This Adventurous Age

Adventures travelling and working around Australia.


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2016 Travels March 20

SUNDAY MARCH 20     YARRAM TO SALE    75kms

A nice, calm, uneventful pack up and departure. I like those kind…

Refuelled Bus in Yarram. $1.089cpl. We had injected some funds into this small country town, one way and the other.

I realized, while John was filling the tank, that the day was a lot hotter than I’d thought it would be, and did a quick change into shorts – thanking whoever it was who’d had the Bus windows heavily tinted.

The country between Yarram and Sale was just varied enough to be interesting.

Near Sale

As we drove into Sale, saw there was a big market happening.

I suddenly realized that I did not actually know the name of the caravan park that we’d booked into, as M had made this booking. I thought it was on the highway on the west side of town, near a creek. The first park we came to seemed to fit, but the name did not ring any bells. John pulled into the entrance and went in and asked the lady on reception if there was a booking for us? No. Then, as we could not back the rig, the lady very nicely raised the boom gate so we could drive in, around and out again.

While this was going on, I urgently texted M to ask where the hell we were supposed to be going? Though they had left Yarram at a similar time to us, they had detoured to a couple of side spots, like Woodside, on the way. Then, before I got a reply, it occurred to me that both bookings might be in her name, so we stopped outside the park and John went back in. Yes, this time, from the very patient lady.

Reply from M – she couldn’t remember the name and had no paperwork with her. I replied with our outcome. Really well organized, weren’t we? Just a little hassle from travelling with others…

Our en-suite site at the Sale Motor Village cost $40 a night. Again, it was drive-through. A big site, with a slab, Very good. Bathroom was clean, glass enclosed shower, some bench space – and very efficient heating. I liked that, at night, the interior light was on a sensor that came on as soon as the door was opened. The park was fairly large, with some permanent residents. It appeared quite full, at first glance, but we eventually realized that some of the vans muct belong to people who work away – maybe on the rigs in Bass Strait?

The park was on a loop of Flooding Creek and had a very large grassy area at one end that was unpowered camping – and also a good place to walk dog.

The others arrived and were happy with their cabin. And happy that we’d done the somewhat embarrassing work of asking if we belonged.

As soon as set up was done, we went to the markets. As it was almost midday, most stalls were packing up, but I bought some vegetables. A leather goods stall was a bit slower finishing up than the others and I spied the type of moccasin slipper that is hard to get at home, plus a pair of proper moccasins, so bought both of those. John bought a belt – to be permanently kept in Bus – another item he always forgets to bring.

John spied a smallgoods seller and bought some salami type sausage and some smaller “beer” snack sausages. Very smelly smallgoods. He’d been told by the vendor not to keep them in the fridge so they smelled out one of the Bus cupboards for the rest of the trip. M also bought some items at the same stall. Not my scene… Later, John was commenting about “local smallgoods” and how good it was to buy local. I pointed out that the label said made in Adelaide.

After a quick lunch at camp, we all drove out to the historic Swing Bridge, a few kms out of town, where the Latrobe and Thompson Rivers join. This has been restored and is opened at 3pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

The Swing Bridge

The little old original wooden Lakes boat, the Rubeena, now electric powered, does cruises on the river and had one that arrived at the Swing Bridge in time for the opening, so we were able to watch that puttering along the river. It had a full complement of passengers too.

A different sort of cruise

The Swing Bridge dates from the 1880’s and the era of coastal and Lakes shipping, when goods were brought through the Gippsland Lakes system and up river, to near Sale. Once a road was made from Sale to Longford, a bridge over the river was needed. About this time, too, the Sale Canal was dug to make a waterway that went the couple of kms from the river to the centre of Sale.

The highway now uses a newer bridge, so the Swing Bridge is for walkers only. There is a walking/cycling trail that comes from Sale out along the river and through the wetlands, to the bridge. Found myself hoping I was fitter next time we come here – it looked an appealing walk.

The Swing Bridge is really unusual, in that it swivels open on a turntable that is offset somewhat to one side of centre, in the river. So, when it is open, there is this long span, sitting parallel to the bank.

Swing Bridge moved to allow navigation on the river

When built, it was manually operated, but now is motorized. The two men who came to do the opening – very casually and without any commentary whatsoever – set up a portable generator that did the work. It was a rather slow process, but interesting.

Swing Bridge swinging to open the river

In old days, a red lamp warned that the bridge was open. You wouldn’t want to be colour blind.

The Swing Bridge swung…

The bridge is National Trust classified and is the oldest surviving swing bridge in Australia.

Once the handful of people who had watched the opening had dispersed, we let Couey off the lead for a ball chase on the grass beside the river. At one stage, she appeared to turn towards the river – and four voices all screamed out “NO”, really loudly. It worked.

Storm light

Then the day was mostly gone. Had happy hour at Bus and then retired to our respective abodes.

Our dinner was zucchini frittata that I’d bought, frozen, from home, and reheated in the electric frypan. An easy meal.


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2016 Travels March 19

SATURDAY MARCH 19     YARRAM

The morning was cool and grey, with a few early showers.

While John was sleeping in, I went to the shops and bought the Saturday papers.

John was uncertain whether bowls would go ahead on the wet grass greens. We could not really make plans for the afternoon until he knew. So M and C went off driving, to explore up in the Strzelecki Ranges and visit the Tarra Bulga National Park. That’s what I’d wanted to do!

After an early lunch, John drove off to bowls, with the agreement that, if I wanted to go exploring, I would walk there and get the car. He didn’t want to have to carry his bowl bag if he didn’t need to.

I thought about taking myself and dog off for a drive, but by myself and in the chill, it wasn’t all that appealing. So I read the papers, checked my emails and the like, without venturing out into the cold, apart from to walk Couey a couple of times.

Yarram site

We had invited J and D to come to happy hour this afternoon, but had decided this morning that it was too cold and damp to sit outside. So I’d phoned J and arranged to meet them at the Sports/Country Club for dinner instead. The caravan park man had told us this place put on a good meal.

John arrived back at Bus from bowls – on foot. He had assumed that I would have been to collect the car, so hadn’t even looked for it. He and Couey walked back to the Sports Club to collect it. John had enjoyed the bowls game.

M and C arrived back from their outing, which had turned out to be more adventurous than intended. Up in the hills, signposts were not plentiful, logging tracks were, and there was lots of vegetation down on the roads. They had managed to get to the National Park Visitor Centre and do the walk to the Suspension Bridge, but plans to return to Yarram via Tarra Valley went astray. They found themselves having to take different tracks to avoid fallen trees, clear some off tracks, and ending up not knowing where the hell they were. At one stage, they came upon a sign showing they were well on the way to Mirboo North! Eventually they found a way back – without ever getting to Tarra Valley.

Wonder what adventures I might have had, if I’d gone out driving?

The3 bistro menu at the Country Club was surprisingly extensive and the dining room was deservedly well patronized. Some of us ordered entrees as well as mains. I thought a starter of Turkish bread and dips was tempting. There was a beetroot dip and a slightly spicy capsicum one, a little bowl of olive oil and balsamic. The bread had been very thinly sliced and lightly fried in olive oil. Different but very good. Then my main course arrived: salt and pepper calamari. It was a large bowl with a great number of calamari rings arranged around a central salad, with a thick tartare sauce drizzled over the calamari. I shouldn’t have had that starter! The calamari was absolutely delicious and so tender.

John had a seafood platter for one – a real assortment of seafoods and so large that he could not finish it. Rare for a plate of food to defeat him! The others all had calamari too, except for C, whose plate of scallops featured twelve huge ones. Very yummy, apparently. The bar served draught apple cider on tap, which John tried and loved.

In all, a wonderful meal and a great night with friends.


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2016 Travels March 18

FRIDAY MARCH 18     YARRAM

In the early hours of the morning, it began to rain and the temperature dropped. The rain sounded quite heavy, at times. We had put the awning out with a slant to one side, so did not have to get up and go out in the rain to adjust it so water wouldn’t pool in it.

By the time we got up, the ground outside was quite sloshy, with big pools of water around where it was running off the awning. It certainly had come down steadily. The site had no slab and we had not put down the annexe matting, so began to spread wet grass and dirt into Bus, as we moved around.

I managed to find a break in the rain, to take Couey for a short walk.

We had been invited to J and D’s place for morning tea, so drove there, mid morning. At this stage, the rain had eased right off and before we left, John was able to put down the annexe matting. M had visited Adels when we were there, so she knew J and D too, and she and C came with us.

Had an enjoyable couple of hours. J had made scones and a delectable date loaf. There was much talk of Adels – the developments that had occurred since we were last there in 2006, and reminiscing about our joint times there. That had been the first few years of the development of the place under new owners, from a tiny camping area to a tourist operation offering a variety of accommodation and tour options. There had clearly been much change, but some things stay the same – like the difficulty in getting good seasonal staff, especially cooks!

Our main goal for today was to explore nearby historic Port Albert. It was not the most encouraging of days for it, with the sky dark grey as we drove the 15kms or so there.

Parked at the jetty area and gave Couey a ball chase session on the grassed area there, that was far enough away from the water to let her stay focussed on the ball.

Park at Port Albert

There was a cluster of old buildings at the jetty area. One small one housed the rocket and shipwreck rescue equipment that too often had needed to be used, in this area of shifting channels and sandbars, and generally treacherous coast.

Corner Inlet at Port Albert

About thirty five years ago, I had visited Port Albert briefly, on a short tour of the area with a couple of friends. We stayed overnight at the hotel, which I remembered as having a rather rickety upstairs verandah, and a most uncomfortable bed. The old wooden pub was no more, having burned down a couple of years ago. Sounds like there may have been a bit of a story behind that event! It had been one of the oldest licensed premises in Victoria, dating from the 1840’s. Now there was just empty land where it used to be.

Port Albert

We were determined to have a meal of fish and chips from the establishment by the jetty – reputed to serve an excellent feed, featuring the local product. The choice of fish was between whiting and flake. My meal of flake, a potato cake and chips was so yummy. John enjoyed his whiting, fried dim sims and potato cakes. He forgot to order chips, so ate some of mine.

We sat at a picnic table by the jetty side, where there were various boats moored.

The ever-present seagulls watched us carefully, but kept their distance because of the dog. Unfortunately, I could not say the same of an annoying Jack Russell terrier, belonging to a man who was across the road, yarning to another man in a car, and letting his dog cross the road to try to provoke Couey into an argument. It got one – from us – and after raised voices trying to shoo it away, the owner eventually called it back. Moron!

Drizzle had set in by the time we finished eating and we adjourned to the Maritime Museum, housed in a stately old former bank building. I can be quite critical of what are touted as museums in a lot of country towns, but this one was truly impressive. It had managed to confine itself to material that really was “maritime” and focussed on the sea-related history of the area, as a means of also conveying general historic information.

So, for example, the display of the rocket rescue equipment and breeches buoy served to explain how these items were used to effect rescues from wrecked ships. The breeches buoy looked for all the world like an old-fashioned version of the current kids’ swimming pool toy, where they sit inside an inflatable ring, with legs hanging down from the seat into the pool!

The museum houses print collections that are used by family history researchers who had ancestors in these parts. A collation had been done, of every person who moved through the port and who was mentioned in the assorted historical records of the time.

I spent some time watching a video/film documentary featuring a regular supply ship out of Port Albert to the lighthouse staff on one of the nearby Bass Strait islands. With footage made at the time, it showed a way of life that is now gone, with the automation of such lights.

We spent a couple of hours browsing the many displays, without noticing the passing time. Then realized that it was now blowing a gale outside and bucketing down rain. I wondered how our awning was faring, if this wind was reaching up as far as Yarram.

The weather was far too awful for any more exploring of the township, so we drove back to camp.

The section straight out of Port Albert was through an avenue of trees and it was quite scary driving, with lots of light tree debris coming down, and us wondering if a big limb or whole tree was about to follow it. It was a relief to get into the more open country.

Our site was so well sheltered that the awning was fine, but John did tie it down, to make sure.

We retreated to Bus, and M and C to their cabin. I got out the little fan heater. What a contrast, in 24 hours!

After the big lunch, tea was a can of soup.


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2016 Travels March 17

THURSDAY MARCH 17     TOORA TO YARRAM     57kms

Not exactly a major relocation today – just up the road, really. Good thing, because it was hot and very humid.

Whilst we were getting ready to move on, John learned a major life lesson – do not put thumb where awning arms are going to close! I have no idea how he got said digit jammed, as he had not waited for me to help lower the awning. I do know that there is a huge amount of tension on those arms. I tried to lever it a bit open with a screwdriver, so he could pull thumb out, but had to go get a heavy tent peg and gradually work that down the little gap, whilst levering as well, until I’d enlarged the gap enough for him to get thumb out. He was in a lot of pain while I was doing this. The skin was broken, and he was bleeding. Bandaid applied. Lucky not to break it – or chop it off altogether. I wondered if anyone had ever managed to do that? Hope he learned the lesson to wait for me to help, in the future. Much easier with two people. And safer.

Was 10.15 when we left the park.

The driver felt fit enough to detour to Port Welshpool. From 1998 to 2002, a summer fast speed catamaran ferry operated from here to Tasmania. It was rather unfortunately named the Devil Cat and gained a reputation to match – for very rough trips and major sea sickness for passengers. That reputation probably, as much as its distance from Melbourne, accounted for its demise.

In Port Welshpool, there appeared to be a number of accommodation places that had been set up in the expectation of increased business from the ferry service, but were now languishing, with several for sale. Ditto houses.

We stopped and looked at the Long Jetty, as we came into the village. This was, as name suggested, a jetty that extended a long way out, to a deeper channel. It was the old jetty, in the days when this place was a thriving port. It was now closed, due to fire damage. One hoped it could be restored – a walk right out to its end would be rather lovely.

Port Welshpool

Next stop was the current jetty area – one that extends widthwise, rather than outwards. We walked around this – with dog very firmly on lead. Saw what used to be the ferry cat terminal, now closed off. There were some fishing boats moored, as well as recreational boats.

It was a pleasant little village, with a general store. It probably gets much busier in the summer holiday period, but would still be a comparatively quiet place for a break by the sea.

None of these Corner Inlet villages have any decent beach areas, due to the nature of the inlet.

Couey was very interested in the edge of the jetty and peering down at the sea below. I had a strong suspicion that had she been loose, there would have been a high dive into the water. For once, John didn’t suggest she be let loose!

Backtracked to where we had turned off the highway at Welshpool township, and continued on to Yarram though green farmland – dairy cow country in these parts. It was a pleasant drive, uneventful, apart from being passed by a speeding ambulance, sirens and lights going. As he came up behind us, John slowed and pulled right over to the side, so the ambulance did not have to slow at all – this section of road did not offer clear views for passing otherwise. We then noted, though, that the caravan ahead did not slow or pull over at all, and the ambulance got held up behind him for a few kms. What is it with some drivers that they must be so incredibly ignorant and selfish?

Had booked an en-suite site at the Yarram Rosebank Tourist park. $36 a night. We were able to drive through the site behind us, which made it much easier, then unhitch the car. Had to wait for our bathroom cleaning to be finished – it was only midday when we arrived.

M and C were pleased with their cabin. It was larger than the one at Toora had been.

The caravan park was based around what appeared to be an old restored homestead – rather intriguing from the outside. Reception was in part of that.

There was an under cover area for sitting around a fire pit, a good playground area, and we were told when checking in that we could give Couey a run on the grassy area at the front of the park. This is always a plus for us. Our bathroom was clean, with a big shower area. We were quite happy with it. Bushes to the sides made our site quite private.

After set up, we all went for a walk along the main street, admiring the several substantial old buildings. At a novelty shop, M bought some small water pistols, to use to deter Couey from jumping up on them at happy hours.

Back in the late nineteenth century, nearby Port Albert was the main port for these parts, in the days before railways and good roads. Yarram developed from the 1850’s and became the main service centre for the area. Today, it was an attractive small town, although the number of houses for sale suggested a declining population. Some of the houses for sale that we walked past, were beautiful looking old places, well kept up, on large blocks.

Walked the length of the shopping area and then back on the other side of the road. There was a fair range of shops in the town. Visited an art gallery, housed in the former court house – a solid, brick building. There was an exhibition of works in oils by a local artist; his urban scenes were not subject matter I liked, but he’d managed to make them appear almost three dimensional, so I admired the technique. I quite liked one painting of a Greek island village – but our walls at home were already too full!

The men were very strong willed today, and resisted the pull of the bakery, in favour of own-made lunches back at camp.

I found the walk rather hard. Lower back and shoulders were all hurting as I walked. Wondered if Couey’s pulling on the lead had somehow injured the shoulder and upper back. Didn’t realize it at the time, but this was the first manifestation of spinal problems that were to continue and slowly reduce my walking range over the next few years. Rather cruel, that.

On the way back, John called in at the sports complex, almost opposite the park, to find out about bowls – and booked himself in for a game on Saturday. Had I been asked, my preference would have been for doing some sightseeing!

The humidity was really draining, and after our late lunch we both had naps, with the air-con going in Bus. It was rare for me to feel like an afternoon nap! C had a sleep too, and M did crosswords.

It was cooling down by the time we met up again for happy hour.

Our tea was the lamb fillet I’d bought in Foster. Very nice and very tender.

During the afternoon I had phoned a friend who lives locally, left a message, and she called me back after they returned from a day out fishing for whiting. Years ago, we had all worked a couple of tourist seasons together, up north at the magical Adels Grove. So I was looking forward to catching up with J and D again. They had worked and visited there for periods, most years, and so were more up to date with the people and developments.

It was an uncomfortable night for sleeping – even a sheet was too much cover in the heat.


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2016 Travels March 16

WEDNESDAY MARCH 16     TOORA

The morning was not as windy as yesterday.

Usual morning routine: I got up about 8am, walked dog, fed dog, had my breakfast, waited for John to surface. M and C appeared and sat chatting with me – and we all waited for John to get going!

Decided we’d visit Foster. This was a place we’d driven through a number of times, on the way to the Prom, but not stopped at. Took both cars – the back seat of Terios really was not big enough for dog and people, and we certainly wouldn’t expose C’s rather new vehicle to Couey.

Went to the Foster Information Centre and collected some material. Outside it was an area that highlighted the gold mining period in the area, from the 1870’s. I’d had no idea that there had been so many mines around Foster, or that they yielded so much gold. It seems to have been overshadowed by the emphasis on the Ballarat and Bendigo goldfields, in particular.

Red dots show old mine locations around Foster town

There were walks we could have done around some of the mine areas, but they seemed to cover very hilly ground and the men were not feeling up to it.

Instead, we went for a walk across to the attractive park opposite the Info Centre. This stretches along Stockyard Creek, which formed a very pretty pond in the park.

RV parking area opposite Info Centre – bad luck about the car parked in it.

We started to follow a path alongside the creek. I had Couey on the lead and she tried a couple of times to pull me towards the creek. John and C needed to rest, so went back to where there were seats, while M and I walked on a way. As we turned around and headed back, John called to me to let Couey loose, so she could run between us and get in a gallop. Says John: “It will be alright, she always comes when I call her…” She did run to him, when called, but then pulled a right hand turn and made for the pond area, totally ignoring John’s calls. She did a very athletic running jump into the pond and came up wearing water lilies and a blissful expression. We definitely have mismatch between a fast-learning dog and slow-learning master!

I hadn’t bought my camera on the walk. Pity – a shot of Couey in the pond would have been priceless.

Needed to do a good long stroll, then, along the main street, in order to get dog dry enough for the car. So we meandered along, looking at the shops. John bought a light weight sun hat, having forgotten to pack his. Ditto his toothpaste, so I got him some. There was a butcher advertising local, grass-fed meat; it looked good, so I bought some lamb fillet and some steak. The prices were reasonable, too. M and John each bought a carton of beer cans. John had planned to not drink beer on this trip, in the interests of his waist line, but now changed his mind.

Walking back from depositing the beer in the car, John noticed a man standing outside a bakery, obviously really enjoying the pastie he was devouring. There was nothing for it but for him and C to buy themselves a pastie lunch! However, apart from cakes and pastries, the bakery only offered a very limited range of pre-made sandwiches – all in white bread. The men did not want to wait around while I went to try to find a better alternative , so I settled, reluctantly, for a pack of cheese sandwiches. M doesn’t eat lunch.

I really liked Foster. Definitely possible for a return visit.

The area around Toora

We drove the few kms to Port Franklin where there was a very pleasant park area in a loop of the Franklin River. Here we sat and ate the lunches we’d bought in Foster. The men pronounced the square pasties excellent. I left most of my sandwiches – they were awful. John had bought a four pack of some foreign beer, in Foster, and we each had one of those with lunch. I didn’t like it much.

We gave Couey a ball chase run in the park, then went for a wander.

There were a number of boats moored in the small tidal river. Seemed there were still fishermen operating out of Port Franklin out into Corner Inlet.

The inlet at Port Franklin

Took a boardwalk that went out through the scrub and mangrove mud flats, thinking we might see some interesting birds.

What is that saying about repeating an action and expecting a different outcome from the last time? John insisted dog be let off the lead, saying she would stay on the boardwalk, no worries. Of course, the moment he let her loose, she did a great leap off the boardwalk, into deep mangrove mud. Guess to her it didn’t look any different to brown coloured water. She sank to her chest with a look of puzzlement at finding herself unable to swim. In other circumstances it would have been funny. Eventually she managed to plough her way back to where she could clamber back up to us, smelling horribly swampy and all over thick mud. She really had to battle to get out. John said he didn’t think she would do that. Honestly …I despair. So he got to put a very muddy, extremely smelly dog on the lead and walk with her!

The mangrove walk was not particularly interesting. The tide was out. There were few birds.

Back at the park, we tried to wash the worst of the muck off dog at a tap, getting a bit muddy ourselves, in the process. M and C watched from a safe distance. I was not happy. It is a good thing that the back seat of my car is covered with a couple of old rugs and  (mostly) waterproof seat protectors. Couldn’t do much about the swampy smell though.

Returned to Toora along back roads through pleasant farming country. There, took the steep road up the hill to Silcocks Lookout, where there were good views over the flat coastal plain, to Corner Inlet, with the hills of the Prom beyond. Could pick out Port Franklin, where we had been.

From Silcocks Lookout, across Corner Inlet to Wilsons Promontory

Counted twelve windfarm towers.

Windfarm towers on the hills

Then went on to Agnes Falls, which I had not heard of before this trip. They are “the longest single span falls in Victoria” – 59 metres high. From the car park, a track went down to viewing areas.

Going down to Agnes Falls

A little cement weir was, years ago, built across the top of the falls, as the river is part of a local water supply system.

There was a small flow going over the falls, down into a surprisingly deep gorge. It would be quite spectacular after a period of heavy rain.

Agnes Falls

Alongside the path, and the gorge itself, were blue gum trees, their smooth trunks an unusual chocolate colour.

Chocolate coloured eucalypts

As we trudged back up the path to the cars, a cheeky grey fantail kept us company, flitting through the bushes. The men found the trek back rather hard, even though it was a pretty gradual incline. They both have issues with lung damage.

The deep gorge

The picnic area by the car park would be a very pleasant place to have lunch.

Retraced our route back to Toora.

From the lookout, had seen a large white building in the town and drove through the streets to see if we could find it and see what it was. Discovered that it was an old milk/butter  factory – in fact, the oldest in Victoria, that had been closed down by its previous owners. In recent times, under new owners and after a rather shaky start, it had ramped up again, producing infant milk powder for export to China. The Victorian Government had invested money in the project. Bet the businesses in town had been pleased about that.

Back to camp. Dog had an appointment with a long, cold, hosing down. Didn’t impress her one bit but she smelled too swampy to be in Bus without a good wash. Note to self – given dog’s affinity for dirty water, pack some dog shampoo in Bus before next trip!

Happy hour at Bus, followed by a light tea – just a tin of soup.

John went for a shower before bed. He didn’t bother to read the instructions about getting the hot water to run hot, that were prominently posted on the bathroom wall, so had a cold shower.


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2016 Travels March 15

TUESDAY MARCH 15     HOME TO TOORA     220kms

There did not remain much packing to do this morning. Only the last-minute fridge items, and the things like laptops and camera that we do not like to leave overnight in Bus when we are not in it. I made some wraps to take for our lunch.

John backed Bus out of onto our narrow road and then pulled into the side so we could hitch up the car. It is not the easiest place to get Bus out of. In the process, he ran the front off side along the  drainage grate at the edge of our nature strip.

Terios hitched, house closed up, dog on board – and we were away, at 10.30am.

Straight away, I noticed an unusual noise – kind of whup-whup-whup – that seemed to change as our speed changed. Then the TPMS gadget started its loud beeping noise, indicating a flat tyre on passenger side front wheel of Bus. But it was not driving like we had a problem. Had to go a couple of kms before there was a place we could park Bus on level ground, out of the way of traffic – in a park carpark area. By the time we got there, the display was indicating the driver’s side front tyre also had a problem.

The issue on the passenger side was immediately obvious – the TPMS cap monitor was gone. John thought that maybe his encounter with the grate had knocked it off. We unhitched the Terios and he drove that back home to search the street for it – those units are expensive!

While he was gone, I had a good look round Bus but could not see anything wrong that might account for the repetitive noise we’d heard. I also took dog for a good long walk. It was quite hot and she was more interested in finding water to drink, than walking.

Eventually John was back. He could not find the missing cap. Then, he noticed that the top had sheared off the driver’s side one. That had been nowhere near the grate, so he was not impressed. He put the old, standard valve caps back on the two front wheels. Then he drove Bus around the flat area, while I watched and listened to try to pick up the noise source. No use.

We discussed me taking car and dog back home and him taking Bus to Toyota or truck tyre place to try to get a fix, but then he decided to drive up the road a way, to see if he could work it out. Came back and said he thought it might be the TPMS monitors on the long inner back wheel valve extensions, flexing and hitting the wheel rim. So he replaced those with the standard caps and went for another test drive. No more noise. Whilst that was a relief, it was annoying that we had the problem at all. I did not judge it a good idea to remind John that I’d previously told him that forum advice had been to get rigid metal valve extensions on the back wheels, for TPMS!

Hitched up car and set off again, after a delay of nearly two hours.

The TPMS system was still doing readouts for the Terios’ wheels, at least, and the two outer back wheels of Bus. Need to get it all sorted when we were home again.

Took Eastlink and then the Monash freeway, and proceeded to Pakenham, KooWeeRup, Foster, to Toora. It was very windy – the worst winds we had yet encountered in Bus, so was hard work for the driver. Would have been really nasty towing a van.

The urban spread of Melbourne seems relentless, gobbling up what was farm land to the south east. Vegie growing country.  I wondered when planners would start to realize that, whilst a rapidly growing city needs houses, it also needs food – and a lot of the most productive land was going under. The same was happening to Melbourne’s south west too.

Approaching KooWeeRup, saw a sign to that town, and took that turn, though the GPS had remained silent. It looked right on my paper map, which was not all that old, but turned out to pre-date the bypass that now goes straight to the South Gippsland Highway. Wonder how long that had been there? We took the long way round, for sure.

Predictably, M and C had arrived at the Toora Caravan Park a couple of hours before us, and texted that it was windy! We knew that already. As we approached Toora, saw wind farm towers on the hills behind – that figured!

We had been allocated a drive-through en-suite site that was quite roomy. It cost us $40 a night. The en-suite was clean and a good size. I liked that there was a glass screen instead of the dreaded clingy shower curtain. But it only extended down one side, so water did splash out and wet a lot of the floor. A mop was provided!

Very nice site at Toora

The park was on a hill side, so we had some views across in the direction of the Prom. The park was very well equipped for a family holiday – heated indoor pool and spa, tennis court, jumping pillow, several BBQ areas. It was certainly a place we would be happy to stay at again.

M and C were likewise quite happy with their cabin.

After setting up, had a very late lunch, and relaxed for the little of the afternoon that was left.

John took dog for a walk across the highway and down some streets. Clearly, she was not impressed by the traffic encountered because, for the rest of the stay, she refused to go anywhere near the front gate, but would happily walk around the rest of the park. On my late afternoon walk with her, there were some rabbits grazing at the back of the park – which dog resolutely ignored. However, she made a great effort to reach a fallen pine cone, which she then carried for the rest of the walk. Strange creature.

The four of us enjoyed a pleasant happy hour at the Bus.

Our tea was pre-cooked chicken marylands. Quite enough, by themselves, after the late lunch.

Through the night could hear some noise from the wind turbines on the hill behind the park, but it was not unpleasant or intrusive.


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2016 Travels March

MARCH     PLANNING THE NEXT TRIP

Friend M and I decided that a short trip through South Gippsland would blow the cobwebs – literally – out of Bus.

With the worst of summer over, the garden could be left in the care of our flat tenant, who would water whatever needed it, if there were hot days. In return, she could harvest as much as she wanted from the vegie patch.

There was a little window of time between the mass exodus events of the March long weekend and Easter – neither times that we wanted to be sharing the roads and holiday venues, now that we had the retirees’ luxury of choice about such matters.

We would take Bus and Terios. M and her friend C would stay in cabins, as he had been ill before Xmas, so “roughing it” in her Troopy camper was not a good idea. Thus, we decided to depart from usual practice and book the accommodation ahead of time, so they could be sure of getting cabins.

We, of course, were limited to parks that were dog friendly.

It was intended that our first night’s stay would be with friends at their Woolamai holiday house – a visit that was long overdue. We meant to, then, book two nights at Toora, but between us got the dates mixed up and ended up making online bookings for a day earlier than we wanted. This is what happens when you get two bossy, organizing types trying to work together!

OK. It was easier to scratch Woolamai from the plans, than try to change the booking online. So we ended up arranging two nights at Toora, three at Yarram, and tacked on our “spare” night to make three nights at Sale.

Not a long trip, but it should be a pleasant break that would enable us to catch up with some friends along the way, and visit some places not seen before. Yes – any number of such did exist, close to home! We had driven to Wilsons Promontory many times, over the years, but not explored any more of South Gippsland.

It would also, for John and me, be an experiment in travelling with others. We had done plenty of trips before with M, who we found a very compatible co-traveller, but not with the extra person. As a rule, we preferred not to travel with others, as it can complicate the experience and lead to having to make compromises that lessen our trip enjoyment. For M, it was a chance to do a little travel with C, before she headed off for more remote parts later in the year. After last year’s “adventures”, C had declared there would be no more “remote” travel for him – defining remote as more than 100kms from a hospital!

I wanted to visit and stay at the caravan park at Tarra Valley, that really caters well for doggy guests, with fenced sites and exercise areas and the like. But John vetoed that one on the grounds of uncertainty about TV and internet access. Indulgence for dog would be deprivation for him!

It just remained to cook, process, freeze, dehydrate, the last of the bumper summer crops of tomatoes, zucchini, beans, cucumbers, rhubarb, figs. A last minute discovery of lots of ripe passionfruit hiding on the ground under the vines, quickly got frozen in ice cube trays.

Tomato soup anyone?


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2016 Travels February

FEBRUARY     SOME ADDITIONS TO THE BUS

Last time Bus went to the local Toyota dealer’s for a service, they could not remove the front wheel nuts in order to check things behind the wheels. They did not have a special tool and were reluctant to exert too much force on the lever they did have, in case they stripped or broke the studs.

On the way home from the dealer, John had taken Bus to a truck tyre place and they undid the wheel nuts, to establish that it could be done, and then re-tightened them. Back home, John could not make them budge again with the “normal” gear he had on hand.

We were told at Toyota, and had not known until then, that the wheel nuts on the two front wheels undo in different directions on the two wheels: one clockwise, one anti-clockwise. Something else to remember…

When we first bought our caravan, back in 1997, we had both gone through a steep learning curve, in order to understand how everything worked, and potential issues and pitfalls. For most years of our vanning, we felt knowledgeable and secure in this.

Acquiring Bus was a whole new ball game. A much more complex one too. For the last four years I had haunted online forums that featured Coasters, and motor homing in general. Neither of us liked the sense of not necessarily knowing what was happening with the vehicle or house systems, or about potential hassles.

After this problem with the wheel nuts, we decided it would be wise to buy a “nutcracker” – a special kind of tool that helps undo wheel nuts. More research ensued, then eventually John drove to Kyneton and bought the chosen tool, which cost less than $100. He wanted to inspect it, in person, to make sure it came with the right sized fittings.

Another fact we had discovered was that the outer and inner back wheels have different sized wheel nuts. Suppose there was a reason for that, but I never found out what it was.

Six wheels on Bus, plus a somewhat inaccessible spare. And all this complexity. We’d had six wheels on our Defender and Trakmaster rig, plus a couple of spares. The KISS principle applied there – all the wheels were the same and interchangeable: Defender wheels. We had been spoilt, clearly.

John already had a tension wrench for doing up wheel nuts again.

We hoped we would never have to actually use these tools ourselves. The wheels were a bit too heavy for us to be manhandling them ourselves, these days. The thinking was that if we did have to call out Roadside Assistance to change a wheel, at least we would know that the appropriate tools will be on hand.

Nothing to do with tools….Couey’s latest game…ball in pool

I had been concerned on our previous trips with the rig, that if the Terios got a flat tyre while we were flat towing, we probably wouldn’t realize until unnecessary damage had been done to the tyre. I discovered that there were warning devices available for just such situations. So the next area of research was into tyre pressure monitoring systems – TPMS. John was keen to have these on the Bus wheels as well as on the Terios, so we needed a system that managed ten wheels in total.

John decided to buy a system from a Melbourne based firm, so he was able to go to the outlet and talk it all through with them. This was not going to be a cheap exercise!

He fitted the monitors, which replace the valve cap on each tyre, and then set up the receiver unit in Bus. Another screened gadget to add to the proliferation on the dashboard! And the rats’ nest of leads that all plugged into the extension gadget that in turn plugged into the lighter socket.

The receiver unit, in theory, showed the situation with each wheel in sequence – its pressure and temperature. The unit beeps – loudly we discovered, when a tyre is under the set parameters he entered. Getting the whole thing to work with each wheel registering in its turn, took ages, with John fiddling about outside with wheels and me inside Bus letting him know what was showing on the screen. Each of the ten wheels had to be checked and some pumped up. Good thing he has an air compressor. I kept telling myself it would be worth it.

The day after the installation, John took me out to Bus to demonstrate the unit again. It beeped. One front tyre on Bus was down to 12psi. John worked out that he had not screwed the monitor unit on properly and it had leaked air overnight. That was remedied.

We did no further testing before our next trip. Mistake….


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2016 Travels January

JANUARY       OUR TRAVELS TO DATE

Some recent visitors were surprised by our travels map, which hangs on a wall at home, and exclaimed at the extent of the places we have been, In Australia, to date.

We started recording the roads and tracks travelled on this map, over twenty years ago. It shows the routes we had taken, since we started adventuring together, in 1991.

Of course, some of the roads had been travelled multiple times. We have, for example, crossed the Nullarbor five times. And, hopefully, will do so again. Some favourite places have been revisited more than once, such as the Kimberley and the Qld Gulf country.

There is still a quiet sense of achievement when we return from a trip, and I am able to record a “new” black line on our map.

As the year began, I was wondering where our travels this year would take us?


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2015 Travels November

NOVEMBER 2015     NEARLY AS GOOD AS NEW

Bus was trundled off to a local panel beater. John had previously checked out his work and pronounced it satisfactory.

Some time before, the passenger’s side front corner of Bus had an altercation with the corner of a brick retaining wall beside its parking area. The wall corner lurks beneath a bushy mass of grevillea, and there is not much room for error, on either side. When we originally built the parking bay for our caravan, a flat area had to be cut out of the sloping block, and the width of the cut was limited by the location of pipes to the house.

The result of John’s misjudgement was a scrape on the shiny metal surface of the bumper corner, and a bit of a ding in the Bus body behind that. Fortunately, vital parts like lights were not affected.

Slightly dinged front corner

As well, some of the dreaded Coaster rust had appeared under one of the back door windows. That had to go. The front corner would be fixed at the same time.

Bus was away for a few days. We were in no rush – better to have the job done thoroughly.

We were most impressed with the repairs. The man took photos of the work on the rust as it was done. He cut the rusted section out and replaced it. Even knowing it had been done, we could not tell by looking at it that there was ever anything wrong. Same with the front scrape, though the mark on the bumper remained as a bit of a tell-tale.

 Repaired front corner. Bush hiding the ambushing fence corner in foreground.

So – a very pleasing outcome, and at a very reasonable price.

No sign of rust under window now

After Bus was collected, we drove home, loaded up the dog, and went for a drive through the hills, to Monbulk – just to make sure the cranking batteries were fully charged after sitting for a while at the workshop without the isolation switch in play.

To remind Couey that travel is good, we returned via Lilydale Lake and took her for a walk and a swim in the outlet creek. Back at home, I opened vents and windows to remove perfume of wet dog!

Next day, Bus was washed thoroughly with the pressure hose. We would not be likely to take it out again until summer is over, next year. The onset of hot weather ties us to garden watering and we do not like to be away during the fire season.

We had discussed taking Bus on a trip to Adelaide, this month, because John wanted to go there to watch his grandsons compete for the ACT in swimming championships. Decided that he would drive his car over, alone, stay in a caravan park cabin, and I would remain holding the fort – or at least the garden hose – at home.

So we put on the covering tarps to protect Bus from the elements and all the stuff that falls from the neighbours’ trees.