Today is the day!

There was a chance we'd pick up the beast yesterday, but all things conspired against us (banks and government services), and we had to put it off just one more day. Instead we went into Echuca and picked up a little Weber Baby Q - yes, it should be able to feed us all! - and a few other things (mothballs and mice bait) to keep the house pest free in our absence. The kids all have to clean their bedrooms today, because I've warned them if they don't, the rats and roaches will be fully set up in their rooms when we return.

I took the travel books with us in the car yesterday, and had a bit of a better look at where we are going. Our first stop will be in Narromine, to drop off the dogs. We are a bit worried one of them won't last the Winter, so that will be a sad farewell, and I'm generally going to miss having them around. We did consider taking the younger one with us, but in the end we decided that he would probably inhibit where we could stay (no national parks, for example), so he's just having a holiday with family.

Our second stop was going to be Tibooburra, to meet friends who have 2 kids the same ages as our youngest 2 (their birthdays are within weeks of each other, so they are pretty good friends). It's disappointing that there was such a delay in getting the van, because we were already supposed to be there with them. The plan was to explore a bit of that Corner country, and drive up to Innamincka together, but every day that passes means that's less likely (and H has to buy our friend a 6-pack/day!). When I had a good look at the map yesterday, I noticed that the road between Bourke and Tibooburra is unsealed, not just a minor road like I thought. 450km of unsealed and unfamiliar road is probably better to drive in daylight, and it's also probably better to set up the van for the first time in daylight as well. So it looks like our second stop will be in Bourke.

I need to figure out how to post from my phone, and add photos.