June 27th

Got up in the morning and went for walk to see if i could find a fresh water croc but no such luck. I did get to see some red-claw yabbies getting caught in nets and shown how to kill/prepare them from a guy out on the water in his kayak. On the walk back i got to see a few new to me birds which was quite interesting. Headed into town to refuel at get groceries.

Also stopped at the pub that was made famous from Crocodile Dundee, cant remember the name but thats what happens(McKenzie maybe?).

At one of the rest stops i met a man doing a walk from Darwin to Canberra. Had the most wonderful chat with him about all kinds of things. One of the interesting points was a talk about perception. He was telling me that he ran a company with 15 employee and people perceved that here was a sucessful guy, running his own company, he really has it made. But the truth of it was that he was filled with stress and working all the time and it was causing health problems. Now that he is walking he says now he has people coming up to him in cars saying how stressful this walk much be and he laughs and says that he has never been happier and stress free. As long as he has a bit of shade and some water life is good. He even said that the people would sometimes say they were stressed because they had to depend on  this car to get them from point a to b without breakdown or running out of fuel and he would laugh and think how lucky he was to not have to depend on a vehicle. It was a very eye opening conversation about perception. Hopefully i can apply this idea into my general day to day life. We also talked about Australias inflation rates and what is going to happen to Australias economy in the future. He talked about it with a keen interest and came up with some points that i had never considered but agreed with him once he explained his stance. Super interesting guy and i wish him all the best on his adventure! He really liked my Camperina! I gave him a small tour and he thought it was pretty luxury!

One thing i have realized today is that there is so much more to do in this area and i have the full intention to come back. So i will have to make and plan to come back here, possibly in the MKII, but need to assure that i have more time. I would have spent 3 or 4 days at corella lake and some of the other places i have stayed. I would need more solar though so i could keep ahead of the game battery wise.

Just at a rest stop now and have just met a couple from South Gippsland in Victoria. They are really nice and have convienced me to stay here for the night as the other rest stops are about the same and that the town of Winton is having power issues. Later that evening I scored a beer from the neighbors. The husband came by for a chat and was told by his wife that he could not drink alone, so he brought be a drink and we stood outside the camperina and had a chat about all kinds of things. They travel for 3 months of the year during the Victorian winter.

On a side note i also locked myself out of the car for the first time in Cloncurry, but Opi has taught me well and i had a hidden key that i was able get back in with no worries at all. Even chatted up the lady from the Info centre, where i had locked myself out, while breaking back in. She was asking me about the camperina and the solar panels and once in i gave her a brief tour of the inside. She thought it was funny but what a great idea.

I think I need to say that travelling like this is just cool. Its hard to describe but everywhere you go if you make the effort to talk to people, they want to talk to you, and want to share their stories . And I think your life is richer the more people you talk to and the more of these stories you hear. Travelling like this gives you the opportunity to talk to so many people. I was hoping to find tonight, though i didnt, a group that stayed at devils marbles with me. They recognized me when we stayed at the waterbore rest area the next night. Then last night we both stayed at the lake together, though we didnt know it, and when i was leaving the station and closing the gate there they were so i held the gate for them. And they said 'hey, we recognized your Barina!' And i said 'where are you headed?' they said they were 'headed to winton' and i joked and said i will 'meet you at the next rest stop.' And before we had even had lunch there they were in the grocery store at Cloncurry! And so we had a little chat and I wished them well and to 'see them at the rest stop.' Its just a joke because who knows how far each of us will drive or how long we will drive. And now i find myself a little dissapointed because i didnt get to meet up with them again, and i wonder if they are parked as well thinking of me and waiting for the little Camperina to make an appearance. Its makes me think of how lucky i am to just meet people everywhere i go.
Enough blabbing its too long already and its too late, nighty.

To see the pictures from the day click here