There’s probably no need to say that this year is different, but I will. Our caravan Priscilla is looking lonely and adorned with cobwebs. Like many Aussie Grey Nomads, we’re cooling our heels and wondering where we’ll be spending winter ’26.

In January, not long after our Xmas trip to Ararat, Woody popped out to top the car up with fuel. Sounds innocent doesn’t it. Searching for a bargain he went to a different service station, tripped over a rubber parking barrier and tore a muscle in his left shoulder. That 4 cent per litre saving on the diesel was nothing like the cost of the physio bills. We had planned to spend a few days down at Peterborough on Victoria’s west coast, but that wasn’t to be.

In February, as we all know, someone started a war somewhere reducing world fuel supplies and accelerating prices at the pump. Like everyone else we are waiting to see what happens next as it is impossible to predict. Our current Melbourne diesel price is 315.9 cents/litre. There’s been a lot of talk of service stations running out of fuel and the TV news folk seem to get joy from counting empty servos.

In March, well there wasn’t much to do other than to enjoy the last of summer and shudder at the devastation on the news. Over the last 12 months or so I have become a huge fan of Heather Cox Richardson, Harvard’s professor of American History who has a daily post on Substack. She gives us a clear and concise picture of daily events with detail rather than emotion and usually a day ahead of Australian news outlets.

Now it’s April, there’s a nip in the air and the autumn chill has arrived. Albo (Prime Minister Albanese) has nipped up to Singas (flown to Singapore) to swap our gas for more refined fuel (which was probably produced from what was once our own oil) so that the farmers can sow, maintain, harvest and get their crops to market.

We wait, we plan, we have booked, we must visit our family on the Gold Coast. It’s 1750kms to the Goldie, or 2070kms if we decide to continue on up to Yeppoon. Do we just fly to the Gold Coast? Or will those prices soar as well.

Having been brought up on the land my heart goes out to the farmers, but nowadays I’m even feeling sorry for the financial analysts, anyone for Two Up?

In the meantime, I’m getting mighty sick of housework, and watching innocent people suffer and die.

*Two Up is a traditional Aussie game of chance where punters bet on the outcome of two coins being tossed in the air.