Welcome to Stopped for a While. You’ve had a long drive and you’ve landed at the peaceful place on the Fraser Coast, just north of Hervey Bay. Once the tent’s up, the caravan’s level, and you’ve got a cold one in your hand, the stories wander down the road. Laughter’s never far off, and the facts sometimes take a detour.

That’s just the way we like it around here. This is the podcast about the folks who roll into the peaceful place and the stories they spin. Did it all happen just like this, or is it another one that just got away? That’s half of the fun, isn’t it?

I’ve been to Darwin. I flew up there one, one year. I just said to my husband, “What we doing for New Year’s Eve?”

And he said, “I don’t know.” I said, “You wanna go to Darwin?” I’m very spontaneous like that. I just, at the spur of the moment, “Let’s go.” Let’s go. Yeah, yeah.

Debbie reckons she’s stopped for a while, but don’t be fooled. She’s still got a bucket list longer than a Bunnings receipt, and itchy feet to match. Her story is this episode, so stick around.

You can tell it’s peak Euro tourist season when the Belgians start rolling in. Last week, four of them turned up trying to say they just left Bundaberg. They’re from somewhere south of Brussels. Mike, Astrid, and their merry band. Now, it had been bucketing down, so we rolled them across into a higher site so they didn’t get too wet.

They rocked up in a juicy van, you know those, and a Harley Davidson. The van crew was dry as a bone, but Mike, he’d gone full fashionista with a plastic bag over his right foot. That’s the brake pedal for those playing at home. Either his riding pants shrank in the wash, or he was just trying to set a new trend.

Lovely bunch, though. Polite, quiet, and left the amenities so spotless the cleaner nearly fainted from shock. Now, it’s been quite a tumbleweedy around the peaceful place since the October long weekend. I reckon the gray nomads are heading south, and everyone else is hoarding their pennies for the Christmas blowout.

But we’ll see how that goes. So Rob’s slipped away for a couple of weeks to Vietnam with his son. Catch up with him soon, as he reckons they’ve got tourism nailed in Vietnam. Debbie had a breakup and ended up stopping for a while at the Peaceful Place.

Where did you come from to here?

Um, I was born in Lithgow- Mm-hmm… New South Wales.

Yeah.

And I bought a Leonard’s franchise over the phone, rented a house over the phone, never been to Hervey Bay before. Just drove up here and went, “Okay, this is what it’s like.”

Wow, bought a Leonard’s franchise?

Yeah.

Used to be my favorite chicken.

So yeah, that’s how I ended up in Hervey Bay.

Wow.

Yeah.

Wow. And on your own?

No, with my first husband.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah. We had it for five years-

Yeah…

and then, um, we put it on the market with the master franchisors, and we went on holidays. And but just before I went to go away, another guy from town asked me if he could buy it.

Yeah. And I said, “Yeah, but I’m going away for two, two weeks.”

Yeah.

“I’ll see when I get back,” and then he bought it when I got back.

Wow.

So, um, then we decided we had 12 months off, ’cause we’re burnt out. Then we went down to Brisbane, ’cause our daughter was down there, and I bought a coffee shop down there.

Oh, you see, wanted to burn yourself out doubly.

Yeah. So then, um, we rented a house at Carseldine, bought a coffee shop at Arana Hills, had that for two years. Then Michelle’s Patisserie came in as competition. I said, “I think we should get out of this now” And so we did. We s- we were lucky we sold it, and then we decided to buy a caravan and go fruit picking and see Australia.

Ah, so that’s where your travel started.

That’s how me travel bug started, yes. Um, but before that, I was in Lithgow. My travel bug first started when I went to England, and we landed the day Princess Diana got buried-

Oh, really?…

on her funeral.

Yeah, yeah.

And we saw the flowers and everything, and we went to Europe.

And we have friends in Wales and then Scotland, and we did all that. And, um, six weeks were over there, so that was our first truly travel bug. That was a big travel travel.

Yeah.

Now, you’ve got your caravan here.

Yeah.

You’ve used that for traveling around Australia.

Yes, yes.

So where have you been?

Uh, been all over New South Wales.

I’ve been down to Victoria. Uh, been up to the top of Queensland. I didn’t quite make it to The Cape, but, um, yeah, I’ve been all around that. Did all the outback towns- Around Queensland. Um, know New South Wales like the back of me hand ’cause I grew up down there. Well, when you grew up in- Yeah, yeah…

Central New South Wales.

Exactly, yeah. Yeah, yeah. So, um, yeah, I’ve been all around that. Only place I haven’t been is Adelaide or Perth.

Oh, really?

And that’s on me bucket list to do-… when I retire.

That’s it. But you s- you came here to kinda semi-retire, didn’t you?

I came here ’cause of a breakup. Oh. Um, he had the car, I had the caravan, so it’s a bit hard to tow the caravan when you got no car.

Well, this is, this is very true, isn’t it? And an I30 won’t do that very well. No, it won’t do that very well. So my plan is, um, another two years I can retire. I’ll buy a car that can tow it, and off I go again. And off you go.

Yeah.

You’re, you’re capable of it. You’re very capable of towing- I reckon I’m capable.

Yeah, yeah.

I’ve towed it before with his car.

Yeah, yeah.

And I find I had a little 1982 Millard- Okay… and it was harder to tow than the big one, you know? Yeah. So, um, yeah, I’m quite capable. And, um, if not, I’ll just sell it and downsize to a coaster bus or something like that.

And away you go again. Yeah, and away I go again.

Where’s your plans to go to?

Well, I wanna go across the Nullarbor.

Yep.

I wanna do the Gibb River Road.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah. Uh, I wanna do all Western Australia-

Mm-hmm…

from top to bottom sort of thing. Um, I’ve been to Darwin. I flew up there one, one year. I just said to my husband, “What we doing for New Year’s Eve?”

And he said, “I don’t know.” I said, “You wanna go to Darwin?” I’m very spontaneous like that. I just, at the spur of the moment, let’s go.

Let’s go.

Yeah, yeah. And I’ve traveled overseas. I’ve done Bali four times, so for different reasons.

So you’ve, uh, been about a bit.

Just a bit, yeah.

Now tell me about your van, ’cause you’ve had it a while.

I’ve had it for three years now.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah. It’s, I bought that from a bloke in Kilkivan. He was going blind, and he took it out about five or six times.

Yeah.

So it was like brand new when I bought it. And, um, yeah, we couldn’t believe our luck. And, um, it’s got a shower, a toilet, a lot of bling in there now.

I like to bling it up. Well,

I was about to raise that point. I was about to raise that point. My crystal chandeliers.

Look, we… I walk by one morning, and you have a dishwasher.

That’s getting installed right now-… because I, I wanted a dishwasher, and I wanted a coffee machine when I was with my partner, and he said no to both So once we split up, that’s what I went and done.

Because you can’t tell me no. If I want something, I want it now.

A- and if you can hear the bang banging and crash crashing, that’s because- That’s him, yeah…

he’s, he’s installing now.

Yeah, my carpenter is installing it. Yeah.

Nice.

So I, um, I bought it, I had it on the bench, took up too much bench space, so I decided to take the cupboard out, um, underneath the sink.

Mm-hmm.

But it was just, like, a quarter of an inch too big, and I couldn’t get the door to open, so I had to rip the shelf out. And then I thought I’d try me hand at plumbing. Nah, I got leaks. So I got it to work, but it wasn’t working properly. I had leaks, so I had to chucks around it so it would just drip.

So it comes in handy getting a man in because I can’t do it. I’ve got the brains and I can do the design, but I can’t actually do the fit out.

And because your storm cover was only installed yesterday- Yesterday, yeah…

but it was delivered, what? Three months ago?

Yeah, about that. I just- Are you a patient lady?

No, I just, um… Well, when I started work at the Craig Nish, before that I had plenty of time, so I was doing these projects. And then when I went full time, I just don’t have the time now. And like, when I do have days off, I just wanna relax. I don’t wanna do projects. So I just got onto Air Tasker and got, got onto Max and then he had it installed within, what, an hour?

Yeah. And, um, it’s made such a difference to the, um, temperature in the annex- Yeah… which is decked out like a lounge room.

As it should be.

As it should be. I got a big-ass TV in there that everyone tells me about.

And you have a lovely soft floor.

I’ve got a memory foam mat, which is great for the dogs.

They love it.

And, uh, memory if you fall over?

Yeah. Well, if I fall over, I won’t break a hip.

Because you, you very rarely get inebriated with alcohol.

Oh, it’s just-… a community I have at this caravan park that turns me into an alcoholic.

Yeah.

Yeah. I’ve only done it once or twice. Yeah.

What, fallen over or got drunk?

No, got drunk. Okay. Oh, ’cause I don’t drink that much, so.

No, you don’t.

No.

No, I will, I will give you that.

Yeah.

You come over here and all discreet, and all it is is a can of Pepsi.

Yeah, that’s right. Yeah. Very good, very- Everyone thinks I’m drinking, but I’m not. Yeah. But I tell you what, van life is the best. You, you pull up everywhere, in a free camp or in a caravan park, you always talk to somebody. I was talking to Nikki across the road how if you don’t wanna see anyone, you just stay inside your van.

If you wanna socialize, you go outside your van, ’cause there’s always someone to talk to.

Yeah, always somebody to say g’day to. You can’t, you can’t do that in a house- Yep… or a unit. You’re, you’re a bit more isolated, and I think I needed that. And that’s why I, like, I decided I didn’t wanna come back and rent another house.

I got rid of all my furniture, and I’m living minimalistic now, but I love it.

Mm.

You know?

Why did you pick here?

I came back… I was in Forbes when I broke up with my partner, and I just didn’t know where to go. And so my girlfriend rang that day, and as she rang, I burst into tears, told her what happened.

And I said that I was gonna go and, um, buy a ute to bring the caravan back- And I was right beside Mickey Blue. He sells generators and that, and they couldn’t have been nicer to me. Mickey Blue and Karen were just brilliant. Mm-hmm. They fed me for three days while I was there, even though they didn’t have to.

I still had food in the caravan. Took me wherever I wanted to go. They were just brilliant people. Absolutely brilliant people. Never met people like them. And, um, in the meantime, my girlfriend Stacy, her husband came down to get me. He’s… He sells caravans. He’s… He knows them inside out. He’s, he’s been on the road…

He was on the road for about, uh, four or five years. Oh, right. Him and Stacy. They’ve been out to Boulia, everywhere. And he came down and got me. So I came back to Burrumheads Caravan Park And they said no, they didn’t have any permits there. And I went, “All right, so I gotta start looking where I can go.” So I stayed there for a few weeks, and then I…

‘Cause honestly, living in Hervey Bay, I didn’t realize this was here.

Really?

No.

What, the park or, or-

The park…

yeah, yeah, yeah. I knew Goody’s was at, was here, ’cause I’d been there, but I didn’t know the park was here, really. And then I came in, me and Stacey came in that day, and I rang Rob, and I came and had a talk with him, and I just thought, “Hmm, he’s a bit arrogant, isn’t he?”

That was my first impressions. And, um, he said, “Yeah,” he said, “You can stay here month to month.” And I said, “Yeah, okay, what’s that entail?” And he said, “Month to month.” I said, “Okay, so I can stay as many months as I want or do I have to tell you every month here?” And he said, “No,” he said, “We’ll just take it…” He said, “If you play up, you’re out.”

I said, “Okay.” “If me dogs bark, you’re out.” I said, “How’s it gonna go if I, um, go to work and leave me dogs at home?” “Oh, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

Mm-hmm.

And it’s been the best move I’ve ever made-

Yeah…

uh, just coming here. And the people I’ve met, and I don’t know, it just felt home.

Yeah, it is home, isn’t it?

It is home, yeah. I just feel joy being here. And I went down to my daughter’s at Ripley the other day for five days, and I couldn’t wait to get out of there and come home. I really couldn’t. I like the slow pace now.

That’s it.

You know? Yeah.

And you go to work to be fast-paced-

Oh-… and then-… it is fast-paced, yeah and then, and then you come back here to chill.

Yeah.

What was you working with, at before you were at Craignish obviously, and before here?

Um, I used to work in disability. I worked in disability for 20-odd years.

Oh, right. Yeah. Okay.

I worked at Nambour for nine of those years with two men that had intellectual disabilities and, um, one of them had a stroke, and he was paralyzed, and the other one, they sort of shafted out of the service, and that all changed after that.

And, um, yeah, I used to… I moved back up here because my daughter was up here, and she’d split up from her husband, so I sorta was driving down, staying overnight, and coming back the next day. Mm-hmm. And I had a really good job down there, and I didn’t wanna leave it, and, um, then when that happened, I decided to pull the pin and go.

And, um, then when I had a couple of jobs here that didn’t work out, I just didn’t wanna fit. I didn’t fit.

Mm-hmm.

So that’s when I said to my partner, “You wanna go traveling?” Then we’ll, then we’ll buy the caravan and off we’ll go Just- Yeah… there we go Yeah, for a little while

Here for a little while

Yeah

Maybe till you retire-

Yeah, and then off you go.

I reckon so, yeah. Yeah. Just depends. I don’t know what the future holds. No, who does? I just have to wait and, yeah, just have to wait and see. Try not to manipulate it. Just let it come.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. That’s what I’m doing, and I’m just go… I’m very spontaneous, so I’ll just say, “Right, I wanna do this.

Let’s go.” You know? So we’ll see what happens. But yeah, I’m at that age now where I, um, I don’t plan the future. I mightn’t wake up tomorrow. You don’t know. Got more summers behind me than I have in front of me, so that’s why I look at it and gotta make the best of what I’ve got, so.

A great life philosophy.

Yeah, yeah.

Thanks, Deb.

No worries, Barry

After my yarn with Debbie, old Chip cruised by in his buggy. I’m still trying to convince him to spill the beans on the podcast. He’s got 81 years under his belt and kicked off life in Wales in the UK. But getting him to sit still for a chat is like herding cats.

Last week marked 60 years since the Aberfan disaster, and Chip was actually there on the cleanup crew way back in the day. Fingers crossed I can wrangle a bit of his story out from the recording I took when he was over there, not in front of the table. We’ll see how it goes

As the travelers move on, peace settles in. At least until the next character swings by, parks up, and can’t resist sharing a tale or two from the road. You know, there’s always room for another yarn around here. Stopped for a While is brought to you by Mac Mouth Media. Music by Ben Clayton, and a tip of the hat to Rob Laffer, Serenity Caravan Park’s very own legend.

If you’ve enjoyed spinning a few yarns with us, hit subscribe so you don’t miss the next one. You’ll find us at stoppedforawhile.com.au, plus Facebook and Instagram. Now it’s time for another cool drink. Thanks for pulling up a chair at Stopped for a While.