Well I almost forgot to blog this trip again, but when you are awake at 5am in a caravan that this rocking like a boat, what else do you do!!
Easter time again, and that means it is time for the annual Easter weekend of camping down at the Prom with the Waldron’s and Kate’s school friend Luize and her husband Andrew.
Last year, as I mentioned before, we didn’t make it as the place flooded and wasn’t fully functional by Easter, and this year, we almost didn’t make it again!! To get into the Prom each year, we have to apply for our camping sites in the January Ballot, which we did of course, and were lucky enough to get 3 great sites near the toilet block with a reasonable view of the playground. Then, we had a little run of bad luck.
First of all, Fi changed jobs which meant she had to work on the Thursday and Friday of the Easter weekend. Not a big issue, but it meant I had to come down with the kids and setup by myself. Again not a big issue as I have certainly setup the van by myself plenty of times before…. then, about 7 or 8 weeks before Easter, I came off my bike and dislocated my AC joint on my right shoulder requiring surgery to fix it and pretty much making my right arm useless!!
Luckily, by Easter Thursday, 4 weeks out of Surgery, I was getting pretty good with my left arm, and was confident enough to drive down here. Mark and Kate were fantastic (but don’t let them know I said so!), helping me set up and look after the kids until Fi came down on Saturday.
Now Thursday and Friday were superb days, with unseasonably warm weather. It was shorts and tank tops for the first couple of days, and the kids even got to swim in the river. The nights cooled off, but were pleasant sitting around the Kerosene heaters…. until Friday night that is!
The change hit just as we were putting the kids to bed, and started with a downpour that sent the adults running for my annex where we crammed in with a gas lantern. Then about 10pm, the wind started, and it got worse and worse and worse.
I made a call to pull down the annex and retract the awning before bed, and I was glad I did. We had a very wild night with a constant wind from the west at 50 knots (about 100 km/h) with gusts reaching 71 knots (130 kmph) between midnight and 1am (gotta love the stats you can get on an iPad).
The camp site rang all night with tap tap tap as people tried in vain to keep their tents standing and attached to the ground. A good number of people in tents (probably the smart ones) simply packed up and went home, because by morning there were a lot of damaged poles, and the bins were full of useless tents.
We weathered ok in the van, by my god did it rock! Felt like we were on a boat, and the big gusts slammed the canvas with a huge bang. That along with the sound of tarps and tents flapping meant I only got about an hour and a half sleep that night!! The kids of course slept right through the whole thing!!
Mark’s annex didn’t fare that well with the wind knocking the poles over at about 2 am, but luckily there was no damage and he was able to set it back up again in the morning. Luize and Andrew were also lucky with only one bent pole.
As we crawled out of bed bleary eyed in the morning, it was amazing how a packed park can suddenly become so empty. Alot of people either abandoned their camping plans, or simply had no choice! Mark, Kate and I along with all 6 kids all crammed into my caravan for breakfast, and told Fi not to leave home because we were seriously thinking about quitting ourselves. In the end, we told each other suck it up, and rang Fi to get down here.
The wind died off about lunchtime, and Fi arrived shortly after, but we still spent most of the day hiding in the van. Who would have thought that you could fit 10 people in a caravan!! The kids were great, drawing and playing games all day, but by about mid-afternoon, everyone was getting stir crazy, so we kicked them out to the playground. The night was actually quite peaceful after the night before, and we sat under our awning with the heaters going thankful to have little to no wind.
Sunday, the kids awoke to a chocolate breakfast, eating so many that they didn’t even finish the pancakes I cooked (normally they are inhaled in seconds). Mark cooked us a scrumptious breakfast of bacon, eggs, sausages and hash browns, and then as the kids ran around the playground, making new friends, we settled down and did exactly what you should do when camping….. nothing!
All in all a pretty good day… but that night the weather wasn’t playing nice, and by 10pm we realised why half of the campers that were left after Friday night, packed up early and went home.
So, the last night was spent rocking and rolling again,with strong wind and rain most of the night. Not as bad Friday night, but with 50 knot gusts, enough to really knock the van around again. At least we managed to sleep most of the night, although I have been up since just before 5am as the cold is getting to my shoulder and I just couldn’t get comfortable.
As much as I hate packing up, and this time more than usual given I only have one arm, it will be good to get home with some solid walls, and gas ducted heating!!
The next adventure is in beautiful (and warm) Thailand in about 4 weeks, but seeing as it is not a caravan adventure, I wont blog about it here. Until next time…… brrrrr!
