As we have previously written, we have been attending CMCA Chapter Meetings of the Hilltops Rangers, . . . → Read More: 13 – 16 April 2012 – Wantabadgery NSW]]> As “He” has virtually run out of annual leave to take in multiples of weeks, “He” has been taking either single or half days annual leave as it accrues to allow us to continue with our weekend getaways.

As we have previously written, we have been attending CMCA Chapter Meetings of the Hilltops Rangers, a small group based in south western NSW with the majority of members residing in the Young, Temora area of the state. Whilst the distances we are travelling for weekends are a little further than we like, a departure on Friday, be it early in the morning or at lunchtime, has made the weekends easier and has actually given us a full Saturday away.  We are enjoying the meetings of the Chapter and have added a lot more people to our group of friends.

The April Chapter meeting was scheduled to be held at Wantabadgery, a location on the map between Gundagai and Wagga Wagga on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River.  There was some doubt about the fitness of the location as this area of NSW was underwater in March following a massive down poor that flooded a large part of inland NSW.  It was that rain that caused Warragamba Dam to overflow for the first time in many years.  In the weeks prior to the meeting, the site had been checked and our meeting was to proceed as planned.

Wantabadgery is a little over 420k’s from our house and this is higher than the distance we would normally travel on a daily basis when we are on holidays.  Fortunately the majority of the trip would be on the Hume Highway and travelling at an average of around the 80k mark would see us complete the trip somewhere between 6 to 7 hours allowing for stops.

Following on from our mishap at Kiama when we almost lost our awning in a wind gust, we had made arrangements to visit Barnes Caravans, a Dometic agent located at Lansvale in south western Sydney.  Our observation of the awning had revealed damage to one of the rafters where it jointed the motorhome.  Our trip to Wantabadgery gave us the perfect opportunity to stop at Barnes Caravans for the repair and still be on the road by 9:00am for an arrival at our destination around 3:00pm in the afternoon.

We departed home just after 7:10am (10 minutes behind our intended departure time) but due to relatively light traffic (school holidays), our trip to Lansvale was relatively quick.  We managed to drive past Barnes Caravans and realised we had missed the turn when we arrived at Warwick Farm.  We eventually found Barnes Caravans and it was not long before one of the employees was looking at the awning.

It quickly became apparent that the damage was more than we anticipated but fortunately, very easy to fix.  Both of the rafters were shortened by about 3cm, redrilled and new rivets installed.  A minor adjustment was made to the rail that hold the awning and $100 later, we were on our way.

Our plan to arrive at our final destination included a stop of an hour to get the awning fixed and we had also allowed a good hour for stops for morning tea, lunch, fuel and afternoon tea before arriving at our destination.  It did not take us long to get back to the Hume Highway and we were soon heading south in light traffic with the trip computer confirming an average speed of just under 90k’s.  Our intended 3:00pm arrival would be achieved.

And that was when we saw the smoke!

Details relating to the cause of the smoke were adequate covered in one of the local newspaper that reported;

“A MAN escaped injury after his truck caught fire on the Hume Highway near Bargo on Friday morning.
Police said the truck became engulfed in flames after the driver stopped the vehicle in the south bound breakdown lane, just south of the Bargo exit, at about 9.30am.
Roads and Maritime Services personnel and police attended, while Rural Fire Service crews from Bargo, Yanderra and Alpine extinguished the blaze within 10 minutes of arriving on the scene.
The fire destroyed the truck’s cabin and the first of two trailers, which was carrying a load of sugar.
Camden police Inspector Fryer said one south bound lane was of the highway was closed to traffic for about 1.5 hours, until the truck was towed from the scene.
While traffic was constantly moving, vehicles were backed up for about 6km north of the scene.
Insp Fryer said the driver tested negative to blood alcohol.”
We were delayed for just short of 1 hour.  By the time we passed the truck, the fire had been extinguished and one lane was open.  Some of the delays were caused by vehicles who had tried to by-pass the incident but they did not realise that the road they used to return to the highway was actually 100 metres short of the incident.  Had they stayed on the highway, the traffic flow would have been far better.

We continued on to Suttons Forest where we stopped at Macca’s for coffee.  Now trying to make up time, we confined lunch to 15 minutes and had a short break when we refuelled.

Our fuel stop just before Gundagai was planned to ensure we arrived back in Sydney with a near empty fuel tank.  We had a 20 cents per litre Coles voucher and wanted to maximise the benefit.

We elected to follow the route on the GPS to Wantabadgery rather than the main road we noticed on a map.  For once the GPS was right as the main road was apparently windy and suffering from the recent rain.

We arrived at Wantabadgery just before 3:30pm.  We found our group and then decided to look for a flat spot to camp.  As fate would have it, we ended up staying where we first stopped.

The camp site at Wantabadgery (Sandy Beach) was dry with only a short water crossing required to enter the sight.  There was evidence of the recent floods and we noticed evidence that the water had been just over 2 metres above the camp site.  The ground was exceptionally dusty as a result of the flood.

The weekend meeting was a joint gathering with members from the Wagga Wagga Wanders. We were also joined by members of the Highway Wanderers and also from the Wide Bay Wanderers (Maryborough QLD). (On Sunday, a count of 26 motor homes was taken – not bad for a chapter meeting).

We had an extended happy hour before heading back to the motorhome for hamburgers and an early night to bed.  It had been a very long day.  Indication was that the temperature was dropping (8c was expected) so it would be a good night to sleep.

The weather on Saturday was overcast but warm.  Part of Saturday was spent playing disc bowls (“He” is now in love with the game) and we managed to beat the team from Wagga Wagga.

We enjoyed an excellent community campfire meal on Saturday night followed by a massive choice of sweet dishes.  We returned to the motorhome around 9:00pm and then spent time reading.

Sunday was a magnificent autumn day with a clear sky and a mild temperature.  For breakfast we feasted on bacon, eggs, sausages and hash browns before attending a club meeting.

After saying our “goodbyes” we were on the road heading north just before 10:30am and arrived home just before 4:30pm.  That included a stop for lunch, a visit to a caravan park at Goulburn to dump our toilet and a stop at Concord to refuel.

Fuel consumption was around the 14 litres per 100k’s makr for the entire trip so we were happy with that result.  We were lucky that the trip south on Friday was assisted by a very gentle tail wind whilst Sunday it was dead still.  We actually arrived back in Sydney with more fuel than we had planned but cannot be disappointed as the consumption was less than anticipated.

2006

Our destination for the weekend meeting was a place called Macquarie Woods which is located . . . → Read More: 16 – 18 March 2012 – Macquarie Woods NSW]]> Sydney had experienced a massive amount of rain and we had doubts if our weekend away with the Hilltops Rangers would take place. Most rivers in the southern part of NSW had flooded including the Macquarie River at Bathurst.

Our destination for the weekend meeting was a place called Macquarie Woods which is located midway between Bathurst and Orange. We were aware of the place having been told several years ago that it was a wonderful place to free camp.

“He” had made arrangements to have a half day annual leave and we had planned a departure from Sydney at 12:30pm on the Friday afternoon. On the previous Wednesday, “He” noted that one of the rear tyres was down on pressure so arrangements were made to call at Bridgestone at Silverwater to have the tyre checked.

We arrived there at 1:00pm and discovered we had a couple of other trucks before us. About 20 minutes later our tyre was removed and the initial inspection could not locate the source of the loss in pressure. The tyre in question has been fitted with a device to allow inflation from the outside (the rear outside wheel in a dual wheel setup is placed onto the hub backwards with the valve on the inside) and the initial thoughts were that the device was leaking. An hour later we learnt that a previous repair on the tyre had not been done correctly and it had to be removed and repatched. Apparently the previous repair job was not allowed to cure correctly.

Almost two hours after our intended departure time, we were finally on the road. It took us another two hours to reach Lithgow where we intended to refuel.  Our trip was a little slower than expected due to some rain near Katoomba and also because of the reduced speed limits that are a result of the road works over the mountains.  Apparently part of the road work has stopped due to the failure of the builder to pay contractors (is this for real?)

At Lithgow, a stranded vehicle being towed into the service station we intended to refuel had blocked the entry point and stopped us from being able to enter so we decided to continue to Bathurst for fuel.  The Iveco has a fuel computer and the numbers indicated we had sufficient fuel for the trip there.

Just before Bathurst (and as expected) the low fuel warnings started but we had sufficient fuel to reach our intended refuelling point.  The price was the same as Sydney and we managed to use a fuel voucher to partly reduce the cost of the fuel that was well over the $100 mark.  Diesel prices are slowly increasing but we have noted that the prices in the country tend to be the same as the city or just a little cheaper.  I wonder why?

Due to the lateness of the day and the fact that the weather was threatening, we decided to purchase our evening meal.  We purchased a chicken from Red Rooster, took a photograph of a rainbow to the east and walked back to the motor home in the rain. The threatening weather was actually a passing shower and we had fingers crossed that would be the end of the rain.

We continued on to Macquarie Woods which is located about 24 kilometres from Bathurst on the Orange Road. After the trunoff, we had to negotiate a couple of kilometres of dirt road. After arriving at the camp site, we managed to find a piece of ground that only required to motor home to be raised on one side to achieve a reasonable level. It was at this time that “He” discovered that his brand new Motorola Atrix smart phone was frozen.  Several attempts to restart the phone by removing and replacing the battery failed and considering that the phone was only theree days old, well, what can one say?  The new phone was acquired to replace the previous “non blue ticked smart phone”.  Telstra is normally great in the bush when you have a phone with a “blue tick” and we have always had reasonable success getting a telephone signal.

Much to our surprise, “She” turned her phone on (Optus) and found that she had a good signal. All would not be lost.

We renewed acquaintance with some friend from the Winnebago RV Club who we had not seen for ages as well as greeting our other friends from the Hilltops Rangers.

After tea we went to the club’s marquee but found that most people had headed off early to their motor homes. We decided to do the same. It rained during the night and we started to wonder if we would be having a wet weekend.

We awoke to a cloudy Saturday sky but before we knew it, the cloud disappeared and we were left with a magnificent autumn day. We spend the day lazing about the campsite. “He” played disc bowls teaming with one of our friends and managed to win the event that was played during the afternoon.  It was beginners luck!

Our evening meal was a community event with everyone bringing something to eat. Several slow cookers worked overtime during the day and the evening meal was very diverse with roast chicken, several pasta dishes, salad and some other wonderful dishes enjoyed by all. We had the meal inside the club’s marquee and it was very difficult to believe we were in the bush. We were entertained by a couple who were camping nearby with a story about an 18000 kilometre bike ride around Australia. We spent a little time talking before heading off to bed.  The weather was still fine but it was cool.

Sunday was dry and we enjoyed a cooked breakfast before leaving to head home just before lunch. We stopped at the Bathurst Visitor’s Centre to collect the key for the dump point (the Bathurst dump point is at Caravan Solutions in the industrial estate on the Orange road just before Bathurst).  The dump exercise took almost an hour but was certainly better than having to take the toilet cassette into our home to empty in the upstairs bathroom.

Lunch was at Lithgow.

All in all, we had a great weekend with the weather very kind to us.

Fuel consumptions continues to be reasonable and there are early signs of a very slow reduction in the level of consumption.  We have almost 36000 k’s on the clock so the engine must be starting to “run in”.

With a couple of trips planned for March, we decided that it was not a big . . . → Read More: 25 – 26 February 2012 – Carcoar NSW]]> Our original plan for our February trip was a short weekend excursion to Wanderest at Richmond NSW, however, “He” had some work commitments on the Sunday that could not be done remotely so we cancelled our planned trip.

With a couple of trips planned for March, we decided that it was not a big deal to miss our February trip as we would definitely find things to do at home over the weekend. 

Well that idea changed when we received a telephone call from friends we had met on the road a couple of years ago saying that they would be in Canberra for the weekend of 25/26 February and would we like to meet them.  We jumped at the opportunity.

Most of the time we generally check local events for our destinations and fortunately we decided to do so for the upcoming weekend and after looking on the internet for “What’s On in Canberra”, we had an answer, the “Royal Canberra Show”!   Whilst that is not all bad, the problem was that the intended overnight stop in Canberra was the Exhibition Centre which is the venue for the show.  There would be no camping there and all of the caravan parks in and around Canberra were full.

We spoke to our friends and suggested that we meet at Carcoar Dam which is located just to the south of Blayney and in the direction that our friends would be travelling.  From our perspective, there was a difference of 40k’s in the distance and 2 minutes in travel time.  Carcoar was agreed upon.

With a four hour trip (including the mandatory stops for fuel, morning tea and fresh bread) in front of us, we decided that a 6:30am departure from home would be the way to go and that would ensure we reached our destination before lunch.

So at 6:25am (no need to email, this is not a misprint!!) we headed to the motor home and a few minutes later we were heading towards the M4 and our destination.  We stopped at traffic lights not far from home and then another set as we turned onto Parramatta Road.  The next time we stopped was at Lithgow and it had taken us a neat 2 hours to get there.  We had decided to refuel at Lithgow and the low fuel warning light came on just as we turned a corner when the Shell petrol station came into sight.

We had a discount voucher for 14 cents per litre and a further purchase gave us an additional 2 cents.  The overall savings was just over $10.00.

We stopped on the other side of Lithgow for morning tea and again in Bathurst to purchase fresh bread and a tea cake.  We arrived at Carcoar just after 10:30am having experienced what must be the best every trip across the Blue Mountains.

The camp site was packed with campers and speed boat owners but our friends had secured us a relatively flat spot between themselves and the lake.  Our camp was setup camp about 20 metres from Lake Carcoar.

Our friends are “full-times” travelling around their backyard, Australia, in a fifth wheeler towed by an Isuzu.  We met them back in 2009 during a CMCA Charity Safari event and renewed acquaintance again in 2010 when we saw them near Tilpa when we were involved in a Winnebago safari.  At that time they were working on a property called Trilby Station.  During the past couple of years we have been fortunate enough to be included in a regular email that updates their family and friends of their adventures. 

It’s amazing how time gets away.  Driving a motor home ensures that you don’t have to spend a lot of time doing a setup and all we need to do today was to place some ramps under the right side of the vehicle.  We had stopped on a slight incline but managed to achieve perfect level with the ramps.

Carcoar Dam is one of those magic camp sites.  Blayney council has provided a small amenities block with toilets and showers (cold one) and there are ample rubbish bins located in the area.  During summer holidays this would be a very popular place and one would imagine that getting a camping spot would be impossible sometimes.  Today the dam was at 84% capacity and the whole location was wonderful.

We had a late morning tea with our friends and then, as would be expected, we spent hours catching up.  We condensed a couple of years into several hours.  We finally had a late lunch.

Our friends invited us for an evening meal.  For us, an evening meal is normally something simple that is both quick to prepare and leaves very little mess to contend with.  That was not to be the case tonight.

Adjacent to our camp site, an earlier camper had dug a small pit and during the afternoon, timber was burnt to create a mass of hot coals.  A steel camp oven was produced, a leg of lamb place inside and when the lamb was nearly cooked, a stack of veggies including potatoes, pumpkin and onion were added.  Combined with greens via a microwave and gravy, we were served one absolutely delicious meal.  This was followed by an excellent desert with the meal washed down with a couple of bottles of red wine.

We are fans of “My Kitchen Rules” so the opportunity was not lost to score the entire meal.  Our overall rating was 9.5 out of ten. (Why 9.5, we knocked off 0.5 for presentation on to the plate (hang on, just remembered, the mark was harsh as we served ourselves)).

As the dark of the evening descended upon us, the temperature dropped and we needed to find light jackets.  The sky was pink from the sunset and overall we had just experienced a most wonderful day.  What was the rest of the world doing because we were in paradise!

Prior to leaving Sydney we had performed our mandatory weather check and the forecast for Blayney was a 40% chance of rain.  It rained twice during the night and it was overcast when we ventured outside in the morning to make a “mother nature” call.

We had an early breakfast and packed the van ready for a departure.  “He” was a little concerned that we could experience difficulties departing on the wet grass as we were well down the slope and uncertain as to how stable the footing would be if the rain continued.

We had morning tea with our friends and reluctantly decided to depart at 11:30am due to the deterioration of the weather.  Our departure was only 30 minutes before our intended departure time.

After agreeing that our next get-together has to be sooner than later, we were on our way.  The windscreen wipers were on before we returned to the main road and they stayed that way until just short of Penrith.  The BOM prediction of a 40% chance of rain was wrong!

With the exception of passing what looked like a fairly serious motor vehicle accident (near Little Hartley a small car had rolled and ended up into a bank – we believe that a combination of speed plus the wet road was the cause of the accident) we had an uneventful trip home.

Since refuelling at Lithgow on the outbound part of our trip, the overall fuel consumption was 12.9 litres per 100k’s.  Before our fuel stop at Lithgow, the average consumption was 14.9 litres per 100k’s. 

Footnote:  Since we wrote this blog, NSW has been subjected to the worse flood in living history with 75% of the State impacted.  Our friends departed Carcoar the day after us and apparently had some minor problems in getting off the grass.  With the rain coming down and a spot at Canberra not available until the end of the week, they headed to Gooloogong where they setup camp near the banks of the Lachlan River.  They were forced to move to higher ground when the Lachlan started to rise but they were safe.   At the time of writing, they were still safe and dry but considering an alternative route sound to the CMCA rally at Sale VIC.

Grabben what you ask?

Grabben Gullen, or Grabby if you are a local, is located roughly WNW of Goulburn NSW (about 61k’s by road) with access via either Gunning . . . → Read More: 20 – 22 January 2012 – Grabben Gullen NSW]]> Back in 1970 (or was it in 1971), “He” had the pleasure of finding a star sapphire in the remote NSW Township of Grabben Gullen.

Grabben what you ask?

Grabben Gullen, or Grabby if you are a local, is located roughly WNW of Goulburn NSW (about 61k’s by road) with access via either Gunning or Crookwell.  It has a population of about 432 people and a pub.

So why were we going there?  Last year we joined a CMCA Chapter called the Hilltops Rangers (based roughly around the NSW South West slopes area) and the venue for the January meeting was Grabben Gullen.

”He” organised to have a half day of annual leave and that allowed us to be heading south just after 1:00pm on an overcast Friday afternoon.  Rain was forecast for the weekend but we had our fingers crossed.  The departure time was perfect as we had an excellent run to Bankstown where we joined the M5 heading south.

We refuelled at Sutton Forest ($1.51 cpl) and took advantage of vouchers which reduced the cost by 10 cents per litre.

About 30k’s short of Goulburn we encountered a storm front with fairly heavy rain coupled together with thunder and lightning.  The storm front followed up to just short of Crookwell where we stopped to buy a bucket (CMCA rules ask for a full bucket of water to be placed adjacent to the front wheel of your motor home to assist in the case of a fire).

Our venue for the weekend was the area adjacent to the local community hall and although we did not have power, we had access to a flushing toilet and a shower operated by gold coin.

About 15 motor homes attended the gathering.

We experiences rain All Friday night from multiple storm fronts in the area and after happy hour in the community hall, we all did our own thing and following our evening meal, we decided to take advantage of the opportunity for an early night and we were in bed listening to the rain just after 9:00pm.

Saturday was a perfect summer day in the bush with wall to wall blue skies.  Some of our group decided to go fossicking but we chose to remain in the campsite.  We played disk bowls and various card games during the morning and afternoon and before heading to the local pub where a mobile caterer had been arranged for the evening meal.

The meals were not expensive and very generous in size.  Immediately following our meal we headed back to the community centre to play cards.  Much to our surprise, the temperature had dropped dramatically and we had to find some warm clothing, not the sort of thing you pack for a trip in the middle of summer.

We had a great sleep as a result of the low temperature.

Sunday was overcast and we heard warnings on the radio regards expected thunderstorm activity through most of NSW.

We had a community breakfast consisting of bacon, eggs, sausage and tomato.  Without doubt, breakfast rated as the best cooked breakfast we have experienced whilst travelling.  The chapter held a meeting after breakfast and due to the forecast storms, we elected to head back to home immediately following breakfast.

Much to our surprise, the trip home was dry but very windy.

All told, a great weekend.

With a decision made not to attend either of the Winnebago Christmas parties (we went to the last two at Nagambie in Victoria due to commitments on the weekends that the . . . → Read More: 9 – 12 December 2011 – Kiama NSW]]> For the past two years we have escaped Sydney and spent the weekend prior to Christmas at Kiama at the East’s Caravan Park.

With a decision made not to attend either of the Winnebago Christmas parties (we went to the last two at Nagambie in Victoria due to commitments on the weekends that the NSW parties were held near Coffs Harbour), we mentioned Kiama to several of our friends and a decision was made to hold a “gathering” at Kiama but on the weekend two weeks prior to Christmas.  We also decided to extend the stay to three nights arriving on the Friday and departing on the Monday.  As it would happen, our weekend would be an identical length to a Winnebago Christmas Party but at a fraction of the cost as we were all to be spared a lengthy drive to either Coffs Harbour or Nagambie.

We had five other couples decide to join us but unfortunately one couple had to pull out on the departure day due to ill health.

Blue Snoopy was loaded on the weekend prior to our departure date and it was only a matter of some last minute clothing and food before we departed Sydney just after 9:00am on a Friday morning with a weather forecast of rain during our trip south.

After a planned fuel stop at Burwood, we were soon heading south with the majority of the Sydney peak behind us.  The weather was fine.  Due to the relatively short distance we had to travel and also to remove any stress (both on the motor home and the driver) going down Mt Ousley, we chose to drive our car.  It was also a good opportunity to give the car a decent run as most of its time is being spent driving around Sydney in continual stop / start situations.

For this trip we mounted a small video camera (recently obtained from eBay for a cost of $32 which included postage) on the windscreen of the motor home.  The recording has the capacity for about 4 hours of recording before it commences to overwrite files.  Later during the weekend, some of the recorded images provided for some light entertainment.  There are really some drivers who should not be allowed the privilege of driving a car.

The trip south was uneventful and we maintained a conversation between the vehicles over the UHF.  “She” passed a warning about a Police car with radar halfway down the Mt Ousley decent but the motor home was travelling slowly enough that the radar would probably have detected a snail travelling quicker.

We arrived at Kiama at 11:00am and headed to the local Woolworths supermarket to purchase our perishable items.  We had arranged access to our camping site from midday so we arrived at 11:56am.  Two other couple had already arrived and had established their camp.  One of the couples intending to attend the weekend had cancelled earlier in the day due to a health issue and we were able to have their deposit transferred to our account.  There was one other couple who arrived after us.

(A special “thank you” to the Office Manager that day at East’s Beach who approved the transaction, it WAS greatly appreciated).

One of the advantages of a motor home over a caravan is the time required to setup.  As we had driven the car there and did not have to unhitch, it was a simple matter of reversing onto our site and then moving forward onto ramps to set our level.  That process, extending the slide out and connecting water took us less than 5 minutes.  “He” still has fond memories of the many hours spent during his “tenting” days of the setup process.  Now we sit and have a cold drink watching others do as “He” once did.

The remainder of the afternoon was spent talking to our friends plus a walk to the beach.  We retreated from the beach to return for happy hour that started near five and concluded close to 8:00pm (or was it 9:00pm – cannot remember).  The weather had been kind to us with absolutely no hint of rain.

On Saturday morning we spent time positioning our neighbour’s motor home so we could extend both of the annexes towards each other to provide a large covered area.  We also fashioned a drain between the annexes that would ensure that any runoff fell safely away from the covered area.  Yes, we were reacting to the weather forecast that was predicting rain.

During the morning the final couple joining us for the weekend arrived and after lunch, all of the ladies headed into Kiama on a mission to purchase prawns for our evening meals.

We cut our happy hour short and the enjoyed prawns and salad for our evening meal followed by Christmas Puddings.  We spent the evening looking at a movie called “Red Dog”.

After our friends retired for the evening, we walked down to the beach with the intention of photographing the ocean under a very bright moon.  There was also an eclipse of the moon on the Saturday night and unfortunately all of our plans were ruined due to the quick arrival of cloud cover.  There was no photography of the ocean and only several glimpses of the moon through some broken cloud.

We awoke to an overcast Sunday but still no rain.  After breakfast we all chatted for a while before the ladies headed into Kiama with the intention of a visit to the local markets.  (We later discovered we were one weekend early).  We consumed the remained of the prawns for lunch.

The sound of thunder later in the afternoon prompted us to put matting and awnings away and by 3:30pm the rain had finally arrived.  We all moved into the camp kitchen area where we had happy hour followed by our meal.  It was still raining when we went to bed.

We awoke to rain on Monday morning and before leaving, we all agreed that we would return in 12 months times for a repeat of the weekend.  It was sad saying our goodbyes.

Our return trip to Sydney was in rain for the majority of the trip.  We ran the video camera on the way home and now have wonderful pictures of the front passenger seat in the motor home.  “He” had put the camera in back to front.

Most motor home owners would ensure that regular services are . . . → Read More: Engine failure – Iveco Error Code 148]]> We have often wondered about safety when travelling in remote locations in Australia particularly if you have the misfortune of having mechanical problems.  Modern vehicles tend to be very reliable but as time passes, so does the age of the vehicle and the reliability.

Most motor home owners would ensure that regular services are performed on their vehicle and that is exactly what we did before taking off on an 8000 kilometre trek that was planned to take us though North Eastern Australia and home via the Northern Territory and the route down the centre of Australia.

Our Recent Experience

Midway through a recent trip (see our blog) and whilst travelling in a remote area between Middleton and Boulia in North Western Queensland (not far from the Birdsville Track) , we experienced an engine issue with an audible alarm followed by the message. “Engine failure – error code 148”: appearing on the Iveco console.  This message was also accompanied by a red warning light.  Unfortunately Iveco does not document the error messages in documentation provided with the vehicle and you normally have to have the vehicle interfaced with a diagnostic computer to determine the actual cause of the error.  In most case, error conditions are documented as “stop the vehicle and call for service”.

We have seen errors in the past that we know are incorrect and these errors have been removed with a simple stop and restart of the engine to reset the computer.

Hoping we would clear the error, we stopped and restarted the engine and then continued the final 70 or so kilometres into Boulia where the same error appears as we slowed to enter the town.

The message appeared again on the following day several kilometres past Boulia and continue to appear as we headed north. This time we noted that the engine power reduced by 50% each time the problem happened.  We did managed to get the vehicle to Dajarra (about 160k’s short of Mount Isa) before we felt compelled to contact Iveco through their roadside assistance program.

When advice given (a computer reset through the disconnection of the battery) failed to resolve the problem, we made a further call to Iveco when we arrived in Mount Isa which resulted in a recommendation by Iveco to bring the vehicle to an Iveco dealer.

The Iveco dealer we were dealing with was Macquarrie Trucks at Townsville.  Their Service Manager, Matthew, was the one on the other end of the phone and we owe Mathew a vote of thanks for the way he handled our problem both before we arrived at Townsville and during our stay there whilst they fixed the vehicle.

Mount Isa is a major mining city in Western Queensland and the size of our country becomes apparent when you have two options for an Iveco dealer when one is 1230k’s south west and the other 920k’s to the east.  That is exactly what we were presented with.  We found it very surprising that Mount Isa did not have an Iveco agent but our issue required the truck to be connected to an Iveco diagnostic computer.

It was not difficult to pick the shortest distance as the prospect of being stranded somewhere between Mount Isa and Alice Springs was not appealing in any way at all especially when we would be travelling by ourselves.  Besides, if we chose Alice, we would not arrive until late Friday and we were certain that the vehicle would not be looked at before the following Monday.

In hindsight, our decision was sound but we do know that the trip to Alice would have been less stressful as we were able to manage the problem through constant speed when travelling on flat ground.

The other surprising fact is that we were only a relatively short distance by road from Alice when we were in Boulia but that route was on a four wheel drive development road.

It was a little disappointing that Iveco did not have an authorised agent in Mount Isa. However, when you consider the following points, you can understand the reasons why;

• We did get the vehicle to a dealer where it was repaired even though the dealer was a significant distance from our location.
• The Iveco Daily is normally a very reliable vehicle and we can testify to that fact having owned two of the vehicles and knowing a lot of people who use similar vehicles to ours.
• We are aware that there is a significant cost relating to the computer application that is used as the diagnostic tool.
• The Iveco Assist program is excellent.  After making our initial call to an operator, we were speaking with an Iveco mechanic within minutes and he took full ownership of our issue until it was resolved.  He also provided assurances to us with respect to continuing to drive the vehicle until it was repaired.  He was more than happy to continue to take direct during the time we were travelling to Townsville.
• Had the vehicle not been mobile it would have been collected and transported by low loader to the nearest dealer.
• We understand that Iveco has to be realistic with the location of dealers versus the number of vehicles on the roads in Australia.

What do other manufacturers have to offer regards service?

With the exception of Ford (Ford Transit) and Isuzu, all other manufacturers who provide engines and chassis for our size motor home (Mercedes Sprinter, VW Crafter and Fiat Ducato) do not have dealerships in Mount Isa.

Ford does have a dealer in Mount Isa who is able to interface to a computer and reference to the Isuzu website indicates that their dealer does truck service.

(Note – the above information was obtained through Google and may exclude local agents for each of the above manufacturers.)

For us this was an experience which resulted in us leaving the safari we were part of a week before it finished and we were able to experience some of the North Queensland Coast that certainly was not part of our agenda.

What have we learned from the experience?

Australia is a very big place and there can be massive distances between major towns.

Not every large town has someone who is able to fix mechanical problems.

You cannot make an assumption that you will never experience problems in remote locations.

Some tips that we consider important when travelling in our great country

Make sure you have access to a roadside assistance program.  We had Iveco Help under the vehicle warranty but we also have Winnebago Assist that would have also given us access to the same help and towing etc if required.

If you are travelling away from the “black stuff”, make sure you have an alternative means of communication other than a mobile telephone.  A satellite telephone or possibly a HF radio would assist.  If you have a satellite telephone, make sure you have emergency numbers for any area you intent to travel in programmed into the phone as a speed dial number.

Don’t rely on a mobile telephone even if you have antennas etc.  Telstra NextG is good in the bush but it only works near towns. Optus and the others, forget it, they won’t work!

Ignore the people who tell you that UHF radios are useless, they are not.  We used our UHF to alert other vehicles when we were slowing to restart the engine and it is useful to leave them on channel 40 where you hear warnings about wide vehicles approaching.  We travelled on a Development Radio where road trains radio their location (on UHF) as they reached numbered points on the road.  You knew exactly where they were and if they were coming towards you or approaching from behind. An example of one of these calls is “road train arriving at eleven heading north”.

It goes without saying, if you are travelling in the outback even on good roads, make sure you carry plenty of water.

Carry basic spare parts that you are able to replace yourself (hoses, fuses, filters etc).

If you breakdown DON”T leave your vehicle.

Have the vehicle serviced before going on a lengthy trip.

Check tyres daily for the correct pressure and wear.

Make sure you know how to change a tyre and also ensure that you are able to remove the spare wheel.