The Final Lestervan Blog/Early 2020

Posted on 11/04/202005/08/2020 by patevans

FINAL LESTERVAN BLOG/Early 2020

Taking advantage of a slower pace of life right now, it seems appropriate to complete the final blog about our life in the Lestervan. We have had an amazing four years exploring Australia in our wonderful machine and now its time for someone else to have that opportunity.

This blog will cover our travels since we returned from Arnhem Land in late September. Even when we are not on a major expedition, we manage to have lots of fun and adventures in the Lestervan. The festival theme has served us well and may just become a regular part of our life now. After having a bit of time in Sydney for my OAM ceremony, we couldn’t resist popping down to Kiama for the ‘Folk by the Sea’ festival at the end of September. Quite fun to be at a small festival (140 concerts, 52 artists) where we could easily see lots of great acts and it was possible to get one night in a caravan park at short notice.

Even closer to home was the Manly Jazz Festival in early October. More great music by the beach, and less than half an hour from home. Then the annual Explorer Motorhome Rally (for all the people who own the same vehicle as us) was held in Gulgong, NSW. We enjoy meeting lots of friends there and learning more about places to go and different ways of traveling. It was a gathering of about 100 people with common interests, so we had workshops, dinners, entertainment and did our bit to support a small local community doing it tough in the drought. We now even have a sub-group of ukulele players, which inspires us to practice more.

Practicing playing our ukes by a river in a field on the way to Gulgong

On the way home we took in the Kangaroo Valley Folk Festival which was another great south coast festival with over 60 quality acts. Those little festivals, where we can park right in the festival grounds, have such a nice, accessible atmosphere. We’re starting to have our favourite south coast performers now as we have been to so many festivals in that part of the world. So, so sad about the devastation caused by the bushfires there. Its always been a favourite part of the world for me with lots of great holiday memories.

Kangaroo Valley Festival in the beautiful south coast

In late October we ventured to Canberra to check out the new Explorer Motorhomes on display at an RV show and came home with an order for a new Explorer Motorhome, wondering “what are we doing???????”. We enjoy the lifestyle and we love our Lestervan, so while we can still do it, we might as well have a new one. The Lestervan was named after my Dad and the new one will be named after my Mum.

Of course we had to take in another festival on the way home from Canberra, because it was there and we passed right by…. We took in the K Ranch/Mt Hunter Country Music Stampede. Although they had some good artists, including our friends, The Pigs; the venue/stampede arena was not good and the acoustics were terrible. The bonus was that we made some new friends there and got some good tips for the Tamworth Country Music Festival. The festival felt like a bit of a “seat of the pants” organisation and much smaller crowds than they were expecting. All part of the experience.

After those various jaunts in the Lestervan, we had some nice time at home, catching up with family and friends plus pursuing new interests like climate change protests and ukulele groups. Before we knew it, we were in the midst of Christmas celebrations. In fact, we celebrated Christmas on 14th of December to accommodate Helen’s Xmas trip to Tasmania, where she and friends did the Three Capes Walk.

The Turkey Chef getting ready to carve for the traditional North American Christmas dinner.

The dessert queens, each with their yummy creations, so they didn’t have to eat traditional Xmas pudding.

Friends and family celebrating together! It was a lovely day.

It was a bit odd celebrating early, but in some ways it took the pressure off what is generally a busy and somewhat stressful time. Consequently we decided to attend one of the biggest and most famous festivals in the country, the Woodford Folk Festival, which starts on 26 December in Queensland. That meant we left Sydney on 21 December and drove straight to Brisbane where we stayed with Denise & Steve, then visited Lesley and family in Mooloolaba, before spending Xmas with Pamela and Rod in Noosa. Had another Lesley catchup in Mooloolaba and got some cuddles with baby Fiona and won over Declan by giving him a tour of “the bus” (his name for the Lestervan).

Dinner out in Brisbane with Denise and Steve

Jenn, Paul, Declan and Fiona enjoying family and sun in Mooloolaba, as opposed to winter in Vancouver.

Attending the Woodford Folk Festival was like entering a whole new world. The fact that around 130,000 people gather in a 500 acre site that has been setup, in less than a month, as an ‘instant festival ground’ by hundreds of the 2700 volunteers who make the whole festival happen; is just a small part of the story. In fact, this festival pop-up town becomes the 67th largest town in Australia during that week.

We arrived before the official opening and had trouble finding a place to camp in what was like a giant, crowded camping area. Eventually we got a place to park about 500 m (1/4 mile) from the festival entry gate. That was important was we did a lot of walking or took a bus to get back and forth. The first night we came back on the bus in the dark and struggled to find the Lestervan. More than 2000 performers and 438 events are programmed for the 20 different performance venues going from morning to late from 26 Dec – 1 Jan. Performances feature folk, rock/pop, blues/roots, speakers & ideas, circus, cabaret, comedy, dance, workshops and a children’s festival. Woodford was an amazing feast for all the senses. We loved it and tried to see as much as possible every day. It was like entering a new world, where everyone was friendly and helpful; all enjoying the festival offerrings.

The Opening Ceremony looks better than it was in reality, as we were sitting on hard ground with probably 50,000 others in the dark and the rain. The centrepiece event should have involved a fire ceremony but due to fire bans, that didn’t happen. However lots of effort went into the light show and hundreds were involved in marching around but we didn’t really understand it all. Needless to say, we skipped the closing ceremony.

This photo highlights the ‘atmosphere’ of Woodford for me – fun, relaxed, & colorful!

On the other hand, this was our campspot.

I attended lots of talks about a range of issues from climate change to zero waste to broadcast issues to cancer to the Hawke legacy. Speakers included Peter Greste, Dr Karl, Anthony Albanese, Kevin Rudd and a host of others. In this photo Noel Pearson is introducing Prof Bill Mitchell who is speaking about MMT – The Future of Macroeconomics-A Green New Deal.

Fred Smith is becoming one of our new favorite performers, so we took in a couple of his shows there. Its his intellect and commentary on life as well as his music that we enjoy.

We didn’t participate in the yoga but again the photo captures a sense of the place. We were more interested in circus, cabaret, comedy, dance and of course the music.

Speaking of circus, this guy, Mario-Queen of the Circus, body-surfed through the crowd at the end of his act.

I really liked watching these guys (Those Tap Guys) dance. There were also lots of male singing groups performing.

Although we went on our own, Gordon and Joanne joined us one day at Woodford and another day we caught up with Chris, Ros, Nicki and Emir. I also met up with Heather, a friend from Dress for Success. With such a smorgasbord of acts to choose from, it was great to compare notes on the various offerrings.

The Ukulele Jam was held at 10am every day, and we were there in the front row with our new friends, Marilyn and Greg from Perth. On the 29th, the Uke players sang Happy Birthday to Dick and a 3 m (10 ft) tall Scots man on stilts and in a kilt, played Happy Birthday to Dick on his bagpipes. It was quite a sight to see.

So glad we got to Woodford. It was a fabulous experience and we were blessed with warm, sunny weather and perhaps a smaller crowd than normal due to the drought and the fires throughout the country. We did our best to see as much as possible and only scratched the surface as there was so much on offer. We’d highly recommend the experience.

After Woodford we had another visit with Lesley and family, before staying with Gordon and Joanne in their new place at Tewantin. We really enjoy our visits to the Sunshine coast as we have lots of friends to visit. Before we returned to Scarborough we caught up with Janice and John at Sunshine Beach and then Chris and Joanne in Kawana Island. Then back to stay with Denise and Steve before our appointment at Explorer Motorhomes to review the details for our new Explorer. We were on a mission to get home but also managed a lunch stop in Port Macquarie with Anne.

The celebration of Helen’s 30th birthday was the reason for our return home and we’re so glad we were there. It started two days after we got back with a combined party with her friend, Sami, at the Cauliflower Hotel (pub). They had a combined 21st at my place and so glad they’ve moved on to arranging their own events now.

The theme of the party was ‘Back to the 90’s’ (which didn’t seem that long ago to us). Dick and I went as ourselves in 1990 with the addition of a black beard for Dick and a blond wig & pregnant belly for me. Amy was out of town, so we took a photo of her in the 90’s.

Helen was Edward Scissorfingers and Anthony was Mrs. Doubtfire. It was fun to see the kids I remember from their high school days as adults, even if many were dressed as Justin Timberlake and Brittney Spears.

Then on the exact date of Helen’s birth, we had a family dinner at a very nice Sydney restaurant. Lesley timed her Sydney visit so she could join us for the occasion. It was a special dinner and more ‘Celebration of Helen’, which seemed to last about a week in total.

Of course there was another festival calling, so the day after Helen’s dinner out, we headed up to Tamworth for our second visit to the Tamworth Country Music Festival (TCMF). This year we were booked into a caravan park and we had some new friends to catch up with. We met Bob and Brigette at K-Ranch in October and as they are regular TCMF attendees we got lots of tips from them and also met their friends, Sue & Richard. Not sure where we got the stamina, but most nights we were out til after midnight. We did 8 solid days of concerts spending heaps of time in clubs and pubs (probably more than we’ve ever done before!)

The Hillbilly Goats are a favorite act of ours and they put on a good show.

We did a few paid shows, including ‘The Concert for Joy’ which celebrated the life, songs and 90th birthday of Joy McKean, wife and musical partner of Slim Dusty, as well as mother of Anne and David Kirkpatrick. Needless to say, country music royalty were out in force performing at this concert, along with Joy’s family and Joy. It was a great way to see over 35 of the top artists in one concert. Also saw ‘The Patsey Cline Show’ and a Johnny Cash tribute.

Lots of different instruments and types of music. Hot Fiddle Night at Andrew Clermont’s Supper Club. Also lots of bush poets, men’s pub choirs, and rock star types in addition to all the traditional country stars.

Colt Seavers and his band put on a lively and athletic show. Also the guy on the left was a well known Elvis impersonator, fresh from the Elvis festival at Parkes.

We even saw a show in a local tennis club in the drizzly rain. This was Gold Heist who opened for String Loaded Fiddle Band, a family band. There are lots of family bands performing. We went to a few venues out of town to see some different places for more variety and to support the local communities.

A blinding dust storm blackened Tamworth one afternoon. This was us driving through town. Lucky we were not at an outside concert or wandering the streets.

On our fourth day of concerts when we were listening to music and having dinner in a restaurant, I had a ‘bad trip’. I missed a step down and twisted my left ankle. After two hospital visits with x-rays and a CT scan, I was told a bit of bone chipped off from my ankle and sent on my way with a moon boot. As I could still get around, albeit with a very swollen ankle, we kept going to all the events we had planned.

This is another favorite band of ours from the south coast called The Water Runners. It wasn’t a crowded session so I took the photo opportunity. In fact, attendances overall were down due to the fires and the drought.

Being at TCMF with most of the people around our age means constantly being reminded of how old we are (and how old we look). There is so much variety, with over 700 performers and 2800 shows across 120 different venues. Its hard to work out who to see and then to remember who we’ve seen over our two visits now. With such a full on extensive program, each visit could be a totally different experience.

The final Lestervan excursion was a quick trip to the Blue Mountains Ukulele Festival on one of the rainiest weekends in NSW. We were very keen as last year we borrowed one uke and were just getting interested in playing. Now we both had our own ukes and a year’s worth of intermittent learning and playing. This free festival is mostly held in the Carrington Hotel in Katoomba and features 166 acts in 8 performance venues plus workshops. The acts were great, lots of variety and some overseas performers. Again at this festival attendances were down due to the bad storm on top of all the other natural disasters that have affected people in NSW.

Our friends were playing in this group on an outdoor stage under a marquee. It was great to see a few people we knew there, but hard for the performers as it was cold and rainy most of the time.

The Blue MUGS doing the finale performance in the grand dining room in The Carrington Hotel, A great finale act!

Initially undeterred by the rain, we did a full day and between us saw over 20 acts and checked out two workshops. Really glad we stayed til late as we saw ‘The Blue Mugs!’ (aka the Blue Mtns Ukulele Group) who put on the festival and did a terrific performance, inside the hotel so all were warm and dry. Sunday was supposed to be a day of strumming in the marquee, but it was too stormy, wet and miserable so we headed home. That was another adventure with road closures, delays due to land slides and fallen trees but Google maps did a good job and got us home without major delays.

THUS ENDED OUR ADVENTURES IN THE LESTERVAN !!!!! What an amazing four years!!!

AND THEN THERE WERE TWO………..
Now waiting to sell the Lestervan and getting ready to start new adventures in Belle.

From Nhulunbuy to Baniyala and a quick trip home

Posted on 24/11/2019 by patevans

This blog finishes off the Arnhem Land trip and gets us home.

The remainder of our time in Arnhem Land was spent in Baniyala and travelling along the Cape Arnhem Hwy.

One night in Nhulunbuy after the Bawaka weekend meant we could move back into the Lestervan and get cleaned up before the next stage of our travels. Although that loose battery in the Lestervan held us up again, we made the meeting place in time for the drive to Baniyala, another aboriginal community of 150 people, where we camped on the coast not in the village.

Another beautiful seaside camp overlooking Grindall Bay near Groote Eylandt. Dick again checked the battery and found that the bracket holding it in place had bent on the rough roads, so it was no longer held in place. Keith bent it back in shape and refitted it for us.

A quiet, relaxing afternoon with Denise and Steve, but I got bites all over my legs so not keen on more sitting outside.

We did have the ritual evening update around the fire at sunset, but I used my fancy insect repeller machine to keep them away.

Our guide Neill was never sure if the plans with the aboriginal communities would eventuate or not, but he always made the best of whatever situation we encountered and he helped out the communities when he could. In Baniyala the town were in the process of setting up a tourist camping area near the town, so some of our crew left at 8am to work on the tents. We left later, and after lots of hanging around we went with about 10 local women and kids and a couple of guys to the public site/sand sculpture.

This large sand sculpture represents their land in relation to other places plus the sea and the clouds. At these stops they talked to us about their culture and what things mean to them. They also mentioned the two moieties and were very surprised that we all knew which moiety we were.

This was the entry to the sacred stingray site, where they go before hunting stingrays. Without permission and a guide one would never see this place or know its significance. It just looks like all the other sandy places.

The woman pointing in this photo was one of the senior women and she told me that she’d been to a health conference in Wellington, NZ recently and also to conferences in Darwin. It was interesting to talk to them, and get a sense of how they can live in two very different worlds.

Here we are looking at the stingray sand sculpture. They take sand from the eye holes and name the places they plan to hunt stingrays, which helps them on the hunt.

Our aboriginal guide, Graham, took us all into his house to see the pole painting he was working on. No one had any art to sell as it had all gone to the Darwin Festival.

After a lunch break in the community, we went into the bush and divided in two groups. Our guys went off walking with the aboriginal men, saw a lagoon and got eaten by mosquitos. We women went with the local women gathering pandamus leaves for weaving baskets and finding honey. Much more interesting!

During our time in the bush with the women, I made some new friends. Note the mosquito repellent in my back pockets.

The women chopped down pandamus trees and then selected the leaves they wanted for weaving baskets. They were very handy with the axe.

The women looked for the trees with bees nests, then chopped them down and dug out the honey wth pieces of wood. Some was poured into a container to take back and share, and lots was eaten on the spot.

We did drive back to the community to see some dancing but it didn’t happen and I think that is par for the course in that not all agreed plans get carried out by the communities. Didn’t worry me as we’d had a good day and probably taken in as much as we could absorb in one day. It is still an odd kind of tourism; learning about an indigenous culture by hanging out with the locals. Much better than a packaged, sanitized experience, but it still feels a bit intrusive at times.

A long driving day (380kms) on gravel roads got us back to Mainoru Store. On the morning tea stop our battery was loose AGAIN. Neill and Keith helped to secure it with a ratchet strap. Saw buffalo, cattle and donkeys on the drive and had an ice cream and fruit stop at Bulman store. There are not many places to stop along the Central Arnhem Highway. Had a disappointing dinner at Mainoru Store and our last campfire of the trip.

This was such a common sight; and if those guys hadn’t helped us, we wouldn’t have been able to do the trip.

Our last stop in Arnhem Land was at Beswick to visit the Art Centre and Gallery. Didn’t feel inspired to buy any baskets, jewellery or textiles but did enjoy the Blanasi Collection of 38 paintings, one of the finest examples of West Arnhem Art in Australia. In 1996 senior Beswick artists and elders, led by the internationaly renowned didgeridoo player and painter, David Blanasi, conceived the idea of putting together a special collection to showcase their art and culture. Blanasi (born 1930) is recognized for popularizing the didgeridoo beyond Australia. He disappeared in 2001 when he walked into the bush and was never seen again. From there it was 100 kms on sealed road to Katherine, where we stocked up for the trip home.

Our last night with the group was at our favorite campsite in Bitter Springs. After Dick re-attached the driving lights (another victim of the rough roads), we managed a quick dip in the springs before the farewell dinner. In preparation for the dinner, Paul and Keith had bought a group present for Neill, our extraordinary guide, and his wife, Gail, keen photographer and helpful, nice person. I had got cards for both and managed to get everyone to sign them and I volunteered to put together the group email/contact list. I was also inspired to write a song -‘I’ve been to Arnhem Land’ to the tune of ‘I’ve been Everywhere’, so texted it to all and the group got up in the restaurant and sang our song to Neill and Gail. Neill seemed quite touched by it all. It was a nice ending/finale to a great trip and we were so blessed with our travelling companions. Everyone in that trip helped us with some problem and there was a nice feeling of comaraderie amongst the group. It was a great trip.

This was our route home from Bitter Springs to Sydney.

All of a sudden we were alone and it felt a bit strange. The plan was to drive straight home, so we did 563 kms and ended up in a free camp along the Barkly Hwy, with no one else around.

Sunset at our free camp under a telephone tower on the Barkly Hwy. Not a soul in sight and we could see for miles.

The next drive got us to Cammoweal where we met up with Denise and Steve, our friends from the tour, and went to the Camp Draft Festival. Not such a good concert or meal, but I was keen to visit as many festivals as we could find and we hadn’t been to one since Easter. The whip cracking with fire-lit whips was quite different!

We were keen to introduce Steve and Denise to the delights of Winton so that was our next stop.

Speaking of stops this slowed us down a bit on the drive into Winton. There were hundreds and hundreds of cows on the highway, not in a hurry to get out of the way. Photo courtesy of Denise and Steve driving behind us.

This is the view we had ahead of us, and this was after they moved over to the sides of the road so we could get through. At one stage it looked like we had to follow them to Winton and that would have been a very slow drive.

In keeping with our standard Winton routine, we had dinner in the pub, the Tattersalls Hotel. If you watched Total Control on ABC recently, this is the pub featured in the tv show.

We stayed in the Matilda Caravan Park again so we could take in Greg North’s show. It was a different show and this time he needed some volunteer helpers on stage, so Steve and I had our two minutes of fame. Couldn’t not support our favorite bush poet!

In keeping with our training on the tour we drove in convoy with Steve and Denise, which inspired me to pen our own version of the convoy song by CW McCall. Jan had played the original a few times on our tour. Words to my new songs are listed at the end of the blog, but you probably had to be there to appreciate them. When we got to Barcaldine, the four of us had lunch, visited the Tree of Knowledge and learned about the shearers strike of 1891 and the birth of The Labor Party. We bid our friends a fond farewell then as they went to Apha and we drove to Tambo (both bustling metropolis’s -NOT).

Ben’s chicken races at the Royal Hotel in Tambo. He used to be in Winton but then got the opportunity to buy his own hotel in Tambo. All proceeds from the bets on the races go to the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Ben’s way of giving back to the outback communities that support him.

More days of long drives and nights in free camps, but we managed to see a few interesting things along the way; like the giant aquarium and the Cobb & Co. stagecoach, gallery and museum in Surak, the painted silos in Thallon, the guy with his camels walking along the highway and the artesian pools in Moree.

The painted silos in Thallon. Provides a good diversion/reason to stop on the long drives.

As we drove along the highway we saw this guy, so stopped and Dick went over to say hello. With his four camels and a baby one, plus his dog, this guy was walking from Bundaberg to WA and expects to take two years. Amazing what we see along the road.

Our final stop was in a caravan park in Narrabri, who were putting on a free bbq so that was dinner. One of the other guests there gave us a bag of murcot mandarins (he’d been fruit picking near Bundaberg) and earlier a guy in Morven gave us a pumpkin. I don’t know why and almost wished they’d been given to people who needed food. On the last day at our lunch stop, we enjoyed panoramic views over the Liverpool Plains in Quirindi.

We got home by 5 pm on the 29th of August, 7 days and 3500 kms after leaving Bitter Springs. We had commitments in Sydney so we needed to drive straight home. Not our normal style and quite tiring. Our whole trip was almost 13,000 kms and took 75 days; although we had so much variety, it felt like a longer trip. This has also felt like the longest ever trip blog, mainly because on the tour of Arnhem Land we had no spare time or energy to do anything else and just keeping up was an issue. That said, it was a great way to see that part of Australia and make some new friends in the process. I’ll finish with the two songs inspired by the tour.

I’VE BEEN TO ARNHEM LAND (sung to the tune of ‘I’ve Been Everywhere’)

I’ve been to Arnhem Land, Man I’ve been to Arnhem Land.

East and West I’ve spanned, Man I’ve been to Arnhem Land

Travelling in NEILL’s convoy, I’ve been to Arnhem Land

Jabiru, Cobourg, Smiths Point and Wiligi Corroboree, Katherine, Mainoru and Nhulunbuy

Yirrkala, Bawaka and Baniyala Crocs and fishing in the land of aborigines

TRAVELLING IN NEILL’s CONVOY I’ve been to Arnhem Land!!!!!!

CONVOY (sung to the tune of ‘CONVOY’ by CW McCall)

We’ve got a little convoy, led by Great Divide Come and join our convoy, you’re sure to love the ride

Rollin thru the landscape; mountains, sea and sand Showing you all over, this great Southern Land

CONVOY………… CONVOY…………. (copy that Charlie!)