Hadspen, June 4th .....

The target date for driving away from Deloraine was May 5th, but we were anxious to make the move so got up early on the 4th to hook up the van. I had an appointment to get my hair done at lunchtime so we were under a bit of pressure to get the van to the Discovery Caravan Park in Hadspen, and unhitch it in time to make it to the hairdressers in time.

We had done a bit of a recce (“time spent in reconnaissance is never wasted” - D Lucas, 1974) and decided on a site that would suit us. The park manager said we would be better elsewhere but I looked at the logistics of backing in to the spot he suggested and thought it might be a bit beyond me at this early stage in my training. So, Site 5 it was, van driven in, parked haphazardly and unhitched without ceremony.

It was a couple of days later that we got back to set it up properly and immediately saw that it was never going to suit us so we hitched up again and drove up to Site 16. Backing is a skill acquired through much practice. We tried every way to slide the van into the right spot and eventually succeeded. I was determined that the final result would look like the van had been parked by an expert so it had to be parallel to the edge and not too far away from the tap and power pole. At last I was happy and we unhitched the car and hooked up the water and electricity. There are ensuite facilities adjoining the site if we want to use them but we’re pretty self-contained.

We ended up spending the weekend at 26 Tower Hill Street but we are intending to sleep in the van from tonight, Tuesday, 8th. That’s a significant decision as we will believe we have moved on when we really live in the van.

Cutting the Giant Steps’ apron strings is proving to be harder than we thought. Even now, we still have left a room set up in the cottage where we have been living for the past 6 months - just in case we need to spend some more time there.

Marilyn and I met Jamie for breakfast this morning at Banjo’s. He had a hernia operation a week ago and is on sick leave while he recovers. Of course, he is bored silly with not having to go to work each day. He tried to go back yesterday but the doctor said, ‘No way!”, so he is spending his time fiddling with my computer and making DVDs for us to watch on our travels. It’s also a great chance for us to see him more often and the Eggs Benedict this morning was just a bonus.

I had a nice surprise this morning. I had popped in to Officeworks to return some faulty computer memory and bumped into Brian and Jenny Haslem who have been friends since we lived in Hobart all those years ago. Brian worked at the Teachers Centre when I was a consultant in 1983 and 1984. They are great characters and we’re looking forward to seeing more of them in the next few months. When we last met, they were operating a B&B in St Helens but are now resident in Riverside.

Our plans have now evolved to the point where we will likely stay here in Hadspen until we leave for the Philippines in September and then the Himalayas in October/November. While we’re away, we had thought we would store the van somewhere else but it’s possible we might work out a deal and leave the van here. The benefit of that is that Jamie and Therese have the option of spending a night or two here and we know the van will be quite safe.

Marilyn and I had stayed in the Hadspen Caravan Park before. When we lived in Hobart, we owned a beaut Holden ute with a Freeway slide-on camper. Jamie was young enough then to sit with us on the bench seat in the front of the ute and there was enough room in the Freeway for the three of us to sleep comfortably. There were times when we even took one of Jamie’s friends as well, and even his cousin, Sharon, on one occasion. When he was bigger or brought a friend, he had a tent, otherwise we would have been really squashed in the slide-on.

We remember visiting Hadspen during those years and one of the highlights was a son et lumiere (pardon the French) production at the Red Feather Inn. We sat on bales of hay and enjoyed the stories of the convicts and early settlers of the area. The Red Feather Inn is still here but I don’t think they still do their productions. With the development of better roads, Hadspen has lost its individual character and is just a dormitory suburb of Launceston. It’s just 12 minutes to the CBD and there is now a regular bus service.

It sits on the bank of the South Esk River and has some very nice colonial buildings including Entally House which is owned by the National Trust.

We should be quite comfortable here for the next few months.