The highlight of he day's drive was an incident on the Bruce Highway which illustrates why professional drivers have so little time for caravanners and private motorists. We came upon a pilot vehicle who told us that the load behind him was 6 metres (20 feet) wide and about a kilometre back. We pulled off the carriageway at a convenient spot but a caravan and four cars decided to overtake us. As they were doing this a police escort appeared right in front of them and they had to take to the hard shoulder in a rush. They had only just achieved this when the wide load appeared. It was an enormous mining truck. The pilot and the truck driver exchanged comments about "the gerbils".
We reached Bundaberg at about eleven o'clock after a pretty good drive. I got a bit lost because I was using a mental map which approached the city from Childers rather than from Gin Gin. We got to Hinkler Lions Park and dumped the grey water. This took quite a long time because the flow through the drain hose was very weak because of the very low head. We rang Helene to get directions to the camping ground only to find that it was just round the corner from where we were.
When we got to Agro Trend, a local service club run field day site, we found lots of power boxes but vanishingly few water points. We chose a nice level site next to a power box and a tap but a guy came and suggested we move because we were parked in the middle of the dog training area and because the site we had chosen was too visible from the road. Apparently the local caravan park owners complain if they see anyone using the grounds.
We met up with another motorhomer who pointed out a good site that a fifth wheeler had been using last week so we settled in there. The only down side to this place is that there is a cart track nearby and the noise is quite irritating.
After Jean's post prandial nap and we went into town to make a hairdressing appointment. She found a suitable salon in the Sugarland shopping centre and made an appointment for ten o'clock tomorrow. We did the shopping. Since it was the first time in a few weeks that we have shopped in a large supermarket, we stocked up in some particular items we have missed recently.
Jean took a turn and had to lie down when we got back to the Motley. We had a very light supper and went to bed early.
We went to Sugarland for Jean's hair appointment and I did a little shopping. I tried to buy a new car adapter for Jean's Vodaphone mobile. They didn't have one and sent me to the Telstra shop. We went to town and found the Rivers shop and bought some stuff. We found a cafe and had morning tea. I pored over the street map and eventually found the Post Office. I went there to collect the mail which had been redirected from Barraba but it hadn't arrived.
I had to return the Sunbeam heater which had failed last night. The guy in Retravision said they were getting new stock in early next week so I said I'd stay in town until they arrived. When I mentioned that this was the second one which had failed, he was surprised because he had sold about 400 without any previous returns.
The Telstra shop in Retravision had no car adapters for Jean's mobile and sent me to the Vodaphone shop elsewhere in the town. When I found the shop, they told me they were getting new stock in tomorrow.
We needed a break from the routine so we decided to have lunch at the local Thai restaurant. It was pretty good and the service was very attentive. When we got back to the Motley I found that I had left my hat in the cafe. I had to back to town to pick it up. Happily the lady had put it aside because she expected me to come back for it.
We both slept in a bit, presumably because we needed the extra sleep.
I had to go into town to see if the mail had arrived. We stopped in at a cafe for morning coffee and to read the mail.
Helene came to visit after lunch having driven up from Cooroy.
In the evening Helene picked Jean up and they went to the Meet and Greet session of the Girlfriend's Giggle. Jean was worried that she would be under dresses but there was apparently a wide range of styles. The supper was a bit of a disaster as they weren't able to cater for the numbers even though they knew well in advance how many would be there and it took the best part of the evening to get everyone fed.
Up really early for us because Helene was coming to pick Jean up at nine o'clock.
My modem has spat the dummy. I'm not sure where the fault is, it looks like software but trashing the prefs and reloading the software didn't effect a cure. It could be hardware so I might have to visit Telstra! The modem is communicating with the base station but it won't connect so it could be the Telstra cell but as the phone works it would have to be some kind of software fault in Telstra which seems unlikely.
I went to town to do the laundry and try to find an Internet Cafe in the hope that they have a WiFi system I can use. The first Internet Cafe I went to was not open so I went to the laundromat instead. There was an Internet cafe next door so I went there. As I expected I couldn't connect despite getting all the settings right. I suspect most wintel servers don't approve of Macs and refuse to co-operate. The guy there told me that the Library has a WiFi hotspot. When I tried to find the Library, I was sent on a couple of wild goose chases by the person in the city Info Centre. I went to the other Info Centre and got the right directions. I went to the Library and had a reasonably successful session except that I couldn't access the goop server so my email was still unread. On the way to the other Info Centre I had noticed a sign on a computer store saying "Internet" and another saying "Apple Education Centre". I went back to the computer store and they were most helpful connecting me to their private wireless network so that I could download the emails.
Amazingly, one of the emails was from a guy I had employed in my first real job. He had done a google search for "Leevers Rich" and came upon my autobiography. I quote from his email - "I joined the company as a trainee in 1962, straight from school. My first day was chaotic as nobody seemed to expect me. Having nowhere in particular to work, I was shown into the development room and introduced to you. I think you were desperate to get me out of the way. You asked me if I could read the resistor colour code, then gave me a big box of mixed resistors to sort." This was my first job as any kind of supervisor and I obviously had a lot to learn. His email gave me a potted career history. I quote fro his email again - "Although my time at Leevers Rich was quite short, it was enjoyable and it gave me a good grounding for my later career." He finished his career as Engineering Manager for an international TV company so perhaps I gave him a good start anyway. History is amazing.
Jean rang me at the end of their coach trip asking for a lift home. She had been overcome by the noise of the engine in the coach and by the drinks she had consumed. I brought her back to the Motley to have a lie down hoping that she would feel well enough to go out for the evening entertainment. She realised that going out when she wasn't truly better would probably make her miss out on tomorrows activities so she cried off the evening.
Helene came at about half past eight to take Jean to the Girlfriend's Giggle. She reported that the event last night was "outrageous" and that she was sorry that Jean had missed it.
Jean got back at about half past four having had a tiring day. I asked her if she would go to another Red Hatters convention and she said she wasn't planning to go to Townsville next year.
We had to stay in Bundaberg to await the delivery of the heater. When I went to see if the new stock had been delivered the answer was "Not yet". As we are heading for Brisbane, I decided not to for the stock to come in.
I caught up with the caretaker of Agro Trend. He asked me about the Red Hat Society and when I explained it, he said his wife would benefit from being a Red Hatter so I recommended the local chapter.