208-210 Gunalda

We've got a couple of groups of mates on the road, or about to hit it, and I've been reminiscing about our trip, randomly opening posts at varying parts of our trip.

Then it occurred to me that I'm still to document such a huge part of the trip... So I better get on to it.

And it's a reasonable part to kick start the blog back up...

We rolled out of Hervey Bay, with the sun finally shining and spirits up. Nain and Tadcu had expressed a desire to get off the beaten track and away from the "rat race". I think ultimately, I've worn off on Tadcu and he just wanted to set fire to some stuff...

But where were we going... no idea. We'd wait for our old mate Wikicamps to tell us later on.

Before we got there, we made a morning stop at Maryborough, the historic Qld town where Mary Poppins author P.L. Travers was born. A really attractive town, we will remember the stop primarily for this.....

It's hilarious to think back about the furor in Melbourne a few years ago when the Melbourne City Council proposed changing pedestrian lights to female silhouettes. Here, they've got a fictional character getting the job done!

All around the town there are monuments, statues, street names, shops, landmarks all referenced to either PL Travers or Mary Poppins herself. Personally, I would have thought Mary Poppins would have been taller.

Anyhow a stroll around the town, a play in the park and a bakery lunch before we headed off to find the much awaited "proper camping" as it was being referred. Having said that, I don't think you can call our van camping...

Wikicamps had come to our rescue and we'd found a freecamp (well kind of.. we paid $10 per night) in someones back paddock near Gunalda.

We circled the wagons in a lush green paddock, where we were able to grab a drum (supplied) for our fire. Instructions were that we were able to scrounge wood wherever we could find it in the surrounding area... There wasn't much quality but with a heap of scroungers... we did OK.

Tadcu had the honour of lighting our Swedish candle after seeing them in the blog...

Rookie... bring in the experts....

It was slow starting but we had experience with them and told Nain and Tadcu to relax.

It really was a lovely setting... So quiet and peaceful...

What do they say about "red skies at night"?

Nain was very taken by the fire as it began to grow. Not surprising... It's fire.

Nothing says camping like "Pizza in a Box" in the Weber.

And still the fire in the sky continue to build as much as the one in the barrel. It was quite spectacular.

Soon enough we had it firing...

There are few things 

And then the rain came in... again. But I took precautions and threw a heap of wood on the fire to keep it going...

...which I'm happy to say it did.

The sun came out to play the next morning and I'm pleased to say it was a beautiful little nook of the world. How nice would it be to have this kind of place "just up the back"??

After using all the nearby wood we needed to search a little further in the paddock. And we found some good stuff. Rather than lug it back, The Rock Truck came to play. It was a bit slippy and slidey in parts, but all in all good fun!

Sorting the wood in piles... Sizes... Quality of wood... Levels of dryness... It's an art this fire thing.

Tadcu fashioning up a bow and arrow for Bob. A right on MacGyver.

It was awesome to watch James fire it. I'm not sure the Olympics beckon unless it's for determination. Then he's a chance.

I love this shot. We'd looked at the radar and saw some very serious weather coming our way. Being an elevated paddock this allowed us to see it coming. Sam knew this it. We knew this. We were going to get smashed. Again. We brought the tarp out to cover the "starting wood".

And waited.

And here it comes. This was a storm front of epic proportions. We thought it was going to miss us, but it took a right angle. Literally saw it change direction as if the clouds went "oh that's where they are. C'mon boys the Whites and Welshies are hiding over here...."

It was a brutally beautiful.

And with a bang it hit. Evie, B and I retreated to the Gecko whilst the boys helped Nain and Tadcu batten down their hatches.

The hail came. I've never experienced hail in a van. I've never been shot at. But I reckon it sounds the same... Literally had to yell at each other.

We took a skylight each, towel at the ready for the ice bullets to smash their way through. They pelted them but the plastic held strong. Well ours did. A crack did form in the rental truck...

And... just like that... it was gone.

Seeing the window of opportunity we wasted no time getting the fire started and roaring.

The next day...

So after a bit more overnight rain, we went to drive out of our damp paddock. Which is when we found out just how much weight these rental vehicles carry over the rear axles... Certainly wasn't going anywhere without some external help.

No problem. I'll just snatch/tow it out with the Rock Truck. Nup. Literally no points underneath to put any form of recovery gear. Not entirely sure how they tie these things down on trucks! OK, so we'll get some leftover wood (yes, there was some surprisingly) and try and fashion some grip under the back wheels. Nup...

Hmm... If the walls weren't fiberglass I'd just have pushed it out with the car too.

And then... an idea. A long shot idea, but what did we have to lose?

Blue foam tiles to the rescue!! Like the cheapest maxtrax/TREDs you've ever seen we tried and surprisingly worked a treat! She was out!!

Tadcu certainly left his mark on the paddock...

Putting the final touches to our pack up, we noticed something. We had previously thought we'd got away damage free from the storm... We thought wrong...

Pulling the bed lid down we realised why we thought it sounded like being shot at. The bed lid was peppered with hail damage, and on inspection, we found the wall of the van was the same (needed the sunlight to see it). That's got to hurt... but purely cosmetic. We were due for a service shortly so would get it on the record for insurance/warranty repair.

Hooking up, there was no such bioggy drama for our trusty duo. Engage 4WD and the two of them walked out hand-in-hand (or hitch-on-towball). 

Gunalda was one of those spots we still talk about to this day. Just a random stop over in a random paddock. But it was our paddock. The fire was brilliant. The company brilliant.

But the storm. It was Brutally Beautiful.