31 March 2024
Friday 29th March, 2024. The day we started our Gap Year. Day 1.
Unsurprisingly, it had been a very busy few weeks (and months) leading up to this day. Finishing work, deciding what to take (then thinking about whether we really needed to take it, and then changing our minds a few times), packing the motorhome, weighing the motorhome (which fortunately came out OK, even with a full water tank and full standard fuel tank), and saying goodbye to family and friends.
Hardest of all was saying goodbye to Katelyn and Daisy. It’s a long time to be away, and Katelyn has been so supportive of us making this trip. But it was still a very emotional goodbye, during which Katelyn was the strong one (Nicole and I were crying). Daisy was strong too. In her defense though, she had no idea how long we were going for, but she definitely knew something was going on at least a week out.
We then headed off at around 9:15am (odometer reading taken so we know exactly how far we’ve travelled) towards Stanthorpe. Traffic, as you’d expect, was a bit on the busy side and slowed considerably from Aratula through to the top of the Cunningham Gap range. We weren’t in a hurry though.
When we arrived at the lovely Top of the Town Tourist Park in Stanthorpe, Chris and Nicola were all set up. We set up nose-in so we could have a common living space, and then started to relax. We met Greg and Karen (our neighbours and long terms friends of Geoff and Katrina who manage the park) and proceeded to have a very relaxing and enjoyable first evening.
To my delight, Greg brought out the Cornhole for a semi-competitive game. We played off the championship length of 27 feet, which is further than I’d played it from in our back yard. But we got the hang of it quickly and had a great time.
So, in summary, a very busy, emotional and enjoyable start to our around Australia tour.
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