Month: January 2016

Caravanning HintsLeave a comment

Hairdressing

Itching for Hitching

One of my biggest concerns upon retirement was hairdressing. After having spent a lifetime of donating the majority of my salary to my local hairdresser so that I could look decently coifed for business I realised that I needed to reduce the cost. With the help of friends I found a hairdresser who would trim my hair at a much more reasonable price. Another friend offered to teach me how to colour my hair.  The cost of this lesson was a long lunch and a bottle of champagne before we started! While the boys embarked on a second bottle, we … Continue reading Hairdressing

BlogLeave a comment

Just Another Day On the Road

Itching for Hitching

One of the advantages of travel is writing about one’s own adventures but how does one write a daily blog about life ‘on the road’, when one is ‘on the road’?With great difficulty! As I sit here penning this draft it is near midnight and my husband is snoring, loudly. We’ve been free camping for four days without mains power. Relying on our solar panels. Perhaps we’ve been a little too relaxed this week but all of our devices are suddenly in need of a charge. That’s two phones, an iPad and a laptop and I’m juggling them. I prefer … Continue reading Just Another Day On the Road

NSW, The PubsLeave a comment

Palace Hotel, Broken Hill

Itching for Hitching

The Palace Hotel in Broken Hill, NSW has a unique decor. Every inch of wall space is devoted to murals and the furnishings are from the 1950’s. In the Side Bar there’s a huge collection of aluminium soda syphons lining the window ledges and a great array of mismatched furniture from the same era.  The foyer has three storeys of murals running up the walls across the ceilings and under the stairs. Even the hallways have murals. On top of that, it is a really nice pub to have a drink in. Oh and it starred in the making of … Continue reading Palace Hotel, Broken Hill

Freedom Camp, NSW, Top SpotsLeave a comment

Coopernook, NSW

Itching for Hitching

We turn off Highway One to visit the Coopernook Pub, it offers free camping in the back yard for the price of a beer. The pub overlooks the Lansdowne River and the remains of a large iron bridge. We have a beer but decide to move on to check out the Coopernook Forest Campground. Brian who has a fear of dirt roads is just about hyperventilating as we drive the 3kms to the park. Suddenly the trees part and there before us is a wide, open mowed grassy area with shade trees and enough space for about thirty camps. There … Continue reading Coopernook, NSW

When Things Just Go WrongLeave a comment

Wrinkles and Wristbands

Itching for Hitching

One of the things that is foremost in the minds of retirees has to be healthcare. “Am I risking my health to go to unknown places? Do they have decent hospitals out there?” Don’t rule out travel because of these concerns and when you do go on the road never put off health issues until you get home either. Always play it safe and seek advice. The healthcare facilities throughout Australia are excellent and you will hear many an uplifting story from other travellers who have found themselves in need of assistance in the unlikeliest of places. This morning we were … Continue reading Wrinkles and Wristbands

Caravanning Hints5 Comments

A Chilling Issue

Itching for Hitching

We’re sitting on the dry banks of the Campaspe River at Ayson’s Reserve outside Elmore in Victoria. It’s summer and it’s hot, damned hot. Even the cockies have stopped their screeching. We loll about under our mates’ awning drinking cold beer and pondering this camping life. “How cold is the beer?” Any true blue Aussie would ask. Well the boys are playing with the remote thermometer and so far have checked our van fridge, Richie’s van fridge and Brian’s Techni Ice fridge. Richie’s Waeco will be next. I’m sure that by tonight we’ll have scientific proof as to which fridge is … Continue reading A Chilling Issue

Places, VicLeave a comment

A True Comfort Station

Itching for Hitching

Warracknabeal in Victoria is quite a large country town in the barley belt. There are impressive hotels and the shops are busy. The intersections are adorned with statues of dogs and sheep and bags of grain. I stumble across a Ladies Rest Room that has once been a shop and now provides a haven from the hustle and bustle. There are sitting rooms furnished with inviting antique armchairs and couches. There are mirrors and sideboards and flowers in vases. For the mums there are full baby change facilities and a sink and a basic kitchen to boil a jug or … Continue reading A True Comfort Station

In the Beginning6 Comments

Why the Blog?

Itching for Hitching

My husband and I retired from the workforce three years ago and among other things decided to take up caravanning. It has been an amazing experience. From learning all about caravans and towing them to the adventures that we’ve had and the people that we’ve met. I also joined a writing class at a nearby U3A (University of the Third Age), with the aim of learning how to write the story of my husband’s foster family’s history. Because I felt that their lives warranted something more than a long list of chronological events. Then poetry appeared on the scene. Something … Continue reading Why the Blog?

WA, Well Bugger Me!2 Comments

Renewing the Dead

Itching for Hitching

As it is only a short drive from where we are taking in the views at Kings Park in Perth, I drag poor Brian to the historic Karrakatta cemetery to find the graves of his great grandparents, Michael and Elizabeth Flynn. They had originally left Melbourne for the Kalgoorlie gold rush arriving in 1907. We find Elizabeth’s grave but not Michael’s, only the section where it should be. I get chatting to a woman who is photographing headstones for her website. I love those people their work is priceless when you live in another state or another country. She tells … Continue reading Renewing the Dead

Vic, When Things Just Go Wrong4 Comments

What Seniors Get Up To In Cars These Days

Itching for Hitching

We’re heading to Mildura in Victoria’s northwest. By lunchtime we leave the Sunraysia Highway at Ouyen, because we want to try the Mallee Bakery’s famous award winning vanilla slices. The pies are excellent but the “snot blocks” are pillows of ecstasy and gooilly delicious but bloody difficult to eat whilst driving. Brian has large globs of soft white icing dripping from his fingers and a mouth filled with crunchy pastry as he asks me to mop up the custard that has landed in big dollops in his lap. All too soon I realise that I’m tickling his unmentionables while wiping … Continue reading What Seniors Get Up To In Cars These Days