So instead of catching up with our mates Geoff & Vickie weeks ago we decided to head to Vickies sisters property just out of Donnybrook and Geoff & Vickie would join us there. It was lovely to finally get away and do something different and it’s very peaceful & picturesque on Jo and Dave’s property.
Vick and I had arranged to cook a roast pork on our new rotisserie, it was the 1st time I had given it a go, usually our camp cooking is done on a bbq or in camp ovens so the pressure was on. I think the main prerequisite for cooking over coal or heat beads is to get the fuel burning hot before any attempt at cooking. It took a while to get the coals hot and grey and then around 3 hours of a slow turning rotisserie but the result was very nice.
So a great couple of days, some good meals and on the 3rd day we left to head to Stockton Lake out of Collie, Geoff & Vickie were going to join us after visiting some friends. Stockton lake is a pretty free camp and we chose to camp away from the main camp area, it was a bit windy during the day and Geoff put up a wind break with an awning floor which helped a lot.
As usual when we’re all together there are lots of laughs, We had a few quiet moments where we thought of and spoke about our great mate Kimbo who had recently passed away, we have had so much in common over the years and this trip was no exception with us camped at Stockton which is the same name as the area where our Bro lived in Newcastle. It’s going to happen to everyone of us but the pain of losing such a good close friend is still very painful to deal with.
The next day we were going our own way with Geoff & Vickie heading home to Geraldton and we were going onto Wagin to have a look around. Wagin is a reasonable size country town but it was fairly quiet for a week day, we checked out a few places we thought might be suitable to camp but the flies were friendly and the lakes mostly dried up and just shimmering salt.
Vickie managed to get all tangled up in some wire and fell over landing on some tree branches which resulted in many bruises appearing almost immediately and worse over the next few days. We decided to go back into town and stay at the Showgrounds which was excellent value at $10 per night including power & water, and a dump point also.
We had another look around the town, tried the bakery which was ok but nothing worth raving about, no seating so it was find a bench outside to have our pie and coffee. We checked out the Big Ram and the park gardens and then back to our van where I had a lay down as my back was in a lot of pain.
I was woken by Vick who told me we had been asked over for drinks with some other campers, I was still feeling sore and only had a soft drink and listened to the chat, they all seemed a decent bunch of people.
Our next night we stayed in the Gilgandra woodlands, there are a few choices in places to camp and though we chose the 1st it did appear to be the best choice when we checked out the other choices the next day.
A nice quiet night looking at the stars and listening out for any nocturnal wild life but apart from the good night call of a kookaburra it was a very quiet camp.
We visited friends Val & Neil in Narrogin whom we had met on our last cruise, a quick catch up but time for a cup of tea and check out their new caravan and with Vickie feeling sore from all her bruises and my sciatica giving me grief we decided to head home a day early.
Hopefully the borders open and we can leave sometime in December and go visit our daughter and her family in SA and also come back without any restrictions.
