The Vantastic Voyage: Kasey and Adam’s Wacky Working Holiday

Day 1 – Thursday, April 13, 2023

And we’re off. Adam and I are borrowing his Mum’s campervan for the next 10 weeks. Meet Sherwood, our trusty home and companion for the next 2.5 months:

Indeed, Marsha’s campervan looks a lot like the LEGO campervan (so I got it for Adam for his birthday):

(I was tempted to leave the LEGO hair off LEGO Adam’s head.)

Here is the rough journey we’re hoping to make:

And here’s the bit we did today:

We drove roughly 400 kilometres (almost 250 miles), splitting the driving pretty equally between us.

We left Marsha’s (Adam’s Mum’s) around 10 am. We know there will be a learning curve and adjustments to working on the road, and Adam had a phone meeting pretty much straightaway when we got into the van, so I drove the first leg. Because of some work obligations, there wasn’t much time for sightseeing on our first day. But we did stop at Hunter Belle Cheese Cafe in Muswellbrook for lunch – nobody who knows me will be surprised by this! It was my first trip to the Upper Hunter (we’ve spent most of our time in Pokolbin, Lovedale, and Broke), so I had to enjoy a glass of Upper Hunter wine. I tried a bright, crisp Verdelho from Two Rivers. Adam had a chicken and avocado sandwich (it looked like a big guacamole sandwich to me – I saw no chicken to speak of), and I had a salmon and Labelle cheese croissant. Of course, I had to buy some cheese for Sherwood’s fridge.

After lunch, we drove to Dubbo by way of Dunedoo (where I took over the driving again). Dunedoo had the first of what we know will be many painted silos:

We’ll be in Dubbo for two nights and plan to visit the famed Taronga Western Plains Zoo either tomorrow or Saturday. We’re staying at a quiet campground near the airport. We thought it might be busier since it’s school holidays, but it wasn’t too crowded when we arrived around 5:30, just before sunset:

We’re doing a bit of work now, but then we plan to break out the Champagne and some very decadent cheese from Pork Ewe Deli in Newcastle (thank you, Jill Morris and Mark Drinkwater!).

All in all, it’s been a good first day.