Wilpena

We woke this morning, the sun was shining and the wind had died... WOW what a way to start the day.

We set out on the St Mary Peak Hike this morning. 21.5km, a big loop from where we started over the range, out through the pound, north for 12 km's, then back over the range. The weather was stunning, we saw emu's, roo's, goats, etc.





The walk up (14km) took us 3.5 hours, the walk back down (7.5km's) took us 2.5 hours. The walk down was much harder than the way up. Rose now does rocks...! "Are we going down there?", "Yep", "What are our options?", "None"..... "OK, down there, but you walk in front", "Uh, OK".

We got back home absolutely knackered....

We're off for a ride through the park tomorrow... provided the weather holds.
We're thinking of booking an extra day, just to recover. We're going to be overrun by school kids shortly, might be about time to continue north....

Burra - Wilpena

There's lot's of old in Burra. Old jails, old police stations and old stables,  old libraries, old mines, old town halls, old bridges, and old people.

When we showed up the average age in town actually reduced slightly....!





We discovered that Burra is about the same height above sea level as Mt Lofty. It snows here regularly in winter, and I actually saw a snow "flurry" yesterday whilst Rose and I were out doing the 11km heritage trail. "What's a flurry?" "Rain drops turning to ice and going up, not down", I explained, "Oh!" We went walking both wearing 4 layers of arctic clothing, rain coats and umbrella's. I think the cold, wet and windy weather has finally caught up with us. Nevertheless we battled on..... our diesel heater has now assumed importance to us something akin to the second coming!

We had several families pull in next to us last night. School holidays are here and mums and dads are apparently taking the kids up to the north west to experience camping. They were in tents and were up and in the showers thawing out before I got there the next morning. A french couple, in Australia for our winter, camped next to us, were uttering something about "...should have stayed home..." but I couldn't understand them!

We left Burra and headed North to Peterborough, a place called Orroorroo, and then on to Wilpena.

The wind has all but gone and the sun is trying to get a look in. We're staying in the park at Wilpena Pound. We've booked for a couple of nights. Wilpena Pound a spectacular sunken valley. We're walking to the highest point tomorrow (1100m), a 6 hour hike and, we're busting the bikes out and heading out across the flat base of the valley the following day, weather permitting. Rose now does dirt..!

We booked in to the park and arrived about mid afternoon today to find that another Fletcher has assumed our booking. Luckily they had another site for us.

6 hours tomorrow... hopefully the weather is good. Either way, it's good prep for Tassie....

Renmark, Morgan and Burra

The fishing gear is still locked away... too much happening... gotta slow down!

My Tassie mate told me today of 4 "B" double loads of Oranges destined for the tip. Apparently it's cheaper to bring them in from Egypt than to get them locally. What a bloody shame eh, that it's not now economical to support our own growers.

We had the car and the van weighed at GTS Transport in Mildura. It's something that good to do in the event that you're asked for it by Mr Plod, or you're involved in an accident, they can see you're legally loaded, and within the your vehicles limits. Hooked up we were (2740/2580) and Unhooked (2420/2820). A little heavier than I'd anticipated on the tow bar, but we're still happy bearing in mind we're completely full of fuel, water, food, etc.

Between Victoria and SA you have to pass through Quarantine. No fruit or veggies allowed, then under this giant Dunlop sign that tells you you've now in SA.

The wind is still blowing but has eased a little. We're off to Renmark. What a great little place. Very caravan friendly with van parking in the town centre and wide streets.

We found a free camp alongside the Murray at a place called Murtho Landing. Not a sole to be seen, 2.6km's of corrugations but the independent coil suspension on the van and the car sucked it up. The sunrise the next morning was great.

On to Burra the next morning via Morgan. The trip into Morgan was very windy, so we took a break down by the Morgan ferry and thought seriously about staying over until the wind died. We kicked on anyway and the final 87km's took us a little under 2 hours with a brief detour to an early drovers Pub.
The wind was still strong and generally right on our nose that our fuel consumption went as high as 18/100 and at times we were travelling at 60km/hr in 4th gear (... we have 8).  We arrived in Burra about 3pm and went straight to the bakery.

Burra is a great old place, the site of an early copper mine. The buildings are generally local stone and are absolutely awesome being build around the early 1800's.

We saw more caravans on the road today than any other day. We're starting to catch up with those heading north I think.

The Burra caravan park is 100m from the town centre and is $25/night.

We might stay in Burra for a day or two....

Mildura

We woke this morning, sun was shining.... THE RIDE WAS ON.


We did the usuals, and decided to stay on the bike path along the Murray (A part of the Chaffey Trail).









What a great decision, a sintered path a metre wide ran from Mildura to Merbein, a distance of about 12km's. It passed by original Murray homesteads, Apex Parks, river locks, row upon row of houseboats, lakes, and stays close to the river and winds it's way through the bush.





The round trip took us 5 hours. The wind on the way out was on the nose so the return trip was much quicker.

We had coffee at the pottery and dined at the Merbein Bakery for lunch.

















We're having the car and van weighed tomorrow morning and then we're off to Renmark, SA. about 160km's west. It's still on the Murray and we'll probably spend a few days in the area. Might even bust out the fishing gear.

Lysterfield

Val and Peter allowed us to stay at their Lysterfield Estate for the few days to finalise the Van setup. Peter has a few acres, a lot of room,  a large shed and a great range of tools and facilities and all we had to do was look after their dog (Jazz) and another (Toby) and 15 chooks.










Little did we know that we were to become the first point of contact for all manner of other local happenings.




Well first there were the cattle that got out up the road, through a fence that someone had driven through. The first we knew was when a lady drove up the drive and asked us if we knew who might own them. That problem was resolved when I sent her in another direction.

Then at midnight a day later, the Police arrived to tell me about some cattle on the road. I sent them in the same direction as the previous day. Unfortunately one had been hit by a car and had to be put down. The conversation next day with the neighbours was whether there were 3, 5 or 9 shots fired... he must have been a tough bugger.... I counted 3.

The following day yet again, 3 more cattle were on the road, a couple of people had stopped and herded 2 of them into the house paddock next door, a another across the road. Shirl owns the house paddock next door and her garden is immaculate, she was not amused...

Ironically, Peter and Val are possibly the only people in the area who do not have cattle.... but there property is pretty remarkable!

We'll be off soon and everything is coming together remarkably well...

Lysterfield - Melbourne

June 21^st…..

Just time to get one last ride in on the Commonwealth games MTB circuit. My nephew (Cory) knows the area really well. The Sun was out, not a cloud in the sky... what a day!

Tracks with names like Tramway, Rocky Garden and Aneurism are indelibly etched in my brain... 



It has happened, we are finally on our way. We actually left a day early as Melbourne’s forecast for the next few days is for thunder and hail, winds to 65 km/h, and rain falling as snow above 600m. Would you want to be around to experience that lot… no way!

We’ve sorted out most items. We fitted some resistors to help the car recognize electrically that it has caravan lights to service. “Bows” have been fitted to the awning, anti-flap clamps, as well a shade screen has been fitted which is now stored rolled up into the awning. I fitted a 150mm PVC tube with screw on end caps across the rear to carry longer items.

The car has some new rear heavier duty coils and the whole rig now sits close to flat and rides very well with only minimal assistance from the torsion bars.

Rose had her first drive today. She handled the van very well indeed and seemed very comfortable behind the wheel. Mind you, I went from feeling slightly drowsy it instantly awake for about 40km’s. Sugar had absolutely nothing to do with my state of alertness!

We parked just outside Bendigo Sunday night in a recreational reserve with 3 other vans and a motor home. The drive up from Melbourne was exceptional traffic and weather wise. We are camped on a large grassy recreation reserve just off the Calder highway. Two of the campers fired up their generators, so we didn’t feel at all concerned when we flicked on our diesel heater on. It sounds like a turbine when it starts up and until it settles.

We broke camp really early on Monday. The weather once more was un-seasonally exceptional, but from about Charlton North the wind picked up and was on my nose or just off to my left all the way to Mildura. Fuel consumption went up to 18.5/100, it’s normally between 10 and 13.5/100. We pulled up at Sea Lake for an hour around midday just for a break and the van was rocking in the wind. From Sea Lake to Mildura we were down to about 75km/h, we’re normally sitting between 80 and 90. 

We’ve had a great day in Mildura today. The weather has been good (not great), fairly windy, but we’re pretty well sheltered. We’ll still be here tomorrow. We’re heading off to Renmark the day after tomorrow, possibly spend a few days there, and then make our way to Wilpena Pound…. that’s the plan anyway…..!!!

We bumped into a guy from Tassie driving a Touareg (3 weeks old) today. He is towing a 24’ van. He had one like ours and ran it for 160,000km’s without touching it so I’m a little happier with our decision to buy one. The current cost to take a van to Tassie from Melbourne and return is ~$1500 which includes a cabin. Something to note for Tassie next year.

We're off for a bike ride along the Murray tomorrow morning, weather permitting...

A couple of tips whilst I think of them...

Have 2 or more 110 a/h batteries fitted. I have 2 and 1 will definitely not be enough.

Have at least 300w of solar. A single 100w panel is enough to run very basic facilities, but you will need to be very frugal in what you use, when and how much.

Have a compressor fridge fitted. If you pick a 3 way make sure it is Class “T” for use in a tropical environment.

The best accessory item we’ve had fitted is the diesel heater. It’s costly but we’ll not now nor evermore leave home without it. 

If you have 2 water tanks, ensure they operate independently of each other, and one is dedicated to potable water, the other for other purposes. This will help extend the time you can stay independent. You don't need to shower in potable water if you know what I mean.

Make sure a jack is provided. The RVMA requires a Jack is provided, but only if the van is sold retail.

Run an Andersen plug from your car to top up your vans batteries as you drive.

Caravan manufacturers will provide the basic minimum of everything. Basic spec fridges, single batteries, limited solar, little water storage. Upgrades after manufacture can be costly. Be prepared to spend a little more now or much more later.

Melbourne

We're lost....

We were headed to EPI, blinked and missed it. "Let's try Paradise Falls. It says Turn left here... and is that second right". Getting a bit dirty, eh!, and narrow. "Do you reckon the van will fit across that bridge", is that a tree across the track?". "Wonder if we can turn around". "Might be a problem if someone comes the other way".

"Bryan, no-ones going to come the other way... "Yes dear...!"

Let's ask this guy for directions...!

We found our way to Toolangi and stayed at the recreation reserve in a free camp site alongside the river. It had drop toilets.... luxury!!!

We left early and drove up through King Lake, Wittlesea and on to Craigieburn where we dropped the Caravan off to have some minor items fixed. Then on to Mt Martha. 

A ride down to Point Nepean was planned for the following day. The weather was excellent, no crowds. My mate from Swifts Creek has some family links in the area, we found them, but I don't think they're moving any time soon... 

The old fort, quarantine station and the cycling are really worth a look, and it's a great day out. Harold Holt also made his final appearance in the area. Note the unexploded ordinance sign next to Rose, and tunnels were amazing.

The Caravan has been fixed, and we're now comfortably ensconced in Lysterfield "dog sitting" for the next 10 days...

We're adding some heavier coils to the car's rear suspension this week, putting some carpets in the van and a shelf in the back of the car over the next few days.
 

The road trip starts properly on the 21st June.....

Everton

Between Myrtleford and Wangaratta, Everton is the sort of place you would blink and miss. It's not renowned as a destination having a garage, a rundown Caravan Pk and a small nondescript Pub. The rail trail even takes a wide loop around it.

We're camped beside a bend in the Ovens River, about 2k from Everton. We're the only people here and it's a great spot. We arrived here before midday packed some lunch, locked everything up and headed back to the Rail Trail. We're bound for Beechworth.

The Rail Trail heads off to Wangaratta, but a branch also goes to Beechworth. It's 19k's from Everton to Beechworth, and 18k's of it are up hill, not steep, but everlasting. The final 1k was downhill, not steep, but we didn't need to peddle. These trails are incredibly well maintained. The ride up took about 2 hours. We bought a couple of coffee's at the Beechworth Bakery, found an inside table and busted out our own lunch.

Once again the weather was extraordinary. Sunny at the Everton end and we could see dark clouds looming as we approached Beechworth, but by the time we arrived, they'd departed and we were in the sun once more.

The ride back took about 45 minutes, all downhill, peddled twice I think.

We're starting our drift back towards Melbourne tomorrow, returning back via one more camp at EPI, then King Lake and Craigieburn by early Thursday.