Caravanning Camping Touring
Let me share some of our stories with you. I'll try to keep it fun and interesting, with heaps of photos, hints, tips and reviews all relating to life on the road.
11th July – 12th July 2024
Eleven kilometres out of Tamworth we heard an unnervingly loud BANG! from under the bonnet. we quickly pulled off the road and popped the hood.
It was immediately obvious what was wrong. A 100mm high pressure air hose had popped off, (technical term). Peter tried to replace it, but it just didn’t want to fit back on.
After a while he had limited success, so we decided to try to limp the 11 kms back into Tamworth to see our friends at JT Fossey. Alas, as soon as Peter applied pressure to the accelerator…BANG! Off it popped again.
We called JT Fossey and told them what had happened, and they immediately offered assistance. Within twenty minutes a technician arrived and discovered that the clamp meant to hold the hose in place had either dropped off when the hose popped, or hadn’t been fitted in the first place. The young bloke didn’t have a spare but knew where he could get one; he hopped back into his car and headed into town.
Peter and I settled down in the van and made ourselves a cuppa, but we hardly had time to drink it before Jay returned, spare part in hand and with a bit of brute force got the hose back in place and tightly secured.
We’ve visited a lot of Ford dealerships over our four years on the road, (yes, come August it will have been four years,) but this was the first satisfactory outcome we have experienced. Even with the minor stuff up, they fixed us up quickly and without question. Maybe the ‘thank you slab’ Peter dropped off at the workshop after their earlier work had something to do with that.
Anyway, we finished our cuppa, got ourselves stowed away and back on route to Lake Keepit ready for a few relaxing days by the water.
They say things come in threes; Lake Keepit was our third. We were following the route laid out by WikiCamps. From our direction it led us around the north side of the lake. At first, the road was good, after awhile it turned into a dirt road, which was mentioned on WikiCamps so we kept going. Then the road turned into two tyre tracks with grass between. It was wet and slick, but manageable. Then the tyre tracks became less distinct, and wetter but with a Ford Ranger in 4WD it was still ok, although getting questionable.
Then we got to the bog and the questioned was answered.
It may not look that bad, but the water was a good metre and a half into the grass on either side of the track, and it was very slippery. Just a couple of weeks earlier you might recall we lost traction in a similar bog without the van and Peter had to dig us out!
While Peter assessed the situation, I sloshed my way through the water and checked out the road around the corner. There were two gates, one marked, KEEP OUT, the other was the track to the camp area. This was that track.
So, question answered, we were going back. However, this led to another problem. There was nowhere to turn around. Peter had found a potential area three-hundred metres behind us to get off the track and do a three-point turn but…we had to get back there first.
By this time the treads of all the tyres were caked with mud and we were running on slicks and the Chunky Bum had her own idea of where she wanted to go.
I’m not if you can imagine what happens when you push a three-tonne van backwards over slippery ground so let me tell you: The van just goes where it wants to, assuming you can get enough traction on the car wheels to get the six-tonne rig moving at all. We struggled to keep the van out of the much wetter, much boggier gutter at the edge of the road by adopting the, one step forward two steps back system.
Adding to the difficulty were the bends in the track, so it took some time. Well, we got there in the end.
Now, there was one more little complication that made this task extra difficult, but I’ll have to flash back briefly so we won’t appear complete idiots. Years ago, we discovered that the handbrake on the caravan was useless for forward motion, but good at stopping the van moving backwards. It was also very difficult to release, often resulting in skinned knuckles and strained fingers. As a result, we stopped using the hand brake and relied solely on the chocks. Never had a problem.
Unfortunately, Gary our tow truck driver, was unaware of this and he very kindly put the handbrake on for us when he dropped us off at Tamworth. You can see where this is going can’t you. 😉
We arrived at our turn around point and got out of Big Ears to check the ground and plot our course. It was then that Peter exclaimed, “Ookaaay! This wouldn’t have helped.” I followed his line of sight and saw that the handbrake was on.
Actually we handled the whole experience well. Maybe we’re getting a bit too relaxed, but it didn’t bother us at all. Back onto the bitumen we discussed Plan B.
As far as this lake is concerned…the locals could Keep it!
See you out there somewhere
On tow and on the go!
26th June – 11th July 2024
We arrived at the Paradise Caravan Park at Tamworth in style. Though Big Ears I’m sure, was a tad embarrassed at having to be carried…again.
Gary, the tow-truck driver was great. He reversed us into our slot, then promptly took the car to JT Fossey a Ford dealer, or should I say the Ford dealer in Tamworth.
The initial investigation to the breakdown wasn’t reassuring. There were multiple error codes, leaving the technicians scratching their heads. They sent the error codes to Ford Australia to see if they could narrow things down a little and so began the… “We’ll let you know tomorrow,” game.
After many tomorrows had passed, we decided to settle in for the long haul. Our roadside assist through RACQ gave us five options, all within specific dollar values, which were quite generous.
The three that were most useful to us were:
- They’d cover accommodation
- They’d cover accommodation and car hire
- They’d relocate the car, van and us to another area should the need be
However, we were reluctant to make our decision, at least until we had a diagnosis. You see, once we’d made the decision, we couldn’t change our mind. So, if we chose option 2, but it turned out we needed option 3 (and the way things were going that was a possibility,) then we’d have to cover the cost of relocation ourselves. Luckily RACQ were very understanding and did not force the decision.
As usual we made the most of our time. We had many walks into town, visited the Tamworth Country Music Hall of Fame, and some of Tamworth’s music legends.
Speaking of legends, an old RAAF friend of Peters’ lives 20 kms out of Tamworth. He and his wife came to visit us as soon as they heard of our predicament. We spent many a happy hour with Ralph and Jennifer, they took us sightseeing around the area. Including the Woollen Mill at Nundle.
The mill is one of the last working spinning mills operating in Australia, and still uses some traditional spinning machinery (almost 100 years old) and dye techniques. Whether you’re into woollen crafts or not, it really is quite an interesting place to visit. As well as being able to see the wool mill at work, there is a huge range of knitted products for sale.
Not far from Nundle is Hanging Rock. An easy drive will take you to the Lookout there and you will be rewarded with stunning views over the Peel Valley, though the last image in this slideshow was taken from the Oxley Lookout. It shows how expansive Tamworth is and with a population of over 80,000 it truly is a city on the move.
We’re often asked, How do you cope with medical check-ups when travelling? Well, this is perhaps a good example. I had my eyes checked in Brisbane on 15th March and was given a new script for my glasses. However, I couldn’t get the script filled until after my specialist appointment, back in Brisbane on June10th. Port Macquarie was our next stop, so I selected my new glasses/sunglasses from there. This brings me to Tamworth. On July 28th I explained my situation to OPSM, (we were stuck here) and they arranged for my glasses to be transferred to Tamworth. So, it’s not always easy but…given time and a little patience, you can keep up your regular check-ups.
More importantly, I got a new pair of hiking boots. It turns out that they are the same (only a different colour) as my old ones but with one important difference, the new ones have treads.
As I said to the sales assistant, if these were tyres, I’d be unroadworthy! She agreed.
But I digress, back to the car. We were settling into life in Tamworth when we got an unexpected call at five thirty on a Monday evening, twelve days after we arrived in Tamworth. JT Fossey had found the problem!
Peter asked cautiously. “What was the problem and how long will it take to fix?” The reply was. “You can come and get it now.” Forty-five minutes later, Big Ears was back home.
We can’t blame Big Ears for this breakdown. It was a result of the repair work done when he broke down in Kalgoorlie. (Peter you can fill in this bit).
Peter filling in… I must say, given the reputation of Ford Ranger gearboxes, I was expecting the worst. The gears just wouldn’t engage. So, it was a relief to find out this was the result of bad workmanship!
It turns out that when our fan-belt pully/bearings failed while we were in Kalgoorlie, the mechanic had not correctly routed the cabling loom and it had been chaffing against another surface. Finally, it had worn through and shorted out multiple wires in the loom. It sent the CAN bus into such a spin that the computer just said, “That’s enough, I’m not going anywhere until you guys get your stories straight!”
But in the end, it turned out to be an easy fix and a reasonable cost. Two days later, we’d bought groceries and booze, (all the essentials) and were ready to hit the road. One more short stop before we drove out: I dropped a slab of Great Northern off for the workshop guys to say thank you.
Eleven kilometres out of Tamworth we heard an unnervingly loud BANG! from under the bonnet. we quickly pulled off the road and popped the hood. It was immediately obvious what the issue was but…
…To Be Continued.
See you out there somewhere
On tow and on the go!
26th June 2024
When I wrote last, Peter and I were driving along the Oxley HWY talking and laughing, happy in our ignorance of what was about to happen. About forty minutes into our drive, we came to the junction of the Oxley HWY and Wollun Rd. We slowed down, checked for oncoming traffic and…stayed there.
Big Ears refused to move. After ten minutes of encouragement, he managed to limp almost around the corner but not quite – and that was that. So, there we were, stuck on the Oxley HWY with Chunky Bums big butt almost touching the double white line and we were going nowhere! Nor was anyone else travelling our direction on the Oxley Highway! At least not on our side of the road.
Flash back; you may recall that for some time we’ve been concerned about the Gross Combined Mass (GCM) of Chunky Bum and Big Ears. This was in fact, the main reason we came back to the east coast.
We did shed some weight, but didn’t think it was enough so, you can imagine are pure joy when a NSW Roads, Safety & Compliance vehicle, pulled up just minutes after we broke down.
I didn’t want to annoy them by taking a photo, but this is what the vehicle looked like.
For those of you who aren’t aware, these are the guys who can pull you over at anytime, to check the GCM of your car and van. Scary Dudes!
As Peter wandered over to chat to them, I hid in the car and watched through the mirror. I said to myself, “Oh dearie me. We are in trouble now.” Except, I didn’t say it in such a lady-like manner. Anyway, both Peter and I could see they were giving Chunky Bum a good look over, all the while Peter kept an outwardly calm and jovial demeanour. After about ten minutes the Safety and Compliance chaps, got back in their car. Phew! They wished us luck and went on their merry way.
That crisis averted we got on the phone to RACQ. They, as always, provided very good service and promised us a tow truck within the hour. Soon after we had arranged the tow truck, a police vehicle pulled over to see what was happening. We told them the same as the Safety and Compliance guys, except now we had a tow truck coming for us. The police chatted for about five minutes, then wished us luck and went on their merry way.
I reckon about eighty percent of vehicles on the road, stopped to see if we needed a hand. Nineteen percent passed us by, reassured by our smiling faces, and one percent honked their horns and shook fists at us through their windows. I think they thought we’d stopped for our morning tea.
Forty-five minutes after we had called RACQ, another police car pulled up to see if we were ok. They stopped and chatted for about five minutes, then wished us luck and went on their merry way.
But…a couple of minutes later they returned to help with traffic control. We were very thankful to them for that as it was a surprisingly busy road – cars, caravans and big stock trucks. I had a lovely long chat with one of the officers, it turned out that they were partners in life as well as the police force, and they were dog lovers. In fact, she spent a lot of time trying to convince me to take a puppy… or two, but I resisted.
It took about an hour twenty minutes for the tow truck to get to us, that’s pretty good considering where we were. Half an hour later, Big Ears was on the truck. Chunky Bum was hooked on behind and we were sitting in the cab with Gary. We waved farewell to our friendly officers and we went on our merry way.
Next stop – Tamworth.
See you out there somewhere
On tow and on the go!
19th – 26th June 2024
We called in to Port Macquarie long enough to say hi to mum, drop off Chunky Bum, then drive down to Sydney on the 1st June. Our singular reason for the visit was to catch up with a good friend of ours. Chris, as always, was the perfect host. Home cooked meals, a chance to catch up with some other friends which was lovely and a big night out on the town where we experienced the “Vivid Festival of Light”. A spectacle where the area around Sydney Harbour, including the bridge and the Opera House, were blanketed with lights and images. Luckily the rain had cleared by then.
This was a lovely surprise for Peter and me, as we had no idea it was even on, or what in fact it was.
It was a short but sweet visit with Chris, as we had to be back in Port Mac by the 6th June. We had to take mum up to Kevin’s in Kingscliff on the 8th. Mum and Kevin were headed to England to spend time with family and they were due to fly out on the 10th. Also on the 10th I had an appointment with my eye specialist in Brisbane (all good and out by 3:10). Our plan from there was to was to drive straight back to Port Mac.
However, there was a bad accident on the Pacific Hwy between Brisbane and Kingscliff which threw a spanner in the works. I sent Kevin a text joking he’d be in England before we got to Port…I wasn’t far wrong.
It was close to 6pm before we got past Kingscliff. The usual hour and a half drive took us three. We drove another hour, then called it quits at Ballina, booked into a motel and wandered over to the local Sporties club for a meal, and a very nice one it was too.
We arrived at Port late the next afternoon, after stopping at Coffs Harbour for lunch on the way down. As it turned out, we arrived at Port Mac only a few hours before Kevin and Mum called to say they’d arrived in England.
We had a week of leisure at mum’s place, a few beach walks, a lot of washing and a bit of shopping and cleaning, before packing Chunky Bum once again and heading back to Cobrabald River, but this time we wouldn’t be alone.
We’d met Joey and Gaz while crossing the Nullarbor last year,. They were camped next to us at Bunda Cliffs and we really hit it off. We’ve kept in touch and were finally able to meet up. We had a lovely few days with them, and while we saw plenty of Rakali, the Platypus were quite evasive.
The beauty of having the freedom of time, is that you can stay longer hoping to see more and the day after Joey and Gaz left, we had a platypus parade. This one’s for you Gaz.
I think if he could, Peter would stake his claim here; yes, it is that nice. Anyway, after one of our drives into Walcha (we’ve been told its pronounced Walka) Peter wanted to play in the mud but he underestimated how wet and slippery it really was and promptly got us bogged. The car really was bogged and digging it out and packing the slippery track with bark and timber was not an attractive job, so I left Peter to it and walked home to make dinner. I was going to video him driving out but I was standing behind the car and too busy trying not to get covered in flying mud.
While Peter was playing with the car, I was playing with this little fellow. He was camped just outside the caravan.
This really is a great place to camp, and there were a couple of other overnight campers along the river this time. We walked further, following the river as it meandered through the country, and were surprised to see this foxy lady.
The other animals didn’t seem bothered about her at all. After all, she was very pretty.
It was cold here this visit. Usually one to two degrees centigrade overnight. Not to mention a couple of minus two and minus three degrees. For a couple of sooky Queenslanders, that’s pretty darn cold. But there is always a silver lining and those cold nights resulted in some beautiful misty mornings.
Of course we made the most of the cold with our fires and camp oven cooking, even Peter took a turn in the kitchen.
And in between all of that wood chopping and cooking, Peter and I still found time to explore.
We hadn’t decided when we would leave, but we woke up on the 26th and it looked like rain. We were a bit concerned about getting the van bogged (I don’t think Peter’s bush skills would have been much help with that) so, we made a snap decision, packed up our home and were on the road within an hour.
We felt really good about our decision to leave, chatting about where we’d spend the night, and were generally having a great day, but then…it all went pear shaped.
See you out there somewhere
On tow and on the go!
11th May -30th May
The drive through the New England region was quite lovely, even though it rained most of the time. The misty drizzle turned the skies silver grey, but highlighted the trees and provided a lovely show during our drive over the Great Dividing Range, (GDR) and we arrived safely at Port Macquarie in good time.
As usual, we had a few commitments while back in civilization, not least of which was to celebrate Mother’s day with mum, and her birthday a week later. After that we had a couple of weeks free and we decided to make the most of that time.
So where did we plan to go for our two-week holiday? Note I said “plan” and not just “go”. We had planned to go to Wyangala Dam, a lovely place which we have previously visited. But we got sidetracked when we stumbled across yet another camp that we had previously visited. Now, when I say stumbled upon, I mean, re-traced our steps, looked at past blog posts, racked our memory and finally called into the Walcha information center where we had our, “That’s the place!” revelation. Two weeks later we were still there.
Can you blame us?
So, what is so great about this place we “stumbled upon”? Apart for how pretty it is of course. Well first and foremost, there are platypus in the river. We knew that from our previous visit and were thrilled to see that they were still there.
I have to say, that apart from the fact that platypuses are weird, bizarre creatures, they are also very difficult to photograph. The are extremely shy, keep a very low profile in the water and travel long distances very quickly under the surface. On top of that, they seem to have the ability melt into the water without a ripple. Peter likens them to icebergs; you only see the smallest part above the surface. However, I did get a lot of photos and had to do an awful lot of culling.
We were able to identify three individuals for sure, but there could have been more. There were also a few of our feathered friends, including quite a large flock of these little beauties.
It was pretty cold while we were there, overnight temps were between 2 and 4 degrees C. But, there was plenty of firewood in the area so all was good. Besides, this gave Peter something to do, and me a chance to brush up my camp oven cooking skills.
This really was a very pretty place to wander around with the camera and it’s surprising what you can capture. There wasn’t a lot of life on/in the water but I did see one turtle…which turned out to be a frog. (Last image).
Now, Rakali. The title of this post. What is it? What does it mean? Well, Rakali is the indigenous name for Australia’s native river rat, and it was a pleasure to have seen them. Yet another creature that we had never heard of before, and they are very pretty. So much so that they were nearly hunted to extinction (in the good old days) for their soft pelt. Like the platypus, these little critters were pretty shy, but with time on my hands I was able to see quite a lot of them.
I’ve included the link below if you’d like to know more about one of our native animals.
Now what else? There was so much to keep us busy while were were there. We were lucky enough to have a full moon and even more lucky to be in a position to get some interesting shots.
When we weren’t hunting platypuses, rakali, or toiling over a fire, we just kicked back and relaxed.
The weather was fantastic. Cold, yes, but with beautiful misty mornings followed by stunning sunny days. It was a terrific, relaxing fortnight and we will be back. In fact we’ll be back very soon.
See you out there somewhere
On tow and on the go!
1st May to 11th May 2024
The night before we arrived at Kingaroy, we stayed at one of our fav spots. Harland Park, AKA Rodney’s Rest. So named for Rodney the Rooster whom we visited a couple of times over a few months. That being said, we had a wonderful visit with family at Kingaroy, and we were sad to be on our way, but…the Autumn colours of New England were calling and we didn’t want to miss them.
Our first day on the road had us passing through Warwick where we got our first glimpse of the autumn colours.
We were a bit surprised at how many leaves had already fallen, then we realized that we were actually half way through autumn, and as the temperature dropped we realised how close to winter we were. Where does the time go? Anyway, we still got to see some of the best that the New England region has to offer.
We stopped overnight at Bluff Rock rest area, then headed on to Armidale.
We had four nights at Armidale, a really pretty area, especially at this time of year, even though the weather wasn’t the best. We did a bit of shopping and explored the area, including the Oxley Rivers National Park, in particular, Dangar Gorge.
Peter was keen to prove his fitness after his recent heart attack, so I let him choose the walking track, he was determined to test himself.
Hmmm! Mind you, that sign was at a crossroads in the track, and we had already walked some distance. We ended up walking a little over four kilometers, that day.
After all the rain there was plenty of water in the falls and we spent a lot of time simply enjoying them.
And of course, there were birds. I could hear them all around me, but I was only able to capture a few. I’d seen a Little Grebe and Brown Thornbill before, but the White-Throated Treecreeper was a first. I just love this first image.
It was a really pretty area and even though we didn’t do the long walk, we thoroughly enjoyed walking around the gorge and exploring the valley floor.
We’ll have a short stay in Port with mum, then head off for another mini adventure. So, stay tuned.
See you out there somewhere
On tow and on the go!
