Spacevan Send-off ...

While at Chinchilla, we organised the Spacevan's insurance assessment - for a midday appointment on the Gold Coast, the day after we returned home.  

The assessor indicated our van would be written off - which was an outcome we'd vaguely considered but even so, it wasn't quite the advice we were expecting!  

We provided all relevant information to streamline the claim's progress.  While checking out of Bundaberg we received confirmation of the write-off.  The tow company was in contact later that week and collection organised for yesterday - with payment made soon after (four weeks after the assessment).

As you can imagine, there's been a lot of discussion over the past month.  We were already planning a vehicle upgrade, which impacts on the weight of anything being towed.  We're still thinking at this stage.  There are so many options available!

Prepping provisions ...

Our Carnavon trip was provisioned the day before leaving, while Nick and I stood in Coles!  

I was able to do most prepping for Bundaberg before leaving home.  There was a microwave in the cabin kitchen, so I pre-cooked some meals and froze them for defrosting / reheating on site.

There was no Engel fridge or freezer this trip.  All the frozen food was packed into a large esky.  We used a smaller cooler for fridge items.  

We ate well - but we always do!  I had sliced cold sausages in bread rolls and packed them into a container for an easy lunch.  They defrosted well for our Childers picnic on Tuesday.  I also made fruit-cake, from the remaining fruit (soaked for last Christmas).

My little teapot and our owl mugs came with us - along with a basket that held our preferred tea, coffee and basic spreads.  There were chips and a small bag of nuts.  

We bought a few vegies and some fruit from a farm-direct shop near our cabin accommodation.  

On Tuesday night I did the vegies in the cabin microwave.  I prepared the packet pasta side-dish in a saucepan, on the small stove.  Nick BBQ-ed the steak and we enjoyed our combined cheffing efforts on the cabin verandah, listening to the waves and watching the stars.  And yes, there was some lovely red wine -  purchased at the Adelaide wine centre last year!

I'd made frittata at home from leftover roast vegies.  The quarters were packed and frozen.  We had a piece each with toast on Wednesday morning.  It reheated fairly well in the microwave (with paper towel underneath and on top of the slices).  We went into Bundaberg after breakfast but returned to the cabin for lunch, so had wraps with meatloaf (more frozen leftovers) and salad.  

Dinner that night was fudged around the concert.  I had some frittata as a very early dinner - and then we both had pumpkin soup quite late in the night, when we returned to the cabin.  (The pumpkin soup was made at home and frozen). 

I also made lemon butter at home and brought a small jar with us, along with some maple syrup.  It was easy to reheat our flash-frozen pikelets for Thursday's finale breakfast, enjoyed on our cabin verandah with a view of the ocean.    

Bundaberg-ing!

Our Bundaberg road-trip was booked back in January - timed because we  bought (front row) tickets for the Tommy Emmanuel concert!  

(There were venues a lot closer to home but we would've been much further from the stage).

We booked two nights at a caravan park cabin and drove up in the fuel-efficient red car.  (That was always the plan, even before the spacevan's unfortunate incident).

The main focus of the trip was to attend the concert, so there wasn't a great deal of time for sight-seeing.  We drove to Hervey Bay on Monday afternoon and stayed with Di that night - then drove the rest of the way on Tuesday.  We stopped for lunch and a walk at Childers and checked into our cabin later in the afternoon.  

We saw some of Bundaberg on Wednesday - the free zoo was very well presented and we had a wander down to the Burnett River afterward, where there were welcome swallows and an egret (keen to steal bait fish from the local fishermen). There was time for a stroll around the main part of Bundaberg before returning to our cabin and readying ourselves for the fantastic evening concert.  

After checking out on Thursday morning, we drove along the coast to see some of the little townships before returning to the highway and then heading down to Hervey Bay for more time with Di.  We left her in the early evening and arrived home around 9:00pm that night.  It was a quick trip but we thoroughly enjoyed it!