Australian Thoughts at the Weekend 13th JUNE 2009.

Australian Thoughts at the Weekend 13th JUNE 2009.

Grey Nomads Time.

It is that time of the year in Australia when the Grey Nomads take to the roads throughout Australia. However, the higher cost of fuel this year has made some wonder if there will be as many Grey Nomads on the roads this year.

As I have explained before Grey Nomads are grey haired, retired people who migrate from the cold south of Oz to the warmer north. In fact people with different coloured hair or even none are still Grey Nomads if they take to a mobile home of some type or a fixed home in the north to escape the winter chills of the south.

The grey nomads come north towing caravans and often with a small boat on the top of their car or four wheel drive. Some will come to the Gold and Sunshine Coasts in Southern Queensland while others will head further north to the tropical coast right alongside the Great Barrier Reef. It is estimated that 60,000 grey nomads come to our State each year following, as someone said, the winter migration of humpback whales up our coast.

Some will do the “Big Lap” and take the coastal road right around Australia. That coastal road is National Highway One. A website says of it:

“Australia is the world's largest island and its community has been shaped and formed by tracks that became roads and later highways.

National Highway One is unlike any other road system on the planet. It represents one of the most profound engineering and planning feats in our nation's history.

The highway runs more than 24,000 kilometres right around Australia and every day more than a million people travel on some part of it. Prime movers and semi-trailers worth in excess of three billion dollars ply its trade routes, along with hundreds of thousands of cars and other vehicles.” [http://www.abc.net.au/backyard/highwayone ]

Last year I did a quick calculation and with fuel costs in Oz then and reckoning on about 10 litres per 100 kilometres, budget in excess of $3,000 would be needed for fuel alone to do the Big Lap. With petrol at $1.50 a litre and diesel at $1.70 in the big cities, a further $2,000 to $3,000 could be added to this at 2008 prices. At 500 kilometres a day, it would take approximately 50 days to do the trip. So with a minimum budget of $100 a day for accommodation and food, there is another $5,000. Of course, having a caravan reduces accommodation costs but increases fuel and other costs.

Some do half a lap. That is the will take the north south road through the centre of Australia taking in a diversion off this road to visit Uluru (Ayers Rock). This suits many timetables and budgets better than the full lap.

Many towns rely on a boost to their tourism and look to the Grey Nomads to spend well while in town and help the local economy. Fears have been expressed that with the higher fuel prices, and also the higher living costs at home during the rest of the year, many Grey Nomads will not travel this year. Dependent local economies will suffer as a result of this.

The Grey Nomads contribute in many other ways besides spending their money in remote areas. Some retired former teachers will offer their services through V.I.S.E. (Volunteers in Isolated Students’ Education - http://www.vise.org.au ). These experienced teachers come onto isolated properties and help with the education of isolated children. This gives assistance to mothers who are teaching their children with the help if the Distance Education network.

Other Grey Nomads will assist with handyman or other skills they possess. On isolated properties there is often a job for someone handy with a hammer and nails, or someone with skills such as an electrician or plumber. Someone to give a general hand with domestic chores or a help with tasks with the cattle or sheep is also welcome.

If the Grey Nomads do not arrive in numbers this year then they will be certainly missed.

The country varies. The winter that people are escaping in the south is not far from the Australian Alps and Snowy Mountains, where some choose to go for skiing and other snow sports. Some Grey Nomads will tell you they are on a “ski holiday”. They may be miles from both snow and the sea and it will raise the question “Ski holiday?” To which the answer will come “Yeah SKI! Spending the Kids Inheritance”. One newspaper mentioned that the Grey Nomads were spending their kids inheritance which caused an irate letter to the editor saying it was about time the present generation learnt to stand on their own financial feet and not rely on their parents.

But back to the subject of changing weather.Today, in Melbourne the maximum temperaturewas 12c/52f. On the Gold Coast and right along the southern Queensland Coast, the temperature was a little less than 25c/78f. In Darwin a 35c/95f maximum is about normal.

There are all types of characters on the road for various reasons and that adds to the experiences of the grey nomads as they journey and meet with others. It is these characters that are met on the road that add variety and interest to the stops between the long miles.

I spoke to one man and his wife who travelled in a 4WD with boat on top and towing a caravan and asked why they chose this instead of staying in motels and hotels which they could well afford (they own about 5 houses or apartments). They simple answered there is a social life in the caravan parks which you don’t get locked in your motel room. Yes, the men will compare their travelling rigs and proudly show gadgets and modifications they have made to make travelling easier. The cooks will exchange recipe ideas, and show how easily meals can be made in a few minutes.

The shower block or the barbecue area is a place to exchange information about the road ahead, the things not to miss and the things to miss on the way ahead. Quick summaries will be given of the great hospitality or otherwise of caravan parks and eating places along the way. Of course, there will be information exchanged on where and how to catch the best fish.

In Australia most grey nomads drive a rig with a caravan trailing behind. These are joined to the towing vehicle, a large 6 cylinder or V8 car or a 4 wheel drive (SUV) with an ‘A’ shaped towbar. The self contained motorhome built on a truck or bus chassis are not as popular as the towed vans. It is estimated in Australia there are 320,000 caravans and 40,000 motorhomes. Yet, a few hours away in New Zealand, it is just the opposite with the motorhome being the most popular. Motorhomes are very popular as self drive hire vehicles and that appears to be the main market in New Zealand. Also New Zealand has much shorter distances between towns than Australia, therefore the slower motorhome is more suitable when long distances are not required.

The Salvation Army’s Gold Coast Temple Corps is situated in Australia’s largest “tourist” city. Each winter the Corps welcomes its regular grey nomads who join the congregation and corps life for a month or three. One grey nomad (who flies from New Zealand and stays in a unit) told me he and his wife had been coming to the Corps for 30 years. Others have not been coming as long but they get an enthusiastic welcome.

Again this year we will have 2 or 3 who join the band for the period of their stay. They will bring their uniforms and their instruments, and come to band practice and enjoy all the band engagements. They are most welcome but they must conform to our ‘rules’. Last year two bandsmen flew or drove from Melbourne (1725kms from the Gold Coast) to be with our/their band for an “away” weekend (3rd /4th May ) to Tamworth (7 hour drive). We will welcome them back towards the ends of June for their “long stay”. Others just enjoy the welcome, the fellowship and the worship. Some have bought houses and stayed permanently.

I guess that’s what makes life different for these nomads. They find a very different life style in Queensland (www.driveqld.com.au ), the Northern Territory (http://www.insidetheoutback.com/nt/USA/traveltips/driving.html) and Western Australia (http://www.drivewa.com/start/) . In these places away from the south east corner of Queensland and maybe the coastal areas further north it is how many square miles per person and not persons per square mile. In the wide open spaces life is much more relaxed than the busy and crowded cities of commerce which double as tourist places. I read of one grey nomad who said he changes into shorts and t- shirt when he reaches the southern border of Queensland and does wear long trousers until he crosses it going south in about 3 months time.

Genesis Chapter 12 begins a new era in the life of a ‘Grey Nomad” Abram:

Genesis 12 (The Message)
1 GOD told Abram: "Leave your country, your family, and your father's home for a land that I will show you.

2 I'll make you a great nation
and bless you.
I'll make you famous;
you'll be a blessing.
3 I'll bless those who bless you;
those who curse you I'll curse.
All the families of the Earth
will be blessed through you."

4 So Abram left just as GOD said, and Lot left with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.
5 Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot with him, along with all the possessions and people they had gotten in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan and arrived safe and sound.
6 Abram passed through the country as far as Shechem and the Oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites occupied the land.
7 GOD appeared to Abram and said, "I will give this land to your children." Abram built an altar at the place GOD had appeared to him.
8 He moved on from there to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent between Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. He built an altar there and prayed to GOD.
9 Abram kept moving, steadily making his way south, to the Negev.

10 Then a famine came to the land. Abram went down to Egypt to live; it was a hard famine.

To read the story of Abram who later became known as Abraham is to read the story of a great nomad. Abram was a man who travelled, although well advanced in age, at God’s command, doing God’s will, as difficult as that may have seemed at times. Paul says of him:

Romans 4 (The Message)
1 So how do we fit what we know of Abraham, our first father in the faith, into this new way of looking at things?
2 If Abraham, by what he did for God, got God to approve him, he could certainly have taken credit for it. But the story we're given is a God-story, not an Abraham-story.
3 What we read in Scripture is, "Abraham entered into what God was doing for him, and that was the turning point. He trusted God to set him right instead of trying to be right on his own."

The story of Abraham is a story worth reading . It’s the story of a man who allowed God to lead him.

We could also take time to read of Moses, who was a grey nomad of 80 when God called him to lead the Children of Israel from captivity in Egypt. At age 80 he spent the next 40 years in the wilderness under God’s leadership. Maybe the Grey Nomads amongst us will make the time to do so.

[Listen: http://www.salvoaudio.com/audio/music/mus_978.mp3

God is our light and God is our sunshine,
Lighting our pathway from day unto day;
In him we trust when all else seems dreary,
For with his sunshine he brightens our way.

Chorus
Sunshine, sunshine, shining along our pathway,
Guiding, guiding, just where the Saviour would go;
Shining, shining when all the way seems gloomy,
Jesus lights our way up to Glory with sunshine rays.

Sometimes we're tempted, often grow weary,
'Tis for the sunshine at such times we pray;
Then through the dark his bright rays come beaming,
Turning our darkness and fears all away.
Author: Richard Nuttall (1891-1946)
The Salvation Army: Song Number: 31
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