5:54 p.m. - 2003-08-08
Sleeping under the stars
I haven't had much time to update lately. I never get any time alone - which is getting to me a little. Last weekend was great though, all three of us (or four if you count Ernie the dingo) took off in the Rover and went to the coast in the Great Lakes region. We almost had an accident on the way when Brian lost control on a corner on the dirt road. I thought it was the end of me to be honest. We were spinning out all over the place. I screamed as we headed straight towards a tree. Luckily Brian is a good, confident driver and steered us to safety. It all happened in slow motion as these things do. After that I was a bit nervous, especially as I was sitting in the middle without a seatbelt.
When we got to the Myall Lakes national park we had to be careful not to run into any park rangers because Ernie would have got shot. We were in search of a secluded spot, unfortunately that's what everyone is looking for and so many people have 4x4s these days to get through the bush. But we had one better - an army truck! So when we came across a 3 ft swamp that stood in our way of paradise, Brian went for it, while I was expecting the truck to start sinking into the bog. The swamp was a flooded campsite and it looked beautiful. We got through it and had to tackle a sand dune to get onto the beach. The tyres weren't flat enough and the truck too heavy, so we were churning up the sand like nobody's business. We got 2/3rds of the way up and after several attempts gave up. Brian backed up through the swamp again and drove around it. We spotted another entry point onto the beach and Brian put his foot down. As we climbed the dune we all realised it was the same bloody dune we'd spent 15 minutes trying to get over in the first place! It was hilarious. But this time we'd got a bit further, so we stuck at it and with a little perseverance and digging, we made it. The beach was empty except for a few tyre tracks and baby dingo prints. It was about 4.30pm by the time we arrived, so we set up camp, had a spliff and watched the sunset. I had a paddle and tripped out at the colours through Nicks orange sunnies. We built a fire and cooked an amazing veggie curry. I've always wanted to camp out under the stars, and it wasn't very cold at all. Nick and me cuddled up and star gazed for hours. Ernie could sense that there were wild dingoes around and was shaking with fear, I thought he would be protecting us and we ended up having to reassure him all night. Poor thing wouldn�t leave my side. The sky was incredibly clear. I taught Nick what I knew about astronomy and it was so bloody romantic we had to get it on together. I even pointed out a heart in the sky - how corny is that?
