Tag: Seniors

Why Caravanning24 Comments

An Open Letter to the newly retired

Itching for Hitching

You’ve just retired, bought a caravan and want to travel Australia? Here are a few things to ponder: Your time is short, make the most of it. If you get the chance to see something or go somewhere, do it. You may not get another chance. Don’t rush. You no longer have to be back at work next week or next month. You probably don’t have to be anywhere. Take your time and explore. Each year you will feel your energy and strength slipping away. On the other hand RV’ers are happier and healthier than those who stay at home … Continue reading An Open Letter to the newly retired

Why Caravanning8 Comments

It’s Not Just Your Life

Itching for Hitching

Don’t waste your partner’s best years of life by continuing to work just because you don’t know what else to do in retirement. Down the tools, close the books, turn off the computer and walk out the door into … your new life. Be it big or small there’s a rig waiting out there for you and it’ll take you to places you’ve never heard of and will never forget. Yes, Gulargambone is calling you! Continue reading It’s Not Just Your Life

Wildlife5 Comments

Scarce as hen’s teeth

Itching for Hitching

Remember our poor old mate ‘Toothless Johnno’ who lost a tooth from his dental plate whilst eating lunch in the sun? Well ‘Johnno’ rang his dentist to see how quickly he could get his dentures repaired because he is a police officer and he didn’t want to return to work looking more like one of the crooks. “Just bring the tooth in on Monday” said the dentist. ‘Johnno’ had to explain how the bird ate the tooth and that he won’t be bringing the bloody bird into the dentist’s office. “Hmm, it must have thought it was a piece of bread.” … Continue reading Scarce as hen’s teeth

Qld, Wildlife2 Comments

At Your Service

Itching for Hitching

Well exercised from a good walk my sister in law and I pop into a little Gold Coast hinterland cafe and order lunch. “Just park your bums and I’ll bring it over” says the cheery waitress. We wait and wait and wait. When we eventually complain we are told that the pilot light has gone out, but it’s nearly ready. “What?” We say “The stove or the lunch?” At least we were entertained by the cheeky Butcher birds stealing leftovers from lucky diners’ plates. The Butcher birds probably would have been faster workers in the kitchen too. Continue reading At Your Service

Caravanning Hints3 Comments

My New G String

Itching for Hitching

I attended a rather informative workshop at the Girgarre Moosic Muster in January, one for advanced Ukulele players. Advanced? Hmmm. The instructor Paul Jonson from New Zealand had some compelling reasons why I should upgrade to a new uke. I took his advice and visited Lord Uke in Carlton and bought a sweet tenor sized Luna, with a Low G String that gives it a little deeper voice. What does all this have to do with caravanning? Well it means that I now have one instrument that has a broader range of music. So I’ll probably travel with only one … Continue reading My New G String

The Characters You Meet5 Comments

The Southern Grey Nomad, a not so rare species

Itching for Hitching

It’s August 2016, late winter in AustraliaAnd the annual northern migration of the Southern Grey Nomad is well under way. Zig zagging across New South Wales and Queensland ever northward like peripatetic ants in search of a new favourite nesting place. A new nesting place for future winters that is. Even the perils of a rough Bass Strait crossing doesn’t daunt them. You see the Tasmanian Southern Grey Nomad is even hardier than the rest and won’t be put off by sea sickness or a hefty return fare. The South Australians of the species can be found searching for warmth … Continue reading The Southern Grey Nomad, a not so rare species

Qld, Wildlife10 Comments

What a Tally

Itching for Hitching

The giant Curtain Fig tree in Yungaburra on the Atherton Tableland in Queensland is far too large to photograph in its entirety but we do our best. One Japanese tourist lies prone on the boardwalk trying his best to ‘get it all in’. If that is not enough, my mate Cyril spots something way up near the top of the tree and starts to shriek. There’s a large dark shape groping about. We can’t believe our eyes, it’s a Tree Kangaroo. As a dozen gobsmacked tourists crane their necks he clambers about quite awkwardly. He’s certainly not as agile as … Continue reading What a Tally

Point of Interest, WA2 Comments

Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend

Itching for Hitching

Up in the Kimberley we take an early morning flight over Lake Argyle and out to the Bungle Bungles. With their unusual beehive domes they stand apart from the other ranges. On our return we circle the Argyle diamond mine. Originally an open cut mine they are now tunneling underneath the hillside and have now removed the whole volcano. The pilot tells us that the roads are paved with diamond dust, oh let me out here. Continue reading Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend