This Adventurous Age

Adventures travelling and working around Australia.

Category Archives: 1999 Travels


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1999 Travels March 16

TUESDAY 16 MARCH   LAKES ENTRANCE TO HEALESVILLE   373kms

We unintentionally slept in till 9am. The morning was grey, cloudy and cool, which may explain the sleep in. Managed to leave the park at 10am though.

During the night, some fishing rods were stolen from a boat in the caravan park. It seems Lakes Entrance may have a problem, as we were told in Tathra, by other travellers, that there had been a problem with break-ins to cars in several of the caravan parks in the town.

It seemed a long drive to Melbourne. We reached the Trakmaster factory in Bayswater just before 3pm. Refuelled at Sale – 70cpl –  and had  a short lunch stop in the Latrobe Valley.

Owner C seemed really pleased to see us. The other owner R was there too. One of their vans returning from adventures! We sat and watched their new promotional video, and talked about the 1998 Trakmaster Trek that R had led, and his plans for the 1999 one. These annual expeditions are a great idea, to get new owners used to their vans, and see – in the security of an organized trip – the offroad capabilities of their vans. However, they are not for us – we do not much like travel in a group, and the Trek occurs at a time of each year when we are elsewhere.

J arrived – rather late. He couldn’t fix the problem! But he remains convinced that it is a control box. He arranged to bring a new one out to Healesville on Thursday and install it there. Whilst we were at the factory, one of the Trakmaster men worked on the support/brace to stop the fridge sliding forward in its cavity when we travel. It looks like they might have left something off when it was built! They also cut an extra vent for ventilation of the rear of the fridge, through the cupboard wall beside the cavity. There was already such a hole on the other side, plus the grated vent in the bench top above. We have not had any issues, but it just seems wise to ventilate the back as much as we can.

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The fridge out of its cavity and being worked on at Trakmaster

It was nearly 5.30pm when that work was all done, so we had to deal with peak hour traffic, through Bayswater and Kilsyth. It is a good thing we are familiar with the roads.

So it was heading for 7pm when we reached the Badger Creek Caravan Park – $16 a night, with the seventh night free. Back here again!

By the time we set up, it was very late, so we went and bought a pizza for tea.

Phoned K – no one home – so we left a message that we had arrived back in the area.

It seemed really cold to us, and we’d had a tiring couple of days, so went to bed at 10.30pm. Soon after, K rang. We arranged to go there to collect our mail, tomorrow, and for tea on Saturday. He offered to have a game of bowls with John – I think he misses the game, which he no longer plays due to having to work some weekends.

03-16-1999-lakes-to-healesville


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1999 Travels March 15

MONDAY 15 MARCH   TATHRA TO LAKES ENTRANCE   307kms

We got away from Tathra about 9am. At the bottom of the steep bit of road up from the beach level to the top, John put Truck in low range and second gear and we crawled up the hill – slow but easy.

It was then a straight forward run to Lakes Entrance, though a bit slow through the winding and more hilly section between Eden and Orbost. Negotiating our way through the centre of Merimbula with the van on was not the best, either – we might have been better off to go to Bega and take the highway that misses the town.

We had to stop several times for “bathroom” for John – it must be the effect of the increasing cold!

We stopped near Cann River to eat the packed lunch brought with us. This is a stretch of road that we have driven a number of times before, over the years, so it seems very routine, and does not hold a great deal of interest, just because of familiarity.

Reached Lakes Entrance about 2.30pm. Booked into the Big 4 Koonwarra Caravan Park for $14.40 for the night. This is just to the east of the centre of the town – within walking distance. It is an adequate park for an overnight stop, or a few days.

We had intended to go for a good cycle around the town, after our minimal set up. But discovered, to my horror, that the fridge was not working – and had not been for a while, as all the contents of the freezebox were well and truly defrosted. I was well and truly annoyed! John phoned C  at Trakmaster, who put us onto J – the Vitrifrigo dealer who had supplied the fridge when the van was built. He is also the solar power man. J directed John in doing some tests and decided he knew what was wrong. John arranged to meet him tomorrow, at 3pm, at the Trakmaster factory.

I threw out some meats, but kept a pack of fish to cook extra for John’s tea tonight – he will be having a big feed! Also kept some bacon, which I thought was safe. There was not too much food wasted – it could have been worse. I had run down our usual stocks in anticipation of being able to buy cheaper in Melbourne. There was rather a nasty smell in the fridge, though! I wiped it out with a cloth dipped in vanilla essence. Stacked up the Chescold fridge with the jars, margarine, cheese and vegetable matter from the van fridge, and we ran that through the night to keep things cold. Hopefully, the contents will remain cold enough through the drive tomorrow. We do not run the Chescold on 12Volt in the Truck – had a nasty experience doing this in the previous Hilux, when the fridge shifted and pinched the wire and we went very close to having the vehicle on fire!

About 6pm, we managed to go out for a cycle around the streets, for nearly an hour.

Our intention of having a rather leisurely trip back home, through Gippsland, is now not going to happen, due to having to get the fridge to Melbourne.

Our late tea was John’s fish dinner – large size. I had steak. I am still very wary of eating fish that may have bones. Melon completed the meal.

Today, the van clocked up 10,000 kms of being towed. What a way to celebrate the milestone!

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1999 Travels March 14

SUNDAY 14 MARCH     TATHRA

Woke to a lovely day – warm, blue skies.

After all the rain through the night, the owner of the big rig behind us was upset to find his very fancy roll-out awning all bowed down and rather bent, from the rain accumulating in it. I do not think they have been doing this caravanning thing for very long! He is not having much luck. We had slightly dropped the height of one of the corner poles holding up our awning, when we got back from the walk yesterday, so the rainwater all ran down to that corner and off. Somewhere along the way we learned that trick.

After breakfast, drove back out to Bournda National Park. It has been on my mind to go back and have a better look. We drove down the track, past the turn off to the campground, to the track end. Then we walked along the path from there to the beach, Bournda Headland and Island. Part of the walk was through lovely banksia scrub, where we saw lots of wattlebirds being active and noisy.

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Thick ti-tree beside Bournda Lagoon

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Bournda Headland

We spent some time on the beach at the headland, watching the water surge back and forth in the narrow channel race between the beach and the island. In the distance, could see the houses of Tura Beach, which is just to the north of Merimbula. Both to the north and south of Bournda Headland, then, are long stretches of a sandy beach, protected on the land side by the National Park.

We went back to the van for lunch, then drove round to the old jetty, for a look. There were a number of people fishing from it. A seal surfaced and stuck its head out of the water – guess it was begging for a fish meal? It did this several times, despite the evident schools of fish swimming all round it! Maybe it liked the concept of interaction with humans? Maybe it was just into a seal version of fast food?

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Feed me….please…..

Bought fish – a kilo of flathead, which was the only fish the outlet had fresh.  Their really nice looking flake was frozen in one kilo lots, which is too much for us to eat in one or two sittings after it is defrosted – I need to freeze my own fish packs in one meal lots. I froze two batches of flathead  and kept some for tomorrow’s tea, for John.

Bought diesel – 74cpl.

Back at camp, washed Truck. John got his big, heavy-duty gloves from where he keeps them in the van boot. Put them on to protect his skin from the car wash chemicals – then took them off again, very quickly! There was a big nest of ants in the fingers of one glove! They had actually eaten through the finger part in one place. So they had to be removed before the washing could continue. These ants wind up in the strangest places.  I am not happy that there is such a presence in the van, though.

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Removing ant nest

I put the solar protection liquid on the vinyl and plastic parts of Truck, and then oiled our walking sticks, so they would not crack in the dry heat of parts south.

We took down the awning and packed away the outside things.

Tea was barley soup, scotch fillet steak, mushrooms, then rockmelon.

We have enjoyed the week at Tathra. This is a place we can return to, over and over.


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1999 Travels March 13

SATURDAY 13 MARCH     TATHRA

I woke up with a headache – too much of that wine! John was feeling seedy all day, so we did not do much. He read – finished a novel.

I walked up the hill to the newsagents – punishing myself! Bought the Saturday Age and Weekend Australian, and read those for the rest of the morning.

After lunch, we walked along the beach to the Inlet, and back along the cycle path.  We watched people catching mullet and big flathead in the channel of the inlet entrance.

We spotted a bird new to us in the bush by the inlet. It made a whip like noise and when we got back to camp used the bird book to identify it as a male Eastern Whipbird. We also saw a huge black spider and wondered if it was a funnelweb? Certainly, it looked very anti-social!

There were thunderstorms building and it rained a little on us, but we got back before the worst rain hit.

I cooked barley soup.

Tea was the last of the tomato soup,  Chicken breast poached in lemon juice, garlic and spring onions, with some vegies. Rockmelon to follow.

The thunder and lightning lasted into the night.


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1999 Travels March 12

FRIDAY 12 MARCH     TATHRA

Today was warm but somewhat cloudy.

John has us playing bowls at 6pm, so that precludes any really strenuous activity through the day! He decided that we could go for a drive, after lunch, though.

While we were sitting around at the van, in the late morning, a big rig came in. It was a very large caravan – maybe over 8 metres. It was towed by a big American F-something. We heard a nasty, loud, metallic bang as he was backing his van in – it required several attempts and going backwards and forwards on hard lock to do so, due to his size on the average sized sites.

We went to Merimbula, via the most direct route. There, we did a little grocery shopping, and got some cash money.

We went for a short walk on the sand flats at the edge of the Merimbula Creek. The tide was coming in quickly and there were lots of little shrimpy things in the water.

We bought some fresh apples from a roadside seller.

On the way back to Tathra, turned off to the east and drove into Bournda National Park, down tracks to the car park and camp area, which we drove around, looking at. We did not get out of the Truck, though, to explore any further – John was not so inclined. So we can say we’ve “been there” – even if we have not seen any of the scenery beyond the camp ground!

When we got back from our drive, the American vehicle was being loaded onto a tilt tray truck. It had broken the steering box! It is a conversion from left to right-hand drive, so we wondered if that had maybe created a weakness?

Bowls was ok. I played adequately. Afterwards, John drove Truck back to camp, with our bags, then he walked back to the club, while I nursed a drink and waited for him. It is not far. Then we had tea at the club’s Chinese restaurant. It was good food. I had Mongolian lamb and John steamed duck and vegies. We drank some reasonably good house wine – a Brown Brothers dry white. It was the club’s big raffle night, but we did not win anything. We bought a bottle of Lambrusco to take back to the van.

Walked back to the caravan park. It was pleasant walking, as the night was not cold.


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1999 Travels March 11

THURSDAY 11 MARCH     TATHRA

The day was still fairly warm, but cloudier.

I did a load of washing, before breakfast. After breakfast, we drove up to the top shops, because I wanted to buy a Powerball ticket – there was a $15million jackpot.

John decided we should practice bowls and we did so until 1.30. By the time lunch was over, there was not time to do anything adventurous. I needed exercise, so went for a fast walk down the walk/bike path to Mogareeka Inlet – a bit over 2kms away. On the way back, I walked around some of the streets, and up the hill at the back to the lookout.

I saw lots of birds on my walk, including some yellow tailed black cockatoos.

John went fishing, around at the old jetty/landing that dates from the coastal shipping days. It is heavily used by fishing people, these days. The water is deep there. He had no luck – and no bites.

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On Tathra Jetty. The valley in the distance is Mogareekah Inlet, though the entrance is out of picture.

I defrosted the fridge, just in case John came back with some fish requiring freezing.

I watched a wattlebird in a tree near our van. When he makes his gurgling noise, he puts his head up in the air and puffs out his chest, and chortles.

Tea was soup, sausages and vegies. Rockmelon. There are enough left over sausages to provide sandwich fillings for the next couple of days. Cold sausage sandwiches are great!


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1999 Travels March 10

WEDNESDAY 10 MARCH     TATHRA

It was quite a warm day, with clear, blue skies.

We got up about 9.

I have found that I can get the Melbourne Age newspaper here in Tathra. It is great to be able to do so and read news that is slanted to Victoria, again. However, it is more expensive to buy than the NSW papers – even though we must be just about equidistant between Melbourne and Sydney.

After an early lunch, John went to bowls. He enjoyed the afternoon.

I walked to the top shops, via the steps up the big hill. Didn’t set out to do so, but I was seeking some frozen broad beans for a salad. There was no such thing to be had in Tathra!

Tea was soup, salads – without beans! They included the leftover fish salad. Rockmelon.


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1999 Travels March 9

TUESDAY 9 MARCH     TATHRA

Today was moderately warm, with beautiful blue skies.

John worked all day on letters to various people, after quite a sleep in.

I drove to the top shops to get the paper. I should have walked, for the exercise, but the path up the incline is SO steep! One must really be in the mood.

I read papers that had accumulated over the past couple of days. Sewed. I had a cooking session after lunch, making a batch of soup – spicy tomato, using barley instead of the rice called for in the recipe. Also cooked some brown rice and smoked cod, both to cool for later.

About 5pm we went for a beach walk. It got to be shorter than intended, as John decided to stop and watch the Surf Life Saving Club Junior training. All these young kids were learning to battle the waves, swim in surf and the like. It wasn’t easy for them, but character building, I should think.

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Tathra, from the beach that is across the road from the caravan park

Tea was the soup, which John loved – anything with barley in! Salad of brown rice and smoked fish. Rock melon.

There was nothing decent on TV, so I sewed and John played with some demo games discs that had accumulated from the PC Gamer magazine that he gets each month.


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1999 Travels March 8

MONDAY 8 MARCH   SUSSEX INLET TO TATHRA   278kms

We didn’t set the alarm, but were up at 8 and away at 9.45, heading south.

There was rain, on and off, through the day, and it was cooler than yesterday. Much better for driving.

This was a slower leg than I had anticipated. The road was bendy and hilly and quite often narrow. Driving required considerable concentration. Hard to believe that this is Highway 1! But it was a very pretty and varied drive, some of the way through green grazing farm country, some through forested parts. Occasionally we came close to the sea – or could see it in the distance.

Some small villages, like Mogo, are highlighting their history, to attract visitors. We were not really in stopping mode, with the van on the back, for most of the time.

But we did stop in Ulladulla to refuel – 74cpl.

We found a place to park the rig in Batemans Bay, and walked to the shops by the river, hoping to find a fish co-op. We found a river front, tourist oriented fish shop that was selling flake for $5.50 a piece! I thought it was a per kilo price and was about to buy a kilo, but John was a wake-up, luckily. So we left the shop, fish-less. There was a fishing boat docked behind the shop and John asked a lad on it – he said the nearest fish co-op is Ulladulla. We have already been through there.

Bought a focaccia loaf and ate it, in chunks,  as we drove along, for lunch. But before leaving Batemans Bay we did pick up some good tourist information at the centre there.

We stopped in Bega and did a grocery shop, to maybe save a trip in later.

Left the Princes Highway after Bega, to drive to Tathra, on the coast. This is a village in two parts – the main shops are at the top of a headland, but the caravan parks and a few more shops are  at the sea level – down a short, very steep, very bendy bit of road. Interesting! At least, we have driven this before – though not with the van – and knew exactly what it would be like. Needed low gear and a crawl down.

We booked into the Big 4 Seabreeze Caravan Park, for a week.  $13.50 a night, after discount, with the seventh night free. We had stayed here before, in 1997, in a cabin, on our way to S’s wedding in Sydney. We had to take a grassed site, as those with slabs were all occupied. It is ok, although the park feels rather crowded, overall. There is a nice pool – if it ever gets warm enough to use it! It is quite cool today.

After setting up, we went for a long walk along the beach, which is essentially over the road from the caravan park. Walked all the way to the Mogareekah Inlet mouth, which took us almost an hour and a half. The beach had a steep slope, in places, and the sand was a bit soft. There were several people fishing near the inlet. One man appeared to have two big salmon. We walked back along the walking/bike path beside the road. Much easier, but of course, not as pleasant, although there is bush on both sides of the road for much of the way.

Tea: soup, leftover curry and rice for John. I had salad. Then fruit.

Phoned K to report our whereabouts. He thinks V is in Melbourne, having flown over a week or so ahead of her husband, but he has not heard from her.

We only have a couple of TV channels here that have any sort of a picture. The park does supply cables one can hook into a relay – but John does not want to pay $2 per day for one.

03-08-1999-sussex-inlet-to-tathra


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1999 Travels March 7

SUNDAY 7 MARCH   BEROWA TO SUSSEX INLET   259kms

John set the alarm for 4.45am, wanting to leave early. This was far too early, in my opinion! There was morning fog about when we woke. It was about 6.30am when we got away, so we had dawdled getting ready. By then it was barely daylight – just enough to see a little by.

It took us a couple of hours to get through to the south of Sydney, but the traffic had been very light. We probably had about as good a run as it gets, ever.

John wanted to take a “straight line” from Berowa, through the maze of ordinary streets in Sydney suburbs and over the Ryde Bridge, to the road south. But we went this navigator’s way – via the signposted South Coast route: Cumberland Way, Western Freeway, Heathcote Road, Princes Highway – all easy to find and follow!

It was raining as we headed south. The steep descent for 6kms on the Mount Ousley Road down to the Wollongong bypass made John tense, but it all felt very much in control to me. It was a pretty extreme piece of road – we probably will not do too many others like that.

We needed a toilet stop in Kiama – don’t think it was related to that prior nasty descent! Had to go right into the town and it was not easy to find our way around and out again. Had a coffee stop near Nowra and then proceeded on to Sussex Inlet. Had to turn off the highway and take a minor road for the last 15kms or so, to get there. Along the Princes Highway we were passed a few times on double lines by crazy drivers – the NSW drivers seem very bad about observing double white lines!

There were several places along the coast we could have chosen for this overnight stop – this one was chosen rather at random because it “sounded nice”. Sussex Inlet has a busy little village centre, but we went to Snappy Gums Caravan park, on the Springs Road – rather out in the bush.

The park cost us $15 for the night. It has a rather run-down air – gardens of weeds, a non-working phone box, lots of permanent holiday vans, a handful of permanent residents. We were able to leave Truck and van hitched up and parked on the grassy sites at the back of the park, in solitude. It was quite pleasant! The amenity block was close. Here, were many insect bodies on the floor and spiders in the basins – obviously not used much at this time of the year. But under the debris, the surfaces were reasonably clean. One had to put 20cents in a meter for a shower – but at least the meter was IN the cubicle, unlike at Evans Head.

There was very little setting up to do. Had lunch, watched the Grand Prix on TV – an interesting race as only eight cars finished.

After that, went for a bike ride, though it was quite hot and humid by now. The bikes were a way of having a look around the area, without unhitching. We rode further down the Springs Road, to Swan Bay and Cudmirrah. It was not a huge ride – about 8kms, but there was one big hill on the way back, that was not fun.

At the Swan Bay inlet, which is currently closed off from the sea by a sand bar, we walked to the ocean. There is quite a good looking caravan park there – Swan Bay Caravan Park. It is listed under Cudmirrah, rather than Sussex Inlet, and is better looking than any of the others we saw. They all seem mostly geared to permanent holiday structures.

I am not sure we would want to come back to this spot. There have got to be more pleasant places along this stretch of coast. It did occur to me, in the heat, that it would not feel a very safe place if there were bushfires about.

I got my bike speedo working again! Pressed the little white button on the back, and all the other buttons simultaneously – not easy to do – and voila.

Tea was soup, beef mince curry and rice and fruit.

TV reception here is good – surprising in the midst of the bush.

It is a relief to be clear of Sydney – that was rather hanging over our heads, the past few days. We wanted to follow the coast home, rather than go through the hotter inland routes, at this time of year, and have a stay at one of our favourite places – Tathra. So – Sydney was the price that had to be paid!

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