On the Road Again

CANBERRA ODESSEY August 2012

Day 4 – 5 – 6- 7-    
                           

Thursday 16th August 2012

Much time spent with the family, bonding with our 2 year old grandson and getting to know our new grandson Harry whom I’m pleased to say is home and doing extremely well, home Thursday morning all going gang busters.

We have moved back into the van today and wouldn’t you believe, it has rained for the first time since we have been here.  I went to play some music and soon found I had no 12v power, after much searching, checking fuses, I went for the multi metre and that battery was flat, you guessed it no spare 9v batteries, needed 2, 1 for the multi metre and 1 for the smoke alarm.  Sheryle was great she did not blow her stack just went to the shop and bought some.  Thinking I must have left something on I felt I had checked and double checked everything, in the end I rang The Home of 12 Volt in Mt Barker Adelaide whom I know well, spoke to John within a couple of minutes I realized on Sunday when leaving the van I switched the fridge to a/c, no, dumbo turned the switch to d/c flattening both very new 120amp batteries quickly.  John suggested a number of ways of charging, however, Sheryle and I felt taking 1 battery out taking it to the auto electrician who has a special AGM charger would be the best move.

On returning to the van after dropping the battery off then cuddles with Harry the penny dropped, lights! All but 2 of our lights are 12volt, luckily we had purchased an led strip light from The Home of 12 Volt in Mt Barker a few months earlier, until now we have never had the use for them, out with the Thumper whammo we have good lighting for the night.

Whilst traversing the Hay plain there had been road repairs from the flood damage earlier this year, loose gravel lay across the road several semi trailers passed in the opposite direction that threw up stones onto our windscreen and left star chips, when we re-fueled at Yass Sheryle noticed a crack in the base of the windscreen right in the middle, between Yass and Queanbeyan that little crack is now about 6 inches long this will be replaced tomorrow providing the rain holds off, it’s good to have good insurance.

Keep the shiny side up

John

On the Road Again

CANBERRA ODESSEY August 2012

Day 3

Sunday 12^th August 2012

We were fast asleep last night when we were awoken by the phone just after 11pm with the news

“IT’S A BOY”

 HARRY PETER  

 was born at 10:58pm weighing in at 3.2kl (7lb) length 48cm head 32cm,

With a labour of 1hr 20min; eat your hearts out girls

This is getting old hat leaving on time; however, for the next 10 days at least we will not have to worry as we will be in Queanbyan.  Today was trouble free, filling up with fuel at Narrandera I asked the attendant how long cotton had been grown in the area, about 12 months with a cotton gin in Darlington, apparently cotton grows very well in this area, damm it!!

We were met at the caravan park by Thomas & Brett, after a short time Thomas took to us as if he see’s us every day.  Time only to set up the van then off to the hospital to see Harry and Mary, he is so gorgeous.  The first photo we saw I feel he looks like Brett, seeing him in person he has features of my brother Bill, I have a photo of Brett nursing Harry, a lot of similarities in the face and forehead.

We are staying with Brett & Thomas for a few days whist Mary & Harry are in hospital, Thursday will see us back in the van, until then we are forced to endure hot showers and toilet in an adjoining room and being entertained by our little man Thomas.

Keep the shiny side up

John

On the Road Again

CANBERRA ODESSEY August 2012

Day 2  

                                                   

Saturday 11^th August 2012

EXCITING NEWS;;;;   we left on time this morning; I’ve always said we could do it.

Again an uneventful day of travelling, apart from stopping to assist a couple broken down on the Hay Plain 60kl west of Hay.  Barbara and Graham left Canberra after spending $3,000  on their Jeep, ran out of fuel on the way to Hay, broke down in Hay and had the NRMA out to get them going and now 60kl further on just cut out, obviously a Jeep thing and we wouldn’t understand.  As soon as we had phone coverage we rang the NRMA for assistance for them, last heard of being towed into Balranald, we will check on them later.

Dexter Too climbing treesBirdcage Reserve is a beautiful location, the trees are tall and proud quite mixtures of gums including the magnificent River Red Gum, easy access off the Sturt Highway.  The trees show clearly the water level during the floods earlier this year, without swimming across and measuring it appears to be down about 1.5 metres.   We ere greeted by a Kookaburra on arrival, Sheryle was in 7^th heaven. Sitting out basking in the afternoon sun, drinking instant coffee and reading, Sheryle popped into the library before leaving and grabbed 6 books, me, myself just a mere 320 on my E-Reader.

Water marks on the trees from the recent floods

The amount of cotton on the side of the road between Balranald and our campsite tonight at Birdcage Reserve (34⁰ 31 230S   145⁰ 41 957E) is incredible, I thought we were travelling north west NSW along the Darling River, please don’t tell me they are growing cotton along the Murrumbidgee as well as rice, if so, may the lice of a thousand camels infest their armpits.

View from our van

Keep the shiny side up

John

On the Road Again

CANBERRA ODESSEY August 2012

Day 1                                                     

Friday 10^th August 2012

Well here we go again, this trip will take us through the Riverland across the Hay Plain and into Queanbeyan NSW for the arrival on Monday we hope of our 7^th grandchild, and then back home for the arrival of our 8^th grandchild towards the end of August.

Today we almost left on time just 15 minutes late that is a major record for us.  We took the new Northern Expressway between Pt Wakefield Rd and the Sturt Highway to Gawler, this saves at least 30 minutes.  A trouble free run saw us lunch at Blanchtown with our overnight stop at Bottleneck Bend (34⁰  18. 218S  142⁰ 17. 949E) about 10kl out from Gol Gol NSW, 3 states within 7 hours, are we travelers or what!

As we were entering Mildura minding our own business a plane was coming into land, it was so low Sheryle wanted to s top to see if it left rubber on the car roof, we have not experienced a plane so low previously.

It was beautiful sitting on the bank of our mighty Murray River enjoying the peace and serenity of each other’s company listening to the songs of the local birds and watching their dancing, just beautiful and serene with a great cup of instant coffee in hand just to cap it off, when, you guessed it, a !@#$%^&*( whiz-bang arrived with mandatory radio volume turned up, they were just about to set up behind us when they must have seen or felt my eyes pierce through their low intellect, they then moved about 50 metres away.

Before leaving we fitted new Holland blinds to the caravan, night 1 we cannot get over the difference they make in temperature, there was always a draft through the door that we had to try and block out, sitting with our backs to the windows was always cold and uncomfortable, Meredith and Allen will vouch for this, now it is snug and warm.

On the way we picked up a hitchhiker, we have named him Dexter Too, as our original Dexter was not satisfied in travelling with Sheryle between home and work, he, wanted more adventure and took off by himself, just goes to show you can’t trust any stuffed dog after giving them so much dedicated love and attention.

Keep the shiny side up

John 

On the Road Again Chookaloo September 10th 2011

Well here we are “ON THE ROAD AGAIN”, this time at a favorite camp at CHOOKALOO, yes, the spelling is correct.  This is a nice camping area in the Kuitpo Forest about half an hour from home, between Willunga to the west and Meadows to the east, camping is only permitted during the cooler months April till November due to the fire bans in this area.  Chookaloo is maintained by Forestry S A and a small fee of $3-00 per person per night, basically it is bring everything although there is pit toilets for those with a need, we just hold on.

T here is kangaroos but rarely seen, however, a large variety of birds can be observed all over the camp grounds.  (Please do not feed the fauna as our food is not their stable diet & they can a, become dependent on humans for food thus lose their skills of getting their own b, our food can make them sick and shorten their lives).    Dogs are permitted and our faithful mutt Misty loves the freedom, no matter where we go she is only half a step behind, although she is getting on in years now here she thinks she is still a puppy.

Well Saturday was a disaster, forecast an occasional shower and it was, one in fact, started at 12:30 stopped at 6:30 just the one continuous rain constantly changing from drizzle to bucketing down, yet we struggled through inside the van.  Magpies kept us entertained trying to coerce us into giving them food, they failed miserably yet the Kookaburra’s sat on the post looking at us sitting in the van keeping out of the rain, then along came some Kangaroo’s for a peek a boo with several varieties of parrots, gala’s  and cockatoo’s it was really great. 

I will not mention that I ran out of gas in the caravan which meant a quick trip McLaren Vale to have the gas bottle refilled, it was nice a sunny there, once back on top of the hill the hill the rain continued. 

Sunday was a great day cool with a couple of light showers allowing us a short walk through the campground, with a late lunch and pack up and homeward bound.

On the Road Again Langhorne Creek January 2011

Rest Stop Langhorne Creek

Well off again; this 2011 New Year long weekend we decided at the last moment to hook up the caravan and take off to Langhorne Creek.  This is a small wine region of South Australia on the northern side of Lake Alexandrina between Strathalbyn to the west and Wellington to the east, 1hour and 15 minutes from home.

We were lucky enough to have been given a Webber Q for Christmas, this was our main source of cooking and the most hassle free BBQing I have ever used, heat it up, place the meat on the grill & wait 10 min then turn it over and 10 min later it is cooked to perfection just brilliant.  Once finished with the BBQ we popped on a pork roast, same deal except 30 min each side perfect outcome.

Friends from Christies Beach Allen and Merredith popped in to see us on Sunday with Allen's mother and his daughter Elizabeth who is on holiday from Brisbane, was great to see them and meet Elisabeth.

A nice relaxing time with some small walks that our dog Misty enjoyed, this morning we found a fence with about 20 foxes hanging on the wire, a little further was the Langhorne Creek cemetery with graves dating from 1861 to 2010.

Whilst camping we met a family from Armidale NSW  that have been on the road for 6 weeks of their two year holiday around Australia, mum, dad and 5 children aged between 3 and 14 and believe it or not another due to be born in Adelaide in April 2011.  The children are the best behaved and a credit to their parents, during the school year they will be home schooled using the Ace System.  Another family pulled in on Sunday afternoon starting their 12 month trip around Oz mum, dad and 4 children, another couple were staying at Mannum however over Christmas and the New Year it had become too noisy with bad behavior therefore moved out till later in the week, all very nice people, all using different forms of camping from tents to motor homes and combination of tent and caravans.

Thank you Sheryle for a great weekend.

Keep the shiny side up

John