Roleystone to Tammin Friday 22nd March, 2019

Things did not stay peaceful. On Thursday afternoon we had a call to say that Mum had a fall and broke her right hand ring finger and was being taken to hospital. She ended up at Midland ED again and spent about 7 hours there, waiting for treatment, waiting for x-rays and raging about wanting to go home. A nurse put her on to me at about 8.00 p.m. and it did not go well, as she wanted me to pick her up immediately and take her home. She hung up on me when I said it had to be a medical decision.

We used the time on Thursday to do some laundry and have a shared meal from the local Chinese resturant. Marie and I were having difficult settling down until about 11.00 p.m. when the nurse from Regis rang to say Mum had been brought home and she was very happy to be in her own room. My younger sister Robyne went to see her today and said she looks well and happy and didn’t mention having cancer. Thank goodness for short term memory loss!

The weather continued warm and humid on Thursday, but was cold enough for us to need our doona overnight. We woke to a cloudy morning and managed to get away at about 10.30 a.m. We drove straight to Beverley where we had lunch and visited the IGA for fruit. I bought a coffee from the The Red Vault where we had a sort of wake after my uncle’s funeral a few years ago. Quite good coffee.

We drove through backroads to Meckering where we thought of staying the night. There are flushing toilets and we’ve enjoyed some quiet nights next to the rose garden. However, it was busier (with school buses arriving and other vehicles) and they have expanded the short stay area onto dirt. With a strong wind there was quite a lot of dust. The wind felt warm as well.

I checked Wikicamps and we have travelled as far as Tammin, arriving here at about 4.45 p.m.  When the hotel was open it was possible to camp there, but further up the road is a roadhouse, with a vast area for trucks to park overnight. The cafe stays open 24/7 and we can use the toilets and even showers for free. They also have washing machines.

The wind is still very strong, so we parked the Winnie nose to the wind. We are still being rocked around with strong wind gusts. After noticing that the little awning over our slide out was taking a beating we decided that we will camp with the slide in for tonight. This immediately reduced the noise and rocking – to some extent. We’ve chosen a spot on dirt and hope that the trucks will stay in their parking area and not invade this space as well.

Packing up this morning took some time as we had been settled for so long. Tomorrow should be much easier as we have no hookups and will have our travel systems in place. This is our first night of using 12v power for everything, including our new fridge.