Shorty's RV Adventures

Day 2 – Chillin’ in Wang

Posted on Sunday, May 26, 2013 by shorty

Chilling is an understatement when describing the current weather in Wangaratta. The overnight weather forecast was for -2 degrees (yes – minus two). We’re not sure if it got that low but it was 5 degrees inside the caravan at 7.00 am when I turned the heater on. The fog eventually went and it turned out to be a nice crisp day with clear blue skies.

Some readers of this blog will be aware that I am pretty serious about his Classic Car Photography and I spent the day at the 2013 Historic Winton motor racing at Winton some 30 kms down the highway. I had a very good day and caught up with several people I knew. I now have well over 1,000 photos to sort through but I’ll post some samples soon (plus provide a link where anyone interested can see more of my Classic Car Photography).

After refusing to get up until the temperature was in double digits, and without transportation, Ann lazed around the caravan, took a walk and read her book by the heater.

Tomorrow will probably be a bit of a slow day while I spend some time sorting and uploading photos to the Classic Car Photography website.

Categories: 2013 Big Adventure | Tags: wangaratta, winton

Day 1 – Melbourne to Painters Island Caravan Park Wangaratta

Posted on Saturday, May 25, 2013 by shorty

After cleaning and tidying the house ready for our house sitter, we slept in the Trailblazer in the back garden last night. Our neighbours were sure that we would freeze but on the contrary, we were so warm and comfortable that we actually slept in this morning! After packing a few more things and having a good laugh, we said good bye to our lovely neighbours and headed north towards Wangaratta.

The road works around the Western Highway before you get on to the Hume are nearly finished and it is a good run but when it is finished and has more signage, it will be fantastic.

We actually left home at 11am and drove 157 km to a very nice rest area (Grass Tree) about 20 km south of Euroa for a lovely picnic lunch in the sun.

We stopped again at Maccas just before the Wangaratta turnoff for a coffee and apple pie break.

We had a great run today with great driving weather and light traffic.

Total distance travelled was 295 kms which is a good effort for Tony who has rarely driven since his recent illness. A great start to our 2013 Big Adventure.

11 am – Ready to leave home

4 pm at Painters Island Caravan Park

Categories: 2013 Big Adventure | Tags: wangaratta

Hello and Welcome to Our Blog

Posted on Thursday, May 16, 2013 by shorty

Hello and welcome to Shorty’s RV Adventures.

Shorty (also known as Tony) and Ann have been travelling for a number of years but, unlike some of our caravanning friends, have not shared those adventures in an open blog.

That’s now changed and here we are blogging like the rest of them!

The plan is to start off blogging on our 2013 Big Adventure.

Categories: 2013 Big Adventure

Recap – Our 2012 Winton Adventure

Posted on Monday, July 2, 2012 by shorty

We thoroughly enjoyed our 2012 Winton Adventure and are really pleased that we could retrospectively add our memories and photos to our Shorty’s RV Adventures blog. Having our adventures recorded in this way does make it so easy to track back and relive the great times we have had in our RV adventures.

On all our adventures we have been to some wonderful new places, revisited some places we have been to before, made some great new friends, have seen some magical scenery, have endured good and bad weather, and have generally had a great time.

Here are a few statistics about our 2012 Winton Adventure:

Total distance covered was 5,520 kilometres
Total diesel used was 785.76 litres at a total cost of $1,208.84
Average price of diesel was 153.45 cents per litre
Highest price paid for diesel was 162.00 cents per litre – at Hillston
Average fuel consumption for the entire trip was 14.23 litres/100 km
Longest distance travelled between refills was 593 km

We’re not finished travelling yet …. stay tuned for more of Shorty’s RV Adventures.

Shorty

Categories: 2012 Winton Adventure

Day 38 – Euroa to Home

Posted on Saturday, June 30, 2012 by shorty

We left Euroa at about 9.30 am. It was very damp and foggy and as it had rained quite a bit during the night I had to engage 4WD to drive out of our site. There were other travellers who had come in the night before cold and wet as they had not been able to get into Benalla either.

We headed down the Hume Highway and stopped at the Service Centre at Wallen for coffee and finally arrived home at about 1 pm. We unhitched and started some washing, turned on the central heating and had lunch. Then the heating stopped and would not restart. I rang Brivis and logged a service call but did not hear back. We unloaded some more stuff from the van and went food shopping. I’m exhausted. Ann whipped up a delicious dinner before an early night in our “usual” bed.

Everything else can wait a couple of days.

Despite a few grumbles over the last few days, we really did have a fantastic Winton Adventure!

Categories: 2012 Winton Adventure | Tags: euroa, home

Day 37 – Wagga Wagga to Euroa

Posted on Friday, June 29, 2012 by shorty

We left Wagga Wagga at about 9 am in unpleasant weather. Traffic on the Sturt Highway was very heavy and we had to pull over to let trucks pass. There seems to be a strange entry from the Sturt Highway to the Hume Highway if you are heading south. We headed down the Hume and stopped about 11 am for a break. We had lunch at Miss Marple’s Café in Holbrook.

We then continued down the highway with the intention of spending the night at Benalla Showgrounds. However, the Benalla turn-offs were blocked by police due to a serious road accident. We kept going in driving rain to Euroa. The Euroa Caravan Park was a pleasant surprise. It is being upgraded and has very nice amenities and a new camp kitchen. The roadways had been asphalted the day before. We had a nice big site right on the river, although it was a bit damp underfoot (should that be underwheel?). There were lots of ducks. We went for a short walk and then settled inside for the night. We were cold and tired but it was warm in the van with the heater on.

Categories: 2012 Winton Adventure | Tags: euroa, wagga wagga

Day 36 – Forbes to Wagga Wagga

Posted on Thursday, June 28, 2012 by shorty

We left Forbes about 9 am and headed for West Wyalong. We stopped at 955 Poppet Head Rest Area in Wyalong for coffee in the park. It was a nice stop set back from the road in a park setting with a big Mine Poppet Head structure. Then it was on to Temora for lunch at Lake Centenary. Only a day stop but very nice. The lake is used for V8 boat racing, water skiing, etc. Then it was down through Old Junee to Wagga Wagga Big 4 for the night where we had pizza left over from last night for dinner. We are both sick of travelling so far each day and are both feeling very tired. The roads are not wonderful. There is still a lot of water by the roadside and lots of long wide loads on the road and we seem to be having to pull over often to let trucks past.

Categories: 2012 Winton Adventure | Tags: forbes, wagga wagga

Day 35 – Gilgandra to Forbes

Posted on Wednesday, June 27, 2012 by shorty

Up early. It was cold but not freezing and raining a bit. Driving impressions today were that the roads were a bit better –not as bumpy. We saw some VERY wide vehicles coming the other way and had to pull off the road several times to let large trucks pass. Road stops seemed to generally be of a pretty poor standard.

Need to Pull off the Road for these Big Boys

We drove around the outskirts of Dubbo and were looking forward to stopping at Maccas for a treat of coffee and apple pie but we couldn’t find a place to park so we continued down the highway. We pulled in to the Mountain Creek rest area for a coffee stop before heading on to Peak Hill. Peak Hill is a nice but dying town with a closed mine and lots of lovely buildings, including 3 great antique shops. Ann cooked up bacon and eggs for lunch in the van. I found some old cars to photograph. Then it was on to Parkes. We drove through the middle of town and it is bigger than we expected. We will be back at some stage to visit “the Dish” which is nearby.

Old Car in Peak Hill

Then back on the road to the Country Club Caravan Park in Forbes. Yes it is 5 minutes walk to town. Yes it is opposite the golf course. No it is NOT flash. OK and clean with a good site and only $22.50 for the night but nothing like what we expected. We arrived at about 2 pm and set up the van without unhitching. We then walked into town and had a nice long chat with the ladies at the Information Centre. Charmaine was interested in cars and lives opposite the freecamp in Forbes. We kept walking all around town. We bought some stubbies and came back to the van via Maccas where we stopped for our treat of coffee and apple pies. We’ll get pizza delivered to the van for tea tonight as we’re both very tired.

Country Club Caravan Park in Forbes

Interesting Type of Drive Thru Site at Country Club Caravan Park in Forbes

Categories: 2012 Winton Adventure | Tags: forbes, Gilgandra

Day 34 – Lightning Ridge to Gilgandra

Posted on Tuesday, June 26, 2012 by shorty

Up early and left Lightning Ridge and headed back to the Castlereagh Highway and made our way to Walgett. We refuelled at Walgett and then parked outside the Walgett Memorial Pool in the sun for morning tea. Walgett is not a town that we think we would like to stay overnight.

Morning Tea Stop at Walgett

Then it was back on the bouncy, bumpy road before stopping at Combogolong rest area for lunch. A blue Monaro raced in and out a couple of times and the Police raced in and raced out – something was going on but we have no idea exactly what. We had a nice lunch in the sun.

Back on the road, we drove through Coonamble and on to Gulargambone and checked out the caravan park that we had intended to stay in. It was small but looked quite inviting and had some drive through sites. We drove down the street and found that it was a dead end but I somehow managed to turn the van around. It is a pretty town and it would be a restful stay. They have large corrugated iron cockies on big poles around town.

We decided to drive a bit further today so it was on to Gilgandra for the night where we stayed at the Gilgandra Caravan Park on the river. It has a beautiful, almost botanical park like setting and very clean facilities. We went for a long walk into town and had coffee and a rock cake at the Rock Cake Café/Bakery. Nice.

Great Spot at Gilgandra Caravan Park

Categories: 2012 Winton Adventure | Tags: Gilgandra, lightning ridge

Day 33 – Surat to Lightning Ridge

Posted on Monday, June 25, 2012 by shorty

Up early and filled the Ute with diesel before hitching up. Ann rang Lightning Ridge Outback Resort Caravan Park and booked a site for tonight. We then headed down the highway and more bad roads and road works.

Morning tea was at a nice bakery in St George. We also went to IGA and had a bit of a look around town. We both liked St George.

We then drove through more road works and bad roads before stopping for lunch in the park at Dirranbandi. We bought some supplies at the pub and continued on to Hebel, which is a tiny town with tiny Caravan Park, a quirky General Store and a Pub.

Lunch Stop at Dirranbandi

Then back on the highway and on to Lightning Ridge Outback Resort where we secured a good site. We both want to come back here. The deal is to stay 4 nights and only pay for 3 – we would stay for 8 nights as there seems to be an awful lot to see and do around town.

Welcome to Lightning Ridge

Welcome to Lightning Ridge Outback Resort

Interesting Sights at Lightning Ridge

Interesting Sights/Sites at Lightning Ridge

After a long walk around town we had a BBQ steak dinner in the van. It had been a big day with nice weather during the day but cold at night. As long as we can stay in a powered site the caravan electrics seem to be behaving.

Categories: 2012 Winton Adventure | Tags: lightning ridge, surat