Day 7 - Lakes Entrance to Home

Usual bad sleep, woke up early and then down to Lakes Entrance to have a look around.
Parked in the shade to make sure the cat was OK, it was a glorious day again; we've been really lucky with the weather, only 1 overcast day and 1 day with very light rain for a couple of hours. Almost every day has been sunny.
Had a wander, took some photos and a guy asked if we wanted him to take one of us. Well, I say a guy, it was the Chapter leader of the Newcastle branch of The Longriders Motorcycle Club, a huge guy with several piercings in his face and ears. I wasn't going to say no thanks, and thought I can always buy Song another Iphone when he decides he wants to keep it.
He was actually a nice bloke, had a little chat about where they sleep, where they were going and what's the going price for a murder these days.
Looked them up when we were a safe distance away, they are actually called The Longriders Christian Motorcycle club. So there you go, don't judge a book by it's piercings.
Crossed over the bridge and to the main beach, stopped to chat to a couple of blokes fishing - country people are very friendly. 
The main beach was spectacular, the sea quite rough but the beach is the longest I've ever seen, it went miles in both directions.
Walked back to the van, cat was fine. We debated whether to stop and stay the night at Warragul on the way home since we didn't have to return the van till Saturday, but in the end decided it wasn't worth it so would just get home to leave us plenty of time to clean and tidy the van.
Drove to Bairnsdale and put some diesel in - we'd paid $139 so that we didn't have to return the van full, or the gas bottle either, so it was a calculation to see if we could drop it back with as little fuel as possible, but we over-compensated. Still, it saved us having to fill it up.
Stopped off at Sale for a walk around a lake, then again at Traralgon to stretch the legs, have a coffee and do a bit of shopping.
The road turned into 4 lanes from Traralgon and was straight most of the way, so it was easy driving after the twists and turns and forests of the previous few days. Cruise control on and just stay in the lane.
Hit some road works on the way back, but not too much of a delay and arived back home at just after 19:00.
Spent the next hour and a half unloading all our gear - I couldn't believe how much stuff we took, and a lot of it not used.
So that was our first experience in a Motorhome - it was certainly an experience and we learnt a lot.
We stayed one night at most places, but the everyone else books into a site for a week or two. In our case the main point of the trip was to see if we liked the #vanlife - which we did for the most part. We had never intended to stop for too long at any one place, we didn't have the time, plus we don't do that when we travel, we tend to stay in a place for a day or two then move on. We might have to change that if we get a van.
Driving it at first was very daunting and nerve-wracking, worrying about the size, was I going to clip the wing mirrors again, will it tip over (there were a couple of scary moments going around corners on a slope, even though I slowed to a crawl). But by the end I was more confident and relaxed about it, although it did take a lot of concentration.
We made a long list of things that we would put into any van we buy - and we're going to the motorhome show next month to check out ideas. We probably won't buy one in Aus, but wait till we go to Europe in a couple of years.
So things we learnt - don't park on the grass, park on the slab or the astroturf. Plug in the power, water and waste pipe when you arrive. Get to the park when the staff are on site. Remember where you put stuff; the amount of time we spent looking in all the cupboards for something was ridiculous. Don't drive at night. Don't leave your toiletries in the shower block. Check everything before you leave - it didn't happen to us, but it would be easy to drive off with something plugged in or not locked.
Our next trip is probably a weekend in Canberra, then this year we might go to Queensland and hopefully Europe in October or over Christmas.

Day 6 - Merimbula to Lakes Entrance

Still didn't sleep well, not sure why, could be the bed, could be the changes, could be the temperature fluctuations, who knows?
Finally got a call from the guy at the camp site we had to leave, I said it's a bit late. He said Wednesday was his day off, I said where does it say that, he said it doesn't say it anywhere, I said so how am I supposed to know then? I also asked why he didn't answer the phone, he said it was for emergencies only; I said all he had to do was call me back or send an SMS. Long story short, he said he wouldn't give a refund so I said I'd raise a dispute with the credit card company and he could argue with them. He called again later and apologised for not answering the phone and said he will refund the money because he didn't realise I'd booked that day, he thought I'd booked a while ago and wanted to cancel at the last minute.
We'd set the alarm for 0800 so that we could be out by 1000, which we were, and headed off to Eden because Song wanted to go, and it was on the way, so why not? Parked in the main car park, then walked to the lookout, which we found out was down a huge slope and up another one. The weather was a bit overcast today, and the further South we went, the colder it got.
Eden is known for it's Whaling history and now Whale watching, but that happens between August and November so we didn't see any. Had a look from the lookout, then went back to the van.
Song also wanted to go to Malacoota for some reason, and it was on the way (sort of), so why not?
Turned off the main road to get there, and it was another twisty road through a forest, not the easiest to drive, especially with big trucks that insisted on going over the speed limit and stuck close behind me until I got to a passing place to let them overtake.

All along the road the trunks of the trees were black - a reminder of the forest fires from 2020; we also notice most of the house were new.
Decided we would eat at Malacoota, so parked the van and walked around looking for a nice seafood place, but what we found was a pizza and fish and chip shop, a cafe that did Eggs Benedict and bacon and egg sandwiches and a Chinese restauarant. Campervan to the rescue - Song finished off the prawns she'd bought the day before, and I had some soup and bread we bought from the IGA. Decided to have a big meal in the evening.
Back down the twisty forest road to get onto the main road, for some reason it seemed a lot quicker and less twisty on the way back.

For miles and miles all of the tree trunks were black, a huge area was affected by the fires - but there was also new growth as well, it was quite green so they were recovering.
We're now back in Victoria on the last leg of the trip. We were heading for Lakes Entrance, which was about 2.5 hours away, just about as far as I wanted to drive, and also to make sure we got there when someone was there to avoid the dramas we've experienced. Stopped off at Orbost to stretch our legs (nothing there), then got to the camp site, checked in and drove into the main part of town to look for something to eat.
Parked up in a side street, then Googled for restauarants - Fish and Chips, Pizza, McDonalds, KFC. Oh for god's sake. There was one place that looked decent, called Sodafish, so called them and asked if they had a table - they said we could sit outside but it might be a bit cold. Faced with the other options we agreed.
Best meal for a long time. Still fish, but a proper meal. We chose the Chef's choice; starters of scallop, octopus and baby carrot (more elaborate than that but I can't remember); then I had the King George Whiting and Song had the Flounder with a vege dish to share. It was a bit cold, we were sitting on the deck overlooking the lake with some moored boats, but they put on a heater and it was really pleasant.
Since we were on holiday we both had a dessert; I ordered the white chocolate mousse with Pear sorbet and Song ordered the chocolate and hazelnut praline - which we swapped.
Finally a nice meal.
Walked back to the van, pretty cold by now, drove to the park and connected up and settled down for the night.

Day 5 - Jervis Bay to Merimbula

Didn't sleep well again; packed up, disconnected, dumped the toilet, went to leave but the code didn't work for the boom gate. Went to reception, apparently check out time was 10, and it was now 11. Oops. But luckily they let us out.
Got back on the main road, Princes Highway, which you'd think was a major road but it was single cariageway with passing places. Quite difficult to drive.
Followed the road along the coast, crossing over some narrow and rickety bridges now and then, then arrived at Bateman's Bay where we stopped for lunch - Fish and Chips. Song also did some shopping and bought a support for my back - the van seats aren't great.
Song wanted to see the Horse Head rock which is a rock in the shape of a Horse Head, obviously. So we turned off the main road and headed (ha!) towards it, but drove past a sign for Camel Rock. Checked Google and the Horse Head rock was nearby, so we parked up and walked along the beach, saw Camel Rock, then followed a path and saw Horse Head rock.
Back to the van, we decided to stay at a park nearby in Bermagui so that I wouldn't have to drive in the dark again. Unfortunately I booked for the following night by mistake, the web page defaulted to it for some reason. I called them but the office was closed, so I left a message and we thought we'd drive there and swap the nights - it was only 15 minutes away.
Got there, left another message and sent an email, told them we were sat outside so could they please call us and let us know the code and the site number. There was also an emergency number, so called that.
And called it again. And again. After waiting about an hour decided we couldn't wait any longer so called a place about an hour away, the guy said he would be there to check us in.
So I ended up driving in the twilight and the dark along the worst possible road - twisty and through a forest. We saw some kangaroos in a field, as well as a couple in the bushes at the side of the road - if they had decided to jump across the road I wouldn't have been able to avoid them. Very scary.
Eventually arrived and the guy checked us in, when he saw our address mentioned he used to live nearby and frequented the local pub. Small world.
Set up and went to sleep.

Day 4 - Sydney to Jervis Bay

Woke up around 0900, shower, breakfast, tidy up the van and on the road again.

I've come to the conclusion that Google maps directions are pretty shit.

I plugged in Jervis Bay and it decided to take me West and through a forest, around some steep and winding roads, then onto the M1,not what I need in the van. It could have just taken me South on the M1 straight away, across the bridge and it would have been a lot quicker and easier. From now on I'm going to select the route myself.

Stopped off in Woolangong for a walk along the beach, couldn't leave the AC on for the cat (it needs external power) so parked in the shade and made sure we weren't long.

Found a restaurant close by, I had a burger and chips (OK, not great) and Song had a Bacon and Tomato sandwich.

Went for a short walk along the beach, Song carried on and I went back to the van to make sure the cat hadn't roasted. She was fine.

Song came back then there was a knock on the door - I thought it would be someone moaning that we couldn't park there, but it was an old guy who was interested in the van.

He was looking to buy one that was for sale in Melbourne, and it looked like the same model as ours so he had lots of questions, which we answered. He told me he had an AC Cobra that some guy bought off him for $300k so he paid off his unit and wanted to buy a van.

Said goodbye and drove off towards Jervis Bay, this time I plugged in a town on the way so that it took us the right route. 

We needed to fill up with diesel, but since we have Coles / Woolworths credits looked for one of those. And kept looking, and then the low fuel warning light came on. Not wanting to run out, turned off the freeway to a small town and put in $50 to keep us going. Just as well I did, because back on the main road there was no sign of a petrol station. 

About 5k from the turn off to Wollongong we hit a traffic jam - Google said there was an accident, and soon we ground to a halt. We sat in a traffic jam for about an hour, finally got past it and on towards Jervis Bay. Song wanted to go there to see the arch.

Drove along twisty, bumpy, narrow roads then came to a gate - Jervis Bay National Park. Not what we wanted, we expected a town. Asked the woman at the gate and she said we needed to go to Huskisson - so we turned round and drove back along the twisty, bumpy narrow road.

Parked up and went to look for dinner, it was about 18:00 so cooling down so the cat would be fine, wandered around and settled for fish and chips at the World Famous fish and chip shop. That was the name of the shop.

So basically a junk food day today.

Booked a camp site just down the road, luckily they had a spot, then got a phone call from them asking what I needed - I said a powered site for a campervan. She said OK, the website didn't ask that so she sent a mail.

Got to the camp site, and couldn't find the place we were supposed to park - so far none of these places have decent signage - they provide a map but they are hard to follow in the dark. Found the spot - just a patch of astroturf. No power or water or anything. Called the number and of course it's not 24x7 - really annoying.

It turned out that I had looked at the first email that came from the website, there was a second email with the correct site number. So stressful, easily avoided if they had decent signs and a 24x7 number.

Had a look at the shower block (clean), dumped the toilet (smelly) and settled down in the van with a beer and the cat, wrote this.

Might watch something I brought that I'd downloaded, or might just go to sleep.

Day 3 - Sydney

Didn’t sleep too well again, both nights start off hot, then got a bit colder, then colder still so we both wake up to change the doona.

Woke up at 0730 because I’d forgotten to turn off my alarm, then a few minutes later heard a crunch and a shout, someone had backed their van into another, so I’m not the only one who can’t drive these things.

Shower, then time to do the van maintenance - fill up the fresh water, empty the waste water from the sink, and empty the toilet cartridge.

When we picked up the van we were shown how to do this stuff but she went through it really fast and a lot of it went in one ear and out the other.

Also everything was new and it turned out they didn’t have the proper tap fitting for the hose, they’d provided a clip on one but the taps at the site were screw ones. I headed over to the reception to see they had one when I saw the tap on the site next door had the connector, the previous people had left it behind. Stroke of luck.

Filled up the fresh water then attached the waste water hose and turned the release lever and the hose leaked. 

I had to ask a guy nearby if this was normal, he had a look, then got a screwdriver and tightened it up but it still leaked and he said it looked faulty.

Managed to empty it out then had the pleasant task of emptying the toilet. They make it easy by using a plastic cartridge that slots in under the toilet, it contains a pellet of some chemical, and every camp site has an aptly named dumping station where you empty them.

Still, at the end of the day it’s still a toilet.

Cartridge unplugged ok, quite full (yuk), the thing comes with wheels and a handle so you don’t have to carry it as it sloshes around (yuk).

I’d watched a YouTube video about it, so knew the principle but wasn’t prepared for the reality.

You basically open the cap and pour the contents into a pipe and wash the cartridge out with a hose. 

I unscrewed the cap and WOAH THAT’S BAD.

5 minutes later the job is done, back to the van to plug it in again.

Tidied up the van, turned on the AC for the cat and walked 15 minutes to the nearest metro station (North Ryde). The station was impressive, used to be a train station but was changed to a Metro in 2019. Very deep, spacious and clean. The trains are driverless as well. Visitors can buy a ticket on a credit card, none of the messing about with Myki.

Only about 20 minutes into the city, as we approached I was looking out for the Harbour Bridge only to find that we were going over it, no wonder I couldn't see it. Got off just before Town Hall, went looking for something to eat. Wandered around for a bit, marvelling at some of the old buildings. We haven't been here for 10 years, not sure why, just never really thought about it. There is a lot of construction going on, lots of new apartments going up, some with amazing harbour views.

Found a food court and I had a beef thing with chips, the description on the menu sounded better than it tasted, Song had rice paper rolls and a Banh-Mi.

On the way in it was a bit overcast and there was some very light rain, but in the city it was sunny and quite hot. Walked down to Circular Quay, and around to the Opera House, taking pictures of the bridge. 

The area around the Opera House looks quite new, a lot of restaurants and shops.

I realised I'd never really been close to the Opera House, just walked past it and for some reason never went up the steps, so did that now and realised what a spectacular building it is, not sure if anyone else is aware.

Took more photos, then walked back through the city to the Queen Victoria building, sat and had a coffee and wandered around the inside, popping into the odd shop to have a look.

Getting pretty tired now, decided to head to Coles to get some flat bread for some sausages that we'd brought from Melbourne to barbecue, so did that and also some salad.

Ten minutes later, on the way back to the van Song remembered that the sausages were frozen so that was out. We'd brought some soup and other stuff so just had that.

The cat was happy to see us back.

We'd left the bed set up, so had to undo it and set up the table (another first).

It's a real pain. Lift the sheet, lift the mattress protector, put them away,lift the cushions, remove 2 planks of wood that act as supports and stow them, get the table and pole from a cupboard, fix the pole, lock the tabletop into the pole and finally replace the cushions. Then when it's time for bed, reverse that to get the bed set up.

Had a well-deserved beer, ate my soup and watched the Formula 1, first race of the season, while Song read, then went to sleep.

Day 2 - Off to Sydney

Forgot to say that we stayed overnight at Holbrook, about half way between Melbourne and Sydney.  

Didn’t sleep too well, at first it was hot, then it got chilly so put the doona on, then it got cold so had to dig out the heavy doona. Luckily Song had foresight and packed well.

When I saw what was going into the van I thought it would be easier to just put wheels on the house and tow it around.

Woke up around 0800 which was later than we anticipated, walked past other campers waking up, packing up and generally milling about, had a shower and then packed up our van.

Went next door and filled up with diesel ($134!!! The war in Ukraine is about 3 weeks old and prices have gone up. Not the best time to go on a road trip).

Scraped off the butterfly and insect collection we’d built up and headed off, it was now about 10:00.

Did a u turn because our neighbours told us there is a submarine in the middle of the town, and since that’s something you don’t see every day decided to have a look. 

It was actually a small 1/5th model of a submarine so thought “meh” but took a couple of pictures anyway.

Got back in the van, drove down the road and saw the real submarine, a life size one now a thing for kids to climb on. Not sure if was a real one that saw service or a mock up. Maybe I’ll Google it.

Yes, a real one but only the shell.

Forgot to mention the weather - really nice, a bit hot yesterday but both days clear, and the van’s AC worked great.

Drove for about an hour and a half and stopped off at Gundagai for lunch, a small town but really nice; lots of Art Deco buildings and some information about the great flood of 1852 that basically wiped out the town. 

Seems every small country town has a story of some kind. Found a very popular cafe and I had a lamb wrap thing and Song had a BLT in Turkish bread, both nice.

Had a little walk, but it was a bit hot so back to the van to carry on. The cat had found a spot behind the seats that was dark and cozy so she seemed happy.

Not much traffic, set the cruise control to 105 and pointed it down the road. The limit was 110 but I felt comfortable at 105. 

Pulled over after about an hour to stretch and have a cup of tea and a pee. Having the toilet in the van is really good.

Pushed on, making good time so stopped off at Goulburn for a quick walk, again a very pleasant town but not much open on a Sunday afternoon.

Back on the road, and after a while the traffic started to build and soon it was very busy, lots of people heading home after the weekend.

A bit stressful, lots of cars and trucks merging and overtaking, checking the mirrors and making sure I didn’t take a wrong turn.

Eventually arrived at the block of flats of our friend, parked illegally and unloaded all her kit, then I went off to find a place to park. Luckily found a spot not too far, made sure the cat had food and water and went back to help carry the stuff up but they’d found a shopping trolley and everything was done.

Our friend lives around the corner from a busy street with loads of restaurants and we chose a Japanese place. I had Gyoza and Ramen, the others had a selection of stuff. Was very good, but the people at the table next to me had a selection of sushi which looked better.

We had planned to go to the Blue Mountains tomorrow but decided the van might be a bit hard to drive there, so will either stay another night in Sydney and look around since we haven’t been here for years, or maybe go to Canberra for a couple of days.

That’s the advantage of the van, you can change plans.

Suitably stuffed with dinner, headed off to the camp site. Again quite stressful, driving in the dark in an unfamiliar van through narrow streets where I’ve never been.

But got there ok, had trouble finding the site but got set up. 

So much more room with all the crap gone, we could actually sit down on the seats at the back which had been piled up with boxes.

Pottered about a bit then set up the bed and went to sleep.

Day 1 - Van pick up, on the road

Up at 7, drove to pick up the van (it’s a 4 berth motor home but from now on it’s the van).

Turned out it’s brand new, 50km on the clock, so don’t have to worry about previous people having used it.  

Got a quick tour of how to plug it in, empty the water and toilet etc then I sat in the driver’s seat and tried to figure out all the buttons.

I’ve never driven something this big so it’s a bit daunting, but looked ok, remembered that most of the driving is going to be on the freeway and small towns so I’ll keep away from narrow roads and city traffic till I’m more used to it.

Plugged in home into the gps and headed off.

10 minutes later realised the gps was directing me onto the toll road which I didn’t want to take, so ended up driving through the city.

Luckily it was actually pretty easy to drive, it was a Mercedes Sprinter base so was really good.

Got home and put it in the driveway, a tight fit through the gate, only to realise there wasn’t enough room to load it so with the help of a neighbour backed it out. 

Whereupon I caught the wing mirror on the gate post and broke it. Must be a record, I’m not looking forward to giving it back.

In my defence, the bit that broke off was actually the indicator behind the main mirror and can’t be seen from the driver seat, the bit that I could see cleared the post.

Not a good start.

It could have been worse - it could have been one we bought, and also there is no excess so it won’t cost me anything.

Still pretty pissed off with myself though.

We’d packed the night before but had to load up all the gear of a friend who had moved to Sydney to study; we stored her stuff and said we would hire the van and take it to her to save her having to hire removalists.

Little did we know her stuff took up most of the room.

We have also decided to take our cat, she took a bit of persuading to get in her bag, then when she was in the van we let her have a poke around for 10 minutes and then decided to leave. She liked a shelf in a cupboard and we thought she'd found her place but she soon left and spent most of the trip under Song's feet.

So we left a bit later than we expected but we were finally on our way, but hadn’t eaten so decided to stop somewhere once we got out of Melbourne.

After a couple of hours turned off at Seymour and found a sushi place but they were cooking more rice and there was a 20 minute wait so we decided to go to Woolworths and grab some sandwiches. Couldn’t find any so went to coles, voila, something to keep us going.

Cracked on, van comfortable to drive but when a large truck overtakes it wobbles with the disturbed air, a  bit scary the first time it happened but I was prepared after.

Got to Albury at just after 18:00, our first time out of Victoria for 2 years and 10 months. 

Song found a French Bistro on Google so we parked the van and walked around the corner only to be told they were fully booked. Found another one and walked to that, also fully booked. Eventually found a nice cafe and had some tapas; a banh-mi thing, pork belly and calamari. Nice, but not too filling and a bit pricey.

Back to the van, it was dark now and we had another 80k or so to get to Holbrook where we'd booked a powered site. The cat had found a spot on all of the boxes and seemed a bit more comfortable about the whole thing. 

Drove along, a bit wary in the dark, and seeing quite a few dead kangaroos made me slow down a bit. 

Eventually arrived at the site, couldn't find ours so had to drive around a bit but finally found it and plugged in, turned on the AC and I went for a shower - very clean, water hot and pressure great, but I made the mistake of looking up and seeing the myriad of multi-legged insects that could drop on me at any moment so headed back.

Had a cup of tea, then set up the bed and settled in for our first night of sleeping in a campervan.

ROAD TRIP!!!

So we are finally actually going on holiday, for the first time since Greenland in 2019.

We hired a campervan (motorhome really) today, pick up tomorrow and the plan is to head up to Sydney, then go to the Blue Mountains, then drive back along the coast.

We planned a similar trip in 2020 but NSW had storms which closed the roads we had planned to use so we had to cancel at the last minute.

Last year we managed to actually sit on a plane before WA closed the borders and we had to get off.

The only time we went away was for a weekend in The Grampians, so to say we are looking forward to this is an understatement, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's a meteor strike or alien invasion next week based on our luck.

So, tune in for our brief but hopefully relaxing drive about.

I've never driven a motorhome before, so that's going to be interesting....