So, on Wednesday 20 July, we finally dropped anchor on site 12 at the Kurrimine Beach Holiday Park. Our winter sabbatical had at last begun.
In the course of all this we hit an unexpected hurdle. The canvass bag holding the C-Gear floor was not the water proof container I had thought it to be. This bag travels on the rear seat of the Cruiser....you can probably guess the rest. This presented an annoying addition to our anticipated workload, but what the heck, the sheet which provides protection for the upholstery needed a good wash in any case and it was high time to give the truck a good airing (rationalise, rationalise!)
The other problem which goes hand in hand with life in a caravan during constant wet weather is that of internal moisture build-up. When the outside air humidity levels are running at 95-100%, day after day, soon everything feels damp, and usually is. The salt seizes in its cellar, the milo congeals into a rock hard lump in its airtight (?) container, the fridges and freezers demand constant defrosting, the spuds sprout within days of purchase, all the internal glass surfaces steam over and become mini internal waterfalls and clothes lockers have to be regularly checked for excessive moisture and the onset of mould.
And so it was in this climatic context we settled in for what would be the next two months. (I've not bothered with site photos....they are exactly the same as for the past four years!) Given the forecasts, however, two rarely used items of our rig were soon unpacked and erected.
The front verandah provides excellent protection from any rain which might otherwise beat in onto the front of our slab. So far so good...that seems simple enough, and it is.
But here on site 12 we have another problem to contend with. Our slab is longer than our awning which means that the rear end is exposed to the elements if nothing is done about it. So what, I hear you say? This can be a trap for young players, dear readers. Rain falling on that section of the cement will soon pool and flow along the slab and render the cover of the main awing less than effective. A completely dry annex area demands that all the slab is protected form the rain, or at least the worst of it.
We only have one 'formal' verandah.....but we do carry three canvas tarps. And with 'necessity being the mother of invention', inventive we became.
I worked out a way in which to erect one of these tarps to lock into our awning edge rafter and from there to extend it out over the exposed cement, kept up by tent poles and secured with angled 'occy straps'. This 'jury rigged' shelter has proven to be completely effective....we have been able to thumb our noses at the heaviest of rain with all under our annex area remaining snug. It is amazing just how comforting it is to be lying abed in the early hours of the morning, as the rain sheets down, knowing that all is secure and dry.
Despite the weather, it was great to catch up with old park friends, and to welcome quite a number of new comers (many of whom arrived here on our recommendation....and in one instance actually returned after going elsewhere). Liz and I have now both concluded, after our recce up the coast, that we have yet to find another FNQ park where we feel more at home for all sorts of reasons. The grass is not greener!
In my next missive or two, I'll share some of the highlights and lowlights of our stay, including the narrowest of squeaks when a massive bough of the mango tree which normally towers over our site (it has now been removed) came down with an almighty crash, missing both us and our immediate neighbour by centimetres. That was something different, but before that, a few festive moments.
On each of the previous four occasions we have spent time here, we have basked in bright sunshine under impossibly blue skies, cooled by the balmy coastal zephyrs which are the tail end of the Coral Sea trade winds and, and towards the end of our stay, have found ourselves having to give the grass around our site a refreshing sprinkle or two on a regular basis.
These 'dry season' conditions have been interspersed with the odd showery day or two, but these have never before represented any more that 5% of time spent here. 2016 was to prove the exception, in spades!
I can tell you now, with the benefit of the hindsight born of the lagged nature of this blog (real time date today is 4 September), that we have just lived through the second wettest FNQ tropical winter on record. As of the end of the month (and the formal winter season) Tully, a mere 25 kms to our south, had officially recorded 859 mls of rain for the three month period, normally known as 'The Dry'. When those of you who live in our 'ole home town' consider the fact that the average winter rainfall in Adelaide is just over 220 mls (in our version of 'the wet'), this may provide some comparison. But,as we kept telling ourselves, and anyone else who would listen, we were still wearing shorts (and we have had some fine spells).
Indeed, our first few days were thankfully dry. Once settled, our priority task was to pull everything out of where ever it had been dumped, and spread it all out in the drying sunshine. Our site soon looked as though we were hosting a garage sale.
The other problem which goes hand in hand with life in a caravan during constant wet weather is that of internal moisture build-up. When the outside air humidity levels are running at 95-100%, day after day, soon everything feels damp, and usually is. The salt seizes in its cellar, the milo congeals into a rock hard lump in its airtight (?) container, the fridges and freezers demand constant defrosting, the spuds sprout within days of purchase, all the internal glass surfaces steam over and become mini internal waterfalls and clothes lockers have to be regularly checked for excessive moisture and the onset of mould.
And so it was in this climatic context we settled in for what would be the next two months. (I've not bothered with site photos....they are exactly the same as for the past four years!) Given the forecasts, however, two rarely used items of our rig were soon unpacked and erected.
The front verandah provides excellent protection from any rain which might otherwise beat in onto the front of our slab. So far so good...that seems simple enough, and it is.
But here on site 12 we have another problem to contend with. Our slab is longer than our awning which means that the rear end is exposed to the elements if nothing is done about it. So what, I hear you say? This can be a trap for young players, dear readers. Rain falling on that section of the cement will soon pool and flow along the slab and render the cover of the main awing less than effective. A completely dry annex area demands that all the slab is protected form the rain, or at least the worst of it.
We only have one 'formal' verandah.....but we do carry three canvas tarps. And with 'necessity being the mother of invention', inventive we became.
I worked out a way in which to erect one of these tarps to lock into our awning edge rafter and from there to extend it out over the exposed cement, kept up by tent poles and secured with angled 'occy straps'. This 'jury rigged' shelter has proven to be completely effective....we have been able to thumb our noses at the heaviest of rain with all under our annex area remaining snug. It is amazing just how comforting it is to be lying abed in the early hours of the morning, as the rain sheets down, knowing that all is secure and dry.
Despite the weather, it was great to catch up with old park friends, and to welcome quite a number of new comers (many of whom arrived here on our recommendation....and in one instance actually returned after going elsewhere). Liz and I have now both concluded, after our recce up the coast, that we have yet to find another FNQ park where we feel more at home for all sorts of reasons. The grass is not greener!
In my next missive or two, I'll share some of the highlights and lowlights of our stay, including the narrowest of squeaks when a massive bough of the mango tree which normally towers over our site (it has now been removed) came down with an almighty crash, missing both us and our immediate neighbour by centimetres. That was something different, but before that, a few festive moments.
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