We had discovered that some of the Highway Wanderers were spending the best part of April in a friendly caravan park in Nanango near Kingaroy.
We booked in for a week to see what is was like.
The people are very friendly with happy hour every afternoon and a permanent campfire.
Apparently there had been a large number of motorhomes in the first week and many of them had gone off to do other things.
With just half a dozen vehicles we got to know all the other people quite quickly.
A pair of professional country and western singers, Pip and Mell Powell, who tour the country in a little motorhome were doing the RSL on Saturday night so we all went there to provide support. We all had a good meal and a good time.
On Sunday night we had a camp oven dinner round the campfire. Pip and Mell led the singing and I led the drinking with the remains of my Christmas presents. The CMCA motto for this year is "Laugh more, live longer". We racked up plenty of points for laughter during the evening. Mell's Dad is something of a cartoonist and recorded the occasion for posterity. On Monday morning I was dragged from my bed of pain to morning smoko to be presented with the original cartoon to remind me of my part in the evening
I booked the truck in for a 25,000 km service in Kingaroy. We took the opportunity to do Jean's passport application and to do a little shopping in Joe's home town.
One aspect of living in the country, the lack of full medical services, was vividly demonstrated. Jean needed some more test strips for her blood glucose monitor. Usually there is one chemist in town who specialises in diabetes and who supplies test strips under the Diabetics Australia scheme. Not here! "You'll have to get a scrip from a doctor or pay full price ($30) for them." "Is there a bulk billing medical practice in the town?" "Oh, no! The nearest one is in Nanango." Back to Nanango to make an appointment with the doctor. "Next Tuesday (this being Wednesday) is the earliest." Happily the chemist was able to understand the problem and provided some test strips in expectation of the scrip. Strangely, there are two people here who have been diagnosed with diabetes since they arrived in Nanango.
There are still aspects of living on the road which we need to find ways around.
One of the best sources of information is happy hour where a question dropped into the conversation usually results in some practical advice from someone who has had the same problem.
We are all planning to go to Biggenden next weekend for a CMCA charity muster. Some of us will then safari to Townsville via Biloela and Emerald.
We expect to learn a lot about bush camping. The solar panels and the new camp oven will, no doubt, earn their keep.