2021 we are off North again/1

The time is near when we head off North for the winter months.

As I write this we are still at home preparing everything that is required for the trip.

We have a new vehicle, a Ford Ranger that is demanding a lot of modifications before departure my Scottish background dictates that I don’t spend where I can do it myself. Do you all realize how bloo.y hard it is to get back off the ground after working under the vehicle at my age and condition :-/.

My love decided that we just had to have another tandem kayak as we no longer have the ability to take the boat due to weight restrictions on top of the car. The size of the storage area is extremely reduced from the F250 sooooo much re-thinking has had to happen to accommodate necessities/perceived necessities. If you travel north this year and see heaps of jetsam beside the highway have no fear t’was I relieving the excesses of packing :-).

Received a parcel that I/we had been waiting for on Friday from ITechworld in W.A.. A jump starter/ power supply, see Jump Starter 2000A 20000mAh Backup Power Bank Charger Portable for Car Boat 12V – iTechworld for details. This arrival flagged our departure on Saturday, which occurred at about 10am.

The Plan was to make it to Calliope a mere 275 km’s from home. Before we approached Calliope we decided to head out to Lake Elphinstone for a couple of day’s to check out the new Kayak. We carried on to overnight at Marlborough north of Rockhampton. Sooo, 487km’s were done instead of the original 275. Massive storm hit us after stopping with small but driven hail and heaps of rain, all good so only a short 282km’s tomorrow.

From Marlborough we headed to Nebo on Sunday morning then on to Lake Elphinstone for a couple of day’s. Plan “A” was to get the new Kayak in the water for a test run. Upon arriving at Elphinstone it was raining so we didn’t set up camp but parked and had a Nana and Poppy nap listening to the rain on the roof of the van. It don’t get a heap better :-).
The road from Marlborough to Nebo would have to be the worst sealed road that we have ever driven on, no pot holes but massive waves that were like giant corrugations. It was a relief to reach Nebo. Regardless, along this cr.p road we did see a koala sitting in a tree beside the road and a brolga and some deer, so this road was not a total loss

After the rest I/we moved off to find a semi flat spot beside the lake to set up. This we did and sat with a coldy admiring the view of the lake and resting my RS knee. For those that take offence RS stands for righthand side now look away so the others can see that it is actually rat sh.t knee. The drugs are working I think!

For those with a very keen eye you probably noticed that the F truck shrunk. Knew I shouldn’t have washed it. 🙂
Very sad, Lake Elphinstone is extremely low and has blue green Algy warnings. The level was on full display when yesterday (the 8th March) a bloke and his missus and baby rocked up with a 3.8 tinny with 30 horses on the back yes a 30 horse!. They proceeded to the boat ramp just up from us and launched the boat. Missus and bub loaded on board and hubby pushed the boat out into the lake. He was only getting his calves a little wet for the first 50 meters then the level almost got to his knees, time to start the motor! With the motor tilted they motored out into the middle of the lake churning mud the whole time. Turning North they disturbed the bottom half way up the lake before giving it away as a bad joke. My bet, the only things that are not touching bottom are the ducks feet and the pair of swans as they pretend to be swimming around.
Damn shame this is a great spot to kick back and enjoy the serenity, but a little better if you can also enjoy the water. Recommend this stop over to just get chilled, fires allowed (BYO wood) and an amenity block on site cold showers and toilets. BYO water as the nearest water pick up is at Glenden about 25 klicks away where there is a sort of supermarket and toilet dump and the potable water pickup. Top spot Lake Elphinstone, ask Charlie he was off his lead most of the time!

Little buddy guarding his ball