Bongaree

We just had to finish packing, fill the extra water and be off. It would have been so much quicker and easier if I hadn’t decided to decorate Mike and Renate’s house stairs with fresh cream and cold cooked rice that should have gone into the van. Thank goodness they weren’t carpeted - thank goodness for Bun too.

Set off with Bun holding the satnav as we still haven’t found a phone holder. We drove the 40 miles to Bribie Island at a sedate pace, one that Bertha finds comfortable and, thankfully, others behind us don’t find too frustrating.

We arrived at the bridge over to the island at about 3. We’d arranged to meet a friend for a cuppa before getting to the campsite before 5. The campsite were aware that we were motorhome virgins and had never hooked ourselves up on site before and that we’d like some help. My request for a quiet site so that we could make our mistakes in private was responded to with “well everyone will just bring their chairs over to watch and laugh”.

I’m not sure what we were expecting, but our faces must have dropped when we drove in. Full, crowded, not much space. What have we let ourselves in for?

We managed to park up at our site without too many errors. We managed to get the electric connected before attempting to connect the water. The water connection to the van was straightforward, a professional version of a “hozelock”. The supply end was simply a tap. I needed a tap converter and I knew we had a box of various sized converters; the question was, where had I put it? Found them! Got it sorted. Air-conditioning on and relax? No, let’s find dinner.

We walked north along the promenade until we found a bar that overlooked the sea. Two glasses of beer, sit down and take in the beauty of it all. A sailing boat coming in and mooring - then getting a drone out to video themselves. A bloke paddling past on a paddle board with his dog on it too. While the menu at the bar looked good, we walked back down to Sue’s Grill. While it was less salubrious, I would go back there tomorrow. The ranch salad was lovely as were Bun’s Panco King Prawns ... and more beer.

Back to the campsite where the toilets and wash facilities were spotless. There was also a big kitchen for food preparation and also washing up, plus a TV area.

Our first night was .... not as hot as we’d expected despite turning off the a/c and just having a fan. Bun hit the wall a couple of times and I managed not to fall out of bed. A fitful night, but remarkably quiet. There’s a window at each end of the bed,, when I woke up I looked out to see quite a busy camp. Yes I’d heard the dawn chorus at 4am, but I hadn’t heard any sound from any of the vans, tents or caravans.

Well we’d lost our mobile home virginity without burning the place down or setting off with our water and electric cables still connected. I felt better when I was walking past a big motorhome just driving off their site when they came to a stop as if they’d hit something. The van rolled back and the driver then drove forward again, only to again stop abruptly. I saw that the rear wheels were hitting the back of the small ramps he’d reversed the front wheels onto when he’d parked up, but forgotten to remove before driving off. He confessed to only having been doing this for 12 years and that he often drove off without securing or packing one thing or another.

OK. Not what we had expected or hoped for, but a pleasant enough place as a first stop.Read more