Farewell Glen Helen!

Time to say good bye

Alas, it is time to leave Glen Helen Resort. We were farewelled appropriately with a big party, lots of music, games of pool, and plenty of drinks! Jase and I had arranged a couple of free dinners by barter – we spent half a day collecting, cutting and chopping firewood for Glen Helen’s gorgeous fireplace in exchange for food. So our last meal at Glen Helen was the infamous weekly bbq night – a smorgasbord of meats and salads.

We chop wood in exchange for food

A couple of guests were also invited to join in the festivities – a young couple who kept to themselves but got nicely sloshed, an excitable woman (one only had to look at her chest to know when she was really excited) whom Tom took quite a shining to, and a couple of blokes who Jase and I have befriended, Dave and Jonathan. Dave lives in country Victoria and agrees with our principles of self sufficiency and sustainable living, so we had LOTS to talk about during our evening. Jonathan, from Belgium, lives in his van and is travelling this vast country, hopping from farm to farm to fund his trip. We talked incessantly about Vietnam and agreed to catch up on Friday at Alice Springs’ best known Vietnamese restaurant, to indulge in some authentic Asian cuisine.

We also finally met Michael the Chef’s girlfriend, Cate, who is a lovely, happy, funny lady who we consider to be a great fit for the somewhat mischievous Michael. We are looking forward to catching up with them later in the year at their home near Freemantle in Western Australia.

Our final goodbyes were made on Friday morning. With van hitched up and ready to go, Michael, Cate, Slim the Musician (who we hope to meet again when we do the east coast next year; he lives near Byron Bay), Slim’s daughter Grace, Meggy, Rachael, and the rest of the gang farewelled us, with some exchange of contact details, and lots of hugs and kisses. Ashleigh even gave us a lovely farewell gift – a night’s accommodation at the Alice Springs Casino Hotel, which we took with great thanks and appreciation (PS it was soooo good to run a bath by candlelight!!). Dean had arranged for Jase to drive him and his car into Alice with him (so he could collect his drivers licence), so I had the pleasure of towing the caravan for the first time, all the way to town 130km away!