Minus seven degrees

Well, as per tradition, Dan and I were ultra un-organised. So we didn’t leave Canberra until two days after we had planned. Some of it was because of our disorganised lives, but most of it was out of our hands. Firstly we had the weather against us...

Let me explain. Normally in a campsite like EPIC, which is really designed for bigger, more independent rigs, the amenities block rarely gets used. Most of us who are long term travellers have our own shower, toilet and hot water. However that morning the showers were busier than rush hour on Bourke Street. You see, Saturday morning we all woke up to a very cold -albeit pretty- frost! And when you get freezing temperatures in a caravan park, you get lots of people standing around, scratching their heads, trying to figure out why their water isn’t working. And almost simultaneously, we all realise that our water hoses and filters have frozen solid! In fact, all of our plastic connections had split open!

Secondly we were having ongoing dramas with our bike rack.  Being a family of 5 who love going for bike rides together, we have got a big bike rack attached to the tow ball on the back of the caravan. However, a combination of the weight of our bikes, and the bounce of the caravan, our bike rack was literally cracking up. We were sure that if we put off repairing it, we would lose all our bikes down the highway somewhere.

Needless to say, we spent that morning driving around in search of a hardware store instead of packing up and leaving Canberra. After a trip to Bunnings and a purchase from their sausage sizzle, we began re-designing the bike rack.

Dan did a wonderful job and the bike rack is stronger than ever, but it did take all day to fix. We also decided that we should take a bit of the load off the poor old bike rack so Dan and the boys went to purchase another bike rack to go on the front of the van. They returned home with a fantastic surprise for me... A new bike!!!! Money is a bit tight at the moment so as much as I appreciated the gift, I tried to get Dan to take it back. Dan settled the argument by telling me that not only was my old bike really heavy, but it was embarrassing watching me ride it. It was bad enough watching me ride a big rust bucket, but it had no brakes and the gears were broken. I was secretly pleased... I love my new bike!!

We finally left Canberra after staying 11 days longer than planned! Great place but time for somewhere different..