|
|
|
 Weekly Mailbag
A Work in Progress
 Welcome to the second edition our new feature … the Weekly Mailbag. Over the course of the average week here at Grey Nomad Central, we get scores of interesting and lively emails from you, the great travelling and wanna-be-travelling public. Finally (“what took you so long,” we hear you scream) we are delighted to offer an outlet for your take on the big and not so big stories of the week. So, without further ado, let’s dip into the inbox and see what’s been happening ….
Well, it seems we are not quite ready to let go of the ‘Should we work longer’ theme quite yet. Last week it seemed we had hit a collective nerve when we said the grey nomad lifestyle could be under threat if the ‘carry on working’ trend continued. “We don’t want to work longer, thank you very much,” you screamed. But that was then ... this week, the work if we want to crew has hit back.
John was typical. “If people want to work longer, let them ... the extra cash they build up will be necessary by the time they get here!” he writes. “My wife Andrea and I have only been 'on the road' for just over a year so we're still new at it, but we have both chosen to work online.”
The couple travels with a satellite Broadband dish and so are contactable almost everywhere.
“There's a lot of rubbishy stuff on the 'work at home' area on-line, so you have to be careful, and astute, but the supplementary income is there,” he says.
Nice one, John. As long as you are n the road and enjoying it, that’s the main thing.
One thing that many of you aren’t enjoying is the state of some of our dirt roads. Denis and Lynne got back into the caravanning lifestyle a couple of years ago when they bought an almost new pop top van and hit the road.
 One of their first trips (back in 2008) was to the Birdsville Races with a group of friends.
“On the return trip, we travelled home via Innamincka,” they write. “The dirt road from Windorah to Birdsville on the outward trip was okay but on the return trip via Innamincka, the roads were as rough as guts.”
The result … stone chips, dust in the van, smashed PVC piping under the rig … and a lesson learned. Denis and Lynne have since bought a new van but they are once bitten, twice shy.
“Dirt roads are okay if they are maintained and the users travel at sensible speeds but we are still wary about taking our new van on dirt roads,” they say. “People who prefer dirt roads, will always find a road or track to suit their desires or needs.”
And should these dirt roads be constantly upgraded to make this wonderful county of ours, especially the outback, more accessible to everyone? Oh yes, says the couple.
 Oh, and before we wrap up another mailbag, we should finish with the topic that got you more excited than any other …. dump points! We reported that Queensland was introducing a lot more dump points, and the excitement that greeted the news was reminiscent of an early days Beatles concert.
“That’s great news!” cried Ben, possibly with tears of joy running down his cheeks. “Maybe they will look at more off-road rest sites now, particularly out west where they are few and far between.”
That’s the spirit, Ben. Don’t let them rest on their laurels. After all, if you don’t ask, you don’t receive … and you are quite right, we could do with some more off-road rest sites. And another thing, says Ben. “One city that could do with a dump point is Logan, there’s only at the caravan park and you have to pay there!”
Blimey! I think we’d better end this edition before we are accused of getting too greedy. Or is greed good? What would you like to see the powers-that-be do for us the travelling public? Keep those emails coming. So, until next week … happy trails!
|
|
|
