Coonabarabran: Cold and closed

Arrived last night in Coonabarabran.

Cold last night. Solomon who has been wearing sleaveless shirts woke me up at 4:30pm freezing and in distress. He'd gone to sleep in boxer shorts only with a think blanket. Had woken at 4:30am freezing, and the doona next to him was cold. He came into my bed and I turned on the caravan heater. We both fell asleep and then at 6:30am when we woke up from the heat - I sent him back to his bed.

We had a slow start - and at 1:30pm discovered that the hardware shop was closed for Saturday afternoon - we'd bought a new tap fitting yesterday which had broken - and now couldn't be replaced.

We drove out to Siding Springs Observatory - to discover that it closed on weekends at 2pm.

We snuck in however with a half price half time inspection of of the tourist exhibition - but weren't able to see the telescope inside.

I am looking forward to them seeing the movie the Dish - which will make more sense now.

After Siding Springs we headed out to The Warrumbungle National Park. Coming back from the lookout the kids raced. First off the mark Abraham, then 30 seconds later Hannah then 30 seconds later Solomon. Hannah won the chocolate biscuit.

Coonabarabran here we come

This morning kids and I had a good time reading Mark 7, then we went and looked at Ezekiel 36 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. Prayer time was about our sinful hearts, god's promise solution, and God's solution - of washing, sanctifying and justifying.

The kids are working on their various projects in the caravan this morning - and then we head to Coonabarabran - where we will check out the Siding Springs Observatory.

Chess

The regular Chess pecking order has been restored!

Bob K

Bob Kirchner was my second real boss. Don Thomas employed me at 2MO Gunnedah, starting in January 1984. Bob took over from Don after about six months, when Don moved (from memory) to 2AD Armidale.

Today being in Tamworth I searched for Bob. He wasn't findable in the phone book or on the web - well I found his email.

I rang Country Music Capitol (now run by Rural Press) and they were not only able to help me but able to put me through to his wife - Leanne.

Leanne told me his number, I left a message and a few hours later we were in Tamworth McDonalds having afternoon tea with Bob.

It was good to see him - to hear about his wedding and to talk about old radio people and events.

Meeting Bob meant we missed out on visiting the Country Music Hall of Fame. But it turned out that he was the president of the committee that runs it - so he and Leanne gave us a personal tour.

I'll post a photo of Bob and Leanne in front of 38 of Slim Dusty's Golden Guitar awards.

They took us out to dinner at a Pizza place called Vespas. This is two dinners out in two days for the kids - which is way more than normal!

Bob's now out of radio and runs the Country Music Bulletin.

Blog Strategy

Talking to some blogging friends at church last Sunday morning - I raised that I felt that there needed to be a goal for a blog. Some are putting theological positions, some are sharing their lives, some are expressing a view on any and everything.

The goal of this blog - and our kid's ones - is much more modest. It is to motivate each of us to do a diary in the three months of long service leave - September to December.

I also have the goal with the kid's ones of developing their writing ability.

That's why I am not fussed if these blogs breaks some genre conventions - because it's more to motivate us to do a diary for ourselves - than anything else.

Solomon and Chess

Solomon is celebrating. He has beaten me in Chess once!

Cathie's birthday in Tamworth

There are two days each year when Cathie and I are the same age. Her birthday and the day before my birthday. Today it was Cathie's birthday. We woke up in Tamworth - on what I understand was the coldest day of the year. It was freezing. We had set out to test the camper tailer. We were very glad that the camper trailer had a reverse heading facility in the air conditioner and that we have a camper trailer with an airconditioner.

I was pleased that Cathie was pleased with my itunes gift voucher for her birthday. And we downloaded Billy Joel's 'The Longest Time' which I think is her favourite song.

After lunch we went in and checked out the Tamworth big Golden Guitar and the waxworks hall of fame of Country Music Stars where I bought her a really nice purple hat for her birthday as well - that she plans to take on our trip around Australia.

For dinner we went to the Tamworth Ex Servicemen's Club and we all had a smorgasboard. It was the kid's first smorgasboard experience - and was a real hit.

Cathie's arrival on Tuesday

We spent the morning keenly aware that Cathie would be joining us on the train from Sydney at 1:14. At 12:40pm I said to the kids - OK lets pack the camper trailer. We packed in record time - in the rain - driving out of the carevan park at 1:01pm.

Despite the navman I got lost on the way to Singleton Railway Station. But we did arrive before Cathie's train. There was a lovely moment on the platform when she arrived and the kids ran to welcome her.

It was lovely having her back in our midst - having been apart since Sunday.

It's not often that I and the kids have get into a significant parenting routine - and then Cathie joins us (It happened last in 2003). Much more frequently it is the other way around. And it was a little strange for all of us.

We went shopping and then drove to Tamworth. We spent most of the trip between Qurindi and Tamworth unsure about whether the petrol would last. When we got to Tamworth we put 64 litres in the 60 litre tank - at a cost of $104.

There were a couple of hills that the car struggled to get up with the trailer on.

We stopped at 'City Lights'/'Country Scrub' Caravan Park which is not as nice as the Caravan Park at Singleton and much worse than the one at Toowoon Bay but still managed to charge us $43 per night.

Monday night Singleton

Having arrived Sunday night at Toowoon Bay we spent Monday morning doing work - Solomon preparing for his OC test, Abraham working on his writing skills and Hannah doing caligraphy.

They did 40 mins work, morning tea and then another 40 mins.

After lunch I decided we would head north to Singleton.

We arrived at the caravan park at Singleton at about 5pm Monday.

Singleton has the biggest sundial in the world - or so they say!

The guy there charged us $25 for the night.

First difficult task

The first very difficult task was getting the campervan out of the carport and onto the car. It is becoming clear that not only is it impossible to get the campervan in or out of the carport on the back of a car - but it is also impossible to get it in or out of the carport without assistance form another adult.

We had the H and S standing on the left and the right of the campervan - ready to put bricks under the wheel if instructed to - and A standing in the sandpit - figuring that if he was in the sandpit - he was unlikely to be under the wheels.

We told the kids to stand back while it was being moved - explaining that it was easier to fix a ruined camper than a ruined kid.

And then with the help of Chris - who rents our back flat we eventually did get the camper out of the garage - and drove away - quite stressed.

First stop was the video shop - where we rented: West Side Story, Monster House, Garfield 2, Ice Age 2 and Eragon. My choice was West Side Story. Eragon was H's choice - she has read the book - and it is apparently a very good book. I thought that the movie was too old for her - as it left me a bit rattled. Monster House and Garfield 2 were forgetable and we haven't got ot Ice Age 2.

We spent the first night of our fortnight away at Toowoon Bay Caravan Park. Price $23 for one adult, three kids. Pretty good value. Two dollars less than that night's dinner - a family meal at Central Coast McDonalds.

A holiday blog

Hi there. I'll try this as a holiday record.

After church I came home - it was a stuggle getting out the door - with lots of things to be resolved before a fortnight away.

For the first time we put the campervan up in the carport - it didn't go all the way up - but it did go far enough for us to put a few things in the campervan.

We are using this holiday as a practice holiday to work out the issues of moving around Australia in the campervan - practicing for long service leave in September.

We also want to see how we go in our car. Peter and Vini have offered to lend us their four wheel drive - but we are interested to see if our Camry can manage it.

I was home for an hour or so packing and organising - when a lady came over for a job interview/discussion. She was back in Sydney after a time away and I was going away and this was our only chance to catch up.

Cathie was stressed about the hurly burly rush to get away and we decided that she might stay home for a few days and catch the train up to join us.