Adventures in free camping again

There are a couple of things I realised I should explain:

I want to sleep in the car rather than camp in a swag or tent because my balance is so bad, I use a walking stick outdoors and only have one hand available to do any work with. Trying to bend to straighten and peg a tent, or unroll a swag with one hand might be possible for me but it would be incredibly hard. I can manage a car because it's up high and I don't have to do any kind of unpacking or fastening.

You will remember that I was going to an "Over  50s Meet-up" and I really thought I would enjoy that but I found it daunting to join a large crowd of strangers at the camp fire so I hung back until the majority had wandered off to cook dinner and when I did join, not a single person spoke to me. I don't blame them, it was probably daunting for them too but without any kind of social connection I found it impossible to just sit around.

In days gone by I could camp in one spot for 7-10 days without a problem but then I had kids to feed, supervise, shower etc and plenty to occupy me. These days it doesn't matter how beautiful the surroundings, I can't be content with a chair, a car and a book. Instead of staying at the meet-up for the allocated 3 days, I took off to explore somewhere else.

Autumn colour in Wagga Wagga Botanic Gardens

An art work in Wagga Wagga Regional Gallery. I'll post it again another day with the information relating to the work.

It's not often that you see a painted sign these days. Commercial Museum, Junee.

Coming from a family full of brass players, I had to snap a couple of pics. Commercial museum, Junee.

Murrumburrah silo art

It was raining. I guess Mr Horse didn't want to get wet. The dog who looks like a big rag lying on the verandah was looking down at him as I left. I think they are friends.

Bethungra Hotel now operating as a B&B. Look at the lovely stone walls and new lacework.

Junee's Commercial Museum, in the old Commercial Hotel. The museum was a little bit shambolic but I received a warm welcome and had a wander through. It is a very substantial collection and building to be curated and maintained completely by volunteers.

Back to music.

This old bass was covered in dirt. I wonder if it was dug up from somewhere.

Adventures in free camping

 I have always wanted to travel and for various reasons haven't done as much as I'd like. I had pretty much resigned myself to being super limited in my future travels but then I bought a different car and saw a youtube video by a man who sleeps in the exact same car. An idea was born. If I could sleep in the car, it would save me $100 / night for a motel. Saving that much on accomodation would allow me to travel further and for more days and spend more while I'm gone.

I have thought about this for nearly a year now, undecided about whether I could actually make it work. Then I saw a facebook group for people who enjoy freecamping was offering a meet-up for over 50's. The idea of being around a group was appealing, if anything really was going wrong I'd be able to call on support. It was still scary and I didn't completely commit to the idea until a couple of days beforehand but my children gave me some little pushes and I got the gear together and off I went.

I learnt a few things which I will cover another time but here are some photos:

I might have posted a similar one to this in the past. I had lunch at a really lovely pub about 4 hours from Sydney. The pub has been renovated and brought to life in the last few years, making the teeny seetlement of Jugiong a must stop for anyone who wants a good food experience in a pretty courtyard.

This is the sunset at Sandy Beach Reserve. Camping is free. It is a beautiful, grassy site with lots of magnificent River Red Gums. There are drop toilets and non-potable water.

Roadside sculpture announcing the hamlet of Dalton

I doubt this is used as a school these days. I have a kind of romantic fascination with community halls.

Cooked Kitty

If I name the post appropriately, every weirdo and his BFF will be here so I went for the opposite-ish. 

A few weeks back I watched a video which was actually just a still photo of an older man at an airport. There was music and a caption which I'll paraphrase as:

Grandpa "raw dogging it" from (let's say) Atlanta to New York. Three hours on a plane: no phone, no book, no music. Just him and his thoughts.

I had never seen the term "raw dogging it" but I understood from the context.

When i looked at comments, the very first one said "Good on Grandpa but did you have to use the term raw dogging?" And I just knew there was a story in that comment.

Well, a quick google taught me that raw dogging is unprotected sex. 

A week or so later I saw another video talking about raw dogging on a commute. I took it to mean media free rather than condom-less.

Then Caitlin came home from work and told me that a patient had made a long, entertainment free walk to the clinic and before she could think she said "That's a long way to raw dog it"

Then her conservative middle aged Muslim patient wanted an explanation and Caitlin was laughing and he said he'd go home and ask his teenaged children. Caitlin finally explained to save the teenagers. The girl is all public service.

Never in my life did I imagine there would be a slang name for an entertainment free trip.

Never, ever did I imagine the slang name would refer to sex.

Never, ever, ever did I imagine that I would go from a complete raw dogging innocent to full immersion in the space of a month.