Category: Posted on the fly

Water fill station at Westfield shops in Philip not far from the hospital. So good to find.

But first I filled up in a scungy one nearby.

Mawson shops, aiming for crap pizza tonight. Easy, different, cheaper. The van in line with the path.

Found water here, too. Huge stroke of good fortune.

Earlier, a tall building to be inside. Felt contrast with living in a van. That’s Mt Ainslie, my playground as a kid.

Earlier still, windy cold Braidwood on the way up. About 11am.

Another shit-weird day that appears to be normal for van living and about which I should give myself a break. This life is measured by a very different productivity. The old ways of having a developed artwork on the easel are gone; the measure now is the forced housekeeping that I must do in order to maintain hygiene and van functionality.

The day started with a night of many interruptions, silky misty moonjazzed atmosphere outside, cramped and airless inside, and thus not enough sleep to get inspired for the new day. A couple of momentary thrills, though, to be free.

To Moruya yet again just after sunrise, this time the valley was rich in thick mist, played gold, that vanished approaching the bridge.

As a treat, bacon and eggs. Strange being the traveller there almost every day, and if recognised then no traveller at all: a homeless body. So I try to push through that. Choosing where to park, not hiding for example, is a big decision. (Where on the grass at Riverside Park, or where on the bitumen access.)

Today however with a cold southerly freezing out the place, skittering red and orange leaves, noisily, I wanted to try the shower curtain set-up I bought cheaply yonks ago and haven’t used. So after breakfast I shifted down and out of the main way, although quite a few drove by or walked their dogs, I discovered. Had to ignore their curious, possibly judgemental, perhaps admirable, looks.

Skies quite greyed out, heavy rain in swaths unaffected by ground wind.

The way I operated the set-up needs a redo. Fairly cool, but thankfully out of the wind, and just bearable – so it worked to refresh. But I’ll have to rearrange things. Good to know.

Then, since the wintry day had few people out and about, some commonsense kicked in: make the effort and do the washing today, while I can, in case it’s booked out tomorrow when I preferred. So that’s done; healthy.

And all the while I’ve been cooking in a crap frypan. Every meal it sits around afterwards like a bastard because it’s such a pain to clean, and lately has been getting harder to do so: dark and cold early, baked on burnt veggies, loose handle and reeking of cheap and nasty.

Which pushed me today to take advantage of a significant sale and get a new one. A proper frypan that should disperse the heat better – we’ll see. The forces of van living might do it in, sending it the way of the crap one. If not, it’s a good investment in better living.

Then to the rest area. Early, but clean sheets on the bed and a bit of sorting bring me up to date. Time to heat up and oil the frypan, although the super quick way I throw in frozen veggies and dollop it with water makes it more of a boiler-steamer.

And after all that, the wind has dropped for the moment at least. A winter late afternoon. Outside. Lovely.

Spoke too soon. Wind, cold. But it’s bound to get colder in the months ahead.

Canberra, very cold, probably Tuesday.