By Elizabeth Jobson
I hate camping, so why would I volunteer to sleep under the stars on October 7 at Beaudesert Showgrounds?
I did it to highlight the homeless situation in our region.
Thanks to the wonderful volunteers of Salvation Army, Rotary and Beaudesert High School for providing dinner and breakfast.
I took with me what I thought were necessities – sleeping bag, extra blankets, doona, foam mattress, hot water bottle.
Having listened to the talks I realised that homeless people do not cart this paraphernalia around.
I was there for a taste of their experience.
I took out sleeping bag, one blanket and slept on the hard blanket covered ground.
I imagined this was my first night on the street.
Sleeping under the stars was a misnomer – I counted three stars who peeped through the cloud covered sky with difficulty.
I lay on my back and one very bright light left burning was intolerable.
My body automatically went into sleep position -sideways – until my hip bone and hard floor became incompatible.
There were roughly 20 or so people sleeping out but the majority slept under a marquee, tent and many took up the offer of a mattress.
Were they the sensible ones?
The idea was to sleep with my few possessions. My sleep was limited to about a couple of intermittent hours.
All but three, Jon Krause State MP and a lovely lady called Gay and I were game to do the hard yards.
It was an experience.
My home made pillow, consisting of a soft sweater in a pillow case, did not live up to expectation.
I discovered that bras were not made for sleeping!
The limited space in the sleeping bag engendered claustrophobia.
I limited my water intake as I did not want bathroom visits – I wished I had not as it was a long boring night.
I will end on a positive note – I did not feel cold at any time!
