys, in case we get burgled while we’re away, and I remembered that I had left my lip balm in my other handbag. Thankfully we were only at our front gate when we had to drive back to the house.

First stop, Bathurst, to see my sister Jen and middle brother Peter and his family, arriving after dark. We had a good catchup with Chinese takeaway for dinner. Next day, we did some walking around the Bathurst shops.

This trip is more about getting back into the travelling lifestyle rather than going anywhere specific. Our next 3 months or so is almost completely unplanned as we’ll find places to stay and decide where to go next at each spot, after we’ve seen the places to see. On Peter and Jen’s recommendations, we’ll probably head to Mudgee, Candos and Rylstone next, assuming we can get a camping spot without booking as its the Kings birthday long weekend.