Jean had one last meeting of the Aussie Wandering Red Hatters at morning tea. Twenty odd members turned up and we got a group photograph for the website.
We decided that there was nothing to keep us in Barcaldine as we were not having a lot of fun so we left the rally. We had been happy to catch up with old friends and make new ones but there is a deal of discomfort at this rally which doesn't help maintain the usual euphoria. One of the Red Hat ladies had mentioned that there is a Red Hat Convention in Bundaberg in July and Jean and Helene decided to participate. We wanted to avoid the cold winter nights in Barraba so we will stick around this part of the word until the spring.
Before we left the rally we had to fill up with fresh water and dump the waste water. We drove into town to do the laundry. While the machines were doing their stuff, we had lunch at Duffy's Cafe.
We needed to travel to the east. We had heard that a group of elderly people in Jericho had established a very good rest area by the river. They get no help whatsoever from the Council. They even have to transport the garbage back into town themselves. With such a dedication to the travellers of Australia, we thought we should support them so we stopped there planning to buy fuel, supplies, drinks and food as well as making a donation.
We decided to stay here until the crowd from the rally has cleared the road. We will be able to go to the pub for another barbecue dinner and we will take advantage of a site which is not limited to 24 hours. Jean saw an advert for a fair in the town next Saturday so we asked if we could stay in the park until then. "Of course" was the reply.
I got a phone call from a guy who has been a constant reader of this Motley Expeditions website for about five years. He wanted to meet us and said he wold come to Jericho to have a chat. He is a long time traveller who is planning to buy some kind of campervan or motorhome and had gone to the open day at the rally to look at the "For Sale" units.
We had afternoon tea and continued talking until supper time. We all went to the Outback Pioneer Centre for dinner and chatted some more. The lady in the cafe was amazed to hear that we had only met face to face today. She thought we had been friends for a long time, When I explained that we had been friends on the internet for a long time, she said "Oh".
We slept in until about nine o'clock and found that the six vehicles which had camped had all gone. We settled down for a nice quiet day. This is a lovely spot and we will have a good rest here.
I went into town to buy bread and milk and found that the papers don't come until eleven o'clock so I had to make two trips.
When I got back from town I found that a solo lady parked nearby had come to chat. We talked of "ships and shoes and sealing wax and whether pigs have wings".
In the afternoon I did a fairly major repair to the under body fresh water plumbing which had been misbehaving for some time. I had to do the job lying on my back and I got very wet so I wasn't feeling too chipper when I had finished. There are two or three other jobs I should be doing while we are camped up but I will have to feel good about it before I tackle another under body task.
The day dawned overcast but I don't suppose it will rain. I woke up feeling better than I expected after yesterdays task.
We had a very easy day. I spent a little time with a lady motorhomer, Shirley, who was having trouble using her new computer.
Jean reported several wildlife sightings on her morning walk down the River Walk. I went down later with the camera but all the wildlife had gone away. I took a photo of the snake track Jean had seen earlier.
I visited Shirley to give her some compute training. She needs lots of training but I did what I could to get her started. She seemed to absorb what I had to offer and I believe that she will make good. I offered to provide telephone support hen we go back on the road.
I had had an email containing registration forms for the Red Hat do Jean wants to got to in Bundaberg. I printed them up, had Jean fill them out and sign them, and took them to the Post Office. The answer to my enquiry about the chance of the letter getting to Bundaberg by Tuesday was not reassuring so I emailed the lady in Bundaberg saying that I had posted the forms and the cheque.
I spent a lot of time with Shirley printing her document and her photos. She is keen to get a printer so I suggested she have the salesman demonstrate its use with her own computer so that she can be sure it will work and she will have seen what to do to get it to operate correctly.
I had to move the Motley to fill the fresh water tanks which were nearly empty. We seem to have used 230 litres in a week (16 litres/person/day) which isn't bad but we would have to avoid significant usage to get down to 10 litres/person/day which is the nominal rating for self-contained bush camping.
I was exhausted with all the chores I had to do to move the Motley, fill the tanks, and set up again so I took the rest of the day off.
In the afternoon two couples of old friends turned up and we had another afternoon of extended chats.
The town had a had a market day so we went to see what was on offer. The only thing Jean saw that she liked was sold to the lady before her so we left empty handed.
In the afternoon we had a visit from Matey and Meg, two shire horses pulling a gig. They were on their way to the Outback Pioneer Centre where Meg was due to be shod. The farrier found that he didn't have suitable shoes for her so she just got a manicure. As she has been three years without shoes and spend all her time on the sandy soil which characterises this part of the world, the owner wasn't at all concerned.
In the evening we went to the pub for a barbecue dinner which was quite nice except for the problem of trying to cut steak with plastic knife and fork.
It dawned overcast again but it doesn't look like rain.
The comments about the rally continue to be of unhappiness about the way things are run. All of these comments are unsolicited by me so I feel my assessment is a fair reflection of other peoples views. I am amazed at how bad the reaction is to the way the club is going.