(NOTE: The post contains a lot of photos and raw videos. I do not edit films(yet), because it takes away their authenticity, and this is how you can see our happy faces as they are, even if they are so very ugly 😊)
We woke up after maybe four hours of sleep. The heat from the morning didn't allow for a longer rest.
But the prospect of a reservation I made last night gave everyone some strength. How did it happen and what did I book? As I mentioned, when the boys were racing with trucks and kangaroos - I was looking for a place to stay.
And I found it! Cottage on the campsite. I didn't even look exactly what was there. It had a roof and a beds - enough. For PLN100 per person (circa 40AUD pp)! There is nothing to be fussy about such a price! I made a reservation quickly (at 3am) praying that confirmation would arrive early in the morning.
Meanwhile, at our camp we packed up and moved to the roofed table for breakfast. Small, summer rain started to fall from the sky and we didn't want to eat wet sandwiches. During the meal an old truck pulled up next to us. An elder, long-hair man got out of it and started to build a strange shelter using his UTE (truck), waterproof sheet and several aluminium poles. Well, I thought - maybe the man was driving all night long and needs some rest too. Being preoccupied with my own affairs, from time to time I glanced how this new colleague's work is going and I noticed that he often looked at and listened us too. Finally, he came up and asked directly: Are we from Germany?! (Oh, mercy...😊).
We started chatting. The man sat with us at the table and started asking where we are from, what is our name and what we are doing here. And so we got acquainted. Unfortunately, I don't remember his name but it sounded like ...Tomahawk or so. I swear! I'm not making it up!
Polish tradition requires hospitality so despite the morning hour we offered our new friend a Polish moonshine (only to try, of course) and he started telling his story. He was an Indian from America - from Nevada to be exact. Tomahawk came to Australia 20 years ago, married - as he said - to a beautiful Swedish woman and fathered 11 children with her!
“This is a tradition in our culture,” he said, “I myself come from a large family as well. There were 20 of us in family”.
Hard to say how much truth was in the old men's words but it was pleasantly to listen to this funny gabby. It's always nice to meet someone so eccentric. He told us that he feels a bit lonely, his children had grown up and had split over the world. His wife few years ago died of cancer. He was just coming back from his farm, which got burned down. For the third time. He wasn't to worried about it too much. He shrugged his arms and said that this is how life looks in this country. Now he travels high north to Darwin to earn some money to rebuild his estate. He will be helping other farmers and also look for opals in the mountains, because sometimes you can find a nice stone and earn a lot on such a specimen. Finally, I asked if he miss Nevada. He admitted that he does, but fate threw him on this side of the world (he was a soldier) so he stayed here. Finally, he advised the boys to find Australian partners as soon as possible and father children in order to obtain citizenship. As far as I know, the right to grant citizenship due to the birth of a child in Australia does not apply, but maybe he has already mixed up everything with American law. Tomahawk was very sad that we had to keep going. He wanted us to stay longer and talk more, but he also understood ours need to travel. We wished ourselves good luck and all the best for the new year and got back in the car.
Fortunately, we didn't have a long journey that day. The compound that I found was only 50 km away in the town called Tannum Sands. I'm gonna say one thing - it was a bull's eye.
What a fabulous place! I had no words! Discovery Holiday Parks is a network of resorts that have their locations in the most attractive regions of Australia. These are perfectly adapted places for tourists traveling both with their caravans and campervans, but also for renting houses or setting up tents. Clean, green and cute spot. Among palm trees and close to the ocean. There is access to everything - a huge grill and a shelter for several tables, laundry and drying room, shared kitchen and bathroom (for example, if you're travel only with tent), swimming pool, small shop, WiFi, sports attractions and a friendly service. If you have the opportunity, take it blindly - I recommend it. I wish I could rest only be in such centres.
Here you can check it: https://www.discoveryholidayparks.com.au/caravan-parks/queensland/gladstone-tannum-sands
As soon as we opened the door to our little white house with blessed air conditioning and a large fridge - we immediately realized that we have to take a second night! It was perfect. Look how happy we were. 😊
We started the relaxing part of the chilling out. After bathing, napping and eating, the girls stayed home to restore themselves to some normal state and to get some sleep after the night trip, while the boys went to the beach, hoping that maybe they could jump into the warm water in the evening. But there was a surprise! Outflow!!! We entered the zone of ones of the largest tides in the region and the water simply escaped into the depth of the ocean, revealing areas of the sea bottom. In addition, a beautiful sunset came and moonshine appeared. You can see that the guys had a lot of fun.
In the evening we sat on the porch of our house and waited for midnight, watching Mirki - that's what we called them. Who or what the hell are Mirki ?! Mirki are small, translucent, barking (yes, barking - they are making quite loud barking squeal, I can't name it otherwise) geckos that lived under our door frame. From where they have had a perfect place to hunt for moths larger than themselves. As it turned out, Mirki are one of the smallest geckos found in this part of Australia, called weeping geckos (oh, hence this barking). Nocturnal, absolutely super useful, sweet animals.
And in such an exotic atmosphere, drinking, eating and chatting we waited for midnight to welcome the New 2020 Year. This New Year's Eve was completely different than all the previous ones. Around 11 p.m. there was silence everywhere. Only one cabin next to us, full of young Aussies was awake. And of course us.
But there was no loud music, no screams and crazy fun or firecrackers, as at parties in the old days. Already we've been at such events, so we can spent New Year's Eve in peace and quiet once ?! Well ok, the truth is we were all pretty tired after sleepless night of driving. If it hadn't been for that, we'd probably have made a full-blown party for whole this place, showing locals and guest how Polaks can have fun. But it is said: how you spent New Year's Eve, this is how it will be all next year for you. Fine for me, a little peace will be useful.
I also heard that this proverb applies not only to New Yera's Eve but also applies to the first day of the new year - January 1. Well good! Because the next day we spent on a beautiful, empty beach, doing nothing but drinking wine,
sunbathing and taking a wonderful bath in the warm water of the ocean. There wasn't a big wave so you could swim and splash endlessly. The sun was hot, we hid ourselves under the trees and umbrellas and we indulged in absolute laziness! Of course, we also fooled around a bit, which resulted in these photos:
In the evening, tired of the water and sun, we made a barbecue. Tip: Chicken and potatoes on Australian gas grills takes a very long time. Very long. But for a snack a grilled fish came with a delicious salad, which was made by Magda and somehow, we managed to cook these unfortunate chickens. With full bellies, we jumped into bed to sleep it off and get ready to leave this lovely place.
In the morning my Hubby made extra tasty scrambled eggs. Because you must know that my Hubby (I boast) makes the best scrambled eggs in the world. And steaks. Steaks too.
Washed, with full bellies, well-rested, with washed clothes and packed we jumped again into our "White Japanese Arrow". We drove up to the reception to check out and thank you for a wonderful stay. Wishing the owners the best in the new year and saying goodbye to them, we also got a pack of jelly beans for the way - a brilliant end to a pleasant stay!
It was only when I left the gates of the campground that I realized that we are already in 2020, and the tropics were just beginning to begin with!
It will be a good year.
(edited after 6 month: if I could only know what 2020 will bring just few month later....)
