Emerald, Queensland

Driving most of the day we arrived at Emerald (a link to last years visit) in good time to settle into the caravan park we stayed in last year.
How nice was the spot that was reserved for us, under a big shady tree. The days were warm but the night were cool.

The second photo was taken in the evening and there was a campfire with people sitting around it listening to a country singer who sang 3 times in the week.  Not my cup of tea.
Photo was taken from our caravan as it was only a stone throw away.

The birds came the next day so there was a rush to grab the camera and shoot.

Last photo if of an artificial tree in the shopping mall.

The population of Emerald is about 13,500 people.

To Tamworth then Wellington, NSW

On our way up north in Winter 2017 we stayed at Tamworth for a couple of nights...the link is [here]

On our way back we stayed in a different Caravan Park, the bats were gone and below is a small old caravan in excellent order plus the car is old.

Then a photo of our caravan and 4 wheel drive in a rest area in NSW.

Called to get some diesel and behind the service station where trucks park as a rest area was this mess!  Most unusual to see such a disgraceful mess.

Arrived in Wellington NSW mid afternoon and the river is the Macquarie River then we saw this little caravan - how quaint is that!

Things happen!

Travelling along from Millmerran to Mundubbera Queensland on July 11, 2017 in winter with a little warmer weather.
You can see by looking at the map, the red area is part of the road we took which is a sealed road but bumpy.  We went through Dalby up to Mundubbera.
Had to make a quick trip to Bundaberg near the sea on the right above Maryborough.
The trip to Bundaberg from Mundubbera was about 500 klms round trip, we did this on July 12.

The sealed road was really bumpy in many parts along that highway, no mobile phone signal even in a couple of towns that we passed through.
Then trouble happened about 107 klms from Mundubbera.
Husband saw smoke coming from the back of the caravan, he stopped as quickly and safely as he could, I jumped out (totally forgot how old I was) all was alright.  Discovered that a 'SPRING' had broken on the passenger site of the caravan.  'Things happen'

So a few people stopped one was a farmer and he helped us out.  We have RACT, (Royal Automobile Club of Tasmania) there is usually one in each State of Australia or equivalent. I had the insurance in my name, the farmer drove me down a lane to a farm house he owned and let me use the Landline.
The RACQ (Q is for Queensland) man came, towed the caravan to his place, hence the next day trip to Bunderberg to get 4 new springs to be on the safe side.
The RACQ man was a mechanic also so he fitted the new springs.
We stayed in a Motel for 3 nights with RACT paying for our accommodation of up to $100.00 per night, the account was well over that but that didn't matter.  We had to pay for our food but we had beautiful meals in the dinning room and something different each night.
Breakfast in bed :) and lunch in the small town.
A holiday within a holiday and it was different.

We were told that many caravans break springs on that road and others in Queensland, so that made us feel a little better.  Got over it very quickly and had a good time in Mundubbera.

You can see the lean on the left side at the back.

What a lovely man the RACQ man was and is.  We are still friends and keep in touch.

Driving behind in our vehicle looking out the front window and took the photo.

Life inside the Caravan

Travelling and living in a Caravan for 3 months for us was wonderful. One thing for sure is you have to get on well, there is not much room to move around.  It's 'excuse me, I need to get to the fridge'.

The bed is higher than a normal house bed, there is storage underneath.  There isn't much room to move around each side or at the bottom of the bed, but you learn how to 'move'.
There is certainly plenty of storage room for us with all the cupboards. When finished with winter clothes they were all placed in a bag and put underneath the bed in storage till needed again.

Most of the knobs on the drawers came loose and had to be tightened.  The touch light in the bathroom decided not to work, so it was redone, worked for awhile, then that was it, no more!  We have ordered another to replace it.  Actually that light blew a fuse, lucky we had spares.
All lights are solar powered.

The shower was just great, don't know how life was managed with the inconvenience of going to the Amenities or Ablution block in Caravan Parks in the past.  Guess we didn't know any different before.

Hotwater to the Van was invaluable, no boiling of the kettle/jug to acquire hot water.
A/C, wouldn't be without it.  Great thing at the Top End, the nights were not that hot so we didn't leave it going.

Dirt, so much dirt and dust inside the van it was unbelievable.  The van was swept everyday and the floor washed, an easy task as there isn't much floor.

Washing machine, well that saved me heaps of money as most caravan parks charge from $4.00 to $8.00 a load to use their washing machine.  Dryers are extra.  Plus you have to take your turn, but no more..
I hang the clothes on a line underneath the awning, and they dry in no time at all.  I did the washing every few days, that way I didn't have heaps of washing for two people.

The two water tanks were great, and one grey water tank was enough to hold the grey water, when it was need.  We filled up with water before we left home and used it in places where there was not water.  If there wasn't any power we used the Gas to heat the water and keep the fridge going.
It's amazing how much frozen food can fit in the fridge.

TV!  Well I could say 'what TV'.  I recall the old caravan and analogue TV, we usually had TV, but with Digital it's a different story.  Many places didn't have TV, some places there was only a few channels, so we went for weeks without knowing what happened in the World.
Bought some DVD's to watch, and bought the whole series of Breaking Bad which we watched, still have several episodes to see as yet.  Also bought some music DVD's, they are about in the more isolated places and not so prevalent in the cities.
We have a radio in the Van, but due to the terrain we were in couldn't get anything, only once in awhile.
The TV works on both electricity and 12 volt battery.

In the morning times if not travelling we would go to the shops.
Afternoons were spent sight seeing and me taking photos usually.
Evenings, games were played on our Tablets, reading, blogging, reading blogs, commenting if there was access to the internet, mostly there was. Planning where we would go and what we wanted to see.
I crocheted making granny squares with bits of wool of all colours I took from home, the finished product will be the size of a queen sized bed and when finished will be handy in the van when the weather is cool.  I've nearly finished it.

The top of the oven has one hot plate when connected to electricity, the remainder are gas as is the oven.  We had baked meals every now and then. We ate well even having a Turkey baked dinner.
There isn't much bench space but you manage.

Seating is a problem, but with outside chairs as in camping chairs one goes outside and sits, oh yes, used to fall asleep!  Happy Hour was had some late afternoons with someone whom we didn't know, they would call us to their van or they would come to ours....it sure was a happy hour.  About 6pm we would all return to our vans. We all had something in common, 'travelling and doing the same thing'.

Bread!  Fresh bread!
You ask for fresh bread at the more isolated places and you are given frozen bread.  That's fresh bread!  Supermarkets in other places, the bread is being thawed out and of course when it's done it's not that fresh.
Milk!
That's a good one, in isolated places, one asks for milk.  Frozen milk, that's fresh milk!  All other places it's normal milk.

In all we were very happy with the van, the way it towed and the vehicle which towed it.

The above photo was taken with my little camera which has a GPS.  I forgot to turn it on earlier in our trip, but this photo has it.

Snow, Sunset, Beach in Winter, Tasmania

On Tuesday June 23, my husband and I are going across the sea, Bass Strait to Melbourne, Australia touring States of Australia for 3 months in our caravan, this we have done in the past several times.  I will put a map on my blog where we are going.
Hopefully I can post at least one photo once a week if not more, it depends on Wi-Fi service and how much data we can use.  When we return home late September I will post more photos of the places we have been.   

I hope you all can follow us as we travel.  I will endeavor to visit your blogs.

This past week we travelled once again to Turners Beach on the North West Coast of Tasmania and stayed for 4 nights.  We had the 4 wheel drive serviced, it's 10,000km one nearby.

Nearly a year has passed since my dear dad passed away, often visit the grave of my parents there, this time someone had stolen the flowers!!  So it was into the city of Devonport to get some more artificial flowers and back to the cemetery to put them in place.  For the life of me, I can't understand why someone would steal those flowers.

On the way to the 'Coast' as we call it, snow was on part of the Western Tiers, so we stopped to take this photo below.

A winter sunset at Turners Beach...lucky it had been a lovely sunny day, then evening.

Also at the same beach there is the Forth River, this photo looks to Bass Strait.

A short walk up the river, the photo of what's on the other side.

Back at the caravan park at sunset.

 Map of where we are going.

Turners Beach, Tasmania, Australia.

Last week we went to the beach for 4 days with the new caravan.
The weather wasn't the best as it rained a few of those days but I managed to get a photo towards sunset of the beach behind the caravan.
When the tide is out you can often see the horses and their riders galloping along the beach, not that they do it often.  

I cooked Turkey in the Gas oven, and had baked potatoes plus veggies cooked on the gas cooktop.
We used the shower and tried out most things in the van to see all worked, soon we will do it all again.Talking about gas oven, the potatoes took 3 hours to bake, next time I will pre-cook them as they were rather dense and are known to take a little longer than other varieties.

We came home on Mother's Day in the morning in time for eldest son his wife and little ones to take me out to lunch.

Monday I had to be present in the Supreme Court to see if I was to be chosen as a Juror.  Oh, yes, I was, so this past week I was on a case which is now finished.
I couldn't win a raffle, but I was the 8th person chosen and I thoroughly enjoyed.

Walking along the caravan park and came across the steps to the beach, it was a rough day at Turners Beach.

View to the East.

4th and 5th Grandchild....a bit blurred and taken with my phone.  I asked her to smile and she normally won't but this time she did.... Miss E just had her 3rd birthday, and the baby boy is 6 months old.

Inside the Caravan

Photo of inside the caravan.

The blinds are white and go up from the bottom, on the outside of caravan looking inwards the blinds are silver.  The fly screens come down from the top and clip onto the white blinds if necessary.

 The microwave at the top, the fridge, stove/oven Gas, the bathroom, dinning room with the table folded back.

 The bedroom and showing the fridge. There is more storage under the bed.

The dinning room. The table folds back, and the vases are wrapped in a cloth for travelling.

One of the big air vents, middle is the conditioning and reverse cycle heating, then the touch light, there are two of these.

The radio which has bluetooth, USB and CD player.

The TV which is also a DVD player and recorder, it works with solar power or electric.
The TV Antenna is on the ceiling which is a dial and little lights are shown as to the strength of the signal.

The bathroom, the door is locked in the position, then if unlocked it can slide closed.
The washing machine is under where the lid folds down.

A full oven which is Gas plus the sweet little shelves.

The shower is a full shower and is larger than we thought. 

The power mains.  Operates most things from here.  The Gas hot water, the electric hot water, also the Solar hot water.

The water tanks x 2, plus the inside temperature of the caravan and the levels of the water is shown on a very small panel just inside the door.....photo I forgot to take.

The garbage bin, and the contents of the yellow bag for recycling. 

The barbecue is on the outside of the caravan, you need a key to unlock it, then it slides out. The outside table also has a key, and that comes down when unlocked.

The 2 solar panels are on the roof as is the TV antenna.

The Caravan has arrived.

The brand new Caravan has finally arrived to home.  It has solar panel, shower, toilet, washing machine, gas full stove, large fridge/gas & electric, little pantry, queen size bed, aircon/heater, microwave, TV/DVD player and recorder, Radio with Bluetooth, barbecue, two water tanks, grey water tank, fan over the stove, heaps of cupboards.....I think that's about it until I think of something else.

The colours I choose inside and my husband chose the colours outside....we are very pleased with it.

Will post photos of the inside later..

Some vases I bought for inside of the caravan.