We were packed up and on the road early. Well, early for us. It was before 10am!

To head inland as we had planned, we actually had to go back the way we had come, travelling so that we ended up at a point on the map that was actually lower than Hervey Bay where we had been camped for some time now.
We stopped for morning tea at Biggenden where we saw a sign that we couldn’t drive past. Not spelt like my nickname “Netti” but what’s a vowel between friends?

We were heading into Queensland citrus area and we picked up some oranges and mandarins at a roadside stop. I’m not a great fan of mandarins but Ray insisted I try some and childhood memories of mandarin smelling lunch boxes came flooding back. These mandarins taste absolutely nothing like those in the supermarket. All the fruit we buy at roadside stalls directly are from the farmers who grow them on their farms, and they taste incredibly different. They actually taste like the fruit that they are! When we can’t get our fruit by the side of the road (that actually sounds strange), and we have to buy what we need from a supermarket, it is bland and has no taste in comparison. Even here in Queensland, home of the tropical fruits. The bananas in the supermarket taste like…nothing. Everything is picked so early and put into cold storage. It hasn’t had time to fully grow and develop its full flavours. It’s such a shame. 

Lunch was at Gayndah the oldest town in Qld. We went to the local IGA for fresh bread where we were able to secure evidence for Ray that his beloved “Strawberry Donuts” were in fact “Pink Donuts”. He has always asserted that they are strawberry NOT pink because he doesn’t want to appear less than masculine for loving pink donuts. We took a photo as evidence for him. While we were eating lunch, Caleb found some young skateboarders who were travelling and fruit picking along the way. He watched them skateboarding and then decided to do what they were doing without wheels. He ran up and down the concrete run, and they were nice enough to tolerate him and his incessant chatter. Something we’ve noticed lately about Caleb is that he just doesn’t stop talking. Sometimes in the morning just after waking up, we will need to ask him to be quiet because our brains haven’t had a chance to switch on yet. It’s one topic after another. Running through what we are doing today, what happened yesterday, and always finishing with the question, ” so how is this morning going for you?” It has become infuriating when he talks through TV shows, giving his own commentary on what is happening and missing relevant details. We have to actually put our hands up in a “stop” sign whenever he goes to take the big breath that signals a barrage of words. I’m already worried for his next year’s teacher! Of course, there is only one person who can be held responsible for this, Mr Have-A-Chat himself, Ray. Such intensive role modelling over the last 8 months wasn’t ever going to end any other way, was it?

We had planned to free camp overnight but noticed we were lacking battery power. Something was wrong with the battery recharging. We couldn’t free camp without a battery to run the lights and water pump. We pulled into Mundubbera where the local garage informed us that he had sold his last two batteries in the last 2 days. Typical!

We decided to spend the night here in the caravan park rather than continue driving to the next town. The caravan park was seriously run down and the new managers of the park were apologetic but exceptionally friendly. The amenities block needed bulldozing, it was beyond renovation. 
We enjoyed a well deserved dinner, (it’s amazing how hungry you get travelling in the car all day), and watched TV because we had power when we originally thought we wouldn’t have. Ahh, life’s little luxuries!