We headed west from Raymond Island to the Ninety Mile Beach on a warm day. “Windmill! Windmill!” was frequently heard from Lucy. There were lots of little camp sites on the sand dunes so we picked one all to ourselves between Seacombe and Golden Beach. The sand heading towards the beach is pristine and golden, but in the camp it is dirty and black.
When we pulled up Mum asked,
“Can someone help me tie up the washing line?” Peter climbed in to a tree and sat perched in the tree as Mum looped the line around another tree and handed him both ends. It was rather a precarious place to balance as the tree was skinny, but Peter managed well and Mum could hang up the washing while we played in the sand.
“Mum!” Peter shouted, “The sand’s black here!”
“It’s got charcoal through it,” complained Lucy.
“I think people have just been having campfires wherever they want them.” Peter stated, “The sand is mixed with soot and charcoal from all the open fires.”
“Look at Edmund! Look at Edmund!” laughed the girls with fingers pointed at the baby. Those chubby little hands were experimenting with the effect of rubbing charcoal over various parts of his limbs, nappy and singlet. All the kids were soon black from charcoal.
“I’m glad it’s a hot day so that only his singlet is being ruined,” sighed Mum. After a long play in the grey, sooty sand, Mum set up two plastic tubs side by side in the en suite to use as baths. This meant that two kids could have a shallow bath at a time. “Little two first for tubs,” said Mum as she stripped Edmund and helped Lucy wriggle out of her clothes.
“Baths, don’t you mean, Mum,” Susan corrected, “Not tubs. Why don’t you ever say the word you mean?” Mum didn’t respond.
“We haven’t got much water, and there is no where here to fill up,” Dad reminded Mum. “And we already have dinner ready. Just let Peter and Susan wash their feet in that other tub and wash with the face-washer.”
We listened to “The Secret Garden” by Frances Hodgson Burnett that Mum had downloaded from www.librivox.org as we ate dinner that night, then Mum and Dad bustled us off to bed still listening to the adventures of Mary Lennox.
It is proving easier than we expected to fit a family of six into a campervan. The gas bottles still appear full and as we have solar panels, batteries and an inverter we still have our luxuries of power. The kids each have a reading lamp so they can read as late as they wish in the evening. The two hour drive from Raymond Island through Paynesville, Bairnsdale and Sale down to Golden Beach had caused about 40 – 50 litres of water to slosh out. We are concerned at such a high water loss and will have to try and figure out something to prevent this. It will get worse as we get to more remote and drier areas.
Across the Sand-Dunes To The Beach
The morning dawned bright and warm. After a lazy start to the day, Lucy led the way with slapping on sun screen and was a variety of shades of white once she had finished this activity. She smothered Edmund with a generous helping of sunscreen, too, before anyone realized she was doing so to assist in the operation. Peter, Susan, Mum and Dad dressed into bathers and lathered on sunscreen in anticipation of finding a beach to swim at.
Everyone slipped over a sand dune to stare in delight at endless white sand with waves lapping gently up on to the beach. After staring in delight for quite some time while they enjoyed the sun’s rays beating down on their backs and the salty wind in their faces, Peter let out a cry of joy and raced down the sand dune towards the beach. Susan followed quickly behind, while Lucy sat down to slide down on her bottom to enjoy the sandy sensation.
It was rough water but where the waves broke on the shore it was suitable for kids to play. We spent many glorious hours splashing in the waves and playing in the sand. Mum sat on the sand watching while Dad and the kids frolicked in the sea. Susan tried to splash Peter, Peter attempted to spray Susan with water, and Lucy was content jumping over the waves as they broke.
Mum and Edmund Head Back To The campervan
“I’m going to take Edmund back to the campervan for a sleep” Mum excused herself as she became too warm sitting on the sand. Dad sighed and nodded, obviously wishing Mum would just brave what she called the cold to come and play. Peter, Susan, and Lucy continued to frolic in the water together, apparently unaware that Mum and Edmund were heading across the sand and up the dunes.
Not long later Dad cried at Peter and Susan, “Where’s Lucy? Lucy! Lu-Cy! Lu-Cy!” Dad is a strong swimmer, but he stood right back out of the water, frantically searching for a sign of her in the water. Together Dad, Peter and Susan scoured the beach and ocean for a visual sign of Lucy while screaming her name. “Susan! Go back to the campervan and check she hasn’t followed Mum there! Peter ! You stand right here and keep looking for any sign of her!” Dad dove back in the ocean and swam for a bit looking for any sign of her.
Back at the campervan, Lucy had walked in casually and asked Mum for some lunch. Lucy and Mum were lunching when Susan walked in. Susan forgot everying when she saw the food and announced “I’m hungry, Mum, can I have some lunch?” and sat down to eat with them.
A while later a frantic Dad and Peter returned to the campervan. Dad was so mad that he hitched the campervan up and we moved on. The next morning he was even less happy when he realized that he’d forgotten sunscreen and his back was terribly burnt.
Later that day we drove to Loch Sport and further east to see the Ninety Mile Beach Marine and Coastal Park. The Coastal Park continued with short shrubs for so long without spotting the sea that we all lost interest and returned to the van.
That night everyone enjoyed barramundi and chips followed by fruit salad. Peter challenged Mum to a game of chess, and after a closely contested battle he emerged victorious maintaining the majority of his pieces while Mum only possessed a knight, two pawns and her king.
Excert Susan’s Diary (Aged 7)
Near Golden Beach, VIC (Ninety Mile Beach)
I ate and we went to the beach and I almost drowned in the big waves. Some of the waves were bigger than Dad and then Tamika got lost and I went to the campervan to see if Tamika was up there and she was up there so we all had lunch and then we went and drove around the place.
We woke up and ate and played a little at Golden Beach. We drove to Port Albert and played at the park and then we had fruit and then we had dinner.
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About Amy and Jarrad
Are they really Peter, Susan, Lucy and Edmund? Or is that just the blog? Just wondering about Narnia.
Twitter: livinontheroad
says:
No, not their real names. They were the names that the kids chose because of they were reading and rereading Narnia at the time we started the blog. Definitely a Narnia reference, though!