The Entrance, March 2011

March 3rd, It does take awhile to set up at Dunleith Caravan Park, especially when you know that you will be here for 7 weeks, so no need to hurry and the weather hasn’t been great. Lots of showers and strong winds are always a good excuse to do nothing. Yesterday I finally got the boat off the car and into the water and set up for use. I decided that I should take it for a trial run and did a bit of drifting the other side of The Entrance Bridge and came back with a 40cm Flathead. A nice start to add to the fish, caught in the last few days at Sussex Inlet, that Val already has in the freezer. Joan and Robert came down today from Cardiff, for lunch and to bring us our mail. After lunch Robert and myself went out for a fish and after a slow start eventually found a good spot where the fish were biting and came in at 7pm with 6 flathead, a flounder and 2 bream. I had to start cleaning and filleting some of the flathead as Val was waiting to cook it for their dinner while I had “heated up leftovers”, curried sausages, very nice.




March 4th, We went to the Bateau Bay Bowling Club with Gwen and Neil (our neighbours) for Dinner and raffles. Gwen came away with 2 meat trays and Val won a leg of lamb, so a good night out for all of us.



March 10th, The fishing has been good, since last Friday I have caught 3 flathead, all between 40 – 42cm long, plus 2 bream, so considering that I don’t take the boat out on the week-ends ( leave that to all the visiting weekenders) I’m happy. We went to The Entrance Diggers Club tonight, with a large group from the Caravan Park, for dinner and raffles. The group collected a good share of the prizes and Val came home with a meat tray and a veggie tray.



March 17th, Another relaxing week, fishing, reading and generally doing very little. Val has started to knit a different style of scarf, which Joan’s daughter (Jacyln) will sell for her at the Markets, for $20 ea. Last weekend was the Country and Western weekend, which attracts huge crowds to the Entrance. We enjoyed the music, which we can hear in the Caravan Park from across the water, and on the Sunday went over to soak up the atmosphere and look at all the stalls in the Park. We went to the Diggers Club tonight with the Caravan Park Group, for raffles and dinner, and had another good night with Val coming home with a meat tray and a spaghetti bolognaise tray.



March 19th, The weather has been pretty poor, overcast and windy and today, when we had Steven and a group of his close Turkish friends and family coming for lunch, it decided to rain on our parade. Luckily, we had a few nice breaks in the rain and Val’s lunch of tempura battered flathead with her now famous Changs Noodle Salad and a green salad were enjoyed by all, with some nice wine, while I had a great beef snitzel. The meal was finished off with , Val’s also now famous, English style Trifle dressed with fresh cream and strawberries. I can feel the weight piling on and wont need to eat for a week. It was a great day and it was good to catch up with Nikos and his Mum, Jandan, and meet Ilkare’s now expectant wife, Lutfeya. Our guests left around 5pm and Steven stayed on till 8pm. Time does get away when you are having a good time.

March 21st, Yesterday we had strong southerly wind with driving rain, all day and night. Everything was rattling and keeping Val awake. I went for my hearing test today and was told that I didn’t need a hearing aid just yet but I would now be tested every 2 years, as I am now registered on the Governments list. Went out for a fish late afternoon and caught a nice flathead. I was sent scurrying in to shore when a huge Electrical Storm was heading toward me.







March 22nd, The water was at least a foot higher today, following all the rain we have had. I went fishing in the morning and came in with a flathead and a flounder. I took Val out late afternoon to see if we could catch a few blue swimmer crabs but no luck.






March 23rd, I decided to try the North Channel today and see what I could catch. I took a fish head with me so I could drop a crab line while I was fishing. I was sitting quietly in the tinnie, fishing away, when suddenly there was a loud splashing/flapping noise behind me, I turned to find a Cormorant with my fish head in it’s beak, trying to fly off. I grabbed the paddle, stood up and was now beating the surface of the water to chase this annoying bird away. It worked, but anybody watching would have thought I had lost my marbles or worse. The only thing that saved the complete crabbing reel, line and fish head was that I had used a spring clamp to secure my line to the top edge of the boat. I came in for lunch wit a flathead and a great story about the “Cormorant’ THIEF. I was enjoying a nice fresh ham sandwich for lunch when, Crunch, I bit into a hard spot in the ham and broke a front tooth off, bugger! Not only did that spoil my homely good looks but I now had to find a local Dentist to fix the problem. I was thankful to get an appointment at Pacific Smiles at Erina fair tomorrow.






March 24th, Up early this morning and off to Erina Fair for my 9am appointment at the Dentist. No problem with the broken tooth, simply dress off the stump (nerve already removed) and add a new tooth to my existing plate. I decided to get 3 other front cleaned up to remove some stains around the old fillings. The quote for all this dental work was $780. No such thing as a cheap Dentist these days, especially as the HCF refund will be $354. My appointment is next Wednesday to do the 3 filling replacements and the 7th April for the denture work.






March 30th, The weather has been very ordinary, very windy, not great fishing weather all this week. Val has been busy planning a Lambs Fry Dinner for tonight. Our dinner guests are Gwen and Neil and Carole and Rob, all friends in the Park. It was a great meal, enjoyed by all and the night was finished off with a game of “Sequence” with Carole and Rob.






April 5th, The bad weather is still continuing. Sandra came down today, so we met at The Entrance Hotel for lunch and to catch up. It has been 12 months since we last caught up, so we have made tentative arrangements to see her again when we are at Coffs Harbour, at the end of May.
April 7th, Up early this morning to get to my 8.30am Dental appointment, at Erina Fair. Today I’m having an extra tooth added to my existing plate, so it’s only for impressions this morning and back at 4.40pm for a fitting. The teeth are now good and welcomed the delicious roast lamb dinner that Val put on in the Camp Kitchen to-night. Gwen , Neal, Carole and Rob joined us for dinner and we all had a great night.




April 8th, The weather hasn’t been suitable for taking the boat out for a fish, so late afternoon, I got the urge to throw a line in off the bank and try out my new fishing rod. Within 15minutes I had pulled in 3 flathead then the fish just stopped biting. Strange but True. After I filleted my catch and cleaned up, we went to the Bateau Bay Sports Club for raffles and dinner. We came home after Karaoke with 2 meat trays and shared it out among our group.



April 9th, Joan and Robert came down from Cardiff for the day, bringing our mail. After lunch we decided that the weather was slightly better, so Robert and myself set off in the tinny to try our luck. The fishing wasn’t great, no keepers and when we had a fish up the North Channel, the swell was bad and the boat bounced around badly, jolting the bolt loose from the anchor shackle and when I went to pull up the anchor, all I had was the rope in my hand and only one half of the shackle. Bugger, now I have to buy a new anchor. We introduced Joan and Robert to “Sequence” and they now like this new game as much as we do.



April 10th, Greg and Dianne brought Jessica and Annaliese up to spend the first week of their Holidays with us. This is a time we look forward to each year and the girls always have a great time.



April 11th, I took Jessica and Annaliese out for a fish in the boat, Annaliese caught the first fish (a small throwback bream) and Jessica reeled in a 41cm Flathead. I didn’t catch a keeper but enjoyed the company. Once again shown up by the Girls, why me?



April 13th, This was my revenge day, it was windy but I decided to go out fishing. The girls were busy playing with their friends and didn’t want to come out with me. That’s OK, I’m a big boy, so to my delight I was happy to show my catch on my return, 4 Flathead and 2 good sized Bream. My best ever fishing day, without a doubt.



April 16th, It rained all day yesterday and through the night. The only bad weather day since the girls arrived. The girls have had a great time on holidays with us, playing with their friends from 7am to dark, eating well, sleeping well, active all day, fishing, sand painting, air tattoos, kids bingo and lots more. When we had a break in the rain, I pulled the boat out of the water and put it up on the car, ready to leave in the morning for Sydney

Sussex Inlet, Feb 2011

January 31st, Travelled to Sussex Inlet and booked into the Riverside Caravan Park, for a week. After setting up we walked around the Park. They have a small waterfront area where I can tie up the Tinnie, the amenities are old but clean. We’ll see how the fishing goes and will probably stay here until it’s time (27th Feb.) to go to The Entrance. We were hoping that the temperature would be cooler than Sydney but not so! It’s just as hot down here.




February 1st, Another scorcher today, went into Town to look around and checked out the RSL & Bowling Club. The RSL had raffles and Lucky 8 Bingo on tonight, so we went for dinner and, you guessed it, raffles, bingo and a flutter on the Pokies. The meals were good, didn’t win at the raffles or bingo. The Lucky 8 Bingo was a new game for Val, so she was shown how to play their games by one of the Clubs Directors, also a player herself.



February 2nd, Put the boat in the water today and tied up at one of the moorings. It was another very hot day but I went out, in the tinnie, to investigate the river and do a spot of fishing. I caught a couple of puffer fish and 2 small bream. The water is shallow and being close to the outlet to the sea, was very clean and I could easily see the bottom of the river. I soon discovered that this river is infested with these little puffer fish, to be referred to as “pf” in future, who race to take your bait as soon as it hits the water. I have no idea how I will be able to catch a big fish with the pf around. I guess time will tell!



February 3rd, Nice breeze blowing today, so a little bit cooler. Went out for a fish, determined not to come back empty handed, took plenty of bait (prawns & squid) and finally caught a 37cm Flathead. That was obviously, the bait that the pf missed. Time had got away from me and I was feeling a bit peckish, it was 2.45pm when I arrived back at the Van. Val enjoyed a nice fresh flathead fillet for her dinner.



February 4th, Went out for a fish after lunch, while Val went to the Hairdressers. It was muggy and very windy and only caught a PF. Around 3pm I made a hasty retreat into shore, as a Thunder Storm was heading my way and we had washing on the line as well.



February 7th, We drove down to Vincentia today to do a bit of shopping at Bi-Lo. It’s a much larger Supermarket than we have in Sussex Inlet.



February 13th, The weather has been bad, either raining or just cloudy and windy. I caught a 45cm Flathead last Tuesday and Val came out fishing with me on Thursday afternoon. Unfortunately we didn’t catch any keepers. She enjoyed the trip and I’m looking forward to taking her out again. I’m sure she will like it better when she catches her first fish. By the end of the day she had mastered the art of casting, very promising. We filled in a few wet days doing Jigsaw Puzzles.



February 16th, More wet & windy weather up till today. We went to the RSL for dinner and raffles last night, didn’t win anything but meals were great. We went fishing this afternoon, Val 2nd time out with me, but didn’t catch anything. To top off our day, when I had tied up at the mooring post and was assisting Val out of the boat, her legs gave way and she fell backwards into the boat, pulling me off balance and into the water. Fortunately, I landed on my backside in 30cms of water and was up quickly to check on Val. I was concerned, as she landed back first across the bench seat but thankfully she was shaken up but OK. Val went straight to the Van for a stiff drink while I headed straight to the shower with a change of clothes. This was not a good way to get anybody interested in boating or fishing. I was expecting that this would be the end of our fishing trips but Val surprised me by suggesting that she gets in and out of the boat at the boat ramp, a lot safer.



February 17th, Dinner and Raffles at the RSL tonight, $3000 worth of Electrical and household goods. I won a “Rockwell” 12 Volt Battery Drill.



February 18th, Today we drove to Nowra, about a 25 minute drive, and did a bit of shopping. I had been told by a fellow caravaner and fisherman that I should fish at night in the river, bound to catch something. So, after dinner I set off to put his advice into practice. It proved to be bad advice, no fish, not many channel markers lit up and after running into a weedy shallow area, gave up and went home, very disappointed.



February 22nd, No improvement in the weather over the last few days. Last Sunday I did venture out for a fish, on dusk, and caught a good plate sized Flounder. We filled in Monday by taking another shopping trip to Nowra. We went to BCF to pick up a Birthday present for Roberts 60th party, next Sunday in Belmont. Tonight we went to the RSL for dinner and games, Val won an $8 Voucher.



February 23rd, I was told about another fishing spot, favoured by a regular visitor to this Park, so, out I went in the morning a came in for lunch, a very “happy chappy”, with 2 Bream (27 & 30cm long). Spurred on by this success I went out on dusk and drifted along the same spot and came in with 2 Flathead (37 & 54cm long).



February 24th, Had a quiet day but we went out for a fish late afternoon, to my now favourite spot. Val caught her first fish, a 28cm Whiting and followed that up with a 29cm Bream. She has now joined the “Happy Chappy Club”. I kept pace with her with 2 Bream (28 & 34cm long).



February 25th, Last day in Sussex Inlet, so went out for a last fish before bringing the boat in and caught 3 Bream (25,26 & 29cm long). I packed up all our gear ready to leave for Belmont, in the morning.



February 26th, Our navigator (Doris) is programmed to take us by the shortest route, directed us through the southern suburbs of Sydney to get to Pennant Hills Road on to Belmont, much to my utter disgust. We were caught up in all the Saturday traffic through Bankstown but once committed we could not easily change our course. We finally reached our destination and booked into Spinnakers Tourist Park, at Belmont, and Val made a rice salad and 3 slices for Robert’s Party tomorrow.



February 27th, We had a late checkout from Spinnakers and then around 12.30 pm towed the Van to The Belmont Yacht Club, where the party was held. It was a great venue with a BBQ area overlooking Lake Macquarrie. The food was great, everybody enjoyed themselves and Robert received some very nice presents. Joan did a “This was your Life” presentation for Robert which was very well put together and very funny. He was a wild lad in his younger days. Around 4.30 pm we left the Party and travelled down to The Entrance to Dunleith Caravan Park to start our 7 weeks stay, on the waterfront, of Tuggerah Lakes

Bataeu Bay, 2011

January 17th, Yesterday afternoon we picked up Jessica and Annaliese and went up to Dunleith Caravan Park, at The Entrance, where Joan and Robert had enjoyed a Holiday in our Van while we were cruising NZ. We were there for 3 nights, mainly to pack up, before going back to Sydney. I took the two Girls out fishing in our Tinnie, and once again Annaliese showed us all up by catching the first and only fish for the day, a small flounder.


January 19th, We moved back to Sydney today and booked into Sydney Gateway Holiday Park for 3 nights. We looked after the Girls during the day while Greg and Dianne went to work. We had to get ready to take Jessica and Annaliese to Blue Lagoon Holiday Resort at Bateau Bay, for another weeks holiday with us. That will fill in the last week of the School Holidays.

January 26th, We have been having a great time here with the Girls, who made a lot of friends and went in all the organized activities in the Park. We went down to The Entrance for lunch and to take in the Australia Day Festivities. We were amazed at the number of people there. The Fun Park was in full swing, Market Stalls were on, Entertainment emanated from the big Stage (very loud) and all the Food Outlets were busy. It was a very hot day so we went back to the Caravan Park for a swim before dinner. We were able to see the 9pm Fireworks from the Caravan Park. There will not be any more organised activities in the Caravan Park, so tomorrow I am taking the Girls to see “Yogi Bear” at the movies, should be fun.

January 27th, I think I enjoyed the Yogi Bear Movie more than the girls did. I laughed till I cried. Val filled in her time wandering around the local shops while we were at the movies. To-morrow is pack up day ready to leave for Sydney on Saturday.

January 29th, We drove down to Sydney, called in to catch up with Greg & Dianne and drop off Jessica & Annaliese. The girls were excited to be home and had a lot of exciting news to report from their holiday. We booked into Sydney Gateway Holiday Park for 2 nights.

January 30th, I picked up all our gear from Gregs garage, including the Tinny, in the morning. We all met at Castle Hill RSL for a family lunch, which was very nice, then back to the Park to repack the car and pack up to leave in the morning for Sussex Inlet.

NZ Cruise, 2011

January 16^th, To-day we arrived back into Sydney after being totally spoiled on our two week Cruise around New Zealand, on “Holland America’s” VOLENDAM. This has been our first cruise on a large ship and we are now “Hooked on Cruising”. Every facet of the trip was well organized, the service was impeccable, the food was delicious and well presented, the entertainment was first class and the Casino Games were enjoyable. Our Stateroom, on the lower promenade deck, was very nice and was efficiently serviced by the Cabin Stewards. Their “Towel Figures” were a delightful sight when returning to our Cabin each night. There were 1500 passengers, 600 crew and we still saw faces on the last day that we had not seen during the past 2 weeks. They had enough lifeboats to more than allow for the total number of passengers and crew, unlike another cruise ship we saw in a recent movie. Our first 2 days were spent finding our way around the ship, as we crossed the Tasman Sea. Val was on her ginger tablets but was finding the crossing a bit too rough for her. Our first port of call was Milford Sound, the wettest place in the World with an annual rainfall of 20 ft. (not inches but feet). The Mountain tops are covered by cloud, waterfalls were flowing down the mountain sides and the air was crisp and cold. All of those things make it a special, awesome part of the World. Next stop was a little quaint Village, population 300, called Oban. I went ashore here and climbed the steep hill to get to the Village, only just made it!!! It rained the whole time but they had an interesting Museum and only $2 NZ to get in. Our next port of call was Dunedin. We did the Scenic Bus Tour, very enjoyable with great views. In Christchurch we went into the City Centre and found Markets with a very funny Street Entertainer. There were plenty of signs of the recent devastating earthquake.  The Wellington Sights Bus Tour was great and included a ride in their working Cable Car. At the next stop, Napier, the Bus Tour included a winery stop, where I bought a nice bottle of Merlot for Val. We enjoyed a City Centre walk in the afternoon. Napier was destroyed by a huge Volcano in 1931 and the City was rebuilt in the Art Deco style and has many beautiful buildings. At Tauranga we were too late to do a Tour to Rotorua to see the hot springs and mud pools so I settled for a walk around the base of Mt. Maunganui, supposed to take 45 minutes. I took double that time and made plenty of rest stops. We enjoyed a shopping excursion after lunch. Next Port of call was Auckland, as we disembarked Val’s handbag was checked out by the Immigration “Sniffer Dog” as we went through the check point. We jumped on a City Express Bus Tour (3 Hrs.), at the Info Centre, and saw some wonderful Gardens and great views over the City from Mt Eden and One Tree Hill. Last stop before heading back to Sydney was “The Bay of Islands”. I went ashore by shuttle and did a 1 ½ hr. Bus Tour of Paihia, travelling through the Town and surrounding countryside, with nice views back over the calm waters of the Bay. During the 2 day crossing to Sydney, one of the highlights was the Dessert Extravaganza, displayed at poolside, where the kitchen staff and Chefs showed their ability to produce an amazing range of fancy desserts and breads. We were met at Sydney by Steven, who then drove us to Greg and Dianne’s House, at Glenwood, for a family reunion.

Sydney (Xmas), The Entrance (New Year) 2010/2011

December 18th, Arrived at Sydney Gateway Holiday Park and booked in until 26th of December, when we will be going up to The Entrance for New Year. It was great to see all the family again and spend a lot of our time looking after Jessica & Annaliese. They seem to be growing very fast and we can notice how much they have changed since we saw them last. We are constantly amazed how well they swim and easily make new friends, every time they visit with us.




December 25th, Christmas Day and we went to Greg & Dianne’s place for Christmas lunch. We enjoyed a wonderful meal with plenty to drink and great company. Santa was good to us all again this year, especially the girls, who assured us that they left a snack out for Santa and water for the Reindeers. We went back to our Caravan late afternoon to pack up ready to leave Sydney in the morning.



December 26th, We called around to Greg and Dianne’s place for a cuppa and to say our good-byes before travelling up to Dunleith Tourist Park , at The Entrance. We will be here to celebrate the New Year and pack up for our NZ Cruise on the 2nd January.



December 28th, We went to Flight Centre to pick up the Paperwork for our NZ Cruise, only to find that our contact was on holidays and nothing was in the file. This was the first day that Flight Centre was open after the Christmas. Then our new assistant could not contact the booking Agents so, I now have to come back to-morrow to pick up our documentation. Who said “Life was not meant to be easy”, so true.



December 29th, Finally picked up our Cruise tickets and Boarding Pass from Flight Centre and it was suggested that we should check with Immigration whether it would be necessary to have Val’s British Passport endorsed with a re-entry visa, to show permanent Australian residency. After talking to the Australian Immigration, they didn’t have a problem but suggested that I contact the New Zealand immigration to get their opinion. NZ Immigration said a re-entry visa would be required. I rang back The Australian Immigration Dept. and made an appointment for 11.30am, at their Parramatta Office, to-morrow.



December 30th, Went down to Parramatta and arrived an hour before our appointment time, at The Immigration Dep’t. We walked around the block and were amazed at the changes in Church Street and Paramatta Railway Station area. We were taken right on time by the Immigration Officer but time dragged on as they could not find a record of Val being granted permanent residency. Fortunately, Val had her original British Passport and although the stamp noting her arrival in Australia was blurred, a higher Supervisor deciphered the imprint to read “Entry into Australia” and approved the issue of a Visa endorsement. $260.00 later we left the Immigration Dep’t, very happy to be returning back to The Entrance with Val’s Passport all in order.



December 31st, Joan and Robert came down for lunch and brought our mail with them. We went over some of the key things they would need to know about our Van, so that they hopefully have an enjoyable Holiday at Dunlieth, while we are Cruising NZ. They left early afternoon to have New Year with their family. At 9pm we gathered with the Caravan Park crowd to watch the 9pm New Year Fireworks, being launched from a pontoon in the Lake just in front of our Caravan Park. They were very impressive for a local event and went for 20 minutes. We then went back to our Van and with a few Chardies, brought in the New Year watching the Sydney Bridge Fireworks.





January 1st, Today we relaxed and finished packing for our Cruise, Ready to leave for Sydney in the morning.

Griffith, 2010

December 7th, Left Gol Gol and travelled to Balranald. We booked into the Balranald Caravan Park, for 2 nights, on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River. The river was up, as there is still heavy rain and flooding across Victoria and feeding into all the rivers. We drove into Town, to check out the shops, and Val found out that the local Club was having Bingo to-night at 7.30pm. We went back to the Club and had a very nice Dinner and a flutter. Val played Bingo while I read my western, and she won 2 X $15 Vouchers that could be spent around Town. There were only a dozen ladies playing, including Val.

December 8th, I went to the local Museum, which was in the original Stock and Station Agents and found it had a very interesting collection of local items. I then looked through the old Schoolhouse, which was only one room and built out of timber slabs, cut from local trees. The last treat for me was the old Goal, which was built in 1887, and at one time held Ronald Ryan (famous for being the last man hanged in Australia) who was caught for robbing a Bank, at the age of 16. We spent Val’s vouchers at the IGA Supermarket and packed up ready to leave in the morning.

December 9th, We set off for Griffith, after some overnight rain, it was a lovely sunny morning and the drive was going well, until we were 20 Klms out of Hay. A Highway Patrol Car passed by us, going in the opposite direction. I quickly looked at my speedo and was happy that I was not speeding. Next thing I know, the patrol Car overtakes me, lights flashing, and flags me down. We were both surprised and puzzled, as it certainly wasn’t going to be to “Welcome” us to their Tidy Town, of Hay, I was sure. He informed me that his new camera equipment, recently fitted to his vehicle, had read our number plates, then run a check on both our car and caravan and came up with the fact that both vehicles were un-registered. I immediately protested my innocence and informed him that I had fixed the registrations up “online”, as we are travelling all the time, and our vehicles were indeed registered. He said “can you show me your receipts”, my answer, “I’ll check my files”. We walk to the Van and I go through my files looking for some proof, while he watches me. He is friendly and continues to tell me that the Fine for driving an unregistered Car is $1000 and Caravan $550, I said “Bloody Hell” under my breath. Also, failing to stop is also an offence and I should keep looking in my rear vision mirror, as I failed to see him when he came up behind me and flashed his lights. My search only turned up the receipt for the Green Slip and the rego papers. I was still maintaining my innocence and stated that obviously I had not printed a receipt when I did it all “online”. He believed me and said that he wasn’t going to write me a ticket, even though without showing any proof he was in his rights to do so, but I must drive directly into the Hay RTA and sort out the problem before driving any further. I said, Yes Sir, as many times as I felt necessary to convince him of my sincerity. After checking with the Hay RTA, I was informed that both vehicles were indeed un-registered as they had been cancelled approx. 8 months ago, when I didn’t respond to the reminder letter that was sent to me. The penny dropped as I realized that because we are Pensioners, we do not pay for Registration in NSW, but I still needed to validate the Registration with the RTA. I was under the impression that because I went online that I didn’t need to have it validated, so stupid me! And now the fun started! HA! I had to treat this as a new registration for both vehicles, so, hand in Plates, get a Blue Slip on both, renew the Green Slip Insurance on the car, with the NRMA and get it all back to the RTA before 4PM. We had lunch at the Services Club while we waited 2 hours for the Blue Slips, I left Val at the Club to have a few Chardys and a flutter while I ran around (by Taxi) and sorted it all out. Finally we were on our way again at 3.45pm, extremely frazzled, heading for Griffith. This had been an expensive exercise, started with $800 on the Visa Card when we left Gol Gol and arrived at Griffith with $17 on the card. After telling our tale of woe to the Griffith Caravan Village they booked us in for a week with the promise of payment to-morrow. Just when I thought all our troubles were over for the day, when I connected the power to our Van, the safety switch tripped off and we could not get power. After removing all the appliances from the power points and trying it again, it still wouldn’t work. Suspecting my 15amp lead was faulty, I rushed down to Bunnings with all the money we could find around the Van and bought a new 15 metre 15 amp lead, for $25. Rushed back and plugged in the new lead, still No Power. I finally woke up to the fact that I had forgotten that there were other power points in the cupboards for the fridge and microwave and guess what! When I unplugged the Microwave the Power came ON. That was the end of our worst day since we started travelling 4 years ago. So I’m off to buy a new microwave to-morrow.

This is what Val reckoned I looked like at the end of the day.

December 10th, We carried on with our Christmas Shopping and picked up a new Microwave from “The Good Guys”. We called into the Griffith Leagues Club to check it out and found that they had Christmas Raffles on, so we stayed for dinner, raffles and pokies. Didn’t win anything to-night, so better luck next time.

December 11th, To-day we drove down to Leeton, only ¾ hrs away, to pick up a special present for one of our special girls. We were surprised at the number of Vinyards we passed along the way. Leeton was a reasonably big and very busy Town, for a Saturday. We dropped into their Services Club for lunch and a flutter, before heading back to Griffith. It was still early, so I started to pull out the Fridge, in the Van, to allow me to fit the new Microwave. I didn’t realize how much trouble I was going to encounter, seeing that I hadn’t done this before. My approach was based on how fridges are installed in a home, ie, Switch Off Power, remove any fixings and simply shuffle the fridge forward, as all cables and tubes will all be flexible and long enough to allow the fridge to come clear of the opening. HAH! Not so in a Caravan. I now know that you must remove the 2 outside vents to gain access to the back of the Fridge and disconnect, power connections, Shut off then disconnect the Gas line (copper tube), remove the Drip tray drain hose and the heat vent tube. Now the fridge can be removed easily and safely. Here comes the easy part, remove 2 U-clamp nuts then lift out the old Microwave and place it in Big Bin. Next step is to put the new Microwave in place, but it is a slightly smaller size, so the holes in the locating bar do not line up. So, after drilling new holes in the locating bar, the new Microwave is in position ready to fit the u-clamp. The new Microwave is an inch lower than the old one so with a garden stake, donated by the Park Manager, I made a spacer and secured the clamp. Now I moved the Fridge back into position and made the wiring connections to be able to run the Fridge, overnight. I need to buy a new drip tray drain hose from Bunnings, in the morning, to complete the installation.



December 12th, After picking up the drain tube, from Bunnings, we phoned Dianne to pass on our Birthday Wishes (21 again). I had to disconnect and remove the Fridge to fit the new drain tube then re-install the fridge. I can’t believe what a huge job it ended up being. Val kept herself busy re-organizing and cleaning out all the drawers and cupboards in the Caravan.

December 13th, Val did the shops today, hoping to finish off most of the Christmas Shopping. I drove up to the Lookout to check out the views and visit the Hermits Cave. In the early days there was an old local character (hermit) that lived in the Caves in the hills around Griffith. I found that the caves were no more that overhanging rock formations that gave him shelter. The only inhabitants living on the rocky hillside is a herd of Mountain Goats. I picked up Val and we checked out the Ex-Services Club and found out that they are having a huge Christmas Raffle on Wednesday night. Need I say anymore.

December 14th, Today I visited The Pioneer Park Museum, which also includes the Griffith Italian Museum and Cultural Centre. In the early days, this area was populated by Migrants, who were mostly Italian. They came with very little and struggled against the harsh conditions to make a good life for their families. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the Pioneer Park Museum and I’m sure it would be even better when it’s the busy holiday season and the tractor train is running. The walking was very rough going. We had no power from 9am to 3pm, as the power lines in this area were being worked on. While the power was off, the fridge was running on LPG. It was a very hot 30deg. today so we spent the afternoon in the air conditioned Shopping Centre. My last task for the day was to empty and clean out our “Porta Potti” and, bugger me if, the flush outlet disappeared inside the flush tank and cannot be retrieved. So now we need to buy a new Loo, what next.

December 15th, Went to 5 different shops around Town, looking for a new Loo and couldn’t get one the right size to go under our bed. It looks like we will have to get one in Sydney, in 3 days time. I did however find a bargain at Supercheap Auto, while looking around, that was too good to pass up. A Reversing Camera for the car at $145 and the last one they had in stock. I spent the rest of the day fitting it to the car and it works well. I will have to make a few of my own improvements on the mounting methods, before I will be truly happy. We leave here tomorrow for Young, so packed up before heading off to the Ex Services Club for dinner, Huge Christmas Raffles and pokies. We didn’t win at the raffles but had a good meal and a fair run on the Pokies.

Gol Gol, Mildura

November 27th, Travelled to Gol Gol and booked into Rivergardens Tourist Park. It rained all the way up, so we opted to take an ensuite site instead of a riverfront site, which meant a long walk to the amenities block. At only $25 a night we thought it was a bargain. This looks like a good place to stay once the rain stops. The boat ramp access is on the side road and the riverfront is set up to tie up boats and leave them in the river. We are only 5klms out of Mildura, so we took a drive across the NSW/Victorian border into Mildura, to refresh our memory of the place. It must be at least 3 years since we were here last. On the way back from Mildura, we decided to drive down to the boat ramp then along the waterfront homes. The homes were huge and had well kept gardens. I saw what looked like a dirt side road and turned in, to make a U-turn on the narrow road, and head back to the Park. When the back wheels hit the 2” deep soft mud, the back of the car slid sideways and towards a downhill gully. Attempts to drive out were fruitless and made the situation worse. I was trying to use a couple of mats under the wheels to get a grip and hopefully drive out, didn’t work. Val thought she would get out of the car to size up our situation, immediately loosing her footing in the mud, and only just saved herself from sitting in the mud, by grabbing hold of the car door. I rushed around to help, heaving her bodily back into the car and retrieving her shoes from the mud. We were on a backroad which has very little traffic and as I was wondering what to do next, 4 trail bikes turned off the highway into this road. I flagged the bikes down and the guys were only too happy to help. They all pushed from behind while I drove and after a few attempts they succeeded in pushing us up onto the tarred road. They were covered in mud from the spinning back tyres. We thanked them and were about to leave when they decided to ride their bikes around the mud track heading towards the River. One of the boys said he would try it first, so off he went down the slope and around the track, then called back and said “Yes, it will be OK”. When he attempted to ride back up the slope his tyres couldn’t get any grip in the mud so the other 3 had to push him up to the roadway. What a fiasco!

November 30th, The rain finally eased off this morning, so, in-between showers I took the boat off the car, ready for launching and hosed yesterdays mud off the car. Mildura is a big Town and we have used the wet days to get started with our Christmas shopping.



December 1st, Rain has stopped, the skies are blue and now the boat is in the water. I went out fishing but came back empty handed. There is a lot of activity on the river here, lots of houseboats, water-skiers, Paddle Boats and tinnys.

December 3rd, Our days have been, fishing in the morning (nothing caught yet) and Shopping in the afternoon. One of our neighbours, up from Swan Hill for the weekend, was telling me that, on the first day, he caught a 70cm Murray Cod and returned it to the river as he thought he would catch a bigger one. We couldn’t believe it, Val would have loved to try some MC for her dinner. We decided to treat ourselves to-day, so went to “The Working Mans Club” for dinner and a flutter. Nice Club, nice dinner but Val didn’t have any luck on the pokies.

December 4th, I came back from my fishing trip to-day with my first catch here, a Yabbie. It didn’t want to let go of the line so ended up in the boat. This prompted me to put down a couple off yabbie pots and so Val had 2 yabbies for her dinner. She did say she wanted to lose weight. Her request now is to catch 12 Yabbies, so she gets a decent meal.

December 5th, No fish and no Yabbies this morning. Our neighbour from Swan Hill was leaving for home to-day and didn’t catch another Murray Cod, wouldn’t that make you spit chips. We took a drive out to the “Inland Botanical Gardens” only to find it closed, so just around the corner was “Orange World”. It’s an orange & avocado Farm that runs train Tours but we were too late for the last Tour, so just had a free orange juice and bought some souvenirs.

December 6th, Last fishing attempt this morning resulted in the same outcome. We leave to-morrow for Balranald, so the boat is out of the water and packed up for travelling. I drove into Mildura after lunch, had to go to the Telstra shop and get a new sims card for my phone. While I had a little “Poppy Nap” a couple of days ago, Val thought she would see what games I had on my phone, for her to play. God knows what she did, but when I awoke my phone was no longer working and she had been trying to punch in codes, when it asked for it, without having a clue what she was doing. It locked up completely when it couldn’t accept anymore wrong codes. With my phone problem solved I then went down to Auto Barn to pick up the “Reverse Camera” that I had ordered, only to find that it wasn’t in, so I’ll have to get one somewhere else. Probably when we get to Griffith, as it’s a big Town.