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It was great to finally get home after dropping Mum and Dad off at the airport, the trip took just under 90 minutes thanks to the M7 and the M4.
OOPS!!
James phoned his boss to see what time his shift was in the morning only to find out the guy made a blunder and put him down for the week off. James said he would take it if that's the case.
It was only one day extra as the Friday was James rostered RDO anyway which he wasn't going to take because of the days off for the funeral. He even had a skin cancer clinic appointment for the day which he had cancelled only to find that they had failed to put his name down.
THE IMPROMPTU CAMPING TRIP
So, now with four days off we decided to go camping as the weather up the mountains was warm and sunny and we still had a bit to sort out with the camper trailer.
On Thursday morning we packed up the camper trailer and car and headed off around 9:45am. By the time we reached Bathurst, the weather had changed to grey skies and light rain. Undeterred by the weather we pushed on south to the Abercrombie camp grounds about 56km south of Bathurst. On the way we suddenly realised that we had to vote on Saturday, which meant we'd have to take a trip into either Blaney or Bathurst to cast our vote.
We got to the camp site and drove around looking for the perfect patch as you do. James drove down a narrow track which disappeared so I got out to investigate and found it ok so down he went but the site wasn't suitable so James decided to take the shortest track out which was steep and washed out on one side. Half way up the car begins to slide backwards on an angle so that one corner of the trailer was almost touching the back of the car. After a couple of failed attempts to get it out, James puts it into 4WD and after a couple of more tries he gets it out. Because of the light rain, the surface was wet and slippery and underneath the sand was dry and loose.
After finally picking a spot and setting up camp we then took off in the car to find some wood for a fire. We then get bogged in about 40cm deep sand and couldn't get out. We only have on road tyres so it was a big job, digging the sand away and driving to and fro trying to get out. After the third attempt and not getting very far, we both get out and dig more sand, James lets the air pressure out of the tyres a little and using a piece of board under the back tyre, James finally gets it out. By then we were too buggered and relieved so we didn't end up having a fire. It would have been a waste of time as it rained lightly during the afternoon.
We then took the dogs for a walk down along the river. Unlike the Ophir river, the water was brown so we couldn't see what was in it. James saw a kangaroo hop across some rocks over a small rapid from one side of the river to our side and then hop away before I could see it. Luckily the dogs hadn't spotted it either.
When it came time to cook dinner I found that we had forgotten to pack any saucepans and that we only had a frypan to cook with. So, in the end we heated up some crumbed chicken breasts in our new oven and par boiled some homemade chips and then fried them up in the frypan. So we certainly didn't starve.
We went to bed about 9:30pm and just as we snuggled down to go to sleep, it began to rain and rained for most of the night.
The next morning was cool, damp and dreary so we decided the best thing to do was pack up and head for Stan's place at Forbes for the rest of the weekend. We stopped at a wonderful bakery in Blaney for brunch which we ate in their beautiful rest area which had a large pond with a mini waterfall and a bridge going across.
We got to Stan's around 2pm and after a cuppa we set up the camper in his back yard on the lawn. James spent the afternoon doing some minor modifications to the camper. I sat outside with him and read the travel blog that I was following.
On Saturday morning we went into town to vote and then did a bit of shopping before going back to Stan's place. It was a glorious day the rain and clouds had gone and it was a warm sunny afternoon. While the boys were inside watching a TV show, I stayed outside with the dogs and read.
I just happened to glance up only to find a big brown snake with his head up looking around at the dogs and myself. He was about 2.4 metres across from where I was sitting. I was totally surprised at first then I started to worry about the dogs seeing it.
I put the computer on the ground picked up Bacci who was lying at my feet and was about to grab Toby when too late he had spotted the snake. No matter how much I called or threatened him, Toby totally ignored me and walked up to the snake who then slid off towards the bins at the side of the laundry room. I went after Toby to grab him but couldn't get to him before the snake got to the wall and feeling trapped in he recoiled on himself and me thinking he was going to attack Toby, started screaming Toby's name at the top of my lungs.
My screaming brought James and Stan racing out but in the meantime Toby got distracted for a brief moment which gave the snake the chance to escape. While it slid over towards the open door of the tool shed, Toby saw it and followed it again. By that time James was on the scene but the snake had entered the shed and disappeared before James could see it. At this point Toby lost interest and went to greet James. Stan went over to the tool shed and closed the door and then went back inside.
I felt a bit robbed as I wish I had had the camera to take a photo so I got my camera out and opened the door to the tool shed. After much banging on the walls and peering inside we couldn't see the snake. Stan then came back outside and went into the shed and started poking around and banging on things but we think the snake had made his escape through the gap in the tin wall at the back of the shed. Darn another photo opportunity missed!
I couldn't get over the fact that when the snake had coiled around he didn't try to bite Toby who was almost on top of him. I just thank God that the snake wasn't aggressive - he was probably too frightened to do anything when he saw some lunatic woman walking towards him screaming hysterically like a banshee.
Well another long tail wrapped up, or does that sound a bit snakey? Sorry couldn't help myself!
Here's to our next wildlife adventure, you won't believe where we are headed next, stay tuned!!!
Take care,
Marieanne
