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The flyscreen and open door. This is what I hoped would attract the disturbing rat back outside.

I woke at about 1AM to the recognisable noise if the creature rummaging and rampaging inside. I couldn’t spot him with a torch to catch it, but caught a glimpse of it to confirm.  Either bushrat rident or marsupial.

In a heatwave, when nigjt sleep is critical- I get this fucking thing.

Just when I nearly had fallen asleep, hence not a threat, the bastard would run again ensuring I’d stay awake, and angry or anxious.

With the heat, and others restless in the area, I was awake until after 4AM then got the dreams of the demons from being so out of peace.

Anyway, I didn’t hear it in the morning nor have all day, so hopefully it bailec before dawn.

Twice, so that’s not good. It can’t become a habit or I’ll never be able to sleep here.

Now, does it come tonight? And do the Pests Of Waldrens Swamp also arrive?

Last pair of bastards I want to see.

The scene this minute. 5AM. After 11PM, when some idiot’s music stopped, I managed to get some sleep.

8 AM

Had a coffee and NYT comments (every morning) here, the secondary spot for showers. Campers in the other spot.

Been quite pleasant but posting now because the heat is beginning suddenly to hit.

11.35 AM

Vehicles gathering around the shade at Riverside Park, where I fluked a spot and likely will have someone muscle in on me. Radios and caravan TVs are the worry. Gets to my head even worse when heat affected.

Breeze now, so I can knock out an hour before the shade moves on, quite comfortably.

Fridge is cranking and failing and nowhere up to it.

Bad fire danger everywhere, extreme in Vic and SA. So ‘lucky’ here.

A vehicle in the shade under every tree.

4.30 PM

At Waldrens on my own. So far. Neither of the two noisy vehicles, so they might have moved on.

After weeks I finally got Bluetti straightened out and the package in the post. Even then they made another mistake – sending packaging instructions after I’d lodged it with Australia Post. The company is off the planet.

It’s a load off because now I’m free to leave. Doctors in Canberra next week and car mechanic here the week aftet, but no dealing or waiting re Bluetti nightmare customer disservice. Notorious I see.

Helps with the heatwave, too, because I’m not trapped. It’s a shocker. Nowhere to escape to but at least I could if there was.

8.50 PM

Two girls in a rooftop arrived, ate on the chairs at the table problematic with the pillock from before after parking a very thoughtful distance away and were beautifully behaved and didn’t disturb anyone else. (Two others also in a rooftop nearby, across the way.)

So heartening. I feel I couldn’t do enough for them.

Then a large campervan zoons in, fluffs the park next to the rooftop across – then lines up the distance between me and the girls and drives in.

A bloke is outside, calling distances.

“You’ve got to be joking,” I say. There’s no room for that huge thing and the three vehicles look cramped stupid, with all other spots vacant.

“Hay?” the guy pretends weakly. Next thing they roar off. They knew they’d fucked it up.

I’m pleased I got the girls sone space.

Anyway, so hot it’s dangerous. Had a bucket wash, which I left outside- the water was HOT!

Two more days apparently, getting worse on each. Nights hotter than summer daytime temps.

It’s a bad heatwave.

12.15 PM

Extremely hot. Debilitating.

Showered at Moruya sth side spot, then it hit. Too hot to sit around so decided to drive to Batemans Bay to the post office box, get some electricity into the batteries constantly struggling with the fridge, and now sitting under the bridge in the shade and merciful breeze.

After today, two more days forecast worse. Heat plus jammed-in bad public behaviour, crowds and cars and holiday hungriness everywhere equals my nightmare.

Too tired to paint- woke at 3 AM something, and just trying to get through the day.

4.10 PM

Unbelievably hot. Sugars plummeted dangerously, sensor alarm going berserk. After lunch, too, as though lunch didn’t register.

Bought a new kettle in the Bay.

Long way then to Broulee pharmacy for Galvumet.

The obnoxious girls who turned up last night and from whom I had to move away, arseholes, are still at Waldrens. Saw them going past, to the bay. Saw them when back, and I kept going past, to Moruya.

Imagine, obnoxious selfish idiots stuck in the sun, inside a van, in a barren rest area alllllllll day. Fuck that. Stay right away.

So I’m cooking dinner at Riverside Park, stopped in the shade on the road because all the grassy shade is taken up with similar heat refugees. Listening to my fridge not coping, at all.

These heatwaves are horrific and frightening. The landscape hurts. I hurt for the landscape.

Can’t think straight. Half dead. Sweaty and sticky and oppressed.

6.35 PM

Appallingly hot. Not feeling well. Sedan pulled up behind, could be a noise problem. It might be their radio going. Can’t handle noise as well as heat. Yay, they’re leaving. Phew.

But the spot is open. And it’s the “best” one left.

And bastard. It wasn’t their radio. Fuck.

8.15 PM

Noise from new van tourists, young and in a bubble.

Had a wash down, lovely, but immediately hot again.

In bed. Fly screen over the sliding door, pulled out of storage. Fridge stop start can’t operate properly in hot environment.

Anyway, bring on the mongrel night. Two more days aftet it.

Can’t wait to fall unconscious ie sleep, if I can.

No one behind me, in the spot, yet.

9 15 PM

Bored myself tired with a crap tv show. It is intolerably hot. People unsettled here and there. Will try to sleep.

The prick and company was noisy obnoxious, but quieted at 9PM. Late 4WDers talked loudly but shut down in unison.

Prick and Co made up for it earlier this morning. So much for birdsong and ambient nature. Rotten to have to hear the blunt loud drone of the bore.

But it wasn’t too bad. Feeling very hemmed in. Have to shift away from prickhead so might shower in Narooma (prick is likely to interrupt me after sticking his nose in the van) and try for another spot later. We’ll see how things unravel. Might be able to slip down a spot instead.

So now 9.20AM. Woke at 5AM, late, so it wasn’t too bad at all.

Waldrens Swamp And No Pests Yet

2.15PM. No one, in fact. Terrific surprise. Enjoying it while I can.

I’ve parked in the snippet of shade, which happens to be the spot The Pests Of Waldrens Swamp regard as “theirs”. I’ve been parking here for years, long before the curse of their discovering the place.

Maybe they are back home in Canberra and I can rest out the heatwave for the next three or four days.

I thought about staying in Bodalla State Forest but with everyone jammed in, and the prick-that ugly Australian selfishness-I just drove on past, after a Narooma shower.

3.30 PM

Yep. Idiot bullseye. I’m the only vehicle on this side of the rest area road. A van toddles in, sure enough, comes up behind me – and keeps on coming.

A bloke probably my age and demanding wife get out, up goes the top. I hear every word they say outside and inside the van.

It’s a stupidity phenomenon.

I start the car and move to a reasonable distance. They don’t match eye contact.

I can still hear them, though, just her voice droning on forcefully.

6 PM

Had to move. A pair of loud laughing cocoon-brains unbearable to be around, lost selfishly in noisy phone shit.

But am I now far enough away?

Next spot is in the truck section if they keep it up.

Equally nasty thing is heat from forced closed windows to block out the selfish brainless arseholes’ noise.