Day 8 (26 July) – Emu Plains to Gilgandra
We passed through Orange on our way to Gilgandra. Lyn had taken over the driving in Bathurst and so we changed again in Mumbil – our Google GPS had taken us off the main highway. In checking Google later we could see the way we’d come was shorter but the roads weren’t as good. We made it back to the highway North of Mumbil and made it into Dubbo for a lunch/afternoon snack.
Well ahead of schedule (we had debated whether to go to Gilgandra or Connabarabran today and decided Gilgandra was flatter so we may be able to use the bikes), we continued on to the Gilgandra Caravan Park.
After checking in and releasing Lucie (our Jimny), we headed to the information centre to get some pamphlets on activities in the area. A quick drive through town to see our dining options then back to the park to complete our set up.
Not trusting Apollo RV Service in Brisbane after the previous visit last year, I sent an email to them with photos of the broken side mirror light cover requesting they replace it, confirming the recall work and listing some warrant and non-warranty items. Warranty items: 4 drawers next to entrance not latching; bubbling of the wall next to the shower; bedside cupboard not latching; door channel strips continually coming off. I asked for a non-warranty item to be done also – the covering of a wall panel next to the door cracked and peeled after I used an alcohol wipe to clean the surface. Today is Friday – the motorhome is booked in for next Wednesday to have the work done.
We decided to try the Royal Hotel for dinner, a reasonable country dinner although my chips were pretty soggy. Then back to the camp for me to watch the Storm beat the Eels in an incredibly lucky way – the tries were fortunate and the Eels suffered a sin bin just on half time. I continue to think that Craig Bellamy is the best coach in any sport in the country as he continues to defy logic and predications and produces great players who didn’t make it to their potential in other clubs.
Day 9 (27 July) – Gilgandra (around the Warrumbungles)
Today we spent the day travelling around the Warrumbungles.
First to Siding Springs Observatory where we saw the 3.4m telescope. Siding Springs was established due to the light pollution being experienced at the Mt. Stromlo observatory in Canberra. Even at Siding Springs light from Sydney, Dubbo and other places can be seen on the horizon.
Next, we visited the tourist centre and tried several walks around the Warrumbungles. There were 2 goats in the picture below on the last of our walks – behind Lyn – I think they were called Flen and Schooner.
On the way back from the Warrumbungles we stopped at an Emu Farm where we bought some Emu oil to ease our aches and pains. We were given some saltbush by the owner and stopped on the way out to feed the emus. On trying out the emu oil later, I found that my finger hurt more after the oil was applied. “Snake Oil” came to mind.
Back to town and dinner in the motorhome where I watched the Demons get beaten by the Giants. Looks like I won’t have to fly back to Melbourne for the Grand Final after all.
Day 10 (28 July) – Gilgandra to Lightning Ridge
This morning we set off relatively early, I was pleased to leave the ablution block – see my friend below.
We headed North to Walgett for fuel and then on to Lightning Ridge.
Our first stop was the Big4 Opal Caravan Park where there were up to 10 groups of campers waiting to check in at 12:00 – a very popular site and time. We got a great site near the entrance with an ensuite, uncoupled Lucie and headed into town.
We went back to the Sunday market that we saw as we entered town. I purchased some opals, a turnbuckle for the Jimny (to help connecting the A-frame that we use to tow the Jimny) and a sign to be put on our pool fence when we get home. Lyn purchased some bees wax “medicinal balm”!
Lunch at a cafe on Opal St. where we asked some locals about the best mine site to visit. They said the Chambers of the Black Hand was always busy so we headed 3km out of town to the Black Hand mine. We arrived to find that the site is so popular that a booking is essential, however we were fortunate that they could fit us in to the 14:00 tour (2 minutes after we walked in).
Down the stairs! John, the owner, had taken a bet that he couldn’t carve the stairs (around 100 steps) for tourists within 6 months. He did it in 5.5 and won 100 pounds! Not good wages at just under 20 pounds a month. Then further down into the mine. We were shown around by Rebecca, our mine guide who is also a local miner. It was fascinating to hear of the value of some of the rarer opals found (red is the most precious). John started carving in his cave when he was resting down in the mine with an old knife – some of his works are shown in the next photos.
After the mine I visited the airport – nothing to see there, although the strip was impressive. On to the golf course which Google told us was closed. On arrival we found around 10 vehicle and a large camp fire. We had a chat to one of the guys there who said the course was open (we have stopped playing on sand scrapes though) if we wanted to play and that we were welcome to join them for the meal of stew or pizza.
We decided to have an early dinner elsewhere, so headed to the Lightning Ridge Bowling Club because the one good restaurant was closed on Sunday nights. The good news is that I’m now a member for the next 12 months and Lyn was a temporary member for the night – a vast sum of $8.00 to become “members” and to get my own photo ID. A VERY popular place! I had to queue for about half an hour to order the meals. As the line went past Lyn she asked if I’d like to have a drink of my beer.
Back to the motorhome and then we got ready for the “Hot Artesian Baths”. The water is over 38 degrees C and is over 2 million years old. It was night time when we got there so a dip, cold shower, another dip then home. A very enjoyable dip though – well worth the effort.
Day 11 (29 July) – Lightning Ridge to Goondiwindi
Another early morning start – on to Hebel then Dirranbandi to refuel. Our route onwards showed reasonable roads but we found we had to travel approximately 25km along a gravel road to get back to the main road to Talwood. The back of the motorhome and the Jimny were covered in dust as we finally arrived in Goondiwindi. A quick check in at the Rivergums caravan park where we were given a very tight site behind the reception building, then off to the golf course for 18 holes.
The golf course was quite nice – the greens were like brown carpet and the fairways pretty good. It was a great course to play on. When we arrived both the clubhouse and pro shop were closed. I walked around the back and found a group of men having their lunch on the balcony. I asked where we could pay and they said – play first then pay later. By the time we finished everyone had gone! Have a look at the ball position below after Lyn’s tee shot on the 18th. I wanted to see her play it but she took an “unplayable”!
We stopped at another Royal Hotel on the way back for dinner – Lyn’s second Barramundi in a row and I had a meal straight out of the 80s – garlic prawns.
Finally, back to the caravan park in the darkness. As I pulled up, the lights on the motorhome next to our site came on. Bruce came out, introduced himself and asked if we needed any help setting up. I connected the power and we were finished. He said that he’d seen us come in earlier, checking out the site and then wondered if we’d be back as we arrived back so late. I had a good chat – he was from Sydney trying to find some warm weather. The mornings in inland NSW had been 1 to 3 degrees and very cold.
Day 12 (30 July) – Goondiwindi to Brisbane (Brisbane Holiday Village)
We started of fairly early again as we wanted to get to Toowoomba by 11:30 so Lyn could make a telehealth call. The roads weren’t very good to start with and we refuelled at Captains Mountain. With a number of stops for road works we made it into the Information Centre at Toowoomba at around 11:15.
Lyn had the telehealth call that lasted for an hour (for any accountants – this was made from the motorhome so obviously the trip is tax deductable). I spent the time setting up device to help attach the Jimny A-frame to Elsie using the turnbuckle I purchased in Lightning Ridge. I also took the opportunity to top up the AdBlue from an old container I’d purchased on Kangaroo Island a few months before.
We decided to continue on to the Brisbane Holiday Village where we had stayed previously. We had booked in for 5 nights as there aren’t many good places to stay around Brisbane and we had a few things to do. I spent the afternoon cleaning vehicles and doing some maintenance (and having a beer whilst Lyn went for a swim in the pool)! An early meal in the village cafe as we have to get Elsie to the Apollo Service Centre by 07:00 in the morning for a safety recall and some warranty work.
Day 13 (31 July) – Brisbane (Brisbane Holiday Village & Sunshine Coast)
It had to be day 13!
Awake at 05:00 – out to the motorhome where I put a lot of our kit – chairs, power cable, waste hose, fresh water hose in the site ensuite. We were supposed to drop off Elsie for some recall and warranty work at 07:00 in Northgate (some 30-minutes drive from the Village). That was the plan! Having experienced some maintenance work by Apollo there before and being warned that some of our work may take longer than a day, we had planned to stay in a hotel that night if necessary. I connected the Jimny and we headed off around 06:15 and arrived at Apollo around 06:45 where I disconnected the Jimny and headed inside to check in for the scheduled work. Our host, Emma, came our armed with the list of work I’d sent in. I told her there were another couple of concerns, the water pump not turning off and a red water light we’d seen a twice over the last couple of days. The first surprise was Emma pointing out a crack in one of our window surrounds – “Have you had any leaks from your windows?” “No”, we replied. “That’s good”, she said, “Lots of other people have – the manufacturers have admitted to problems and we have a fix. We’ll check all windows as well”. One minor scratch on the back identified as we had already fixed the other couple of dints experienced (Sully’s in Airport West did a fantastic repair job a few months earlier.) Emma also asked if we had noticed the cracks on the exterior lower trim, which we hadn’t. Emma advised that the manufacturer of the trim was aware of the problem but didn’t have a fix. Then inside where we looked at all the minor items I had identified. Outside again to check on the clear plastic light covering that had been hit by our pool man when Elsie was on the street before we left. $450 dollars to repair a small plastic cover!
THAT’S WHEN WE NOTICED! A big red puddle emanating from under the vehicle engine. (Did I mention that we had a red water light at the Goondiwindi Golf Course two days ago and again the following morning at the camping ground where I filled the water reservoir each time.) This time there was a drop from under the engine every second. Emma called for one of the mechanics who came out and showed us the leak from a water hose near the heater. Having the significant hose leak start in the Apollo service centre reminded me of the time we travelled up the Oodnadatta Track and had a puncture in the car park of the Coober Pedy hotel we were staying in – directly opposite the service station. Sometimes you can be lucky! Emma said they’d contact Iveco and the Apollo warranty team about the repairs and that the safety recall would take about 8 hours. We said that the key item to fix was the water hose as that would prevent us from travelling – all the rest were optional.
We left the service centre and headed into Brisbane looking for coffee and a bite to eat. After doing a lap of the CBD we decided that we’d forego coffee in town and head to the Sunshine Coast to have a look.
As we were leaving town, we filled up Lucie with some fuel and had a brief breakfast. Over breakfast we decided that the work on the motorhome would take longer than expected (a couple of days was the conservative guess) and so we’d try to check out of the Village (motorhome site) and check into a hotel on the Sunshine Coast. We had already prepared a day pack each with some overnight clothes and essentials. We called the Village to be advised that they don’t do refunds (we’d booked for 5 days) but they could swap us for a cabin. We decided that was the best options and extended our booking to the Monday morning in case the repairs took that long. Also, it gave us more time to explore Brisbane and surrounds. Back to the Village, getting all our gear out of the original ensuite and then dumping the lot in the new cabin. It was a tight squeeze getting Lucie and her roof mounted bikes into the carport – millimetres in it!
Time to head off to the Sunshine Coast an hour and a half up the highway, about lunchtime we stopped at Maroochydore, got the bikes off the roof of Lucie and then spent an hour or so biking around 10km along the coast and around town, lunching along the way. Bikes back on the roof and then Lyn tried her hand at driving Lucie around Maroochydore.
We stopped on the way to Caloundra to get some fresh fruit where I resumed driving. It was as we were travelling at 100kph that I noticed the bike shadow of my bike was moving more on the roof. We stopped near Redcliff where I discovered that the front clamp had not been done up properly. Another fortunate catch. I re-did the front clamp and headed back to the Village. On arrival, I washed Lucie while Lyn put away all the items we’d picked up along the way today. Dinner at the Village Cafe and then back to the cabin to write up the day’s blog.
On our journey we were advised by Apollo Service that the guy who did the recalls was sick and wouldn’t be in until the next day and the warranty items had been submitted for review by head office. Also, we found out the replacement light cover hadn’t been dispatched and they were trying to get the Iveco mechanic due out the next day to bring the part.
Ah well, another interesting day!
Day 14 (1 August) – Brisbane (Brisbane Holiday Village, Apollo & River Loop)
We found that we needed a few more items from the motorhome and so I drove out to the service centre after dropping Lyn off at the Garden City Westfield shops. I arrived to find that the Iveco work had been finished and that the mechanic was out taking Elsie for a test drive. I managed to get the items I needed then headed back to Garden City. Brisbane has to have the most complex road network and my GPS and Google assistance always took me through the city although I know there must have been a better route.
One of the challenges in going to a shopping centre is that the carparks usually have a roof and clearance that doesn’t allow for bikes on a roof rack on the vehicle. I got very frustrated trying to manoeuvre around the car park without having to enter the roofed areas.
We decided that we’d take another bike ride, this time around the river loop in Brisbane and around the river. We put the Centennial Bike trail into the GPS and ended up on a freeway next to the bike path. Several kms later we found a parking spot, removed the bikes and headed off. We headed off and got sidetracked a few times and finally found ourselves at the bottom of a horseshoe bend in the river where we turned around and groped our way back to the car. The round trip was just over 25km.
In the meantime, we were told the recall was being done, the Iveco man had brought out the spare part but that there was no news on the warranty approvals.
We tried to find a place to eat and finally wound up at a shop that made pizzas and provided patrons with hookahs. We were ushered to the non-hookah section. The meal wasn’t great so we headed home for the evening to plan the next couple of days. As we had to pick up Elsie on the following day, I booked a river cruise from 10:30 to 12:00 and researched how to get into the city by bus.
Day 15 (2 August) – Brisbane (Brisbane Holiday Village & Bus to the city)
The internet and phone receptions were so bad I went to the office and got a loaner OPTUS 5G modem. I was finally able to get on line with so much to catch up on.
As I picked up the modem, I enquired about purchasing a bus ticket. They are not available on the bus, you have to go to a depot, get off the bus, purchase a ticket and then catch the next bus. Seeing the timetable had a bus leaving our caravan park every 50 minutes or so, I decided to drive to the bus depot to get the tickets beforehand.
Another interesting experience – this time getting bus tickets. I arrived at the bus station at Garden City walked up to the bus terminus and looked for a ticket machine – nowhere to be seen and no signs. I asked someone for directions, was pointed towards the main area, did 3 laps and finally found the machine. Do I want to book for a group? – yes for 2! What sections? No idea and there was no map so I just selected the default (section 2 out of 6). How do I want to pay? That bit wasn’t so hard. And out popped a receipt and ticket. I still don’t know what it was valid for and for how long.
So, at 09:00 we headed to the bus stop with 3 mothers and prams and 6 kids as well as some others from the park. We boarded the bus, I flashed the ticket and all seemed OK. What we hadn’t realised is that the bus network is like a train network, totally separate in most areas from the roads for other vehicles. So, a ride into town was easy, arriving at the central terminus on Queens St. station. We found that the river cruise was to start on the other side of the river, headed over and then waited for the cruise to begin.
It was about this time 2 weeks ago that we left Melbourne so time to change to the next weekly blog.
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