Things don’t go to plan & emotions boil over..

Yesterday we set off headed for Bright. Another 5km of dirt road to get out of Eildon, but atleast this time the sun was shining and we were in high spirits, keen to hit the open (sealed) road!

Out come the 90’s hits, Wolly’s nose out the front window, wind in the fur, happy days. Back into Mansfield (this time for a “Ned Kelly” pie…and a terrible coffee), on to Swanpool, through Myrtleford and into Bright. We stop at the entrance to the town for a tree lined photo opportunity. I jump out, think I have the right angle, but judging by the flurry of arms, frowning expression and heavy mouth movement coming from the drivers seat…clearly my angle is not as Frank had anticipated! I walk back to the van, open the door (as I cannot hear through closed glass!!) and receive an exasperated set of instructions. Take 2. Even more arm flurring!!! Bugger that, abort mission, I retreat to the van, throw the phone to him and proceed to stank face sulk…

We continue on. Beautiful scenery as we head through in search of our next free camp, as found on CamperMate. “A lovely picnic area, by the side of the Ovens River, shady spots with seating and rubbish bins” Sounded great….we arrive to find a steep drop off into the river and approx 8m of flat ground, for which a caravan has already found this spot and taken all the available space. What now?!! Back to CamperMate…no other free camps. Look at 2 camping books and am faced with the old school way of looking up things like a Melways. Page 46 E5 and a camping symbol…off we go in search of the camping symbol, which may or may not be scenic, pet friendly, safe etc. On our way we pass a caravan park and decide to pull in and ask how much for an unpowered site. $49 a night!!! For a piece of dirt!! That’s ridiculous!! Next. Same price! Next – same again….. I see a carpark near a park, next to the river, which has all the facilities. BBQ area, water, toilets…and lots of people. No camping sign to the right hand side, no signage to the left. Being the strong headed individual that I am, I cannot possibly see why we would not just park up here for the night!! Frank being the more cautious individual is not so easily sold on the idea and after what seemed liked hours of back and forward trying to decide where to stay…. we butt heads and an argument erupts.

Back onto the highway, out of Bright, in search for this elusive other “free camp”. We reach Porpunkah and see another caravan park. I run in and this one is cheaper, but it’s in the middle of nowhere and we really wanted to explore Bright without having to move Lucy. Back to Bright and we suck up the unpowered site cost, in exchange for a really beautiful serene spot on the river, amongst trees, there’s a pool, spa, BBQ area, water, toilets (and showers!) putt putt golf and go karts – not too shabby and actually feels more like a “normal” holiday.

We unpack, set up our little patch on faux grass, tables and chairs and I take a dip in the river. Clearly both still razzled from the day’s tension, we have a very honest, heated discussion about how this trip is going to pan out if we continue to butt heads. We needed to literally break it down into what each of needs to do in order to play our part in the relationship and in making a happy journey with Lucy. It seems doable, so long we stick to the plan and play our part while we re-train our behaviour.  We kiss and make up and proceed to a terrible Italian restaurant for dinner….

After much reflection, it really is very apparent and no surprise really that we are finding ourselves arguing. From an outside perspective, we are ‘living the dream’ and yes, I guess we are. But, when you break it down, strip away all the things that define us in our “normal” lives. Remove the job – remove our sense of purpose. Remove our physical home – remove our sense of security. Remove our belongings – remove part of our identity. Take us away from family and friends – remove our support network. We find ourselves falling back onto our most basic instincts and personality traits. For me, this is a very head strong, driven, self assured, positive individual. For Frank, this is also a very head strong, stubborn, cautious, sometimes fiery but wanting to please type personality. This combination now more than ever has us butting heads. We decide we are both worth making the effort – so that’s nice!! Let’s go back to living the dream with a new outlook!

Day 2 in Bright and after 11 hours of sleep we wake to the sound of running water and birds. Take the dogs to the local café for a “real” coffee, then back to camp for a BBQ breakfast – YUM!!

We head off on a trek to find The Canyon and stumble (literally!) across a semi naked girl sunbathing by the side of the river. We both have a decent eyeball at her glistening coconut oiled butt cheeks and as Frank goes for one last passing look, he trips in a ditch on the dirt path and rolls his ankle!! Oh my goodness!!! Through my stifled giggles I really need to ask if he’s ok, but it’s just too funny!! bahahaha

He walks it off as we see a family of ducks crossing our path, we get so close to them, so close that papa duck attempts to attack Frank and lets off an insulting “Hehhh hehhh” sound!!!

We find the Canyon in all it’s rocky, scenic glory, then turn back in search of water and another river swim.

We’ll now look forward to another 4 days of Bright bliss.

JT xo