25 October, 2025 08:02

Morning breathless but for the moving airs of a thousand various birds in song. A full blown concert.

9.28AM

This is a gorgeous rest area but it can also be challenging. I expect others on the coast will go the same path.

Yesterday afternoon after the unbearable generator was turned off next door there were a couple of hours of extraordinary peace in nature. Then people started driving through and soon it was a case of frantically finding a spot.

Caravans were jacknifed in reverse, forced over crevasses off the road, uphill. Other cars whizzed around three times after the compulsory two. It went on until about 10PM.

One desperate car reversed in dangerously close to the van, stopping barely twelve inches away, alongside. This person paid no heed to it being a one-vehicle arrangement in these designated spots throughout the park.

I paused then thought the hell with it.

“Fuck off!” I shouted loudly.

Nothing. This is potentially conbative grounds, but anyway, after giving it a try to see if I could sleep with another bloke two feet away, and really couldn’t, I switched on the spotlight that side. Boom. Flooded the bastard with unsleepable light.

Out he comes. A clueless international tourist promising to be quiet.

In a bit I told him quiet he had to be, and resigned to a bad mental night.

Ten minutes later he drove out, having walked another recce.

It’s hard to get the lay if thevpark, too, in the dark.

Today now I’m trying to work out when to have a shower, and how the blazes to get away from a generator sure to run for two hours next door. So far thus morning all the spots are still taken, so there could be some long stayers.

10.30AM

Saw the imposer up near the bins and asked if he found a spot. He pointed and it was a commonly enjoyed spot so he just needed to look a bit more. We had a fabulous chat for half an hour about various places. Cheeky bastard but great spirit and out to get the most out his visa. Good sense of humour, especially. Good on him

Shower was excellent. Painting, I guess, today. Depends on next door.

3.11 PM

So I caught the generator guy next door, and suggested we coordinate, if he’d like to run the thing. Did so and I left with a frightful noise, returned a bit latet than agreed to silence. If only they were all so smart and so approachable. Generator people aren’t. So cheers to this bloke.

Walked to the water through the bush, but earlier I was warned of a 2 foot eastern brown snake heading my way. I never saw it, but the bush track was very dry and screamed snake bite.

I came back and walked down the highway to the mountain bike tracks, had a good look around. Absolutely packed with cars and riders all the same colour, of dust, and all pumped. All ages. Wonderful thing.

Badly signposted though. Without someone to explain it, all those high end folksy maps don’t tell you where to go, clearly, at all. What happens when enthusiasts do stuff. They don’t get what it’s like to know nothing.

Before that, before lunch, got to painting on the new batch. Coming along nicely.

I put them in the sun to dry. The battered windscreen is cracking further but hanging in there. Here, reflecting the trees.

7 PM

So old mate next door charged his batteries with the generator while I went for a walk, half an hour later he packs up and leaves.

That meant the generator that had started meanwhile, next spot up, in a pretty permanent looking set up, got a straight line to the van. It ran for 3½ hours. Van got stuffy hot with everything closed. This place is sensational when everyone is in harmony but it’s super susceptible to generators due to foliage cover, plus selfishness.

Empty space next door; we’ll see what happens. Getting dark now.

Lovely shapes: