Lady Gaga killers of Redland Bay

So far we've stayed at campsites near the sea, in national parks and, of course, the handy and free rest areas along the way on our travels up the east coast. But every now and again we hit a bit of a wall and cant find anywhere to stay where we want to be. Up until last night we've found somewhere last minute, be it a rest area miles out of the way; a bit of a waste of petrol, or a campsite thats over priced.

So yesterday we've pulled into a park. It has all the amenities of a rest area and lots of room to park. Theres some lighting on a nearby field which filters our way a bit, a lake on one side of us and some residential houses the other side across the field.
There arent any of the usual signs saying not to camp so the 4 of us happily check it out. Me and Sam in one van and the girls in the other.

Sam asks some blokes parked up if its ok to stay here the night. Maybe not such a good idea letting them know we'd be here for the whole night, what with their slightly inbred looks, mullets and jokes about the film Wolf Creek and how we should tell the girls thats what its like here so they should stay with them tonight! But regardless of all that they seemed harmless enough, smoking and having a few beers by a lake after work we presumed, and actualy pretty helpful (or overly keen??) with letting us know its ok to stay here the night.

Now what made these guys grow ever more creepy, apart from the frequent glances and stares over at us, was that they were 4 grown men hanging around a park and kids play area in the late afternoon. Plus they were blasting out, not quite your typical aussie bloke music, tune after tune of pop and RnB songs. Then they pretty much played the whole Lady Gaga album but always skipping back to her popular, and now creepy sounding, Poker Face.

Over and over again we heard that song and, if you've ever seen the cheesey horror film Jeepers Creepers, we culdnt help but think that this was maybe their song they played to their victims. Maybe we were unaware that the song was covering the sounds of them dressing up in drag as Lady Gaga herself whilst they sharpened their meat hooks and knives. Or maybe we'd wake in the middle of the night to the sounds of 'p-p-p-poker face, p-p-p-poker face...' as a burly, mulleted bloke in a glittery dress, heels and extravagant head piece presses his face against our mosquito net....! But they left and the park was quiet without them until families arrived and flooded the park with cars and kids for footy practice. See, this is a nice area :)

It must have been 2 or 3am, we were awake at the sound of every car that may pull in to the park, and some did but they parked safely away from us and quietly. Then we heard the rattling of a pick up truck trundling down the road towards us and the loud pop songs blasting as it pulled up in front of us! Of course you think you can hear footsteps around the van and breathing at the window. But i think the closest anyone came was someone i peeked through the curtains at who was standing in front of Nik and Sams van having a smoke. We spent a good while silently peering out looking to see what they might be doing. Well i say silently, personally when im bricking it and dont want someone to notice me ill stay as silent as possible where as, amy seemed to find every reason to say something, whisperig not too quietly mind either! Asking what im doing, whos out there, where they are, do i have the keys near me, are they near her, could i get into the front of the vehicle and start the camper quickly?? If we were in danger i dont think it was the right time to discuss evacuation routes. If this was a horror film we'd be the ones getting killed because theyd here her constantly chattering away! Either that or she'd make me drive the van away in a mad dash for safety leavin Nik and Sam stuck in their van to be killed as they cant climb from the back into the drivers cabin as theres a mesh in the way.
I told her they uys were far away, looks like they may just be meeting friends or nothing more sinister than being local small time dealers but this didnt stop her wanting to get changed. This was no time to start picking out outfits or comapring what youre wearing to your friend as she told me Nik was ok because she had shorts on?!. Even if you do feel slightly naked and with the fear of rape in the air an extra layer of clothing wont be your saviour. I cant imagine anyone got a lucky escape because the rapist had trouble with button flys.

But for anyone reading this and worrying...we're fine. The people left and we all slept fine and safely. Nikki actually slept through the whole thing!