Our first RV destination of the trip was to and around New Castle. The intention to camp cheaply meant being resourceful in finding places to sleep and shower. The sleep part was relatively easy as there are various overnight pullouts, a rare few with showers. For showering alternatives, Alli looked to the many public outdoor swimming pools she remember from her year long stay here in 2005. New Castle was one of these places. Being further south in the brink of winter, outdoor showers didn’t turn out to be very good. It was cold! The girls didn’t swim and resorted to playing in the sand.
The girls tried to avoid cleaning as much as they could until they couldn’t anymore. They had to get into the cold shower. “It will toughen you up,” Alli said. In my mind I said, “we don’t need to be that tough, we are not competing.” I kept it to myself. It was unpleasant getting in the water, for the girls it didn’t get better with time but really it did. It’s all in your head I told myself.
Fortunately the free outdoor shower facilities weren’t all that essential and not as available as I heard it to be. A couple days later we arrived at Woodford and had a paid campsite for a couple of nights. There were warm showers.
I had been pretty sedentary, relatively speaking, for sometime and finally managed to get myself out of bed to go for a run. As luck would have it, Aussies do this 5k park run every Saturday and today it was in this RV park. I did a easy kilometre and then jumped in to run with the crowd. It is pretty amazing how the energy of others really get you going. To my surprise a ran a comfortable 22 minute 5k. I just gotta keep up with this exercise thing.
Our next opportunity to shower was at a overnight pullout near Mackay, several hundred kilometres from our next destination, Airlie Beach. To our surprise this pullout not only have barbecues, there were hot showers for free.
Free barbecues are such an amazing generosity to travellers in this country. When we arrived at Airlie Beach, we found them everywhere. The public facilities here are simply out of this world. The park and swimming pools are immaculate and absolutely beautiful. It is all free! The outdoor showers are cold but the temperature is mild enough so that they are pleasantly enjoyed.
The girls had the time of their life here and asked to come back.
This is the last of our outdoor showers. From here onward we encountered the occasional coin shower facilities at truck stops.
Weary Wanderer 