September 14, 2010 - Posted by John & Jan - 0 Comments
We left Emerald and just kept going as we couldn’t find a caravan park along the way…. a brief stopover in Charters Towers and then on to Townsville.
I must tell you a funny incident that happened when leaving Charters Towers. As we pulled out of the caravan Park we heard a squealing noise as we joined the concrete road and I immediately realised I hadn’t taken the car out of gear, so had been dragging it the last 200 metres across lawn and gravel amongst the Caravans, I felt such a Charlie and could just imagine the people watching asking each other “who the hell is the wanker in the fancy Swagman”
The waterfront in Townsville is picturesque with walking/bicycle tracks, magnificent trees, wonderful play areas for children etc., so we offloaded the bikes and did our sight-seeing that way. I’m an absolute novice when it comes to bike riding but I’m improving with practise (not wobbling quite so much when someone walks towards me)!! We have been in Townsville several times over the years with our boat and noticed considerable growth and many changes.
Motorhome at Townsville Caravan Park
Castle Hill Townsville
Townsville Park with Marina in the background
We enjoy having our laptop with us as well as the TV, particularly for John who is enjoying all the pre-election “carry on”! Our laptop however became corrupted and we had to have the software rebooted (at some considerable cost) but it took several days before we were able to get passwords etc .installed to get it up and running. How you miss them (sadly my favourite bridge game got lost along the way).
Our next stop was Bowen which had memories for us from our chartering days in the Whitsundays. We would make the 90 odd kms to Bowen to do all our provisioning. Despite some increase in the population, the businesses including retail in the main street, seem to be non-existent. I was amazed that there wasn’t even a fruit & vegie shop in town, despite the fact that Bowen produces quite a lot of produce. They will suffer a lot this season from the tomato poisoning and surprisingly, they still haven’t found the culprit.
Back to dear old Airlie Beach – over 25 years since we chartered our yacht in the Whitsundays. In those days there was very little there, but with it being a “must see” place for the backpackers, the main street is focused on the day tripper market and backpacker accommodation. There are some lovely new hotels being built and we had dinner at the new Peppers Resort which was excellent. John cycled for miles along the boardwalk which runs from Airlie all the way to Cannonvale.
We wanted to see the completed yacht club on Hamilton Island so we took a day trip to Hamilton and Whitehaven Beach (where those same old sand flies were waiting to get me again)! We were lucky to coincide with Race Week, which we participated in some 12 years ago and had a marvellous time. We had a look at Bob Oatley’s racing yacht, Wild Oats and had a chat to him on the wharf. The yacht club is a superb design – we were sorry we didn’t have more time to try out the restaurant. Race week is a very busy time there, so we will make a point of returning to Hamilton another time.
August 17, 2010 - Posted by John & Jan - 0 Comments
The computer has been playing up all week, hence no blog update. Might I say, there are a number of things playing up on the motor home as well, but fortunately my Mr. “Fix-it”, revels in a challenge and beavers away until he gets it working. His biggest worry, was not being able to get the TV tuned in to his favourite news programme, particularly with the election looming.
It is a week since we left the Gold Coast and we are now in Emerald The trip so far has been easy with stops along the Great Inland Way through Dalby, Roma, Injune (population 380) and then the bustling metropolis, Rolleston, with its 100 residents. We got our bikes off the back of the car and asked the caravan park owner where we could cycle to, and he replied “not far, the town has only got 4 streets”. When we were shopping in Roma, I saw the most amazing haberdashery shop I have ever seen. A somewhat ramshackle shop (windows blacked out with grey sticky tape to hold them together), rolls and rolls of material resting outside the shop and when you entered, there were rows and rows of fabric from floor to ceiling. As you got further into the shop, the rows became craft, haberdashery etc.etc. (I even found 2 very dusty champagne flutes which we needed). I have never seen such a disorganized mess in my entire life. The man who owned it had his Combi parked outside and that was totally chock-a-block with fabrics – only the driver’s seat was clear! He didn’t seem to appreciate my enquiry as to how he does a stock-take – he had enough trouble shifting the rubbish that lay over his till to give me change!!!
We were very disappointed that our timing was so bad for the Carnarvon Gorge, it just poured and the day we were booked to go there, the road was closed and the next day was a bit “suss”, so we had to give it a miss. However, when we arrived at Emerald, we heard that there was a Gem festival out of town, so we went out there this morning and saw some interesting things. They find a lot of Sapphires in this region
Under the bridge, one of the places to stay in Emerald
Old Tree in Emerald's Botanic Gardens
Jan at Gemfest Emerald
Gem Polisher, Gemfest Emerald
Anyway, we are on our way to Charters Towers tomorrow making one stopover on the way and from Charters, on to Townsville.
August 9, 2010 - Posted by John & Jan - 0 Comments
When we decided to go motor homing again the decision was made to go north and this time we would rent a newer Swagman. This model is 34ft built in 2008 and has only done 24,000 kms. It has 2 slide-outs. Last time we towed our car on a trailer. This turned out to be a pain in the arse and limited the places we could go. Now we have bought a Suzuki Grand Vitara (one of the only automatic cars that can be freewheeled on all four wheels) and a Blue Ox A-frame and feel sure this will make life a lot easier. JW
Our new Swagman with Suzuki in-tow
Day 1, Friday 6th, saw a lot of last minute things to do, but we loaded up the MH around 10am and set off up the highway to Dalby. Passing Ipswich, reminded us that following our month long holiday, we will be driving there to collect our new Golden Retriever puppy (our 2 dear old boys whom we had from puppies, died at a ripe old age, so we decided the time had come to start again). We feel that we are very fortunate being at Ruffles as we won’t be curtailed from holidays as many of our staff will be volunteering to baby sit “HARRY”.
So, an uneventful trip to Dalby and to the caravan park by the creek. Thank God for air conditioning that works as the overnight temperature was supposedly – 1deg
On our first motor home trip, we experienced so many things that didn’t work but so far so good, apart from “the other woman”!!!! Yes, we are sharing our home with the constant instructions from the GPS and when I stay constant, I mean after we have been settled for some hours enjoying dinner, she is still saying “perform a U turn when possible”, “turn left after 50 kms”. The ignition is off, we have tried every possible way to silence her and we can’t! A grenade would be handy! (Phoned the rental company and they never use it, so have no idea how to shut her up).
June 15, 2010 - Posted by John & Jan - 0 Comments
We enjoyed our stay in Dubbo and headed off early to our next stop via Coonabarabran to Narrabri. We stopped after a couple of hours for a cooked breakfast of scrambled eggs with salmon and spinach accompanied by our special mixed fresh fruit juice – everything seems to taste so much better when you eat outside and actually have the time to enjoy every morsel. Unfortunately due to a rushed return trip, we didn’t have the time to explore the area but will save that till another day.
From Narrabri the following day we drove through Moree to Goondiwindi and marvelled at all the cotton balls along the road. Aparently the way the cotton is packed in the transports, there is a gap which allows quite a bit of it to blow out and finish up alongside the highway. We were told that one year the local scouts gathered it up from the highway and the proceeds enabled them to build a small scouts hall. The area is also a wheat growing region and I read that in one area (I missed it – think I blinked at the wrong time) grow durum wheat and produce excellent pasta, some of which is sold to Italy. We noticed some organic olive groves along the road. Goondiwindi is a delightful country town.
The Levy bank by the Macintyre River Goondiwindi
Customs House Museum Goondiwindi
The following day and we were on to our last stop, Warwick where in the middle of the town, we saw our first motorhome. We felt certain we would meet up with other “ motorhomers” but although there were a number of caravans, occupied by seasoned travellers, not a motorhome to be seen.
We were told that the road through Cunningham’s Gap had been closed on a number of occasions due to falling rocks, so we decided to leave Warwick via a smaller picturesque road which linked up with Mt. Lindsay Highway. I navigated us out of Warwick and as we turned a corner, there in front of us was a viaduct with the clearance in bold numbers 3.4m – I looked at John and said “oh no, our clearance is 3.5m”! John questioned this and continued to inch forward……. I held my breath as we drove under the bridge, visualising the headlines in the “Warwick Times” “Luxury Motorhome stuck under via-duct”. The road wasn’t in great condition but it was a pretty drive. We came through familiar territory at Beaudesert and proceded on to the Gold Coast where we returned the M.H. around mid-day on the Friday, just a day short of 3 weeks.
We had a lovely time and I know that it won’t be long before we have another go at it, minus the trailer next time!!!
ALL THE BEST. we hope to see you again when we go Motorhoming
John’s comments
It has been a dream of ours for some years now to go motorhoming, especially in a Swagman. However using a trailer to tow our car turned out to be a pain in the arse. We found ourselves very limited in the places we could visit. The 31ft Swagman was quite easy to manoeuvre and drive, in fact I really enjoyed driving what seemed initially to be a monster. Next time we will use an A frame to tow the car and will find a better way of carrying the bikes and do it again we will! In our next blog I will discuss how we intend to solve the problems incurred on the first trip.
PS we are learners when it comes to BLOGS so we have made a few mistakes which we had trouble correcting, two blogs we made as pages and are not listed as recent posts but can be found at the top and bottom of the blog
May 12, 2010 - Posted by John & Jan - 0 Comments
Saturday & Sunday 9th May
Another beautiful sunny day so off we went exploring the Forster area in our little car. We drove south past Wallis Lakes on our left and through Boomerang and Blueys beach – the east coast of Australia is amazing with bay after bay of pristine beaches. On our return in the afternoon we noticed a caravan park at Wallis Lakes so we decided to check it out. Beautifully located on the lake, we decided this was the place for us for our next night. We were able to get a double spot about 20metres from the water. Sitting there with our glass of wine in the late afternoon watching the ever present pelicans was bliss. John wanted to take the back road to Bulahdelah the following day but we were advised that it was a poor road with potholes and narrow twisty bends (typical old John thought he could handle it but luckily common sense prevailed – with a little help from the old nagger)!!
Jan at Wallis LakeHere's to all our mates
Monday & Tuesday
Back to the highway with a course set for Cessnock in the Hunter Valley. Cessnock is an old area next to the ever expanding Hunter region. The park is virtually empty so no probs with a large site. There is a golf course opposite but doubt if there will be time for 9 holes. We checked out places to eat that night and decided on Amanda’s which proved to be delightful food (especially the seafood bisque). The following day we had a look at the Vintage – we were shown through the spa – the Greg Norman course looked great – I would like to play it one day. They didn’t appear to be very busy and were offering great golfing discounts. John’s tum was calling once again so we had a very nice lunch at the Hungerford Hill winery. I still haven’t tried any of the wines yet apart from Hungerford Hill (some of my friends might find that hard to believe). I will have to try a couple before we leave for Yarramalong tomorrow….10am???? nevermind one has to do these things in the name of research.
Lunch at Hungerford hill Winery
May 11, 2010 - Posted by John & Jan - 0 Comments
Monday
Fridge now working but still no hot water. Lost the tiny plug from the sink and manufactured a champagne cork to fit – pretty classy I thought. Motored on to Yamba, a lovely seaside town and a popular one for the keen fishermen. Our park was situated by the river and close to the fishermen’s co-op so we bought a kilo of prawns the first day and returned the next day for more – just beautiful. The weather being great, we decided to set up our new outdoor chairs and assemble the table provided. What a stupid contraption it was – a number of slats which all had to be joined together. John completed the task but luckily we didn’t put our soup or precious wine on it as the entire table collapsed in a heap. (Note: purchase new outdoor table at next stop).
I am thinking we could make a sequel to Meet the Fokkers – meet the Fokking Nicholls!
Gee this is fun!
Tuesday
Heavy rain so hopped in the car and did some sightseeing.
Problem solving continues: Update on lights, 3 didn’t work, hit one and it came on had to replace 2 globes on the others.
Wednesday
Easy drive to Nambucca Heads and the White Albatross Caravan Park by the sea. Good site access and a very pleasant park adjacent to the water. Had lunch and got the bikes out and cycled by the river. Back to the m.h. and I decided to go for a swim however we couldn’t open the (only) door! John in his usual patient way spent ages trying to fix it but to no avail. I called a locksmith and we set up a makeshift ladder so they could haul themselves through the small window to work on the lock from the inside. I stayed outside following instructions, but by this time it was getting dark and cold (so much for the swim)! 2 hours later they had to drill the entire fancy American lock out as something internally had sheared and jammed the system. Oh well, at least they rigged up a device for locking the door so all was well.
John entering Motorhome after being locked out.
QUOTE: (from John)
“What an exhausting bloody day this has been, pottering at work (at Ruffles) seems like a doddle”!!
Thursday
Had a call from “Peppers” and were delighted to hear that they have already taken a number of bookings for Ruffles (we only joined them officially this week).
Having never been to Bellingen, we decided on a nice inland drive from Nambucca via Bowraville then to Bellingen – not sure why we thought we knew more than the council when we ignored the sign “Bellingen Road closed” but as the floods had occurred months before, we felt the sign was outdated …WRONG! By that time it was too late to retrace our steps and take the highway so settled for lunch at Nambucca.
Friday
Set off early for Tuncurry/Forster and stopped at a rest area after an hour or so where we enjoyed a cooked breakfast sitting in the sun with our new fold up table that doesn’t collapse! Continued on to Tuncurry caravan park which was ok but a bit crowded. We enjoyed 9 holes of golf at the lovely Tallwoods golf course. We called old friends Don & Val Beuzeville and arranged to meet the following day.
Beautiful Nambucca with Caravan site in forground
May 6, 2010 - Posted by John & Jan - 0 Comments
Thursday
Prior to departure John bought a golf buggy from S/Cove for the lodge. Returning the buggy trailer he was stopped by a traffic policeman who booked him for not having a rego plate on the trailer – $80 then noticed the rego sticker had not been attached to the ute – another $80!
Friday
John opened his wallet and noticed his licence missing – problem….he is the only driver of the motorhome and it is the start of another long week-end. After an exhaustive search – no licence so he called the Police who said they would contact the traffic cop. By the afternoon there was no word so he headed off to the RTA to obtain a new one. On the way he was stopped by another traffic cop and booked for speeding – $200. “May I see your licence” – reply “I don’t have one” followed by a lengthy explanation which was fortunately accepted. On returning home with new licence he received a call from the Police with an apology that they did have his licence and would post it back. A bit too late mate!!! It felt like time for a holiday.
Saturday
We set off to collect the motorhome & trailer (approx 17m in length). We had about an hour’s briefing and a short practice and then back home to stock up ready for departure on Sunday.
Sunday
From the practise session, John realized how difficult backing the trailer, so in planning our stopovers we have tried to find sites big enough and easy enough for us to drive in. Our first problem was getting out of our tight corners at Ruffles. Doing well, until the last one near the gate when the rear bumper of the van clipped the fence post … ouch.
An easy drive to Hastings Pt. A few little problems – fridge not working …..4 overhead lights out ….tried to shower and no hot water – looks like a call to the Company is needed.
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April 20, 2010 - Posted by John & Jan - 0 Comments
On the 2nd of May John and Jan will be leaving the comfort of Ruffles Lodge and starting on a three week adventure, the first for several years (if you don’t count normal type holidays). This adventure is Motorhoming, something that John and Jan have wanted to do for many years. They always dreamt of owning a “Swagman” but as they spent more on Ruffles, finding the $500000 price tag got further away. We have now found a company “Orana” who hire out a full range of Swagman’s and decided in the long run this would be a better way to go. We are calling the Motorhome “UNRUFFLED’ and will also hire a trailer to tow our car. The three week trip will take us from the Gold Coast down the coast to Lithgow where Jan is keen to join a family reunion of the Rodham name. From there we will return via the inland route. If we enjoy this trip, as we feel sure we will, then we will plan some more. John will report on the technical side of Motor homing and Jan will talk about the places they visit and people they meet. Although totally different of course it feels as if they are going cruising again.
There will be a link on the Ruffles website
