Our final week at St Marys was fairly uneventful save for a mouse that decided he wanted my map drawer for a home. There was shredded paper everywhere and little trails of droppings from one end of the car to the other, including the engine bay. Messy little bugger.
I was a little concerned about the ferry crossing as Bass Strait's forecast was for Seas: Up to 3 metres. Swell: Southwesterly 0.5 to 2 metres. 20-30 knot winds. Rain.
It was bucketing down as we lined up at 4.45pm to go onto the ferry and it was still bucketing when we finally made it on board at 6.50pm. This time we were put with the semi trailers on a lower deck and had a bit more space around us. The trip across wasn't as rough as I'd thought but I still felt the boat roll quite a bit. Erin and Geoff slept through it all, but I just couldn't get comfortable. Next time, I think we'll get a cabin, at least we had front row recliners again, so no-one lying in our laps.
The bonus of taking so long to get on board was that we were one of the first off again. We headed straight across the Westgate Bridge for a roadhouse on the Western Ring Road. My cousin Michelle had organised to meet us there as we were in a bit of a hurry to get up to Orange. I hadn't seen Michelle since Erin was 2 yrs old and I hadn't met her kids yet so it was a quite a reunion. We chatted for a couple of ours, took heaps of photos and then hit the road again.
We made it as far as Balmattum, a roadside stop on the Hume Fwy, well back from the road. We caught up on a couple of hours sleep then a fellow traveller set up camp behind us. He had also caught the ferry the night before and visited family that morning.
We still had our furry little friend with us so Geoff set up a peanut butter mouse trap and the following morning we no longer had a stowaway, much to Erin's dismay and horror.
As it was not quite school holidays yet, Erin still had to attend her online lessons while we were trying to hightail it up north. Thankfully some of her lessons had been cancelled while her school was moving locations so that made things a little easier. We also had internet signal most of the way so the lessons were done en route.
Monday night was spent just south of Gundagai at Tumblong rest area and we couldn't not visit the Dog on the Tuckerbox, so we did just that on Tuesday morning, took photos and Erin tossed a coin and made a wish.
I had tried to book into the caravan parks in Orange last month but was told they were busy and call back at the end of the month. I called both of them back but both are fully booked over Easter. I think fate stepped in for me there, I called the caravan park at Blayney, just south of Orange, and he was more than helpful. Even though they were booked out over Easter, he could put us on an unpowered site until the powered sites were cleared. I booked in for the Friday before Geoff was due to start so that we had a bit of time to set up but not too much that it was a waste of money. Thankfully there was a cancellation and we were put straight onto a powered site, the annex is now set up and the TV too, first time since we left Fremantle.
We stayed out at Carcoar Dam, about 10km from Blayney, for 3 nights while Geoff did his medical and we went and checked out Orange and Bathurst. Blayney is lovely, nice quiet town, walking distance from the caravan park. I didn't like Orange and Bathurst at all, too big, too busy, okay for shopping trips every couple of weeks though.
Geoff started his new job on Monday. So far he's enjoying it, he says the guys are great and he likes his boss. It's all good. The mine organises car pooling for their workers that are on similar shifts and living in the same area so that could be an option in the near future, once Geoff gets settled.
I'm a bit nervous about winter, it snows here and there are regular frosts. I was looking at photos of Blayney online and there was quite a snow fall as late in the season as last October. Brrrr.
