Home for a while

Back home after about 20 mega metres that included every mainland state and territory except ACT.
We had competed in the National trials in Queensland, the Royal in Darwin plus local trials and then went over to WA for their State Obedience titles.
Lots of action and adventures too. The problems with the caravan between Roma and Darwin were expensive and we bought a tent to live in while the van was repaired, I did work for a couple of weeks helping out with Solar Panel installations, and we visited lots of places, met up with old friends and made some new ones.
A brief return to Adelaide to help out with Kathy's mum then we were back on the road to WA. Our first time as tourists in the South West was a wonderful experience with the pic showing the dogs at Dunsborough which was close to where we were staying.
The weather was kind to us most of the time with just a few rainy days, but we were not impressed with the head wind going across the Nullabor on the way to the West, and even less impressed when the wind turned round so we had a head wind coming back.
We still have not seen the North West coast, that will have to wait for another time.

Denmark

Wilson's Inlet at Ocean Beach near Denmark WA. We went out for a day of touring around Albany and found our way to this look-out.
The town of Denmark is a very pretty town surrounded by hills and forests and this view was about 15 km out of the town. 3 photos, stitched together in Photoshop.
We arrived near Busselton yesterday and have set up for a couple of days to allow us to have a look around here before moving on to Perth.

Champion Pie

The best meat pie in Australia is baked at the Mt Barker Bakery. That is Mt  Barker WA not SA. The Mt Barker Bakery won multiple awards , including best Meat Pie and Best Gourmet Pie in the Great Australian Pie competition held recently in Melbourne.
We were in the area so we went yesterday, and the pic shows us in the bakery, enjoying their pies and coffee, under the certificates that they won last year. The 2014 certificates are not up yet.
I had a Smokey BBQ Pork pie, Kathy had a Chicken and Vegetable pie. They were magnificent. Mine had big pieces of meat that tasted of pork, was full to the brim with none of those air gaps that some bakers call profit. Kathy's pie had big pieces of chicken and the vegetables were identifiable, not just a veggie paste. Even the coffee was good.
We are in Albany at the Rose Garden Caravan Park at Emu Point. The weather has turned wet with a few days of rain forecast, which puts a bit of a dampener (if you pardon the pun) on our activities. It does mean we can go see things and leave the dogs safely in the car without worrying about them over heating, so it is not all bad.

Going West

The holiday continues. As much as possible on the caravan has been repaired, Kathy's mum is settled again so we are heading west.
We left early Saturday (because we were too late to leave on Friday) met up with Bec and Dave for lunch at Crystal Brook and got to Kimba for the first night. Day 2 saw us at Streaky Bay for lunch, the pic shows the dogs near the jetty, then we called in at Smokey Bay for some oysters. We found an oyster shed open, because they were having a family BBQ, but they opened the shop for us. Oysters were $13 for 2 dozen, but we only had $15. They had no change so they "made up to $15" by chucking in two big hand fulls of oysters. The count up that night at Nundroo showed we had 47 oysters. Have to go there again when the family BBQ is on!
Really strong winds today traveling past the Head of the Bight. We saw a caravan window lying on the side of the road, and when we stopped at a look-out there was a pop top with the roof burst open. The owners were strapping it down with snatch straps. The Supreme has had no problems so far. The Navara is guzzling fuel, but the winds are not helping that either.
First night in WA is at Madura. We did not fill our water tanks when we left as it adds to the weight we drag down the road, but there is no water between Ceduna and Norseman so we have to be careful with the little water we have. Next time we will have full tanks.

Back Home

We got home at last with just a minor water leak at Cadney Station to keep us on our toes. The caravan uses those "push on" connectors that rely on water pressure to hold them clamped in position. The problem is, when there is no water pressure, such as when traveling, there is not much holding the connection. If something bumps against the pipe, such as when traveling on a bumpy road, the connection is easily loosened so that when pressure is applied the connection leaks, such as when you stop and connect the water again. A little leak soon becomes a big leak and there is water all through the van. The connector that failed was under the sink, in a cupboard that contained lots of kitchen type things.
I will have to do some more modifications to make sure this does not happen again.
Our first night was at Dunmara, which was the third night there for this trip, and then at Aileron, north of Alice Springs. Their claim to fame is the Aileron Man on top of the hill behind the pub/store/service station/caravan park and the more recent addition of the Aileron Woman and Child in the grounds of the Art Gallery, the other building at Aileron. See Pics. The sculptures are about 5 m tall.
We had a stop at Cadney Station the next night and for the first time in ten years we did not have a Cadney Burger for dinner, they are just too much food for us to eat.
Our last night out was at Woomera and we got home late on Friday.

Katherine Gorge

You can not be in Katherine without visiting Katherine Gorge. We gave the dogs a long walk, fed them and left them to sleep in the air conditioned caravan while we slipped out to the Katherine Gorge. We did not have time for a cruise, which is the best way to see the Gorge, but we did have time to climb to the first look-out over the gorge, and the pic shows us at the top. The facilities have changed since the last time we were there, there is a new visitors centre with a restaurant, an interpretive centre, a 'tourist trap' shop and a garden planted by the local school.. The gorge is still the same.
There is a swimming area designated free of crocodiles, but just a little off-putting is the crocodile trap on the other side of the river. Lots of birds and fruit bats in the picnic area, and the tables and seats were clean. Someone must go round to clean them every morning, because the fruit bats are hanging in the trees above the tables.

Katherine River.

We are still in Katherine waiting for the caravan to be fixed. The caravan park is on the banks of the Katherine river, but a long way up! We walked the dogs down the path at the back of the caravan park which goes to the Katherine Hot Springs and passes close to the river. We saw the crocodile on the opposite bank. It is a Freshwater Crocodile, they do not normally eat people but they can take a big lump of flesh out of your body if they get a chance. This one was about 50m away, basking in the sun. Not a very good photo, it was taken on my phone on maximum zoom.
The spring for the van should be here on Friday's (arrives on Saturday) truck which means we could get it repaired on Monday, otherwise it will be Tuesday before we can leave. There is no way we could make Geraldton for their trials so we have apologized for not getting their to compete. Their has been other complications, primarily Kathy's mum being taken into hospital, and so we have decided that when the van is fixed we will go home and save WA for a later trip. We will have to work out how we will get to Perth for our judging commitments, but we will have several weeks to sort that out.

Katherine Sans Caravan

Here is the van being winched onto a tow truck. We are at Katherine, we pulled out from the Riverside Caravan Park, heard a bang and stopped up the road. The other van spring had broken. This time we called the RAA who arranged for the van to be taken to an engineering company. They are trying to get a replacement  spring. There are no spring repair people in Darwin the only option is a complete replacement spring pack- from Melbourne! Again. $500 air freight!
More news tomorrow.
The RAA have arranged for us to stay in a cabin at Knotts Crossing Resort where the dogs have to stay outside the cabin. They are not liking that.
My premium membership will allow me 2 nights emergency accommodation, plus up to 5 nights if the van is going to take a long time to repair.
In the mean time we are staying in Katherine. If the van is going to be a long time we are considering going to Lake Argyle and staying in the tent again, then coming back to Katherine when the van is roadworthy.
After that we will get the van home and trade it in.
Any one want to buy a Caravan?

Darwin Aircraft Museum

The pic shows a B52 bomber in the hanger at the Darwin Aircraft Heritage Museum. It is so big they had to cut the ends of the wings off to get it in the hangar. Under the wing you can see an F111 fighter and a bit further round, hidden by the engine, is a Sabre Jet.  Aircraft of all types were on display, from a tiny ultralight gyro copter up to the giant B52.
There is a big section on the bombing of Darwin in WW2 and also a big section on female pilots going back to the 1920's. They have a replica Spitfire and many commercial planes from the past on display. If you are interested in aircraft, visit the Aircraft Museum.
We have about 1 more week in Darwin before we move on to the next leg of our trip. Trials on the weekend then on Monday we will pack up and move down the track to Katherine.

Coolalinga

Strange things grow in the tropics. The picture shows some tiny things that had attached themselves to the dog fence and started growing. You can see the fine stalks and the pod on the end. The wire is 3 mm diameter and the stalks are about 7 mm long. Any biologists know what they are?. Pic is a bit blurred due to the wind blowing.
We are staying in Darwin for a couple of trials that are on this week and next week. Last night was not to good with a lot of NQ's. Hopefully we will do better tonight.
We will be doing the West Coast to Perth starting a week on Monday, aiming to be in Geraldton by the end of August for their trials.

Jumping Croc

We did the Jumping Croc cruise on the Adelaide River.  The pic shows one jumping up for a piece of pigs head on a string. Lots of crocodiles in the river, one every 100 metres so the boat crew said.
The dogs went on a long walk then were left in the air conditioned caravan while we did the trip. Gone for about 2.5 hours and we woke them up when we returned.
Last day of competition at the Darwin Royal today. So far we have passed in Rally but failed in Obedience and Agility.
We will be staying in Darwin for a few extra days so we can have a go at 4 trials before we head off either back home or to Perth.

Darwin With Caravan

The caravan is in Darwin. The pic shows it set up on our site in Coolalinga. The annex side is up, the extension at the front is blocking the afternoon sun and the shade cloth at the side protects the fridge and the side from the sun. Much more comfortable than the tent, and the dogs have a big run in the shade behind the dog fence.
The total cost of repairs came to around $5000, including flying up a new spring, replacing failed bushes, re-setting the springs and towing to Threeways where we picked it up. Re-setting the springs was the critical part as the sagging springs caused all the problems in the first place.
The caravan shop here had a tube for the interior light that had blown in Ipswich at half the cost advertised elsewhere, so at least that bit saved us some money :-).
Now we are waiting on getting the air conditioner repaired. It breaks down once a year and decided that Darwin would be  a good place for this year's holiday. I called two air conditioner repairers from the Ibis Aircommand (the manufacturer) web site, but obviously they don't work week ends in Darwin, so we will have to wait until Monday.
Big decisions coming up now. We are due to leave Darwin for Perth on 5th August, but our confidence in the caravan is at an all time low. The man next door came from Perth and said the roads are good. We have to be in Perth for October,  but if the van breaks down again on the North West coast we would not have enough money to repair it. The temptation is to go directly back to Adelaide, get the van thoroughly checked out then dash across the Nullabor for our commitments in Perth.

Darwin Still Sans Caravan

We are still without the caravan, but it has been repaired. Both sets of springs had sagged, reducing the travel on the suspension which in turn put more pressure on the rest of the suspension. The weakest point was the bushes, which is what failed.
We are waiting on a phone call to give us the price and then we can arrange payment. The van is going to be towed to Dunmarra for us, about 700 km south of Darwin, where we will pick it up and return to Darwin.
The trials went well with some very good dogs showing their skills, and a couple of titles too!
We took our dogs to training last night. They have been in Holiday Mode for too long. You can see in the picture, they are enjoying being tourists. The shot was at the top of the Dripstone Cliffs on Casurina Beach.
We did not go on the beach, too hot, marine stingers and crocodiles were the main reasons.

Darwin Sans Caravan

Well we have had all sorts of trouble with the caravan. The springs were replaced in Roma, but we only got as far as Mt Isa before the bushes in the new spring "dissolved" The replacement bushes were in Warwick but would take 3 days to get to Mt Isa. We could not wait that long, so we bought a tent and camp beds, left the van with the suspension shop and carried on to Darwin. The pic show us set up in the Coolalinga caravan park near Darwin.
Hopefully we can get back to Mt Isa to pick up the van and return to Darwin. It means a return trip of about 3000 km and at least 6 days travel, but there is not much choice for us.
I judged the dog trials last night and have more tonight and tomorrow night. They will be keeping us busy. Good to catch up with old friends here in Darwin, but we will be happy to get the caravan back.

Roma

The pic shows the dogs posing in front of the Slab Hut in Roma, Central Queensland. The hut was built from split logs around 1893 to house a family of 11. It is not a lot bigger than our caravan.
We are in Roma because the suspension broke on the caravan and we have to wait for a replacement part to be sent from Melbourne. Hopefully it will arrive soon, but it could be next week before it gets here. The mechanic said it will only take an hour to fit once it gets here. We need to be in Darwin, about 3000 km away by next Friday, so it looks like what was going to be a leisurely trip will become early starts and long daily drives.
Breaking news, the part has arrived and we are going to get it fitted right now.

National Trials in Queensland

We made it to Brisbane for the National Agility Trials. It was a bit of a rush to get here, doing 2000 km in 3.5 days. No problems on the way and we had some good company too.
How did we go? We did not get in the finals, the best Tiffany got was a 13th place in the heats for Masters Agility and 5th place in the Gambler Excellent Class. Hannah did some clear rounds and some with only 1 fault. We were really pleased with the way the dogs worked, but with some of the top dogs doing times half of what we could do, we did not expect to get in the Finals.
Our next destination will be Darwin. We are due there in 10 days time which will allow us a fairly leisurely drive of around 400 km per day with a little time to look around and a day or two sight seeing.

Start of the big trip.

We left Adelaide on Thursday PM and met up with friends at Lameroo. Leaving at about 7:30 am, we got to West Wyalong on Friday, then Moree on Saturday to meet up with more friends and to have dinner in the Moree Services Club.
We got to Ipswich Showgrounds by 2:00 Sunday and set up camp for the week of the Agility Nationals competition. Lots more friends arriving on Monday and Tuesday so it looks like a busy week ahead.
The pic shows Kathy cleaning the dust out of the caravan.
We had a look at some Toyota Coaster motor homes. The Coaster has a Land Cruiser running gear and looks like it could be a reliable motor home for long tours. Lot of thinking to do about them.
While we are in Ipswich for the Nationals, we will find some time to visit relatives before heading off on the big trip home via Darwin and Perth.

Redcliffs

We went to Redcliffs for the Murray Valley Dog Trials, judging Rally and Obedience the previous week end. Lot of people there with a good pass rate.
We stayed at the Redcliffs caravan park which is on the other side of the oval to the dog club. The picture shows the sun rising over the grapevines behind the caravan park.
Getting ready for the big trip, going to Brisbane for the Agility Nationals and returning via Darwin and Perth. Booking the caravan in for a service, and the Navara for a big service and a tune up. May even get a performance chip added too.

Bay of Islands, G. O. R.

We are back in Warrnambool for a week. Not for dog trials this time, just a holiday with friends Dave and Bec. The pic shows the entrance to the Bay of Islands, one of the featured of the Great Ocean Road (GOR) which runs from Lorne to Warrnambool along the Victorian west coast. Click on the pic to get a bigger view. We had a day touring the GOR to Apollo Bay and back. The coast line is battered by the Antarctic Ocean which has created the spectacular coastline, but is still a work in progress as the coastline has changed since we were last here. The Twelve Apostles  (rock pillars on the edge of the coast) are down to eight still standing with the remains of the others just visible. The dogs have had a lot of walks and plays with Dave and Bec's dogs which has helped to tire them out when we go sight seeing.