August 26th Kenilworth Qld

As planned we went down to Sound In Motion in Nambour last week to get the van's Oyster Satellite system checked over and the Pioneer stereo deck working properly. Everything went to plan and the guys at SIM did an excellent job, they found a problem with the LNB on the Sat System was faulty and rectified that, also they did some fancy electronic work on the deck and wired in a rear auxiliary connection into the rear of the deck to enable all the controls to work correctly, we were very happy with the result, they even found the problem with our wineguard digital TV antenna unfortunately they did not have a replacement part so that means us traveling back tomorrow, we are also calling in at Southeast Stainless and getting a large checker plate alloy box fitted to the drawbar of the van, handy for the generator and chainsaw.

So in between then and now we have just been chill'n out at Kenilworth, we have taken drives to Maleny, Montville and Mapleton, also out to Gympie, Imbil and Kandanga, along with visits to the Eumundi markets on Saturdays. Mostly it's been relax one day, go off and explore the next.

Views along the Gympie Kenilworth Road

The couples that we befriended have left, Steve & Mary off to get their diesel heater and other things fitted to their van, and Mick and Jenny went to visit friends. We left Kenilworth for the day to have the jobs done on the Van and came back in the afternoon but went out and stayed at Little Yabba Creek which is approximately 10klms west of Kenilworth. A lovely overnight camp beside the river, it has enough room for half a dozen campers, courtesy gas BBQ and clean Eco style toilets. We were treated to a family of Kookaburra's dropping in along with the blue faced honey eaters.

Camp at Little Yabba Creek

Most tree's have Stag and Elk Horn ferns growing on them

Friendly Kookaburra's

Vickie and i went on a lovely but short walk along the Fig Tree trail, this well maintained track meanders through the rain forest giving walkers the opportunity to see some great specimen tree's, be warned though there are also some stinging tree's which i think may have done the deed on my skin as i ended up with an itchy rash for a few days.

Stinging Tree - Dont touch

We stayed two nights at Little Yabba Creek and upon leaving noticed a sign stating it was an overnight stop, Ooops Sorry about that, but we hadn't stopped anyone else staying in fact we only saw two other campers in the time we were there.

Large Moreton Bay Fig Tree

Map of the area

Back into Kenilworth showgrounds again early morning, the place had quietened down a bit and we had space to set up along the fence line overlooking the rolling hills and small creek. I disconnected the van but when i went to start the ute it just went click click, Mmmm battery i thought so out came my jump leads to connect to the auxiliary battery but that didn't help, being in the RAC i thought it would be wise to use the service and call them up, fairly soon the local mechanic drove in and did some tests and gave me the diagnosis that the starter motor was the problem. Bugger as the starter motors are deep inside the valley of the newer V8's and not an easy fix, not much i could do than take his knowledge as truth and a quick tow start had me mobile and off to Nambour Toyota to book it in. Dropping the ute off i then organized a hire car for a couple of days through 1/2 price Car Rentals in Maroochydore, i was very pleased with the service as Jo the manager came to Nambour to pick me up and take me back to the office to do the paper work, no extra costs all part of the service.

So having wheels again i headed back to Kenilworth, arriving back around lunch time i received a call from Toyota telling me that the Ute was fine and the battery was the problem, apparently it had dropped some cells and though it was showing good volts it's cranking amps were way down. I find it hard to comprehend that a mechanic operating the local RAC wasn't able to correctly diagnose a faulty battery and saving us all the hassle. Of course i then had to return the hire car, the company reimbursed us a day's rental which was appreciated.

Poppy Flowers at the Cheese Factory

Local Water Bird

Kenilworth Main Street

Fence Post

Another Flood and this tree will fall

 Back at Kenilworth we were surprised to see three Bushtrackers had arrived and set up camp, it was just as surprising to know that we had met two of the van's owners previously at KingFisher camp three years ago when they were Kimberley Karavan Owners and wanna-be BT owners. They had checked out our van then and liked what they saw, so here they were with new Bushtrackers. Sadly one of the group Debbie lost her husband to cancer before taking delivery of her 1st van two years ago, she also had the misfortune to have an accident which damaged the van beyond repair and here she was at Kenilworth after taking delivery of her 2nd new van along with her friends Mark and Christine, Trevor and Jan all with very recently purchased Bushtrackers giving her the support that only friends can do.

So a MINI MUSTER was happening that night and we had a great fire going and the conversations came easily as it often does with like minded people. Their one night stay turned into three and involved another visit to Eumundi Markets Saturday morning.

Trev and Jan

Mark and Chris

Debbie

All three rigs looked very similar and must look a site when traveling in convoy.

We have been waiting for our mail to turn up and that happened today [Monday] which means tomorrow the trip back to SIM and then to get the alloy box fitted. Where we end up tomorrow night we are not sure.

Adelaide - Kenilworth Qld - 11th August 2013

Adelaide was freezing cold and though we love our Daughter dearly we could not wait to get away and head for warmer weather. We stayed four nights and left Sunday afternoon thinking the traffic would be less, how wrong we were. We chose to head North via Broken Hill and Bourke a route we have not driven for a few years, once out on the open road the traffic thinned out and we just rolled along not intending to drive to far but every rest site we came to was to close to the road so it wasn't until around 5pm that we pulled in to a spot 2klms out of Peterborough. We had intended to bypass Peterborough but the Roadhouse that we pulled in to fuel up had run out of diesel so the decision was made, as things turned out the rest area we stayed at was well off the road and with only one other Caravan already there we had plenty of space. For us it was straight into the van and get the Webasto heater working.

Morning smoko at Mannahill

 With our body clocks still working on WA time we awoke early and were on the road by 7.30am, we stopped at Broken Hill and checked out the Information site and bought more post cards for our grand daughters along with some fancy rocks for their collection. Lunch in the park and visit to the post office and then on out to Silverton, famous for where Mad Max and other iconic Australian films were made. I was expecting to see the Mad Max Interceptor out the front of the Silverton Hotel but apparently it's been sold and all there was the Love Child of the Interceptor and a night of passion with a VW. We had a drink in the pub and checked out some of the old buildings but it wasn't enough to make us want to stay so on we moved

Interceptors Love Child

Cold Beer at the Silverton Hotel

Broken Hill to Wilcannia along the Barrier Highway, and then across to Cobar, here we turned north and headed for Bourke along the Kidman Way, we had a good run and traveled some distance finally stopping for the night at a rest stop along the road, no one else apart from us and a Police vehicle pulled in to transfer a prisoner into another vehicle. Plenty of fire wood around so we had a lovely evening with a superb sunset.

Stunning Sunset

The next day it was the same as any other, keep driving, stop for smoko, lunch and pull up around 4pm, tonight it was to be the North Star Rest Area 30k south of Goondawindi. The rest area is a large bitumen parking area used by trucks and travellers but if you drive a short distance down the side road there are plenty of camp spots tucked in the bush far enough away from the roads. Here we had our 2nd camp fire for the night with an equally as nice sunset but being tucked away in the bush it was not as captivating.

Camp Fire for the night

Appetizing?

 We were finally in Queensland and passed through Goondawindi and on up through Moonie and on to Dalby we thought about stopping early but i decided to press on and head to a lovely camp we know about 10klms South East of Kenilworth. Vickie wanted me to bypass the hills and go up through Kingaroy and double back at Gympie but i thought it unnecessary in hind-site it would have been probably quicker and easier on the Ute as the route i choose was up through the mountains at Maleny, at times i was down to 2nd gear as we continued to climb and twist and turn. We have been on the same roads before towing but then we had the big F250 and hills were never a problem, as it turned out it wasn't so bad and we finally drove into our camp for the night only to find we were one of six other caravans or motor homes. One lot had their guitars out and were singing away, i listened for a short while and left them to it.

Next morning it was just a 10 minute drive into Kenilworth where we intend to stay a couple of weeks, to say we were astounded was an understatement, the showgrounds were very busy with two caravan clubs in their designated areas, another motorhome club taking up their area and the rest was relatively full with travelers. We know Clem the caretaker from previous visits and he saw us and came over and explained the situation, most were only here for the weekend and he suggested parking out in the middle and then choosing our space once the crowds are gone which is what we have done.

We noticed one Bushtracker parked against the fence boundary and wondered if it was anyone we knew and as i was unhooking the Ute from the Van the owner came over and started chatting like he knew us all of our lives, but this was the 1st time we had actually met, it didn't take long for the penny to drop that Steve had been following our Blog and had been told about it from another Bushtracker owner Ponce whom we met in Adelaide, or should i say he stalked us down. It's a small world when traveling, and the conversations came easy. Steve and Mary are camped next to Mick and Jenny whom they only met a week before, so that night it was a few drinks around their camp fire talking the talk.

Friday night the temperature fell dramatically and it was a chilly night, we didn't put the webasto on as we had some campers directly behind us in a small A Van and we didn't want to gas them out with the smell of diesel. Saturday morning we were up and heading to the Eumundi Markets where we spent the morning wandering around. Vickie loves it and always finds something to buy, this time she was on a mission to get some bread boards of a certain size to use as Pizza servers, this she accomplished by ordering from one of the sellers two custom made boards to be picked up next weekend. I enjoy wandering around but the stalls are always the same, even ten years ago when we 1st visited i see the same stalls and faces, sure there is the new area and some different but to me its a bit the same same, i do enjoy people watching though and its a beautiful setting under the huge Moreton Bay fig trees. The afternoon we drove to Noosa where we have been many times before, it was a mad house with traffic and people everywhere, we managed to find a car park and stopped long enough for a coffee and a quick walk along Hastings street.

Eumundi Markets, under the shady trees

Hastings Street Noosa

That was enough for me, get me out of here and back to Kenilworth. That night we went across to the Hall and watched a lady performer sing some old time rock and roll, it was good fun but we felt the odd one's out as everyone was part of a group. We left at the interval and back to the van where we had an early night.

Today, Sunday has been very relaxing, just a walk up the main street and a visit to the Cheese Factory, coffee in the local Cafe and the rest of the day I've been typing away on the laptop filling you all in with the exciting times of our life's, Vickie is over playing card games with the others.

We look like having the Oyster Sat and Stereo looked at on Thursday, also whilst we are here i may look at getting new batteries for the van, We have also made contact with a couple we know and are tossing the idea about of traveling to the BOG muster in Alice via the Strezlecki and Oodnadatta tracks. We will know more about that as time goes by.

Drive By Shooting ?

No, just my idea to cover a few dents on the front of the Van :-)

Back On The Road - Heading East to Adelaide - July 2013

After hanging at home for 3 weeks we finally hooked the van up and started heading East. It's always sad saying goodbye to our granddaughters but they understand, well at least two of them do, our youngest is only 15 months and has entered the cute learning quickly stage and we feel terrible not being able to watch her development, But what can we do ? We are not sure how much longer we will continue to trip around so we make the most of it.

So where are we and what's happened in the past few days, ?

We left home on Friday, the rain was pouring down and it was freezing cold. We did not leave until after 10am but that left us time to get to our 1st night's target of Boorabbin National Park which is a nice camp site in the bush off the Great Eastern Highway before Coolgardie. We arrived around 4.30pm, there were 4 or 5 other vans parked up and we made our way into the bush, Vickie got into the van and immediately started the Webasto diesel heater to warm up the van it was going to be a cold night.

Lunch Time Stop

Up and on the road by 7.30am we had enough fuel to get to Norseman but we decided to stop at Coolgardie IGA to buy some fly spray and milk. Whenever we stop i walk around the Van checking the wheel hubs for any sign of over heating and all was fine so back in the car and on we continued to Norseman. This is the part where things could have turned nasty, Pulling into the servo i filled up the tanks and went and paid, coming back to the car Vickie called out that i had better come and look at this. Walking around the Van i was shocked to see one of the Van's wheels leaning out at an angle, looking closer i could see 7 of the 8 wheel nuts were missing and the one that was there was only held on by a few threads. BUGGER !! but extremely thankful that we still had a wheel and no damage had been done.

Not having any spare wheel nuts i used one nut of each other wheel, plus the spares gave me enough to have the wheel held on by six nuts. We drove into the town and checked with the local Mechanical and Tire workshop but they could not help. I made the decision to continue on confident that there were enough nuts on each wheel to make it safely. As things turned out my decision was correct and we had no troubles.

We have tripped across the Nullabour so many times, the last time we were with our mates Geoff and Vickie and we explored some of the caves and old Nullabour, this time the rain did not let up so we stayed on the bitumen and didn't do anything out of the ordinary. Our second night was spent at Baxter Camp where again the rain continued so it was out of the car into the van. Only one other Caravan came in and they went back into the scrub which i thought was keen considering the amount of slop around.

Third night was 20k's West of the Nullabour Roadhouse, we have in the past camped along the cliffs of the bight but this time choose to stay on the other side in the bush, a little more protected and again being so cold outside it was just a quick walk around and settle in the van for the night.

We are always glad when we come across a new camp site that we have not seen before and this time we very happy we chose to visit Tcharkulda Hut 4klm's out of Minnipa. We have visited and stayed at nearby Pildappa Rock a couple of times previously and enjoyed it but this was nicer. Apart from being not so far off the highway it had a lovely old cottage built in 1915 that was once a workers hut and then lived in by an aboriginal couple Tom and Tilly, today it is a welcome shelter for the many people who visit the area. Inside was a big fire place and a stack of fire wood, i soon had a nice warm fire going as we watched the sun go down. The Hill is not as high as Pildappa but the views are just as nice, the huge rocks had been worn down by thousands of years of erosion and made for some interesting shapes. What was also interesting is a small rock wall has been built around the rock to channel rain water off the rock and into a huge storage dam which became the original towns water supply.

The Rock wall to divert water for the town water supply

Gas BBQ Supplied

How Romantic

 We had a lovely quiet night, no one else ventured in which surprised me as it was very accessible to all forms of transport. We awoke to a very fresh morning with the mist rolling in around the tree's, it was very pretty.

Tcharkulda Hut

Morning Mist Rolling In

 Being only 60 kms away from Kimba we could have made the trip into Adelaide that day but we didn't. We stayed 70klms out at Port Parham, this is another free camp we have stayed previously and it has become popular, we were lucky to get in when we did as the spaces were filling up. Not much to add here, the tide was out, the beach if you could call it that was covered in sea weed like every other time we have visited, it is very popular with the crabbers when in season. I had a chat with a nice couple and it was back in the van warm and toasty.

Kimba home of the Big Galah and some delicious bakery pies

No Arguments, move off the road when these come along

Port Parham 'Beach'

Port Parham Free Camp

 Arrived at our daughter Erin's place in Adelaide, parked the van in the driveway and set off to try and find some new wheel nuts. I thought it all went to easy when it just took two phone calls to find a Effy Wrecker not far away who could supply me with the nuts. Well they looked the same, slight difference in the actual nut thickness but they came off a F250 so they must fit ? surely ..... getting back to the Van i was dissapointed to find they didn't fit, so back i went to see what the wrecker could suggest. A few phone calls and checking of books determined that the original nuts i have were not genuine Ford F250 nuts, BUGGER ! what to do now i thought, I went to Coventry Fasteners but they couldn't help, they did tell me what i required 9/16 UNF with over sized nuts ....... Rude bastard i thought my nuts are just fine as they are ........

I thought about the process of building our Van and i knew that i had supplied the wheels and nuts to BushTracker and Simplicity built the suspension which included supplying the hubs so i phoned Simplicity in Victoria and spoke to Richard. he knew exactly what my problem was and explained that they supplied the studs and nuts as it was cheaper for them to do that than source them from Ford, there lay the problem and also the fix. Richard could supply me with the nuts, i also ordered a set of wheel studs in case of any future problems.

Now it's just a matter of waiting, we also have a new stereo deck for the van chasing us across from the West, one that i ordered three weeks ago and unfortunately had not turned up in time so the seller had offered to post it to us, excellent service considering i had not yet paid for it.

So there we are, we have been in Adelaide one day, sorted out the wheel nuts and already visited the China Town markets in Gouger street where we had our Chicken and Rice, it was a family affair as Erin and Scott also joined us at our favorite Chinese Cafe. Not sure exactly how long we will stay, probably make the move on Monday and make our way on up to Queensland via Broken Hill and Bourke.

I forgot to explain why the nuts came off the Van, that would be because some idiot didn't check all the wheels after servicing the suspension. I have tried kicking the idiot up the backside but just can't bend and twist my leg up high enough to reach my bum. Oh well, live and learn i say ............

Home 17th July 2013 - Update

We have been home a couple of weeks and though it was our plan to only hang around a week it appears it will be at least another week before we 'Hit The Road' again. I have had a change of pain relief medication due to an allergic reaction and another visit to the Dr before we leave to make sure all is OK. For those that are in their Seniors years and are fit, healthy & flexible ... you have already won Life's Lotto, I envy you.

The time home has mainly been lovely sunny days though the temperatures are not anywhere high enough to stop the body aches,  But the rain free days have given me the opportunity to do some minor maintenance on the Van & Ute, We love being camped at Ningaloo for the two months but always conscious of the Car & Van being in a salt environment, so when given the opportunity to give everything a good clean i make the most of it. I also need to fit a new Tuner/DVD player in the van.

I have taken one of our Hobie Kayak's back to be assessed for warranty replacement as it had cracked in the hull where the pedals fit. Hobie are one of the few Company's i can thoroughly recommend for their after sales service, In the past we have had to have an Inflatable Hobie replaced twice and the attitude they have is not 'Too Bad, it's out of warranty' but one of each claim is assessed on the basis of what the problem actually is and should it not to have occurred at all or it be a rare occurrence then they look after the customer, Our Kayak is a Year out of it's two year warranty period but we have been told to expect to get a new Kayak.

When we do leave we have decided to visit our youngest daughter in Adelaide for a week before making our way up to Qld and basing ourselves in the Hinterland of the Sunshine Coast for a Month before making our way back down to Alice Springs to attend the Bushtracker Owners Group Muster.

Once we do get back on the road I will attempt to update the blog regularly .......... Stay Tuned

Ningaloo and Home - June 2013

For all the years that we have been going to Ningaloo, 2013 would rate as our most disappointing weather & fish wise. The wind did not appear to ease up though when we think back it wasn't windy all the time, more a routine of windy days, still evenings or windy nights and still mornings. Which is all fine but then we had to contend with the swell and tide changes which didn't cause any hassles like it did many camping down on the 'flats' we had the sand dune offer us some protection from the high tide's.

Base Camp

Unsettled Weather

We took the opportunity to go into Exmouth for a day out where i bought a submersible RULE water pump to enable us to pump out water into the bladder, like all luck we have the pump only lasted twice before calling it quits,taking it back for exchange is less than easy as it has to be delivered to the supplier in Welshpool, another hassle for the consumer! A bigger surprise for us was to come back to camp only to find a dying goat in our annexe! A Message? at least it wasn't in our bed ... Unfortunately there was nothing we could do for it and as i was about to mercifully put it to sleep it died on it's own which was best for all.

Unexpected surprise coming home, Poor Goat

Fishing was almost non existant, even our efforts at beach fishing at night was dismal compared to years past. I did manage to catch or should i say it caught me, a rather large Tawny Shark of around 3mt's long, it took some effort to finally get it onto the beach where we took some photo's on Dave's camera and then dragged it back into the water and watched it swim away. Tawny Sharks are not classed as aggressive, they are a member of the Wobbegong species and though they are common to inshore reef's it was the first time i had seen, let alone caught one. Tick off Another box ....

Tawny Shark, Released to swim away

Elizabeth and Anne's Camp

Days turned into weeks and we filled our time with reading, Kayaking when we could and driving through the dunes and fossicking along the beaches. One day we offered to guide friends Elizabeth & Anne and Brett & Doreen through some of the rarely used tracks past the old Norwegian Bay Whaling Station, along with Dave and Joanne we all had a great time, It was surprising to us to find out that many of the campers have not actually explored the area, there is so much to see even if it is only sand and beaches. Before we knew it we were heading into our last week's stay and the weather forecast was not looking good, with rain predicted to be in the region of 50 - 120mm we decided to pull up camp a few days early and with Dave and Jo joining us we decided to make our way home via Moora and New Norcia, taking an extra few days.

In all it took us 4 nights to get home, It's a relaxing drive with less traffic, though some of the hills had Dave's non-turbo diesel cruiser working hard. We have stayed at New Norcia opposite the Monastry 4 or 5 times now, it makes for a good overnight stay, they are now charging $7 per night which doesn't break the bank, it does make us think though when we go and spend $40 - 50 dollars over at the Monastery shop it would be nice to be acknowledged and perhaps get to camp for free.

Elizabeth and Anne coming up the soft steep hill in their 200 series

Brett, attempt # 2 which he made. Dave didn't and had to take the back track

Dave using the back track

Nearly there Brett

Four of us

Early Campers? remains

An Old Boiler, turned into a road roller?

Each year the ruins become more wasted

A Local

Now we are home, the weather has been sunny days and cold nights. Not a problem as it gives us the days to catch up on the cleaning and sorting out what we need to take for the next part of our journey. We expect to only be home a fortnight, long enough to house sit for Frapper and Curls when they are away. Where to next for us? No idea really, we had thought of heading back North and catch up with our mates Geoff and Vickie for a bit of gold prospecting,but they have committed to work for another couple of months. We may take the Great Central Road across to Alice and then make our way up to Queensland for a month or so until it's time for us to attend the 10th Annual Bushtracker Muster in Alice Springs. We honestly don't have any plans, nor want them as they only get changed anyway. I just hope whatever we do it doesn't involve Hospitals and late night drives.