Another year, another journey in the caravan.

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Getting underway...

It was all about the olives. This year, our young olive tree excelled itself with fruit the size of footballs, well not quite footballs, but certainly the biggest olives we have seen anywhere. Our neighbours tree’s fruit had nearly all ripened into that dark aubergine colour that they do, but our tress steadfastly resisted showing any signs of colour/ripeness. Then we found one (or two) that broke ranks and that was good enough for Marg. “We will have green olives this year”, and with that frantic picking took place. It was a mixed blessing that not only were the fruit large, they were more than plentiful, yielding 4 full 10lt. buckets of fruit. All the fruit had to be slit and then soaked in brine, changed daily for 12 days. Marg struggled with higher maths at school, and I am sure that we managed to get the fruit into bottles in 10 days.

The saga of the olives was running alongside the saga of the electrics in the new truck (my baby is a beautiful (not) new Mazda BT50 dual cab ute with canopy). There was a lot to do - driving lights, Anderson plug (v. heavy 12v current), CB radio, electric brake controller – to stop the van), tyre pressure monitor, van rear view camera socket and a 12 outlet in the tray. The job was given to a local auto electrician, and they got most of it right. However the van camera did not work, so it had to go back... with the van. Now it is not a lot of fun driving around the local streets with the van attached, but we did that... the day before the Easter break. Took the van home and noticed that there was no current going to the caravan brakes. That’s not good when the van weighs 2 ½ tonnes unloaded. We gave up on the camera, but the brake controller had to be fixed in the week after the Easter week.

We set sail on the following Saturday, again not a great day to be travelling as all those who have the misfortune to need to work, try to get everything else done on the weekend. Nevertheless, we were off and the weather was not happy, raining on and off as we circumnavigated the city. We stopped for a late morning cuppa on the Northern outskirts of the city and found that the Anderson plug cable on the van had come adrift was dragging on the ground, minus the plug. Fortunately Geoff had a spare, but of course it started to rain as he was trying to fix it and the leads were active, reminding him every time he lost concentration with a shower of sparks. Eventually the job got finished and the rain eased. It was at that point that Marg found that the (3 way – 240v/12v/ gas) fridge in the van was not working on 12v. It was a cold day and the fridge had been bought down to temp. before we had left, so it was a problem that could be left until later.

First stop was at a place on the Murray River known as Grantham’s Bend. The track in to the camping area was strewn with potholes that would swallow small cars, and although Geoff navigated car and van around most of them, he was forced into a few. We found a spot to camp and when Marg went to pull out the retractable step, she found it somewhat out of shape. It had bottomed in a pothole and broken one of the main supporting arms. As the arm is made of aluminium, it cannot be fixed and the whole lot will need to come off and be scrapped. We moved out of that site the next day.

We found a better site on the East side of Rutherglen and settled in for a couple of days. By now we had worked out that the fridge needed power from the car for it to activate the house batteries to drive the fridge in 12v mode – its amazing what you can find in the manual! It was determined that the factory wiring to the trailer plug on the car did not have such a connection (mind you we could have had a reversing light! Talk about tits on a bull!!!). It needed an auto electrician to fix so Geoff went into Albury on the Monday to the Mazda dealer about rectifying it. Talk about the days of liability and litigation; the Mazda dealer would not contemplate doing anything that was not “factory”, and was extremely reluctant to even suggest an auto electrician who could do the job. Geoff used his charm, and got directions to a local auto elec, who was able to fix the problem that afternoon.

Having rectified all the problems that we can, we can now begin to enjoy the journey, and have dribbled downstream, staying at a number of free camps which have been all reasonably easy to access. The weather had been very cold overnight and we have been very grateful for our gas heater to warm the van up in the morning before we get up. The days have been generally sunny, but there has been a chilly breeze that is really felt when the sun goes behind a cloud.

We have met some nice people already, and at Tocumwal, had the chance to catch up with our friend Prof from Melbourne who was coming back from Queensland. Tomorrow we move on another 40 or 50 kms to Echuca, and then to Deniliquin where we have picked up a very good deal at a caravan park. Not only a good deal, but running water, electricity and internet coverage.

More next time. Enjoy the photos.

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Photos

Granthams Bend
Near Rutherglen, Vic

Police Paddocks Rutherglen
On an anabranch of the Murray River

Barmah State Forest
About 40 kms East of Echuca