The cold wind that night was a killer . " These tents weren't meant for cold weather camping" advised Sarah at dawn the next morning as Grant tried to rouse me from my hypothermic stupor. I felt like I'd barely slept but had failed to hear Bes throwing up all night in the big tent. In the end the only thing that could raise my body temperature was a voyage into the strange world of the Bush Shower.This consisted of a baggy,soiled looking canvas bag with bright orange nozzle. In order to hoist the bag to head level there was a thin, dangling metal loo chain with no pulley system. Outside of the shower cubicle could be found the Donkey Boiler . This was the mechanism used to heat the water for the shower and effectively consisted of a small steam engine. The said intrepid Bush Camper was required to build a small fire under the large metal container and as cold water was fed into a funnel one end , hot steam and water was produced from a small tap at the other. This all of course depended on someone being able to get a fire going in the first place no easy feat with wet wood and high winds although diesel helped a lot.
Then a strong individual was required to carry a plastic container full of boiling water and fill the canvas bag and then return with an equal or so amount of cold water to get the mix 'Just right'. The bag could be hoisted up. Speed however was an imperative as there was a limit to how long the water would last.
I have to say after some initial trepidation on my behalf I agreed to be the first to sample what the bush shower had to offer and was pleasantly surprised, not only did it work, delivering hot water but was wonderfully invigorating . So much for modern technology .
Even the toilet grew on me as unlike many public toilets I have experienced in the U.k this one didn't smell despite relying on a composting system!!
After spending the first half an hour of my waking moments this first morning scheming with Sarah on how we were going to escape our camping nightmare , I now felt instantly revived and ready for whatever the Bunya's wanted to throw at me in the way of a hike.
So once everybody had partaken of the shower and breakies, we began our chosen Bush walk experiencing fantastic views along the Cherry and Darling Plains and across the Great Divide Mountain Range. At some points we had to pick our way along cliff hugging paths.
We finished the days activities with a drive to Dandabah to celebrate John's m something birthday with some genuine Bunya nut cake and spiced fig accompaniment whilst watching the wallaby colony frolic nearby. Grant tried to take photos of our first real wild sighting of this authentic Aussie animal whilst Ciara shrieked " Wallaby,wallaby" from the balcony causing the poor beasts to scatter in every direction even before Grant had managed to turn his camera on.
In this small collection of houses we were also able to feed the wild birds. Not just a few sparrows and tits but King Parrots and Crimson Rosella's. These birds were so used to tourists feeding them that they landed on shoulders, heads and arms and fed out of hands. If a noise disturbed them they would launch into the air, on mass, in a frenzy of feathers and colour causing the kids to shriek, mostly in delight but for Ciara in horror. She then refused point blank to have our feathered friends anywhere near her screaming as soon as one approached.
That evening we had what would turn out to be one of the best open fires of the holiday toasting marshmallows and admiring the night sky with the very visible Milky way and Southern Cross. It was my first real study of the Southern Hemisphere stars with their beautiful, crystal, clear clarity and totally new night sky landmarks for me. I found myself constantly staring above until I felt giddy( of course that could have been the small amount of alcohol I had consumed around the fire).
A much warmer night was had by all although the ' Tent of Death' as Grant and me now affectionately liked to call it , continued to deliver the goods with a midnight bout of coughing ( Young Will ) and explosive diarrhoea ( Bes). Their airbeds also experienced a midnight loss of air requiring John to replenish them with the foot pump in the dark whilst three of the Mungins (yes more and more were deserting The Tent Of Death ) listened on wondering if they should offer help or enjoy the warm confines of their sleeping bags. I'll leave you to guess which we did.
