It is Monday morning (23rd April, 2019) and we feel a bit flat. We spent the last two days really getting into the music and events and being ‘cut off’ is quite difficult. Stephen is feeling in two minds about going to Sydney. The Writers’ Festival has mainly ticketed events and it doesn’t look like we can enjoy very much without beginning to pay. And many of the speakers are featured on ABC radio, which we can listen to for free.
We want to do a coast to coast journey and he is thinking of Wollongong as an alternative. But a decision has not yet been made. We feel anxious about driving into Sydney even though our caravan park is on the Western edge of the city and we don’t have to drive into the centre to get there.
We have had a wonderful time here. There is very good music and the performers are unafraid to express their views on climate change and other social issues. Very refreshing. We feel surrounded by our kind, especially as most of the campers are grey haired folk like us. Or, if not grey haired, then obviously dyed hair!
On Sunday evening in our Facetime session with Matt I found out how to turn on a special effect of turning us into animated comic book characters, recognisably us, but a great deal more glamorous. Matt really enjoyed this view of the aged parents and we needn’t have worried he would find it alienating.
We had a storm yesterday afternoon. We had just made it back to the van for our rest. I took my coffee outside under the awning in order to enjoy seeing the rain come down. Within a few minutes I was back inside as the rain became so heavy that it was coming into that area. Our washing, which was almost dry, got damp and everything under the awning got wet. Even after the rain stopped we had constant rolling thunder. We couldn’t see lightning. We could also hear a very loud sound which we though was an alarm or electrical noise, but turned out to be the joyous sound of millions of crickets rejoicing in the wet.
The storm cleared in time for us to make it back to the festival area and although there has been a bit of drizzle since, the rain appears to have left. This morning is grey and looks dampish outside. We were hoping for sun to help get things dried out, but it doesn’t really matter.
We want to do a bit of shopping before we head out to wherever it is we are going. We don’t have any further information about Mum, so that is not a factor. Even if we go to Sydney it isn’t very far from here, about 300 kms, and does not add much distance to a return journey to Perth.
We went to the stock camp twice, once for morning tea and once for lunch. We watched a dance group from Canberra.
We listened to some Australian songs by a sweet old timer at the Troc. And we attended the farewell concert. Included in the programme were the choir, strings group and percussion group made up of ordinary folk having a chance to perform on the main stage, as well as some prize giving, drawing of the raffle, and some short sessions with groups we had seen before.
