2006

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, VX 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.

We then headed south at a reasonable pace and stopped at Tenterfield for brunch.

The bakery we chose for lunch . . . → Read More: 3 August 2011 –Toowoomba QLD to Tamworth NSW]]> Eager to continue our trip home, we were on the road at 8:00am and found a service station (unfortunately in the wrong direction) and refuelled the motor home.

We then headed south at a reasonable pace and stopped at Tenterfield for brunch.

The bakery we chose for lunch offered a good variety of pies.  “He” had their “Ned Kelly” pie (beef, egg, bacon and cheese) and claims that it was the “best pie ever”!  To top off the pie, “he” also had a milkshake that can also be described as the “best ever”.

The bakery is “The Tenterfield Bakery” and in our opinion is well worth a visit. (We are very surprised that a “Google” search failed to find reference to the bakery and its menu – hopefully we can fix that now!!)

We continued to on to Armidale where we refuelled before continuing on to Tamworth.  Last time we visited this area we did not have the luxury of being able to use the bypass and even though Armidale is a lovely city, we were grateful we did not have to travel through it with the car in tow.

Just before we arrived at Tamworth we had a call from our friends advising us they were going to camp at a free site at Wallabadah which is just under an hour south of Tamworth and just before Willow Tree.  Once again we had to say “no” as we had booked into a caravan park and were happy to get off the road.  We had not realised how hilly the New England Highway is and the car attached to the rear only made things worse.

The car has been invaluable during this trip and would have been invaluable if we had gone to the Northern Territory and South Australia as we initially planned.  It saved us at Townsville (four days in Townsville without a vehicle would have been tragic) and has provided us with an escape means we don’t normally have with the motor home.  On the other side of the coin, it has increased our fuel consumption (we estimate just over $200 for the entire trip) and has considerable slowed our progress with the speed limit of 90kph imposed on the Suzuki.  There were times when we would have travelled at 110kph and our speed up long climbs has been poor.  We have also had to be very careful with descents when the motor home had to be restrained due to the Suzuki speed limit and also on very steep descents when the additional weight pushes the motor home.  We will continue to tow but will be very selective.  If we ever do a lap of Australia, the car would probably have to stay behind.

After we established our camp, “He” grabbed a camera and headed to the hill that overlooks Tamworth to photograph the sunset.  We went to a pizza restaurant for our evening meal and watched television after we returned to the motor home.  We had a comfortable “last night” in our bed.

We refuelled at Monto and spoke with our son and learnt that our Grandson was on the mend but still in hospital.

We decided that Toowoomba would be our destination and we . . . → Read More: 2 August 2011 – Monto to Toowoomba QLD]]> For the second consecutive day we said goodbye to our friends before continuing our trip south.

We refuelled at Monto and spoke with our son and learnt that our Grandson was on the mend but still in hospital.

We decided that Toowoomba would be our destination and we made a booking at a Big 4 caravan park.  We had a relatively slow trip south with the car slowing us considerably due to the undulating nature of the landscape.  We also decided to stay on the major roads rather than shorter options where the quality of the roads was unknown.

We bypassed Kingaroy and joined the New England Highway where it starts at Yarraman.

We had actually travelled the long way to Toowoomba and were surprised when our travelling companions rang us to see where we were and if we wanted to join them at Warwick some 70k’s down the road from Toowoomba.  At that time they were probably 50ks’ in front of us.   We reluctantly had to say “no”.

As we travelled down the highway, we saw the first indication of how close we were to home with a road sign showing Sydney to be just over 950k’s away.  When considering the distance we had travelled during this trip, Sydney was just down the road and we were almost home.

We arrived at Toowoomba late in the afternoon with very little diesel in the tank.  We had some trouble getting to the caravan park as the route planned by the GPS took us into an area where roads were closed (we assumed as a result of the flood earlier in the year) and the detour around the road closures sent us towards a bridge that was lower than the motor home.  We had to return to the New England Highway and drive though the centre of Toowoomba before heading north to the location of the caravan park.

We were fortunate to be placed on a drive through site but needed to exit the caravan park and return in a different direction to level the motor home without detaching the car.

Just before “He” was about to cook tea, our water pump made a small sound that is normally associated with either pumping water or pressurising the pipes.  The pipes had already been pressurised and we were certainly not running water.

A quick investigation under the bed revealed a fair amount of water on the floor and further investigation revealed that a hot water pipe was wet.  After unpacking the entire contents of our storage area, “He” was able to remove all the water from the floor and perform a temporary repair on the pipe.

The repair was actually better than temporary and we will decide later if we need to do anything further.

We eventually cooked our tea and then watched television for a couple of hours.  The night was cool and it was very easy to sleep.

Nevertheless, back to our trip.

After receiving the . . . → Read More: 1 August 2011 – Rubyvale to Monto QLD]]> We’re home now and “He” is back at work.  Due to having a dose of the “Dog’s disease”, we have also neglected posting on our web site and issues with our hosting of the site have also added major delays.

Nevertheless, back to our trip.

After receiving the call from our son late Sunday night and then waiting for further news, we actually turned off our light just before 2:00am when we were comfortable that our Grandson was over the worse of his problems.

On Sunday, we had actually decided we would head to the coast and have a look around Rockhampton and then head south to Noosa and eventually Lennox Head where we would look for a relative.  The news about our Grandson plus a lot of other factors made us rethink that strategy and we decided it was time to head home.

It had never been our intention to visit this part of Australia during this trip and we have now seen enough to give us an appetite to return to the northern part of Queensland and spend sufficient time to explore this wonderful part of Australia.

We informed our travelling companions of our intentions to start to head home and they informed us that they would also be travelling south, again due to a family illness and the need to return home.

At 9:00am we said goodbye after having a quick discussion about our intended route south and the possible overnight stops.

After leaving the caravan park we drove both of our vehicles several kilometres down the road until we found a flat spot where we could attach the car.

We headed back through Sapphire to Anakie where we made the decision to turn east and head back to Emerald.  The other option was to turn west and head to Barcaldine and return home via the route that we had travelled to Queensland.  That option was longer in distance and far from attractive at the time.

We refuelled at Emerald (that was a bit of a joke with the local BP having a queue of about six caravans waiting for diesel and we managed to block a street when we joined the queue.  When we decided to abandon obtaining fuel here, we had an interesting trip through a car park as it was the only way we were able to return to the main road) and after speaking with our son continued to head east to the coal mining town of Blackwater where we stopped for lunch.

We were amazed with the number of coal trains assembled around Blackwater.  The trains consisted of about four diesels (two were in the centre) with fifty coal carriage either side of the centre diesels.  There must have been a dozen of these trains all fully laden waiting to head to Rockhampton and the coal loader.

We had hoped to stop at Mount Hay to look for thunder eggs but the turnoff we intended to take was just before Mt Hay and we missed the opportunity.  In hindsight, we were not aware of how close we were and had we known, we would have detoured to Mt Hay.

We turned south was about 80 kilometers short of Rockhampton and the road took us through Biloela and then to Monto where we booking into the local caravan park.

The disadvantage of having the car behind was emphasised during the descent into Monto when we made a very slow descent on a windy road.  Better to be safe than sorry.

Our travelling companions were at the same caravan park so we enjoyed happy hour before heading to bed relatively early.