DreamTrip

          Day41
10:00 2ltr juice from Woolworths, and went to Anderson Park for garlic bread BBQ Bfast (20c to ignite electric bbq). We spent the early afternoon relaxing at the park with the wafers and nutella, and as soon as we decided to make a move out of Young, the car battery decided to have a break! After asking a family if they had jump leads and told us no, we asked a young couple and saved our day.
14:00 Fed the car petrol to the max and made our way to Canberra. Passing through Murringo Village and Boorowa (Population 1200), we stopped at the Yass Service Centre for a good scrub in cold water, and then continued our way through Yass and Murrumbateman.
17:22 Welcome to Australian Capital Territory (ACT). Beautiful scenery, trees and hills. We drove through Canberra, and made our way to Black Mountain Peninsula. A beautiful park surrounded by trees, birds and hills in the distance. We pinpointed BBQs, and after driving to Coles for some stuff to buy, we cooked a delicious fusion of indian, chinese and italian. Butter chicken with fettucine & soy sauce & bean sprouts. Seeing one of the most beautiful scenes of the sun setting, we drove at 20:00 to a wondeful spot to eat our deserts ($1 mixed fruit salad & a $1 pineapple salad) & spend the night after driving a 190km.
Celebrating 3,370km with the Pajero
          Day42
Spent the night hearing possums and their devilish sound. Waking up at 08:00 with the sun shining bright, birds singing and the lake filled with ducks, we made our way from Acton to the Canberra Information Point. On our way we stopped to buy some engine oil from Coles Express (Shell) for $47.95. Obtaining leaflets & information on Canberra, we used the wifi there to search some jobs. Called NH & advised us that there were many cyclones which hit Australia, so many crops were destroyed. Many farmers who ended up with no crops, ended up working on other farms, hence the reason why not many backpackers are finding work at the moment. She also said it should be fine around late April/May, so hoping our luck turns some new pages.
We tried to drive around the Centre to see some of the free museums, however parking is difficult (parking meter with fees and just for a couple of minutes).
14:00 Getting hungry, we drove to Yarralumla Bay, and had some packet noodles cooked with soy sauce, green capsicum, bean sprouts & that came very delicious. Weather got very windy and cloudy, and after the tree decided to attack us with its pine nuts, we went next to the car for shelter to eat our dessert – crackers with jam.
15:30 We decided to give it another try & go somewhere. Drove to Stromlo National Park passing through the not so busy City Centre, but as soon as we got there the place was still under construction, & there was only a playground. 16:15 After getting furious with the lack of information on the map, and every museum is closed by 5, we drove to the National Arboretum & found out there was a Food talk $20 entrance at the Village, so we drove to the Arboretum next to the trees & walked around, seeing the Himalayan Cedar. We got hungry and felt like a $2 ice cream from Jacks, but as soon as we walked in the “Canberra Centre”, a plaza with lots of shops, we got told to leave as it closes at 17:30! Maccas too, and after asking if there was a Hungry Jacks around, we learned the only one in Canberra got closed down. Looking on Gumtree and Seek for jobs, sent out to 3 different people, we went to Maccas, ate a $3 Double Beef and Bacon Burger, $2 x10 chicken bites, $1 ice cone and a $1 frozen fanta.
20:40 Hanging out in City Walk, we then hit the road back at 21:15 same place as yesterday, saying what a day it was and hoping to have a better day tomorrow!
          Day43
Raining heavily, but still very hot. Due to weather conditions, we were unable to visit museums, so we drove 12km South to Fyshwick (a huge industrial estate town) to run some car diagnoses (as recomended by a mechanic back at Holbrook). 
09:00 Still raining heavily, we arranged an appointment with “Autodrive” to scan our car for $88.
10:00 Drove to Manuka, close to Central Canberra, & stopped at Telopea Park, then drove to Coles & bought: 350g Tiger Baguette ($1.70), Cheddar ($2.76), 4 slices Mortadella Olive ($1.57), a beautiful 195g Cheese Onion & Chive Cream Cheese ($3.15) and a tomato. Eating the baguette back in the car for brunch, we decided to drive to Hume to compare other prices, however the recomended mechanic was fully booked too.
Sun shining bright and very hot. Received a call to work for a company distributing white pages, 35c per book. We advised we’ll give it some thought & call him back. Meanwhile around 14:00 we drove to the Info Point to have a cold shower in a luxurious bathroom, charged our electronics, & continued our job hunt. Called National Harvest who provided us with a number for grape picking. After calling the guy, Tom, & telling us he cannot promise a fixed wage either by box or per hour as it depends on our performance, we called back NH who did not have further numbers to contact. Messaging Tom to advise him we need some sort of pay confirmation, he called in snapping saying what was the problem & that he will decide just before paying us how much he can pay us, after we have done all the work! After further consideration & emails sent out, we decided to give the White Pages job a chance, & booked with Paul a meeting for Thursday 11am in Beard.
17:30 We drove to IGA & bought eggs and peppered steak, drove to Black Mountain & started cooking an amazing omelette made out of 50g fussilli, 50g linguine, 6 eggs, green capsicums, cheddar, the cheese onion & chive cream cheese along with parsley, mixed herbs, & the peppered steak, & enjoyed stuffing our faces whilst watching the sunset. We then drove down towards the lake to sleep for the night where once again the starry sky was lit up!
          Day44
Early morning at 07:15, left to Fyswick, dropped off the car at “AutoDrive”, then walked around the town going in multiple camping, adventure & campervan shops. Bought a $1 Mango slush from Hungry Jacks, then made our way to BCF & bought new snorkel gear for just $49.99 each! Receiving a call from the mechanic around 12:15, we made our way & were advised that we need to fix a switch, and that another check needs to be run after. He told us he will call us once he tries contacting people to get a cheaper switch as they usually are sold in pairs, & after walking around the block, told us that the earliest he would be able to obtain one was tomorrow morning.
13:00 Left with the car & after finding nothing good from IGA, went to Coles and bought mixed bbq grill (2burgers, sausages & 4beef) for $9.17, bread roll for $1.70, & 155g DairyMilk honeycomb Bubbly, then drove to Telopea Park in the beautiful hot sunny weather where we enjoyed a relaxed bbq with desert.
16:00 Made our way to Queanbayen (Population 41,000) & stopped at the Info Point to see whats on & also enquired about some Laundry Services, however told us there was only one. Went to check the laundry in Stephens Road, but found out it only operates between Thursday to Monday.
Went to Molonglo Gorge Nature Reserve in the Kowen Pine Forest at 18:00 where we would be spending the night, & upon arriving we saw around 8 roos with cute Joeys all hopping around. We relaxed in the peaceful reserve till around 21:00, just before we hit the bed & went to sleep.
          Day45
Alarm set off at 06:45, and by 07:15 made our way to Fyswick once again. Left the car at the mechanic, & advised we needed the car by 10:15 to go to our new job at 11am. Left at 08:15, walked to Maccas and just surfed the net till 09:45 and made our way to see if the car was ready. The switch still hadn’t arrived! Debatting whether he should assemble the car or not to go to work, at 10:05 the mechanic went to collect the switch and arrived by 10:15. Running very late, by 10:35 the switch was in place, but did not have anytime to check if it worked properly or not, so had to leave and bring the car again tomorrow to run some final checks. Made it by 11am! Punctual for the meeting. Met up with Paul who seemed very happy we were Maltese, and after given a slideshow by Darren on how to distribute the books properly on people’s doorstep, we fitted 44 packs of three yellow pages each (132 books), opt out cards (for people who did not want to receive the books anymore and states they can rejoin anytime) and some plastic bags for weather conditions, we left Beard at 12:30 for our first journey.
27km drive to Evatt, 01:15, we started off with our first road – Copland Drive. Seeing a range from 190-229 of books which need to be delivered, we had to distribute only 7 books according to the route. We called up Paul and were advised to just follow the route and distribute 7 books, chosen at random.
Meeting people and being thanked, it seems people love white pages here. After delivering a particular one, home business, and hearing blues/jazz music coming from the house, the door opened and advised that she hadn’t received white pages in over 6 years and that she never got the opportunity to see her own advertisement. Telling me her ad looks amazing, she said she was a mind therapist, and one of her clients who was physically impared had trouble concentrating, and that type of music helps his mind and body act together. She was a lovely lady who helped a pretty few people this way.
We distributed 132 books by 18:00, drove to IGA in Evatt, bought a $3 Orange Juice, Steak $9.17 and green capsicum $1.61 then made our way to Molonglo Reach District Park at Russell, a boat ramp, where we cooked Linguine with Steak and Romano Sauce. Having leftover bread and feeding some neighbouring geese, we ate the delicious meal at around 19:30, crawled up in our bed by 20:00, and wondered how we will fit 400books at the back of the car!
          Day46
Alarm set off at 7am again. Got ready, & drove to Fyswick to the mechanic to run some final checks. Meanwhile we went to Supercheap Auto, bought a bottle for Oil Stabilizer ($17.90), then went to Subway around 09:45 ate a foot long Italian Herb toasted breakfast, filled with Bacon, cheese & eggs, a double chocolate & a white chocolate cookie & fanta for ($10.30). After obtaining a free refill, we then went to NAB, ATM was being serviced so went to withdraw money from inside. We visited the mechanic for an update, however he wasn’t there, so we collected the laptop, went to Maccas for a $1 chocolate cone whilst surfing gumtree. We received a call from the mechanic saying its all good to go. Paid the mechanic $350, and by 12:30 drove fast to Beard to start our 2nd day of work. Upon arriving, we were advised that those ranges which had more than the books specified had to be delivered and not chosen. Not to sound rude and blame the manager already on the 2nd day that he advised us to skip them, we picked up yday’s route (Evatt – on the way) & todays in Mckellar. Stuffed the car up with 420 books, could not fit another book, and left.
14:15 started distributing the remaining books (12 in total), then made our way down to Mckellar.
15:00 Beautiful town, lots of circuit roads and amazing huge houses, with never endimg drive ins and lovely front gardens. Started off with William Webb Drive, and found it weird howthough they all have cameras installed, majority of the houses leave their front door open. One in particular had just a net door, and walked in her living door by mistake thinking it was her shed door! Abandoned cars and trucks in their drive way, a maze to get to their door, this village was high class but all those people who we spoke to, were very friendly and outgoing and very thankful. All circuits are cut off from other roads, and to get from one to another circuit there was no way apart from the main road to get to them. By 20:00 decided to stop distributing as the sun went down and couldn’t see properly. We were still half way through the route!
We pulled over to Palmerville Heritage Park, a park next to one of the last circuits we distributed, Jeanne Young Circuit. We were tired, so we cooked three quick packet noodles (after only eating subway in the morning) and moved the remaining books in the front seats. Went to bed at 21:15, and within a few minutes, we slept immediately due to exhaustion.
           Day47
No alarm for Saturday today! However by 08:00 we had already started moving the White Pages at the back of the car to continue yesterday’s route! Hard times working on a Saturday! Feeling all revved up & ready to distribute the remaining 45 packs (135books), we crossed the road from where we were staying, to Kitty Mcewan Circuit & started placing the books on the hinge side of the door as told or in baskets hanged at the gates. We worked faster today, & by 12:30 we were ready & on our way to the warehouse to turn in both our routes. On the way, we stopped at Fyswick to buy the oil cap as we must have lost it, from Supercheap Auto for $13.98.
We calculated it is 45c for every book, not 35c as stated, & if all goes well with their quality random calls & the people do confirm it has been received, we should be able to earn between us $65.70 Route #575 (Evatt) & $183.15 Route #571 (Mckellar), before tax. Darren told us we were doing a great job, but told him we will skip today & Sunday to run errands & relax. We drove to Queanbeyan, found the laundry open & washed all the dirty smelly clothes (washes $6, $6, tumble dry $6). Using actual fire in the dryer to heat up the clothes, whilst getting the clothes out of the dryer, a huge smoke filled up the room with a burning smell. The owner ran to check what it was, & switched on fans, but apparently it was only a switch and this rarely happens. After having a fright we will end up with no clothes, we drove to the Information Point, had a very good scrub, then drove to Woolworths. Coming across K-mart and seeing what they sell, its a very huge shop selling everything cheap! Very similar to Big W. Buying candy for $4 for energy throughout our routes, went to Woolworths, packed with people and panic in the air. Not ideal to shop on a Saturday around 17:00.
Finally we could eat something decent without any rush of getting dark and just relax. Drove to Ray Morton Park, cooked Spagetti with Chicken Romano Sauce, mushrooms, green capsicum and salad. Calculating it costs us around $3 each everytime we cook, we went around the corner to a very American diner looking Hungry Jacks, for a beautiful $2 Oreo Storm at 18:40. Filling a survey to get a free hamburger (will use it another time hopefully), we chilled outside in the car. Thinking it was a Saturday night & we deserve a good night, we drove to Mason Street, & found “Tourist Hotel” pub. A live band “The Jukebox” playing at the background, we drank schooners of (x2) XXXL Gold (x1) Carlton Dry and (x1) Toohey’s New for $21.60. Seeing a group of drunk guys at a bachelors party, with one of the guys wearing a pink tutu, we got to know from two of them that apparently they do this every week. Laughing at their doings, the security guard couldn’t handle them and with a smile had to kick them out. We later drove to three possible parkings around 22:30 were we can sleep, however decided to go back to Molongo Gorge Nature Reserve, a 4km drive, to get a well deserve rest and a good night’s sleep for a relaxed Sunday.
          Day48
Very misty, cloudy, and humid. Seeing kangaroos jumping around at 07:00. We chilled till 11:00, then drove to the Information Centre to see if there are any weekend events. What a hot day all of a sudden! The lady at the Info was very helpful and bubbly. Got to know it goes up to 40degrees in summer, and -5degrees in winter here in Queanbayen. Also locals cannot be seen wearing a jumper till ANZAC (25th April) otherwise they will be considered as tourists. Another tradition here is that you cannot plant tomatoes before till after Easter. She also provided many routes, papers, maps and suggestions where to go these couple of weeks.
13:00 went to Woolworths & bought $32.05 worth of food. Then made our way to Ray Morton Park & cooked a delicious bowl of rice salad with five beans, sweetcorn, smoked tuna in oil, tuna in sundried tomato & capers, all mixed with mayonnaise. We obviously craved a dessert, so around 14:00 drove to Hungry Jacks for the $2 Oreo Storm.
17:00 We drove around to find a good place to sleep, however when we drove to Fairbairn Forest but couldnt find a good parking spot, we decided to go back to Molonglo Gorge Nature Reserve. This time in a different parking spot, surrounded with beautiful birds, & no kangaroos. We relaxed till around 20:00, and went to bed early to get ready for a week’s work hopefully, after not working around 9 Mondays!
          Day49
Early morning strawberry jam crackers mmmm. Delicious bfast. By 09:30 we drove to Beard to get started, & on our way received a call as we got chosen to work as a waitress and kitchen hand, however when asked if we are available for a few years & said the truth (Visa till February 2016) they said they will decide & call back. Lost opportunity for saying the truth. We collected 3 (what seemed at the time) easy routes, packed away 375 books and left by 09:55. We first drove to Jerrabomberra, then realised that we were in the South to were we need to distribute.
10:45 finally arrived to the correct place, we started distributing Route #599 but realised majority of the houses we had were actually businesses, in large Units, with Ranges of 300, but only needed to distribute 1 book. Farms with a huge drive in (and cute puppies!) which take us 15mins to deliver one book, & businesses need to be handed personally, obtain a business card or siganture as proof too. It was very time consuming, & after 4 hours we only managed to distribute 95 (one of which was a motel and required 52 books on her own). Looking back, we still had over 250 books left in the car, and majority of the businesses close around 17:00.
15:00 Started Route #550 Canberra Airport. Huge units, huge companies, long corridors and many steps. Most of them did want more than one so it would be worth it, but most companies declined as they use google, that means time consumed wasted. Delivering to companies such as Cisco, Government Offices, KPMG, Fire&Rescue, KFC, Australian Police Force and 7/11.
17:00 and finding companies closed. Deciding it would be best to stop the route rather than confused to which ones we had given, we were still on half way through the first road (Brindabella Circuit). Looking back, we still had around 207 books left. We left, drove to Coles in Manura, bought some Chicken and drove to Molongo Reach to enjoy the rest of the remaining day. We somehow managed to stack most of the books beneath the matress, the remaining in the front seat. Having the geese again around our legs, we cooked some beautiful Satay Chicken with Spaghetti, mixed vegetables & Sweetcorn, & watched another breathtaking sunset around 19:00, till it was too dark and snuggled in bed to continue a busy and troublesome route tomorrow!
          Day50
Waking up in beautiful hot & sunny weather by 07:30, made strawberry cracker bfast, got all books ready and made our way to Canberra Airport once again. We finished off yesterday’s road, then started speeding up on other smaller roads and circuits. We walked in to Majura Park Shopping Centre with a trolley filled with over 30 books, and delivered to shops such as Woolworths, Toys R Us, Opporo, and other food/clothes/gym shops. Very hot & sunny. We ate some small packets and bought a $1 Sour Fanta Slush, then around 14:00 continued some last few roads. Stressing out on GoogleMaps, Google and Navigation to find some last few shops, we finished by 16:00! We decided to skip the third Route (costing only $21!) as we did not have enough books (for about 8books) and calculated we had done atleast $80 each for these two routes. Driving back to the warehouse, we gave in the two completed routes, and returned the Pialligo Route as it would not be worthit driving all the way up there for just $21. We also returned some 28 extra books, and picked up another one for tomorrow again in Evatt. Hoping its a good route, we drove to Woolworths in Queanbayen around 17:00, and drove to Molonglo Nature Reserve to cook the same as yesterday, Rice this time. Watching the sunset again whilst we’re eating, we set an early alarm for tomorrow to start early and hopefully finish a route all in one day!
          Day51
Waking up to the birds singing, bfast, and by 08:30 off! Feeding the car $40 petrol from BP (30.81l), and rushing to head to Beard, we realised we forgot the petrol cap back at the petrol station! Turning back, and luckily enough finding it, then headed to the warehouse and arrived at 09:15. We booked another route for tomorrow, and by 09:35 we got 210 books ready in the car and took off to Evatt.
10:15 Started off with the easy streets, then finished with the longest – Carlile Street (95books). By 13:15, we distributed 190books in total. Just four of which home businesses, and just 20books extra. Earning roughly $88.32 for both of us in just 3 hours.
Drove to Queanbeyan Info Point, refreshing shower then off to Coles to buy food ($18.60). Receipts have offers, and this time’s offer had a $10 off James Boag’s x6 375ml beer. Out of Coles, and in Liquorland. Went out of the shop with a six pack costing only $10.50 from $20.50.
15:30 Drove to Molonglo Gorge Reserve and after bbq-ing, ate a wonderful meal of Lamb&Mint Burgers (x4), with Honey Sausages (x4) and salad, downing it with the beer. Chilling for another hour with an amazing view of the sun slowly going down, we drove to the other end of the park, sat down on the car bonnet drinking beer. A relaxing day after these past few hectic days. Looking forward to getting to the beach, and discussing our next destination after finishing this job, we went to bed around 20:15 hoping tomorrow will be an easy route as today’s and hopefully finish it within the day.
          Day52
By 08:00 we left the park, & drove to Beard. Both Darren and Paul had left back to Melbourne. Packing our 360 books, Nancy (Manager) advised us for future reference to work on our own, rather than Paul. After enquiring exactly the difference, and getting to know that we will just receive 35c per book, and the rest of each book to Paul, we gave Paul a ring just outside the warehouse. When enquired about the price if per written on paper or his initial agreement (did not mention Nancy as she wasn’t meant to), he started snapping, yelling, & swearing what our problem was. He said the agreement was 35c & to ignore the price on paper. Telling him he should have advised us before when Darren said the price changes depending how far the books are for (consider petrol) & type of delivery, Paul kept going on the defensive mode sounding he wasalready prepared for a discussion like this. After hanging up with frustration, & several calls & messages going on for an hour telling him we should have been advised & this was misleading of information & exploitism (getting infact a $160 less in pay), we placed the books back into the warehouse. The guys knew what a type of guy Paul was. A sub contractor, a business man & does this for a living. They hated the guy, & congratulated us when we filed a report with the company. Nancy provided details for book distributing all around Australia, & even though Paul said he banned our number, not to work these coming weeks & will make sure not to work with PDC anymore, Nancy confirmed it was all bluff & had no right. Paul called her, advised of the situation & Nancy told him that people were not stupid & we have a point. He said he’ll pay us 0.40c each book instead – $44 loss each atleast. Nancy advised us to leave for the day, & return back & work directly for them who pay fairly according to what the paper states. She said to return Tuesday (closed for Easter), & think about it as she did like our work. 12:00 left, & drove to Hungry Jacks in Queanbeyan to get the free burger (& filled out another survey for another free burger for next time). As their ice cream machine was broken, we drove to McD, ate a $1 ice cone & tried searching for white pages distributions around Oz and their starting months.
13:30 Drove to Coles, bought food&beer and enjoyed a relaxed meal at Ray Morton Park (“hot dogs” in buns & wraps filled with sausages, baked beans, corn, onions & salad – Amazing!).
18:00 We needed a change. We started heading to Tallaganda State Forest, with a red sunset once again, & a 50minute drive into the very dark forest. Hundreds of insects hitting against the windscreen, & finally around 20:00 we arrived. In the middle of the dark forest. Noises everywhere, pitch black & no GPS signal, reception or 3g. Opening up our x6 James Boag’s beer, we lighted an open fire pit. Picturesque. A car drove in, & got to know there was a group of 15 other people from Sydney coming to camp here and go bouldering for the weekend. Assisting them with putting up their 9person tent, we relaxed looking at the open fire till around 22:30, until it slowly died down.
          Day53
What a lazy day it has been. Getting out of bed at 09:00, spent a day collecting wood, burning it & sitting on bark trees. A whole day with the campsite to ourselves. Tried out the hammock & tested out both tents. We packed the 2 man tent, & decided will sleep in the other tent tonight. We also tried the Jaffo-Line, which basically is similar to a toastie, but you put this directly over the open fire. Chilled weather, we cooked Lamb Souvlaki Wraps around 15:30 on the bbq, & kept the fire going on the open fire pit. The Sydney University gang came back from bouldering around 18:00, & spent the night talking about our plans, met a Swiss-French guy & German girl studying here, and Australians with Korean, German and Armenian background. We gathered around the huge open fire pit, warming ourselves, listening to music, sitting on logs, just like in a film. Who would have thought we would socialize in the middle of the forest!
          Day54
What a heavy night of rain. No idea of time, waking up & getting out of the tent. The place was all wet, so trying to make some fire was a hard but accomplished task. We later decided to drive to the centre to buy some food. Joining the Sydney guys to drive all the way out to Queanbeyan (some rough winding 40km just to get out of the park), we heard a huge noise and looking outside in the side mirrors, could see the surfboard dangling from just one strap and almost flying away. After stopping to tie it up again, we came to realise the below part actually cracked and broke in two seperate pieces.
We made it to Coles, bought the necessary along with James Boag’s x6 ($10.50 offer once again), filled up our water bottles and tanks, & by 13:00 were back at the campsite. Cooking Mongolian Lamb with Spaghetti and Fettucine, we spent a rough 5 hours talking and discussing and sharing history, laws, politics, and exchanging information on countries. Learning about the local Eucalyptus Gumtree and its way of seeding by being easily flammable, dangerous insects, and local animals and food, trying out several attempts on the Slackline, tasting Jatz & Australian wine, the rest of the day flew by. By evening we made some toasts using the Jaffo, filled with Cheese, Salad, Sausages, Mayonnaise, Garlic, Parsley and Pepper. Originally you were meant to just cook them with slices of cheese on all sides & bread. One complimented to why he loved Tourists, as after we learn the local stuff, we manage to teach Ozzies something different with a mixture of culture along with it.
Also sharing the cooked sausages with the Jaffo, the night wasamazing and the atmosphere was great. Spending till midnight surrounding the fire, it was obvious of a fascinating common thing between humans, no matter the background, country, culture, age or profession. Once a fire is lit up, it unites everyone just by sitting around it & staring at it.
          Day55
Heavy rain during the night. Made bfast (Jaffos with salad, cheese and frankfurters) and went to try out Bouldering with the gang. After a few tries, it was a success, but then it started to drizzle. As soon as we got in the car, it rained heavily, and made our way to the campsite around 16:00. Turned the hour back (only 8hours difference now between Malta & Australia), and cooked some Frankfurters in Wraps. More students from Sydney joined later on, and another two exchange students from Belarus and Russia.
Spent the evening sat down next to the fire, continued exchanging information on languages and history, and before we knew it, we started getting sleepy and everyone went back to the camps by 23:45.
          Day56
By 08:00 everyone was awake & packed the camps. Drove to the Black Mountain Trail once again, and this time just watched the guys Boulder. Around 12:00, unfortunately, we said our farewells, and drove towards Queanbeyan. It was a funny coincidence how we met each other, however we had a great Easter camping, relaxed, and learned cultural things from several countries and also tried new things.
We came across a dead wombat on our way out of the park. Suddenly, it started raining heavily. The wipers weren’t catching up to the wind and rain, and couldn’t see much driving, but at least it washed our car clean from all the mud and dirt.
We enjoyed a good wash at the Info Point, wiped the car clean from remaining mud and dirt from the inside, then made our way to the Tourist Hotel just around the corner. Coles’ receipt had an offer on a “Buy One Get One Free” Meal. We ended up buying $28 Scotch Fillet with Chips, and $33 (Surf & Turf) 3 Medallions with King Prawns on top and wedges. Amount paid: $33!
15:15 Walking out with our bellies full, we drove to Hungry Jacks for the Storm, but the machine was still not working. So drove to Maccas, and bought a Large Hot Fudge Sundae ($3.60) & x2 Caramel Cones. After an hour and a half on the internet and checking out some work related stuff, we made our way to Molonglo Gorge, and chilled till it was dark for an early good night’s sleep in our cozy bed tonight.
          Day57
Woke up to blue skies after a stormy and cold night.
08:00 About to make some jam crackers for bfast, when suddenly we see a spider on top of the back door (later got to know it’s a Huntsman Spider). As we tried to swoosh it away, it made it’s way inside the car. After 2 and a half hours of pulling out all the boxes, clothes, and cleaning out all the back and front stuff, we still had no luck in finding the spider. We placed all the stuff back in its place, made some crackers, and around 10:45 drove to Beard.
All the crew were happy to see us back in continuing our job with distributing white pages – this time working independently. We filled out some forms, booked some routes, when all of a sudden it started raining heavily. Grey clouds filled the sky, and seemed like the weather wouldn’t open up any time soon. We decided to miss the route today (it was getting late anyway), and we made our way to Fyswick. We filled the tank at AutoBasics, and drove to Maccas for some wifi. Calling National Harvest, and getting no new fruit picking jobs, the car battery went dead. Interesting. The rain was still pouring, and decided to keep on trying, till finally it switched back on! Running around Fyswick to charge the battery, we drove to the mechanic to order the previously said switch, and drove to Queanbeyan – KFC.
14:20 Ordering 9pieces, large potato gravy, large fries & 4 dinner rolls for $17.95, and two Krushers (Kookies N Kream & Dark Hazelnut) for another $7.90.
16:00 Freezing cold. Thinking whether the spider is building her nest or not at the back of the car, we drove to a Laundry (not self service) and washed for $6, dried for 30mins $7.20. Rain still did not stop, we drove to Molonglo Gorge Reserve, on the way filled up $40.20 worth of petrol, and by 18:10, it was already dark. As soon as we laid in bed, we suddenly see the spider crawling on the ceiling, and after trying to shoo it out out of the window, it ran away once again! Thinking we’ll end up waking in the middle of the night with the spider on our faces, we finally saw it again, put a bag around it, ran out of the car, threw it away and sprinted back in the car. Discussing how far away it ran from when we first saw it, to when we caught it, we see another small grey spider. Seriously?! We threw that out of the window, locked ourselves in, when suddenly it started raining heavily again. 7 degrees. Hoping tomorrow we will see some sun and blue skies, we can finally say we rested and slept in peace.
          Day58
No visiting spiders today. By 08:00 we had aleady made our way to work – Beard – and after finding closed roads and multiple diversions, arrived by 08:30. We were given an easy route (a 10 minute drive) to deliver 105 books to Sundown Best Western in Symonston ($50). Forgetting 3 books back at the warehouse, we turned back, loaded another 360books for a new route, and after dropping off those three at Sundown, we drove 17km to get to Holder – Weston Creek.
10:00 Started delivering the books on Hyndes Crescent. Most business which were marked as 1 book, took 5 and 10 instead. Unfortunately, at 16:00 on our last street, we realised we were 4 books short. Driving back to the warehouse at 16:40, we found Nancy almost closing the shutter (just a metre open!). Picking up the remaining 4 books, we drove to Queanbeyan to cook some delicious frankfurters with Fettucine, salad & Siciliano Sauce. Filling up our starving stomachs, by 17:30 we started heading back to Holder to deliver those 4 books on Dixon Drive. As an incentive, all last remaining few routes had an extra 15c on each book, so we managed to make $219.48 between us (0.59c/bk). Watching the red sunset, we drove to Canberra to get a change of sleeping location. We tried heading to a different park, but ended up at Black Mountain Peninsula instead, and by 19:15, we had already parked our car next to the lake to start the morning with a beautiful view.
          Day59
Blue skies & a sunny morning. 08:45, at the warehouse, were offered an extra route which was on our way, to be delivered to Hall. Departed with 201 big white pages books, & took 32 packs (x22 in each) of “In the Car” Yellow Pages (total 704books) for the two new routes.
At 09:30 delivered the 201 books to Hall Post Office after driving 31km, & after getting delayed due to the incorrect amount ordered, we left & drove a rough 7km to Evatt – Copland Drive by 10:30. Planning out the route & eating jam crackers, we merged both routes together, & managed to distribute the majority of the yellow pages to people’s letterboxes.
16:00, needed to fuel the car & fuel ourselves with food, so we decided to distribute the last 4 roads after we eat. Fuelled the car from Coles Express for $88.80, then drove to Woolworths Charnwood $12.35 – $4 of which was worth of chocolates.
16:40 Arrived at Palmerville Park in Mckellar, and cooked a very yummy meal of Mongolian Lamb with Penne. Munching on chocolate fingers, we made our way to the last few letterboxes to distribute around 17:30, but it was slightly more difficult to see the letterboxes with the sun already set, and a few lamposts and light. We managed to finish off everything by 19:00, then drove to Molonglo Reach to spend the night. Hopefully (lets always play it safe till we see the money in the account) we made $100.80 and $101.40 including the morning $21.
Sidenote: Still finding it amazing how people drive on these highways and roads, how everyone obeys all rules, and everyone follows the signs. Even at dusk, the cars speed but all follow the road signs and regulations, and will know for a fact that driving back in Malta will be difficult!
          Day60
Heating water on the bbq for coffee and making strawberry jam crackers by 06:45. We drove 10km to Beard, packed 35 yellow pages packs of 22each, & after discussing possible future work with the crew, made our way to Belconnen. Bought some oil for the car from Supercheap Auto, then started a route by 09:45. Having to deliver all books at letterboxes, and most of them were apartments instead of doorsteps, by 11:45 we distributed 434 books. 131.70bucks in 2 hours! We got the other route started off from Maribyrnong Ave. Whilst distributing books, and seeing beautiful front gardens, colourful parrots, huge trees, barking dogs and purring cats, and gorgeous townhouses, we came across a guy who upon giving the book, friendly enough gave us about 9 mangos. By 14:45, remaining 329 books were all at their owners, calculated $102.30. We drove to Charnwood, and treated ourselves to a 12″ Subway Club Italian Herb, 6″ Mexican Chicken Honey Oat, 32oz Fanta and 2 Cookies for $13.45 (Discount of a free 6″ using Woolworths Receipt). We then made our way to Maccas for a dollar Frozen Sour Watermelon. We saw a guy being strangled by two policeman, who apparently made a run when the police dog chased him, and tried to drive off with the policeman holding onto his mirror.
16:30 Returned the routes back to the warehouse, and drove off to Hungry Jacks. Two $2 Cookies and Cream (mixed with Flake), and updating all records necessary. A very friendly old lady, Christine, sat next to us to show her how to work her new laptop. After a few basic lessons and setting up her laptop more efficient and friendly, we got to know that she lived in Queanbeyan & that it was known as the poor town to Canberra. Also 600mm of rain at most per year rained, & that what we saw last weekend (continuous rain for 3 days, was a very rare happening. Getting hints on where to go and what to see in the surrounds, we later drove to Woolworths, BWS then Coles. Scavenging through receipts in bins to find new deals and good offers, we bought x6 Hahn Dry – $10 with the offer, King Island Dairy Cheese – $2.50, & Jatz crackers – $2. All from different shops & comparing prices. We quickly drove to Molonglo Gorge, sat in the car enjoying the delicious Ozzy styled Jatz crackers with cheese, downing with the beer in the very moonlit sky and starry nights celebrating our 2 months from leaving beautiful Malta!
          Day61
We have:
Settled in a different continent 18hours flight away from home, learned new customs, use slang words, bought a car, drove to SA to register it & down through the Great Ocean Road, got scammed twice with work, found a good work opportunity throughout Australia, learned to live with washing ourselves once a week, getting tips from locals, a laundry is a life saver, living in a car, eating once a day, no fridge/freezer, abusing of discounts & offers, outdoor plugs is a gift from heaven, dying of heat or cold in the car, being thankful of toilets, washing your dirty feet at McDonalds’ sink, learning to watch out for jumping kangaroos on a main road, having a spider in the car which is “not that deadly”, & learning how to spot good places to sleep overnight.
A good two months today  Making it to the warehouse to work some cash, we got the Higgins Route, departed 28km with 270books, but once we started distributing, we realised most houses had the yellow pages still on their doorstep. Asking around, and getting to know most had theirs previously delivered, we drove back to the warehouse as ordered by the manager Nancy, & still got paid $94.18 for going out and for petrol. We were given a new task with the books we had in the car, & at 12:00 drove to Canberra Outlet, distributed 126 by 15:00, and were still left with the majority in the car till Monday! Trying our luck to see if the warehouse is still open, we were advised it will be at 18:30.
We got to know that a two liner advert on yellow pages cost $10,000 per year, a small picture $45,000 and a full page is $100,000! A cost of $500,000 if you wanted the back cover. 16:30 Buying from Woolworths, we drove to the Info Point, cooked 300g Penne with Siciliana Sauce, 400g chicken and salad. Amazing. Eating a Cadbury Milk & Dream, we got a fresh shower, and at 18:00 drove to the warehouse to get rid of the extra books. Exchanging numbers with an Ozzie Couple who contract people with them to work on distributing the yellow pages around Australia, we then went back to the Info Point, chilled till it was around 20:30 and hit a local pub “Walsh’s Hotel”. Pub’s here have a Hotel label after their name, not because they actually offer accommodation, but to distinguish themselves as live music, and offer food as a pub.
Requesting the ID card to go in for a change, we watched Dirty Byrd playing and drank 5 beers – Carlton Dry ($5.80) & XXXX Gold ($5.40), & nibbling on spring rolls, dumplings and somoza’s. This was the first time we saw a bar offering appetizers.
By midnight we were getting tired, and walked back to the Info Point to sleep for the night and hoping no police from the station exactly opposite us will make us drive away.
          Day62
Making our way to Woolworths just right after the church bells rang, we bought $24.50 worth of food, and drove to Googong Dam. On our way we passed Huai, an on display village – a whole village still being built, and interestingly enough could see different houses and their building stages.
We arrived at Googong Dam Lookout around 12:00. Built and finished in 1975-1979, it is located on the Queanbeyan River, capacity 124,000 million litres. It is the fourth dam to be built to serve ACT, and it is more expensive to pump and treat than the Cotter system, so it is only used as a supplement if other dams can not meet the demand in summer. We sat, drinking chocolate milk and overlooking the Dam. Walked around then, drove off to another lookout, then went down to “Drumstick Point”. We saw that fishing was permitted, and quickly grabbed the fishing rod to speak with someone to tell us if we have everything in order. Meeting a family of wife, a biker husband and two sons, we were told everything we had was in order, and that fish such as Rainbow Trout, Golden Perch, Murray Cod and Silver Perch swim in these waters. After seeing rangers however (you need a license to fish), and seeing it was 14:00 already, we decided to skip the attempt of fishing, and cook.
Parking at Downstream Picnic Area, we prepared and fried 800g of chicken breast, sliced, dipped in herbs and eggs and covered in breadcrumb and fresh sliced chips. After speaking to some 3 guys and being tipped on places and a huge event not to miss, we left around 16:45 after also being lectured on Jesus Christ and how to save our souls from all evil (it’s funny how these type of people will be very friendly at the beginning to lure you in their discussion).
17:00 Stopped by Hungry Jacks for a $1 Mango Slush and backing up all necessary docs, then drove to the Info Point and par-boiled the last three eggs as a “late night” snack around 20:30, dipping in toasted bread.
As the sun sets early (18:00), its funny how we get to bed early between 20:00 and 21:00, thinking it’s late as it’s so dark for the last couple of hours. We need our good night’s rest however if we are to deliver around 700books tomorrow!
          Day63
07:15 and sun shining bright already. Someone was using the bbq this morning, so no boiling water for the coffee. This guy seemed as if his whole house was on his bike (backpack, utensils, food, tent, etc).
After sorting some car stuff out, we left and arrived at the warehouse around 09:00. Speaking to Nancy, our supervisor, she was explaining how students here go to school for 8weeks, 2weeks off, another 9weeks, 2weeks off, and another 8weeks, but how the new prime minister wants to introduce a Saturday as a 6th day schoolday. She was also telling us how multicultured her family was – her being half aboriginal, her husband African/American, and three children all born infifferebt countries and places! Learning some new words:
Asian – MunaMuna (Mana-Mana)
White – Wadugula (Wad-jula)
Cool – Mooditj (Moo-ditch)
Poop – Goona (Goo-na)
We planned out 3 routes together, and by 10:00 left a 23km drive to Giralang with 880books. Starting off with Antares Crescent, by 16:50 we distributed 754books calculating up to $232.80 both. Drove to Belconnen and bought some Steak and Sausages at Food Forum inside Westfield Plaza. Around 18:00 we started cooking at Nengu Bamir (Ne-ngi-mir) a beach which in Ngunnawal means “see far” (view). Ate Cracked Pepper Garlic and Herb Sausages (x4)($3.52), 430g Round Steak ($8.08), with onions at the side and barbeque sauce. Eating peanuts ($2.99 for 500g!), hearing the beautiful birds singing, and looking at the sunset, we relaxed till 19:30 before we drove back down to Molonglo Reach to sleep for the night and not knowing what work we have for us tomorrow as we had no routes booked. Hoping for the best and that we have some work.
          Day64
Waking up next to the three cute geese at 07:15, we got ready and drove to work. Meet an australian couple who own a 1991 Pajero, Karen & Lyndon, & gave us a few tips on the car, who also took a look at the engine to see if everything is in order. We also said our goodbyes to a french couple who these passed few days ran into them quite a few times at the warehouse, and who also gave us some tips on work and places to visit. Selling their car for $6,000 and leaving Australia just after 9months (did not visit East Cost) because the girl got tired of sleeping in the car, they also gave us a baby trolly since they won’t be needing it anymore. What a pity. We talked with Nancy, the forklifter driver Tony, and a very nice & funny Indian guy Nash, for quite a while. We packed 6 boxes of ITC (In The Car), & 12 packs of big White Pages. Started off in Lyons, distributed 99 books in 30mins, then drove to Tuggernong, to see if there were any books to be distributed followed by Hindmarsh drive. We realised we had quite a few doors to distribute to, & finishing half way through using our new pushchair, we had to drive 20km back down to the warehouse to get more books. Around 14:00, packed 63 books, drove back to Hindmarsh drive, delivering a total of 101 books. Returning to the warehouse at 15:30, but finding it closed, we made our way to Dominos and bought Cheesy Crust Deluxe & Deep Pan Beef and Onion for $15.95 and went to Waniassa Park to eat the pizzas while enjoying the sunset. Chilled for a while at the park and went to Hungry Jacks for a $2 cookies and cream Storm, and decided that we can try and spend the night at Ray Morton’s car park hopefully without being told off.
          Day65
Waking up by 07:15, making coffee on the bbq and jam crackers. We called the Super Annuation AMP to obtain our policy number and to enquire how it actually works and how to obtain the money at the end of the Visa. We were advised that everytime we work, unless contract states otherwise, the employer always pays a 9.5% for the Super Annuation (Pension Scheme – nothing to do with tax) which we can obtain once we leave the country. Proof of Expired or Leaving Visas are needed, however if we have more than $5000, we need to go the Immigration Office and obtain a document from them. This is easy just because we are Maltese and have an agreement with Oz. Otherwise more forms and proofs are required. Making our way to Beard at 09:30, we got to speak to Lyndon and Karen again who provided a map with highlights for our next destination after Yellow Pages is done. We also got invited for dinner at 6:30 at a local bar in Kingston. Packing away 76 packs of three of Yellow Pages (combining three routes) we made our way to Canberra City. After delivering 16 in two different streets, when we got to the actual City Centre, we could not understand how the street and signs were set up, parking, and signs to most business. We realised that the route was actually all in a University (didn’t look like much of a Uni to be honest), and when we got the hang of it, we distributed 179 books within receptions, lecture rooms, and accomodations (most in heavy rain but amazingly very hot).
14:30 Back to the warehouse, we got rid of 2 packs, then left to go to the Canberra Outlet in Fyshwick. We ate from Mamak’s Mongolian around 15:30, & bought to share Coconut Milk Beef Satay & Butter Milk Chicken (Ayam Goreng Mentega) with Noodles, and Beef Rendang (Rendang Daging Lembu) & Kuchting Chicken (Ayam Penyet) with Ginger Rice. Both for $12. Beautiful. We visited JB’ Hi-fi then, looking at portable speakers and laptops and all electronic things you can think of, then walked to a discounted retail shop called Cotton On. Buying a light black summery dress for $10, we quickly ran back to the car, then after some Skype calls, realised time was pressing.
18:00 got to the Information Point, quick shower, and by 18:40 we parked the car at Eastlake Parade, and tried to look for the address which Nancy provided to her appartment to meet up and go down to the bar. After a rough 10mins walking around to find the number, we realised we were parked right infront of the house! Were greeted with Heineken bottles, then after a few talks and discussions, made our way to the Bar. Seeing that Australia is very strict with alcohol and breathalizers, we drove the car around the corner to Bowen Park (where we shall sleep tonight), then met up with the workmates and Nash came along at “Walt & Burley” after a few minutes. We drank different beers, shots of tequila (tequila in Australia is just a shot, if you want the lime and salt, it’s called Lick, Sip & Suck), and ate a variety of nibbles such as Squid, Chicken Breast, Chips, Zucchini, BBQ Wings, Surprise Parcels (Pork Sausages), Meat and amazingly delicious foods. Ran a round which costed $85 – 4 Pints of Beer, 4 Tequila Shots and a Coke.
We had an amazing typical Australian Dine Out, with locals and getting tips and amazing food suggestions, culture and history.
10:45 the bar was closing (so early!) and walked up to Nancy’s appartment to continue drinking. Nancy and us (both Ozzy couples and Nash left) along with her 10 year old daughter and 14 year old niece, chilling outside on the balcony, talking, with Ponyo in the background and Pink Fluffy Unicorn!
05:30am. What a night out. We left the appartment and walked to where the car was, watching the sun rising and we are still heading to bed.
          Day66
What more do you want than a full day under a beautiful blue sunny sky, with Autumn leaves falling everywhere next to Lake Burley Griffin, feeding and being surrounded by black swans, crows, magpies, ducks, pidgeons, seagulls, and cockatiels, and making Beef Burgers & Pork Cumberland Sausages with Onions for lunch on a BBQ?
          Day67
Rain rain rain all throughout the night. How can it even be possible after the beautiful weather we had yesterday. Early wake up call, drove to the warehouse, but Nancy’s last day was yesterday! Eating some banana cake Nancy had gotten, we packed the car with 48 packs of yellow pages for a route distributing just businesses. We drove to Kingston again to give Nancy her jumper and to say goodbye, and greeted us with two bags filled with house goods and foods and drinks as she was going to throw them away. No opened food can enter into Western Australia – they are very restricted both by plane and car due to bacteria and insects. We ended up her bins on a very positive note. Having now coffee, maple syrup, grapes and strawberries, cheese, butter, vodka and alot more goods, we drove to Fyshwick to start our route by 10am. Having all packs done by 14:00, we returned quickly to the warehouse to get more books, exchanged numbers with Lyndon and Karen, and by 16:00 we were all done and ready. Buying from Coles, we then went to the Information Point and cooked Sweet and Sour Pork Cutlets with Rice Noodles. Speaking with a Taiwan girl who spent the last 8months working, and now they are finally going to travel Australia, we ate some of the chocolate eggs and Dairy Milk Nancy gave us. Rain still did not stop all day! We drove to Hungry Jacks for the $2 Storm, and as the wifi wasn’t working, drove to Maccas around 20:30 to update ourselves with society.
21:30 Drove to Ray Morton’s Park once again to spend the night and hoping the day opens up tomorrow and not spend a day distributing books in rain!
          Day68
Waking up next amongst wet fallen leaves, damp grass and dripping trees from a night raining, we made Vanilla Coffee on the bbq, and had some left over paninas and covered them in butter, cheese and mixed vegetables. Yummy breakfast. Around 10:00 drove to Beard, saw Lyndon and Karen, and after discussing tax in Australia and that we need to fill in a form by end of June (we should be able to get some tax back as backpacker), then packed around 412 books and made a 27km drive for Route #11 to Bungendore.
11:45 Started our route and distributed the books very well. Bungendore had amazing huge country houses, villas, beautiful scenery and a very different and laid back atnosphere to it. We loved it.
Coming across a guy at a motel, Ron, who has lived in the motel for quite a long time, originally from Canberra, who had to move out after his mum died 5 years ago. He spent a year travelling, and enjoyed every word we said about us, our country and language. After a total of an hour talking with him and asking us many questions with regards to distributing the books (unfortunately he did not look 100% mentally there), we finally managed to get back to distributing the rest of the books. We also came across a pet store with albino ferrets and very cute puppies (who wouldn’t stop biting our finger), and at a closed garden shop we saw a gorgeous three legged cat just outside their door. Giving her some water in a bowl, we quickly tried to finish off the last 33 books. It suddenly poured, and would not stop. Trying very hard to wrap the books in plastic backs and putting them at their doorstep, we finally managed to get all books done by 18:00. Still pouring heavily, we drove 20km back to Queanbeyan, driving slowly at 50-70km/hr unlike other cars speeding at 100! We tested out if the yogurt still tasted good (it stated best before 08/04, and we had a cooler not a fridge! But it’s best before not use by, right?) Still had a very good taste to it (why waste it, we might never have the opportunity to buy 1kg of vanilla yogurt ever again haha), we drove to a wifi spot, checked what we could eat with it, drove to Coles ($4.75), and back to the Information Point. One of the best meals. With 400g of Yogurt mixed with cut up and squashed tomatoes, we made 250g Fusilli and 300g Chicken, Mushrooms, Mixed Vegetables and melted cheddar. The rain was dying down finally, and around 21:00, we had a great scrub after being all rain-wet, and walked to the “Walsh Hotel” for a relaxed night out. The band “Eklyps3” was playing covers today, a band an hour away from Sydney, and after just drinking XXXX Gold and two Carlton Dry ($17), we headed back to the car around midnight to sleep and hoping it’s a sunny day tomorrow.
           Day69
Shining sun! And the yogurt which we placed in a gatorade bottle and left on the roof rack to stay chilled during the night, survived in the rain during the night. And still cold! We made wonderful strawberry jam with yogurt rice cakes, then made our way to the warehouse to meet up with Lyndon, Karen & Nash. Making some coffee and talking about travelling Australia and redeeming tax, we left in Nash’s car and drove to Kingston next to where Nancy used to live. Bought some x6 bottles of Carlton Dry from a shop, and drank it next ro the docks, before the chilled wind picked up quite well. We discovered that even though water is free around Australia, it is charged by how much water passes through the drainage.
Around 11:30, it started to rain and we made our way to the “Old Bus Depot Markets” in Wentworth Avenue, Kingston. “Celebrations of Wool”. There was live dancing and music playing, knitwear, paintings, photography, and many food stalls. There were several food tasting, such as fresh pizza, cheese, black garlic, chilly wine, several types of cheese, all kinds of bread (such as spinach, zucchini), fruits, sweets etc. After tasting almost all (being pigs for a change), and drinking mulled wine, we headed next door to the Canberra Glassworks. We walked in this gold coin donation exhibition ($1 or $2 gold coin) in an open glassroom to watch them how they work glass in high temperatures, which was very interesting.
Around 14:00, we departed and arrived at the warehouse, and along with Lyndon and Karen drove to the Queanbeyan Hotel and drank some bulmers & Carlton Dry. After a few hours of exchanging history and island knowledge, we drove a 10km to Jerrabombera Hotel in Limestone Drive.
18:00, we ordered x2 350g Sirloin Steak Diane. We had a receipt offer, 2nd meal $15 off, so got both dishes for $27! Being given a buzzer (basically you order, pay, sit down at the table and when the buzzer well – buzzes, you go collect your food), after a few minutes, we picked up our own meal and sat down to eat the steak.
After parting ways, we drove to the Tourist Info in Queanbeyan, and at around 22:00 ended the a great weekend before our last week of work ahead!
          Day70 
Waking up at 07:00 after a rainy night. 8 degrees, and very humid. Drizzling this morning, & drove to Woolworths to buy bread for lunch, mortadella pepper & olive and mixed vegetables ($7.05). We drove to the warehouse, discussed some pending payments & arrangements, made some jam crackers for breakfast, and after removing some stuff from the car (sleeping bags, mattress, utensils box …) to make some space for more books, we eventually made our way to Bungendore with 490 books.
10:30 Continued Route #11 which we started on Saturday, & after completing all streets for this route, we started Route #12.
15:00 Stopped at Mike Sherd Oval, made the delicious bread for lunch, then drove to a different side to Bungendore to start new streets. All houses were huge with a big front & back terrace, dogs at fences and amazing scenes. This part was a new Bungendore, unlike the old country-style centre. Watching the sun setting & still distributing in McCusker road, the houses took us some time going up and down to their front door, however by 19:00 we managed to finish all books in the car. Went to Queanbeyan to feed the car $50 petrol, then as we had the key to the warehouse, we drove to Beard to get our mattress, sleeping bags etc back and spend the night in the warehouse. However upon arriving, a guy knocked on the door whilst we were preparing & after asking us who we were & told him about the situation that we did not break in, he said he was the owner & enquired if we were going to sleep there for the night. Quickly and disappointedly telling him we just went in to drop off the books, around 20:15 we departed & drove to the Information Point to sleep there instead. It would have been very interesting sleeping on solid floor on the mattress with a roof above our heads, but not to get anyone in trouble (we were advised we could sleep there with the luxury of a bathroom and hot shower), we still decided it was best not to. Temperature at 7 degrees and freezing cold, we crawled into the car and bed & got ready for round 3-Bungendore tomorrow!