Contentment

As the ocean tumbled beside us a wave of contentment washed over me. We were back to ‘our life’ in South Durras, were the friendliest kangaroos in Australia shared our campsite. The weather however, was not the friendliest and we endured gale force winds. Dave seemed concerned that our camper would blow over, and at one stage I was concerned too, as our camper shook from side to side. The wind storm brought down tree limbs and the power. The ‘no power’ extended down to Batemans Bay. No power also meant no water in the caravan park, where we were staying. I guess we were the lucky ones- we are pretty self contained and used the power from our battery. As I turned on our hot water, I looked at the guests in cabins with nothing.


Pebbly Beach



Kangaroos galore at South Durras

After bushwalking Pebbly Beach, a childhood haunt of Dave’s, we headed towards Braidwood. The town of Braidwood is heritage listed but is in need of repair. We arrived on a Sunday, however many shops were closed, others running on empty. So after a pie in the bakery we headed for our nation’s capitol.
Have any of you been along the King’s Highway in the past couple of years? If so, you will know I am not lying when I say that I spotted a monkey, bear, crocodile and panda along the roadside on the way into Queanbeyan. During the Melbourne Comedy Festival in March of this year, we caught a show by Tom Gleeson- he too had seen these animals, and shared his story. But to save you confusion- the ‘animals’ were stuffed toys, roped and nailed to various trees. I understand Tom has also started this fad in Melbourne.
But back to our nation’s capitol- I think we really give Canberra a hard time for no good reason. There is really much to see and do, and it is pretty easy to navigate your way around. Our stay here also coincided with our 8 year anniversary. Eight years- WOW. I pondered why the last 8 years have been so easy with Dave and decided it is because I amuse him. He is able to laugh at my idiosyncrasies and love me for them, while others may find them annoying. So with that in mind, I declared that I shall extend the contract, we are in it for the long haul.
On our journey around Australia, we are visiting many friends and relatives. So it was only fitting that we visit the War Memorial to see what we could find of my paternal Grandfather and Dave’s Great Uncle (?). My Grandfather

My Grandfathers name on the wall of rememberance, Australian War Memorial

died as a prisoner of war in Borneo. We easily found his name on the remembrance wall, but a search in the archives was restricted (we can apply to get access to the file). However, there was much information about Dave’s relative to be found and we learnt many details about the man and how he died (we also discovered he was a ranga). As a kid the War Memorial was somewhat exciting, with guns, planes and real life diorama’s. As an adult, it is a more sombre affair, showcasing how pointless war is. War will never stop, we will never learn.
It was our anniversary- a time for joy, so we left the War Memorial and chose to see the Degas exhibition at the National Gallery. Degas is one of France’s most renowned painters (he also was a sculptor and photographer). He delighted in painting scenes from the ballet, to horseracing and women in various stages of chores. My favourite was a ballet class scene. I pointed this out to Dave, but if he was to buy it for me, we would have no money to continue travelling.......... for the next 100 years. Oh well, I bought a postcard of the painting instead.
We are currently free camping, beside the Murray River near Howlong. Not quite sure whether we are in NSW or Victoria. I don’t mind- I am just glad we have left the locust plague behind. Driving here was like a scene from a horror movie-

Locusts in the sky....... end up in the radiator

the road covered in the dead bodies and the air thick with locusts. As they hit our windscreen, it sounded like we were driving through a storm. After a while it rather amused me, and I braced for the next onslaught. Over the crest of a hill and there they were, ready to do battle, lined up 50 deep. Of course we always won, although the windscreen ended up looking like a bad Pro Hart.