Back on the Road Again - the Van is Sold

We left Christchurch on a wet chilly morning and arrived in Brisbane to a beautiful sunny warm day four hours later, what bliss! The weather certainly seems to alter our moods. We both seemed to be coughing a bit from the dry air conditioning on the plane I think, but we were worried in case anyone thought we had the swine flu as they seem to be very concerned with it at the airport. When we walked in though immigration they were monitoring everyones temperature on a special infra red machine.
We caught the shuttle bus up to Mooloolaba to spend our first night as we weren't getting the van out of storage til Wednesday. We decided to stay a night at the Beach Resort on the Esplanade where we have stayed before, and as it was $200 for a night our budget is blown before we even start this trip. Anyway it was a lovely apartment, the very one we had stayed in before. We had a beautiful fish meal at the surf club and felt as if we had never been away. Next day we caught the bus to Eumundi for a total cost (for seniors) of $8.20 .
When we opened the van we found it was in perfect condition, no bugs and no leaks which were our main concerns. We did have a flat battery but a quick tow at the storage place saw us quickly on the road again towards Noosa. We camped up there and spent the rest of the day sorting out and stocking upon supplies etc. The camp was lovely spacious with palm tress all around and lovely warm weather. Also spent the next day in Noosa and it was drizzling but not cold. We are enjoying being back on the road again and are heading to Hervey Bay. The next two days saw us back at Gympy and our old freedom camping again. We met another NZ couple in their bus on their 2nd trip to OZ going in the opposite direction to us.
We spent the weekend at Hervey Bay where we were to meet up with someones family interested in buying our van. We haven't managed to see them yet as they may be still away. We are in two minds whether we want to sell it now so will see what happens when these folks have seen it. If they want it we will let it go, if they don't we might hang on to it and store it up again when we finish this trip. This decision changes daily or even hourly! especially by 'her indoors'
Hervey Bay is a huge bay and is not as popular as Sunshine or Surfers with all the high rise buildings but it is a very popular retirement location as the weather is so mild. It was certainly a lovely day when we were there. This bay is also an area where the whales come to spend the winter so this is a popular tourist attraction. They don't arrive til about August though.
Monday was pouring with rain and we drove over to Coulston Lakes to visit our friends Alex and Norma who also visited us in NZ earlier this year. Alex cooked us a great meal last night and Allen has gone out to help him fix up some fencing on the farm today. Its nice and warm and I am on cooking duty tonight. I will only be using two pots instead of the pile he used last night, thats what living in a van does for you.
There have been a few mozzies about and I have been bit a couple of times. I can't seem to escape the darned things. Tonight is a super $50 million lotto draw for which we have paid $12.50 for a ticket. This is the 3rd lottery ticket we have bought since we have been here only a week ago .Does this sound like desperation or not? Anyway whatever the outcome our gambling days are over.

We have been back here in Oz for2 weeks now and it seems like we have never been away. We have been heading up the coast towards Townsville and its been so lovely and warm. After leaving Alex's place were were heading towards Bunderburg when our missing people from Hervey Bay contacted us re the van sale, so we agreed to double back and show them as we were not far away in Childers.
The end result is the the van has been sold - to another NZ couple who are coming to do a similar trip to ours. Its a small world as it turns out that he works at the same place as son Michael in Invercargil. They want us to deliver it to Hervey Bay by 1st August so at least we can get some more traveling in. We have mixed feelings about letting it go as we have really enjoyed being back in it again. We were not sure how long it would take to sell and had decided to keep it if it didn't sell so were not too worried either way what happened. We have had several inquiries about it and strangely more from NZ than here.
We visited our new daughter in laws Aunt in Bundy as the locals call it and camped two nights on her 25 acre property where there is a lot of bush and the mozzies really attacked us when we first arrived. Her friend Don who has his own motor home will help us with all the relevant paperwork to sell the van when we get back down there as it has to pass certain safety certificates before it can be sold.
We were intending to go up to Cairns but now will only go as far as Townsville before heading inland and south again.
I hate to admit that we did buy another lotto ticket as it was not won last week and was now up to $100million prize money. It was won by 2 people last night so that is it no more buying for us.
There seems to be quite a lot of campers on the road, more in caravans than motor homes but it is the school holidays

5 Months at Home in NZ

After spending five months back on NZ it is time for us to get back on the road in the van again. The weather is getting colder and we are looking forward to some of the Queensland sun again.We enjoyed out time back in NZ including catching up with friends and family again, especially our 6 grandchildren. Our yachtie friends were also back in NZ for 2 months before they headed back to their home from home in Langkawi where they have based themselves for a while.
We found that we settled into our retired lifestyle with hardly a thought back to the busy working life that we had before we went away. On reflection it was a good move to make a complete break like we did last year. Since coming home we have began to think we are now on holiday in NZ as life here seems to have taken on a bit of a similar patten to when we were away in Australia. We have been away several times to Queenstown, Taupo, Greymouth, Westport and Hanmer Springs. We have also had several lots of visitors including 2 lots from OZ in their camper vans.
Allen settled back into doing one or two days a week as a volunteer driving the trams or working in the sheds at Ferrymead and I generally chilled out doing as much or as little as I pleased including meeting up with friends etc who are not working and catching up on movies I had missed. I am surprised how quickly the days seemed to fly by. As the days got colder we started thinking about Australia again so finally booked to go back again on 16th June for 3 months. The objective being, selling the van over there and later on buying a van here in NZ and doing a similar sort of trip, perhaps in 2010. Too soon to make plans for that yet.

Homeward Bound 2008

We left Melbourne on 27th December ready for our 1600km trek back to Brisbane to park our van and fly home for a few months. Friend Wendy and her Mum Molly fed us on a good old Aussie all day breakfast and loaded us up with the Christmas food leftovers of ham, turkey, mince pies and Christmas cake (delicious). We had also spent an enjoyable Christmas with her and her family where we had been treated to a roast turkey and all the trimmings dinner, even if it was over 30 degrees.
Our first stop was a visit to Allen's xSNZ work mate Neil, who has recently moved over to Melbourne with his wife. They seem to have settled in very well and we enjoyed sitting in their air conditioned flat as it was a very hot day. After we hit the road again we drove along the Hume Highway to the NSW boarder and camped at a scenic spot along the Murray River once again. There were quite a lot of campers here with various boats out on the river enjoying the early evening cooler weather.
Next morning we hit the road early as it was Sunday and we thought there would be less traffic for us to hold up. We headed into Ned Kelly country once again, Jeralderie Bank being one of his holdup places. We also ran into more locusts here and they look horrible as they splatter on the windscreen. Next we headed to the old gold mining town of Forbes then on to Parkes which is famous for the 'Dish' and the movie of the same name. This was an interesting place to visit where we also took an interactive flight to the moon. From there to Dubbo where it was very hot and I decided my life would still be complete if I did not visit the zoo although it was on my list of things to do.
Tuesday 30th December and we decided to put a few kms (480) in today and 1300 since Melbourne, so as to get to Casino for New Years Eve. We swam in the hot pools at Moree where it was 39 degrees in the pools and out! Tonight we camped along side a young couple with 3 children who had been living in a camping trailer for 8 months while they traveled about. The kids all seemed so happy and content.
We arrived in Casino at the retirees camping village at 3pm so in plenty of time for the New Year bash tonight. This was in the form of a concert put on by the people who live mainly permanently in the village. Everyone seemed very friendly and a good time was had by all . The weather has been very hot for days so its great to be able to laze about here in the pool for a few days. I am reminded of the movie Cocoon where all the old people are jumping in the pool to regain their lost youth. I doubt if I have seen anyone under he age of 60 here, but these Golden Oldies seem to have a great lifestyle and we met people who live here in permanent housing and those who have been camping here for 4 months or so. We decided to squeeze in one more day here before we hit the road again only to be hit by a severe electrical storm in the middle of the night. We had left our awning out and it was rattling around so we jumped out of bed to put it down before any real damage was done. This was in our semi naked state so was not a 'good look' . Next day we found others who were not so fortunate and had suffered ripped canvas or bent frames.
Back on the road again for a final swim at Surfers before heading to Brisbane and friend Eileen's for a couple of nights before we fly home. Allen took the van to Eumundi and sorted out the storage whilst Eileen and I followed in the car. We spent some time at the Eumundi market but it was too hot to be bothered. We drove back to Brisbane and spent one more night before Eileen dropped us at the airport for our trip back to NZ.
It was a very interesting and enlightening trip and a great start for a life of retirement. Eight months cooped up in van might not be everyones idea of bliss, but reality it is not like that at all.You met so many different people and see so many places that everyday is something new to look forward to. We are looking forward to going home for a while but are also looking forward to coming back when the weather gets colder in NZ. Watch this space!

Mitsubishi Canter 1988 - Our home!

We are selling our motorhome after having travelled 20,000 k's around Australia. Details are:

1988 Mitsubishi Canter Regn 158KBP (Queensland)
Car license to drive it.
3.3 litre diesel 4 cylinder engine
5-speed manual gearbox
Light truck tyres with dual wheels at back, all in good condition.
High clearance from ground.
24 volt electrical system for vehicle, 12 volt and 240 volt electrics for the motorhome part. Separate batteries for each viz. 2 in series and 2 in parallel.
Solar panel on the roof to recharge the house batteries
90 litre fuel tank, 90 litre fresh water tank, 90 litre grey water tank plus black water tank.
12 volt water pump, gas hot water, shower and full flush toilet and vanity sink.
Kitchen has stainless steel sink, gas oven with 4 burner hob, rangehood extractor fan, 240v microwave, 3-way fridge freezer (gas, 12v and 240v)
Interior and exterior 12v and 240v lighting.
Heaps of storage space.
Roll out awning plus full annex.
Security fly screens on all windows and 4-seasons air vent in roof.
Air-con in cab only but 12v fans in house.
Sony CD MP3 sound system throughout.
TV with DVD player in back and outside antenna.

What are the advantages of a 'cabover' to a converted bus? We have had both and prefer to have our double bed out of the way and made up so you don't have to be taking down a table and seats every night. In our bus, our bed was right at the back but that took up good space inside and added another metre and a half to the length. In our camper the bed is above the cab and so is out of the way. There is a surprising amount of space up there and it's cosy and not at all claustrobic. There is good headroom and it's easy to climb up and down although as we get older (beyond our sixties) we may have to relook at that. So you have a lot of clear space in the motorhome itself and you always have your table accessable. In fact, we each have our own space which is a good thing. My wife likes to read in bed and louge around in the morning while I like to sit at the table. We can both see the tele from those positions as it swings around. Great!

Hows the engine? Previous owners, family with two boys, drove round the eastern side of Australia in 2007 clocking up 17,000 km's without any problems. we did likewise in 2008 doing 20,000 km's. Both trips took the vehicle down to Tasmania and up through Northern Territory. Mitsi has been well serviced. Fuel consumption is about 500km's to a 90 litre tankfull of diesel.

Cooling system? previous owners had a new radiator fitted. We had a minor problem with water heater hoses and had them replaced at Alice Springs. It has a thermal sensor in case the motor gets hot but it never went off during our travels, even on very hot days.

Care and maintenance? We have looked after our home and so did the previous owners. It has been regularly serviced. We travelled at 80 to 90 kph and never took the motor above 2500 rpm. On big hills - we went up and down the main divide a number of times and thats 1400 meters high, and just took it steady. Mitsi is able to get up and over almost any gradient.

Whats the drive like? With 3 seats in front, the high ride and good sized windscreen, the view is great. There are an additional 3 seats in the back with safety belts. It has good access through from front to back. You can park in supermarket carparks no problem. In cities and towns you can park in standard carparks but just watch the roof above the cab for clearance. On the road its drive, stop for a morning cuppa, back on the road again, stop for lunch and at the end of he day just drive into the camping area and park and thats it.

What about the beds? Our bed was above the cab and it was easy to access. It's a good size double about queen size but longer. There is a single bed on the right hand side towards the back which is also a good seat for day use. The table folds down to become another bed but it is a bit short for an adult but OK for kids. We had our two grandkids travelling with us for a week and it worked OK.

The annex is stored under the bed on the rhs. It doesn't take long top put up but because we were doing a lot of travelling, we didn't use it. Be great if you were wanting to settle at one place for a week. We used the roll down awning a lot.

Toilet and shower are located on the rhs behind the driver. A flushing toilet is good and the tank gives you more days than a cassette toilet. There are plenty of dump points about and it's not difficult to set up the hose to empty the black water tank.

Freedom camping is the way to get about. We have a Australia Camps 4 book which gave us the locations of all freedom camp sites such as, roadside rest areas (most have toilets which are well serviced), show grounds, etc. Camps 5 is now available. There are over 800 listings in NSW alone. We didn't feel threatened but stayed in Caravan Parks on Fri/Sat when hoons may be about the towns. We met a lot of great people on the road and they often told us of good places to see and stay. We never booked ahead, just went where we felt like going.

What else comes with it? The pillows and bedding, crockery and cutlery, kitchenware, couple of gas bottles (9kg and 4kg). There is a couple of outside chairs and a good table, an outdoor gas cooktop for your BBQ's, fishing line and yabbi net, extra containers for diesel and water if you go outback.

Why are we selling? We have had a great trip aroud Australia. Didn't get to WA because Australia is such a big country when you are travelling around and there is so much to see. We want to sell in Australia and buy a motor home in New Zealand to do some more travelling about.

So if you are wanting to travel around Australia as we did, it's all set up for you. Just call at the supermarket to stock up, fuel up and away you go. Now is the best time, before the heat and the flies. You'll never regret it.

Australia - The Movie!

Well, we have heard so much about the movie, we decided we had better see it for ourselves before we departed these shores. Much ado about nothing? well not exactly, but certainly a lot of hype. We had already heard good and bad reviews so went with an open mind.

The name gives one the impression that we are about to see a great film about Australia and whilst it is obviously an Aussie movie it has been seriously mis-titled and would have been better named 'The Dover' and marketed as a good Aussie yarn. There is a certain resemblance to the great Robert Redford movie of the 70's Out of Africa and in the same vein is a stunning portrayal of the Outback scenery. Woman stays at the ranch to keep it going against all odds (a good versus evil syndrome with the big big rancher who wants to take over the property) while the man goes off to do his thing.

Its a pity that the producers added a documentary note to the start and end of the film as it adds nothing the the movie and possibly detracts from the actual wrongdoing that was done by the Governments regarding the Lost Generations' which are certainly due more of a mention than this film actually covers. Mind you, that could have been one of the conditions in order to qualify for government funding.

Some of the opening scenes seem to be little better than cardbord cutouts and later on re-enactments of the bombing of Darwin during the 2nd world war leave something to be desired and should have been kept more to historical fact than fiction. My God! if the Japanese had ever gotten to bomb London it would have been all over in a week.

The star of the show was not Nicole Kidman or Hugh Jackman. It was the little Aborigine boy - the 'half caste' who was rejected by whites and blacks alike.

As a night out it was an pleasant and entertaining film but an epic it was not.

Tassie Tales

Picture : Lake Mackintosh


We had been thinking about going across to Tasmania and so got our dear friend Wendy in Melbourne to check out the fares for us. We could get a package on the Spirit of Tasmania for $692 return so we decided to go for it. The trip across Bass Straight to Devonport is an overnighter although they do have day trips in the peak season. We opted to rough it with the recliner seat option like you would have on an airline though these were bigger and a bit more comfortable, sort of like a 'lazy boy' chair. In fact they were so comfortable that I got a small pillow flicked my way in the night on account of my snoring - not hard to tell who is writing this!!! We had to go through the ag check on departure and again on arrival with the usual dumping of fruit, spuds, etc. You'd think we'd learn. Got in at Devonport at 7am and found a place that did a big English breakfast to start our day off. Didn't travel far that day as we both needed a top up nap, so we camped up at Coles Beach in Devonport which is a freedom camp.

We didn't travel far the first few days stopping off at Ulverstone, Penguin and Peggs Beach near Stanley, all with very nice views of the sea. Stanley is an interesting (perfectly preserved) historic town and the giant rock called the Nut with it's cableway up. There is a cemetery overlooking the sea and looked a good spot for a final resting place. There was a stranding of whales while we were there - we happened to see one on the back of a flat trailer being carted back by officials for analysis...or was that a Japanese guy driving the 4 x 4? After that we headed down to the East Coast stopping off at Lake Mackintosh near Tullah for a couple of nights. Also camped there at the dam site were a great couple Alan and Julie who live at Cremorne near Hobart. We had our happy hour drinkies round the camp fire with them and had a good chat about various places to stop off at in Tassie. Next day a 'fair dinkum Aussie' called Jim stopped in with his caravan and a tinnie on top of his ute. He was there for the fishing and that day caught a couple of good sized trout which he gave to all of us so we cooked them up on the camp fire for our tea. The weather was very unsettled for the whole time we were in Tassie and so we moved on to Strahan which is a 'touristy' estuary port in Macquarie Harbour. They do the Gordon River Cruise from there but because the weather wasn't good, we opted out. They also do a train trip through to Queenstown up steep hills sort of like the Rimutakas in NZ but with cogs in a centre rail for extra grip. I had to check it out but it was diesel powered and only went half way because the steam loco had broken down. We went to an evening show at Strahan by the visitor centre called 'The Ship That Never Was'. The audience were given character roles to play out and Maureen and I were given characters who got hissed and booed every time our names were mentioned. It was a convict story about a ship that was built on Sarah Island nearby and the convicts took control of it after it was launched and instead of sailing to Port Arthur near Hobart, they set course for South America. Great stuff - they assembled the pre-fabricated the ship as part of the play and acted out the mutiny with everyone enjoying their parts. No animals (viz. the ship's cat and the parrot) were harmed during this performance and the key players eventually ended up in New Zealand.

Onward we went to Queenstown - nothing like it's namesake in NZ. It's in amongst high mountains and is very desolate country on account of the sulphur fumes from the mining days. The greenies apparently want it to be restored but the locals don't and so have been killing off any new growth (strange!!!) because they want it to be a visible example of what uncontrolled mining does to the landscape. We had a thunderstorm and downpour while in this area so moved on fast to Cradle Mountain National Park. This is where the well known 5-day bush walk through Cradle Mountain finishes. We camped up for the night only and the weather was cool after the storm. You can buy a 2-month national park pass for $56 instead of paying $22 each day you visit a Park but you have to pay any camping fees on top of that. We drove on to Hamilton and en-route passed a bus that had caught fire and was blazing away with a large pall of black smoke from the burning tyres. There were people on the scene helping and directing traffic so we carried on past. We had a meal that evening in the interesting old local pub in front of an open fire...this is December in Tassie! Next it was Hobart where our trusty navigator (Maureen) directed us to the wharf area and then promptly took off to the nearby Salamander Market. We camped up at the Show grounds at Glenorchy and they too had a Sunday Market. Problem with all these markets is that we have no space and no real reason to be buying up stuff, books being the exception, but little things seem to appear now and then after such visits.

We had an invite from Alan and Julie to call in at Cremorne and so we camped the night in their driveway overlooking the lagoon. They put on a wonderful meal for us with locally caught fish entree, home made chicken pie and mango with ice cream for dessert and wine to go with it. Not bad this camping eh! We drove on down to Port Arthur which was the old convict prison back in the mid 1800's. Many of the main buildings are in ruin having been burnt out by bush fires but the cottages have survived or been rebuilt. The tour includes a scenic boat trip as well. The caravan park we stayed at here was one of the best we have been to with plenty of space and good facilities. Park at this place meant grassy reserve whereas at most it means a place on a hard surface, not necessary level, where you park your van.

We headed up the east coast stopping at a great little (free) beach camp at Mayfield Bay, again with a view of the sea, after which we cut inland up to Launceston so I could check out the Tramway Museum. Had a ride and a drive and wrote up my article for the Ferrymead Tramway newsletter. We then returned to the East Coast to Freycinet National Park - Tassie is not that big so you can cut across and back like that quite easily. However the roads are quite uneven and I found myself cruising at 60 to 70 k's even though the speed limit was 100 or sometimes 110 k's. I don't like hearing clunks as things fall out of the cupboards while you drive. At Freycinet we did the well known walk up to Wineglass Bay lookout and camped by the ocean at Friendly Beach which actually was a better spot than the one by the NP Headquarters. On this coast, we also found a couple of really good beaches to camp up at - Lagoons Beach near St Mary's and Bay of Fires. We took the Tasman Highway back towards Launceston and that was just as winding as the other two mountain roads on the east coast and, on the way through we found a great camping spot by St Patricks River (which is Launceston's water supply). It's a domain run by Launceston Council and they charged only $3 per night for the van. Had good facilities also. Here we caught our first glimpse of a Platypus.

Our last night before catching the boat back was at the Narawntapu National Park not far from Devonport, alongside the estuary and with little wallabies galore. We had heard the saying in national Parks that 'a fed bird is a dead bird' but it's hard not to throw a small piece of bread at a wallabie especially when it has a little joey sticking it's head out the pouch underneath. Our impressions of Tassie - beautiful lakes and seaside views, a bit like NZ with the bush and mountains, roads are a bit uneven and not as wide and not many passing places, drivers are cautious and a bit slow when you signal the left hand indicator to pass but very courteous, a bit slower pace, many small towns and people friendly and even though we didn't have great weather it is a great place to visit. It wasn't till our last day that we discovered why Tasmanians are happy and very laid back people. Passing through La Trobe on the way to Devonport, we saw what must be thousands of acres of opium poppies. This is the only place in Australia where they are permitted to grow poppies...for pharmaceutical purposes, of course.

Bathurst and the Murray

On leaving the Blue Mountains we drove to Bathhurst as Allen decided he must drive the van around the famous race circuit. Naturally as the only contestant in the race he also won it! It's a great place the way the circuit is part of the public roadway so anyone can have a drive around it without being a danger to the public at large. I wasn't tempted to have a go myself tho.
We drove further south as Allen was looking to visit some of his distant relatives about family tree matters. We arrived at Cootamundra which also happens to be the birthplace of famous cricketer Don Bradman so we took a quick visit to see his old house. We found the relations Ian and Ena Harbrow, and the connection goes a long way back as Allen and Ian's Great Grandfathers were brothers.What we found really surprising was how alike Ian's grandson and Alan's bothers grandson of the same age are. After a bit of a catch up and being fed with lovely food we hit the road to visit the next relations in the same area. This brought us inland from Junee and whilst driving there we met up with a plague of locusts drumming against the windscreen. The locals were not happy to see these as they eat everything in sight especially if its green, even the plastic turf of the bowling club we were told!
When we arrived at Yvonne and Robs were were welcomed with more food and then dinner. After a sample of the home made cherry brandy and a sing along around the piano it was as much as we could do to stagger out to sleep in the van in the yard for the night. Next day took us to visit 2 more of the families and these are rather removed from Allen's branch, but everyone seemed pleased to meet up with any Harbrow no matter how distant.
After this we decided to get onto the Hume Highway and get on the road to Melbourne. We pulled off at a very small place called Barnawatha for just a quick snack, but this turned out to be a very nice pub with some lovely food so I had to sample the curried seafood which was delicious. Here we met a lady who decided to take our travel plans in hand and told us that we had to spend the night parked by the Murray River, she even drew us a map where to go and then organised where we were to go the next day and where to get back onto the Hume Highway. Later on she also brought us a cutting out of the newspaper on cheap boat fares to Tasmania. We followed her plans and were rewarded with a red sun set on the Murray and a visit to the lovely historical towns of Chilton and Beechwood. We finally got back on to the highway and stayed the night in a rest area and drove down to Melbourne through the Yara Valley with a visit to the De Bortelli vineyard on the way.
All the way down this valley we kept on noticing signs saying 'no pipes' and a huge pipe lying there. Later on we started to see the actual pipeline being laid. This is a very controversial pipeline bringing water from the Murray River down to Melbourne. We had heard about this but did not realise it had actually started.
We finally arrived in Melbourne at friend Wendy's on Sunday night (and more delicious food ) 6 days after leaving The Blue Mountains, ready to make plans to visit Tasmania.