Day 238
Our tent creaked and groaned and was buffeted by the wind all night. This morning I woke up at 5:30am and the wind had died down. I took the opportunity to do a little typing. Bundled up in my down jacket and rain pants, I made a cup of coffee and typed until the sun came up. It’s wonderful to have one’s circadian rhythm in tune with sunsets and sunrises. We are in bed every night by 7 and asleep by 8. Even if I wake at 5am, which I usually do, I’ve already slept 9 hours. Cher sleeps 10 to 11 hours and it shows, she rarely looks deeply tired. No more blue pouches or red eyes, which is good because we would need our rest today.
With open fields as far as you can see the wind just whips across them. Although today we received only a glancing blow as we traveled northeast and the wind blew from the southeast. We didn’t travel much faster than yesterday but we didn’t have to work as hard either. We were also motivated by the knowledge that we would have a shower, fresh food, and a rest day.
We chose to stay at the Camooweal Roadhouse because they have a nice corrugated steel fence that blocks the wind. After 3 days of rough camping and high winds we were prepared to pay the extra 4 bucks for the luxury caravan park.
We found that the combination post office, grocery store was closed but there happened to be a mini mart next store. The prices were reasonable and we went on a protein binge, eggs, lamb chops, and bacon. We were once again treated to 2 cold beers by a grey nomad in his 70’s who goes by the name of Crow. Everywhere we go we are children compared to the campers around us and they treat us so. His wife gave us 2 fresh tomatoes and we feasted. Traveling in Australia is simultaneously the most difficult and easiest depending on the time of day. We are punished all day and then forget all about it as we are rewarded at night. I think this is how people are brainwashed. If the Australian outback is our captor than we may be suffering from Stockholm syndrome because sometimes we really love it.