This morning we woke at 8 our usual time because it was getting so hot in the van. Another hot day it seems but we both are feeling a bit drained. Oh well, off to breakfast again and again lots of interesting travellers to chat with.
Last night a new van appeared – yep a Wicked van – and the young man driving was sitting in the kitchen camp when we arrived. He is from France and has been in Australia for several months. His mom has arrived to do a bit of traveling with him before they return home. His name is Remi and he really was interesting in seeing things and meeting people. His mom, who joined us, is quieter but also interesting. At any rate Wes still had to do some computer research so I was able to visit with Remi and his mom for a longer time than normal.
The radio in the van gets very poor reception so we had discussed getting a MP3 player to plug into it for music. Of course I left mine at home but then we remembered that the BlackBerry has a player built in so we tested and discovered it works great. We got the patch cord to plug it into the radio input, copied the music we have on Wes’ laptop onto to (about 350 songs) and presto we are back in the music groove again.
We got sorted and left the park around 10 using Karen to get us out of the city without going on any toll roads. What is really interesting is that I realized how incredibly busy the streets are in Sydney. I am reminded how much I enjoyed not driving here. The traffic at 10 is still like rush hour traffic. Our first stop was for gas and Karen did a good job of tracking down a gas station for us on our route. Once out of the city the driving was easy since it was basically freeway. Only for the last 15 km was there a slow down but that was due to road construction.
The park is very nice but only has a BBQ and no other kitchen facilities. Not a problem since we are fully equipped van, but disappointing in some ways. Well we are assigned the spot close to the BBQ building and before long we have a social network community starting. Wes and I are really tired so we decided that we would take a nap rather than go for a walk. We awoke to the sound of lots of laughing and chattering and found that while we slept the grassy area in front of the van had become a social gathering place for several young people. When they realized they had woke us (they did not know were were napping) they offered to move elsewhere but it was fine so they stayed. There is something about the energy and lightness of laughter of a group of young people who are just enjoying themselves. The group included young people from Canada (Montreal) and Germany.
While I was preparing dinner a young couple dropped by to ask if we could use some supplies. They head home tomorrow and had some leftover supplies (BBQ sauce, garlic, olive oil) and offered it. They are from Norway and we had a great visit with them. Then the van next to us returned and we had a visit with them (they are from Holland). What a great way to meet people from all around the world.
After we finished our dinner Wes and I decided to walk over to the rim hike over to the Three Sisters and Echo Point. This is a short 1 ½ hour hike return and provided us with a chance to be on the rim when the sunset. We had so me really special views. At Echo Point we met a couple from Oregan and a young man from Germany. The German was on his way to Sydney and had stopped to have a look at the view. He is here for another 10 months or so and is organizing a trip to the outback. He and Wes discussed how he was preparing for this etc. so we ended up chatting for about 30 minutes. By the time we headed back to camp it was dark and starting to drizzle so we walked along the road rather than the rim.
Back at camp, the social community was still visiting but had moved to the BBQ room. At one point Wes and I joined them. They were very interested in where we have traveled and enjoyed looking at some of our pictures. In particular they were interested in pictures of the Grand Canyon. I have to admit that they were very friendly and personable. Age and nationality seems to have melted away in such a setting where everyone just enjoys talking and sharing experiences.
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