Around Oz the First Time - Chapter 82 - Tenth Week Down

We expect to be home in two weeks, and that is a joy and a tragedy. If there is one thing this trip has taught us as apprentice Grey Nomads, its that timelines must have no real ending, and deadlines must never creep into the vocabulary.

We have missed so much, because we have to be home, the 1st week of November, exacerbated by the two breakdowns, costing us two full weeks of our intended itinerary. Add to that, much of this trip has been about getting there, not about the experiences the places can offer.

One afternoon in Exmouth, with time on our hands, we drove aimlessly down a road, turned around and explored every road and track, between the turnaround point and the van park. Yes, we nearly got bogged, but that was more about ill-preparation, rather than misfortune. The experiences, and the fun, we generated by doing that, made it for us at that venue.

The next day, with timetables, deadlines and end games in mind, we thought of doing it again, in some way shape or form, but lost out to the almighty clock. The end result, we rushed, we decided against, and we generally missed much of what was on offer, and whilst if you have seen one beach, you have seen them all, it is turtle egg laying time, and who knows what might have been spotted.

At the end of this week, we drove along a 500 kilometre stretch of road, with potential diversions here and there to named places which could have been anything from “Deliverance” to the “Blue Lagoon”, but we will never potentially know, at least not this time.

There will always be next time, but for the friend of the Missing Link so tragically taken a short while ago, plans for “later” will never eventuate. The Missing link is assisting his wife with divesting herself of all the “retirement toys” he had amassed ready for trips like ours.

Don’t get me wrong, we have gotten many things from this trip. Confidence with our van and its workings (or non-workings as the case may be), confidence in our ability to source sites to park our van, either in a commercial park or a free camping area, and the knowledge that we fit in. Far too often, we have said to ourselves, “when we come back, we will have to spend more time”, and that is right, but life gets in the way, and if we allow it, the little things will take over.

Like the people we met in Carnarvon who had been on the road for four years, nonstop, if they had an issue, like a birthday, Christmas or special family event, they made sure they were in or very close to a capital city so they could lock up their van and simply fly home. Simple as that.

I think there is a lot of inertia in us. We are locked in a rut of allowing life to push us around, rather than being in “control”, if there is such a thing. If it is going to push us around, then let it do it, but because we are in a place, where we may need to book another day or two in order “see it all”, rather than not starting a trip because something in the family draws us in. If that then means we are locked into circling van parks in ever increasing day trip circles, then I think Grey Nomads we will certainly be.

Only time will tell.