Day 3 Tuesday 7/6/2022, Berrigan to Oaklands, hosing down 6 – 10 degrees

This is such a peaceful park. There were trucks passing through during the night but they were not noisy. We wake to a cold misty morning, then just as we’re ready to take off, the rain starts.

We pass through grazing and cropland dotted with gums and Murray pines. Oaklands is the next village.

The RV Stop at Oaklands is well laid out and has bays on bitumen in the heart of town. Each site has a water tap.

As the rain tumbles, we sit inside with the diesel heater on. I had taken a small frozen chicken out of the freezer for dinner but it is barely thawing. At this rate, it looks like it might be thawed by tomorrow night. Woody has a few walks around town between showers but thankfully by 2:00pm, the weather, though still icy, clears enough for us both to have a good wander around town. The tiny commercial area of town is pretty but barely alive, there is a general store and a pub. The population is about 350. I meet a chap called Poet who’s walking a dog. The dog’s owner is headed to jail for what Poet calls ‘a long time’ for knocking off a chemist shop. Poet reckons this is a great place to live, quiet, no traffic lights and you can leave your house unlocked. But not the chemist, one would assume. I come across a memorial to World War One fallen, 19 from this district alone. This area was settled in 1846 and there’s an interesting old outdoor museum of farming equipment and the like. Though the ‘rabbit poisoning cart’ using strychnine is a little scary “just wipe your hands on your pants before eating lunch” says the sign. I remember Dad coming in from spraying the orchard back in the 1950’s with white lines of poison running down his rubber coat.

We decide to pop into the pub for a warming drink when it opens at 4:00pm, only to find that it’s freezing in there. There’s a small combustion wood fire in the corner but Poet and his mate Russ are almost sitting on it. Even Poet’s corny jokes are cold comfort. When we leave the pub I forget my camera bag and before I even realise that it’s missing Poet races over and returns it. Yes, it is a good town.

We get news from VeeWee who is on her way to Perth, she’s broken down at Bunga Cliffs on the Nullarbor and she, the Motorhome and the dog have been trucked back to Ceduna. At least we made it to Oaklands.

Accom: $0 (water, toilets on the Main Street)

Towing Kms: 39kms (at this rate we’ll never get to QLD).