A Motorhome Morning Tea - In Lockdown

New South Wales is currently in a COVID statewide lockdown with new heavy restrictions in place. We cannot travel more than 5km and even then without an authorised reason.

All travelers have returned home. Some Grey Nomads, without a permanent address, have been fortunate and allowed to lockdown where they are.

We were in the preparation stage and doing some overnight trips with our fur family, so a morning tea in our garden allows for some acclimatisation.

Our plans for a day trip were cancelled just over a week ago, so this is the next best thing.

Lockdown home for the motorhome.

Watching the 11AM COVID update.
Even with good coffee, is somewhat depressing.

The Laptop is running (and being charged) on the 240VAC inverter from the House Batteries. The Solar Panel is keeping them topped up. Proof of concept, but still needs an overnight free camp stay to evaluate our electrical supply needs.

Everyone seems quite settled and relaxed.

Bambi and Buffy have already become acquainted with what it is all about and don't understand why we can't go anywhere. Mac and Cody explored the motorhome and made themselves comfortable, but have yet to experience a day trip.

Unfortunately it will be some time before we start traveling.

Day Trip to East Gresford - CANCELLED

Tomorrow we had plans to do another daytime shakedown trip, with all four dogs in tow, to Gresford. A prelude to doing some overnight travels around Mudgee.

However by 11am on Thursday our plans for Friday were canceled. A snap lockdown was announced covering a good portion of the Hunter Valley, including where we live in Largs by 5pm.

Our butcher has a queue and the mini supermarket did too. cars were struggling to find parking. Never seen Patterson so busy!

We had to be satisfied with a much shorter trip.

The Jeep is now back in the garage and we are keeping busy with Lockdown activities.

Lockdown Soups - Beef and Vegetable or Pumpkin? Both are very nice!

The lockdown is meant to last for a week, but I doubt it will and expect it to be extended.

Modifying and Equipping Our Motorhome 1

 One thing that was annoying is the location of the Inverter switch.

To turn on the inverter you need to go outside, Unlock and open the Battery Compartment and operate the switch in the top right hand side corner. There isn't any indicator inside the battery box or elsewhere to show it is on or off. The Battery compartment, along with the LPG Gas compartment do not have internal lights

The inverter is made by REDARC and they have an optional remote panel available, which I was able to buy. 

Now to fit.

The cable path between the Inverter GPO and the Inverter is not as easy as it looks.

By feeding a draw cable from the left hand storage compartment and another  from the battery compartment to the outside, it was then possible to draw the cable supplied through and crimp on a new Plug.

It took a few goes and reminded me of my days working on "O Boats", the Oberon Submarines.

 The results

From Top to bottom
The added REDARC Inverter remote panel
The inverter powered GPO (General Power Outlet)

and at the bottom are 2 x USB Power Outlets

Now on a cold and/or wet evening I do not have to take a torch and go outside to turn on the Inverter. 😁

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LPG Cylinders are hard to manage. Are they full? ...and if not, how much is left?

There are some nice and expensive systems out there that use sensors stuck on the underside of LPG Cylinders, along with Bluetooth connection and a Android App. 

This is a Garth Gas Safety Gauge and shutoff valve from Bunnings for $19.89. We will see how well it works.

The gauge in place and reading correctly as the gas is off and there is a little pressure in the gas line.

Next is a radio antenna for CB and more importantly 2 meter and 70 centimeter Amateur Radio.

Off to Muswellbrook - A Day Trip Shakedown

With the two weeks up and Heather needing to attend an appointment in Muswellbrook, we decided to make this another shakedown trip.

We learnt a lot from our previous short trip and lunch outing - see A Day Trip - Kitchener Poppet Head Heritage Park, and have added some missing items. 

We left home at 7am with both Bambi and Buffy and immediately had a quick walk and doggie comfort stop in Largs Park next to the Ernie Jurd Oval.

The weather was clear and a crisp 7C (44.6F) with 19C (66F) forecast.

Google maps claims that the quickest way to Muswellbrook is by following the Northern side of the Hunter River The trip starts with with Maitland Vale Road and eventually arrives at Singleton, then on to Muswellbrook by the New England Highway.

We headed off and found that the Iveco comfortably managed the winding hills and dales with ease. Bambi and Buffy have settled into motorhome travel like seasoned grey nomads. The countryside is easy on the eyes.

Mitchells Flat, Elderslie Road

Morning Tea at Rose Point Park in Singleton provided another pit stop for Bambi and Buffy, along with ourselves. The addition of a whistling kettle, a coffee plunger and Udder Farm milk and we were enjoying a decent cuppa. Beats the hit and miss of buying one. A tick in the box for the water tank, water pump, sink, grey water tank, gas stove and refrigerator.

Rose Point Park, Singleton

The park is on the bank of the Hunter River and has natural bush surrounding the riverbank, an expanse of sports fields and a large children's play area. The play area has a sensory section with different activities centered around all the senses. There is a garden of plants marked as "Taste, Smell and Touch". 

On the road - Glennies Creek, Camberwell

We made good progress and the traffic was minimal. The motorhome makes traveling present and drives extremely well. Our two passengers were happily enjoying their day.

While Heather is busy, a walk along the Hunter River. The bank is overgrown and the Muswellbrook Waterworks is nearby. Plenty happy dog time spent exploring.

OK we have had our walk - why are we waiting?

We headed out of Muswellbrook and on to Denman Road, past Mount Arthur Coal Mine, 

Drayton Coal Mine

We then cut the corner by turning on to Edderton Road past Mt Arthur, towards Jerry's Plains.

Traffic Lights in the middle of nowhere - Edderton Road roadworks.

Arriving at Jerry's Plains - Time to pull over! 

There are two tight turns in town which would have been interesting! On the eastern side of town is our next stop.

Time for Lunch at the Free Camp at Jerry' Plains.

We bought with us from home the ingredients to make up some chicken salad wraps, along with some treats for our travellers, followed by another round of coffee. Both the girls are happy that the "house on wheels" has a refrigerator. 😄

The new table and adjustable seats were very comfortable and good value being on sale. Thank you Freddy's Fishing & Outdoors!

Jerry's plains School of Arts - Well equipped little township. 

The nearby horses were curious!

The free campsite at Jerry's Plains is well equipped! It has a children's playground, tennis courts, wood BBQ, clean toilets, water, tables, shade and pets are allowed on a leash. The council has provided a RV Dump Point. Within a short walk there is a good pub (so we are told) and petrol station close by. Jerry's Plains is on the Golden Highway, but the road noise wasn't loud at the campsite.

Sitting back and enjoying the moment abruptly changed as dark clouds rolled in and the air cooled suddenly. We decided it was time to leave... Oh well next time..... 

Mount Thorley on the way home. 

This old house at Mount Thorley must have some stories to tell. Some internet detective work found a document with a reference to a Mount Thorley Brick Farm House, the land it stands on was bought by Eliza Glass in 1870 and the home was built approximately a decade later.

The trip home was uneventful. The traffic moved well and there was a bit of congestion rejoining the New England Highway, stopping briefly at Rutherford for fuel. The Iveco's fuel consumption is yet to be calculated properly, but looks good. 

Another successful shakedown trip where everything went very well. We are now excited on what possibilities our motorhome has to offer.

Now we prepare

 

We are not traveling for the next couple of weeks, so we have spend the time becoming familiar with the systems, fitting out and preparing.

Seat covers are a necessity. We have some being made to order. We chose a grey material similar to wetsuit material which will be easier to keep clean and waterproof.

One of the things that is missing from the Sunliner build is to be able to remotely turn on and off the DC to AC Inverter.

Currently (pardon the pun) the Inverter is switched on by accessing the Battery Compartment and reaching awkwardly to the hidden side of the unit. Not at all fun on a cold wet rainy night to achieve.

A quick check with the manufacturer showed a remote panel is available with a switch and status indicator. The wiring just plugs in and the panel is an easy install. 

I will fit the panel next to the double GPO (General Power Outlet) marked Inverter and then it is a simple matter of touching a button.

More on this in a future post where I shall show the install

There has been interest from the fur family members on the goings on.

The things we need to consider is containing the fur family outside and I need to look at the fitting of radio equipment. Besides the obligatory UHF CB radio there is Amateur Radio gear to be fitted.

A Day Trip - Kitchener Poppet Head Heritage Park

We knew that there was a possibility that we would not be traveling for a couple of weeks, so it was time to have the first shakedown trip.

It was decided to go locally for a picnic, take two dogs, Buffy and Bambi and use some of the motor homes equipment.

The trip was pleasant and gave us some indication of how touring will be - quite comfortable. Heather is the driver and she thoroughly enjoys how the Iveco Sunliner handles. The girls, Buffy and Bambi traveled if they were born to it.

We arrived and parked near the pond.

Kitchener Dam across Black Creek has created an large pond and the surrounding bush is now a recognised nature preserve for waterbirds and other wildlife.

The park has facilities such as parking, picnic tables, a BBQ, children's playground, a bushwalking trail and toilets. There are also display boards giving a history of the mine.

Sadly there also is significant damage in the nearby bushland and Werakata National Park by illegal use of trail bikes.

Now off for a walk!

Now this is a dogs life!

The view of the park from the road

The Poppet Head

The Pond

A quick setup, but it did the job

I also successfully performed callbacks for Amateur Radio NSW VK2WI News relayed by VK2RNC, an amateur radio repeater on nearby Mt Sugarloaf.  

There hasn't been time to procure a external BBQ, so lunch was Chicken Salad wraps and the refrigerator was utilised to keep the ingredients and drinks cool and and dishes were washed up afterwards.

We set up a small collapsible table, made up our lunch and had a great time! The refrigerator happily changed from 24VAC at home to 12VDC on the road and LPG when parked. I was able to power a 2m / 70cm transceiver from the house batteries. The water pump and sink did their job also. 

Lessons learnt. We were missing scissors, the table and chairs were too small, elastic bands around cutlery and hand wipes. 

Google GPS cannot correctly pronounce names of roads. "Abber Dar Ray" Road for Aberdare Road and closer to home, "Pit Knackery" Road for Pitnacree Road. 😂

First Shakedown - a Success!

The Adventure Begins

The adventure really began 354 days ago when after lots of research, we visited Australian Motorhome and Caravans at Bennetts Green and spoke with Denise.

Denise was extremely helpful and pointed out things we had not thought of, such as bed sizes and fixtures. The Iveco Sunliner Switch S441 ticked all the boxes and was a better option for us than the Sage we had originally considered.

A discussion of a coffee later, we committed to buy. Fast forward 333 days later through three COVID-19 lockdowns and component shortages, our new motorhome left the factory in Victoria.

We travelled by public transport starting from Maitland Station followed by bus.

By 9am we met our new family member 

Denise has retired so wasn't able to give us a handover. Tom from the servicing department stepped in and gave us a great tour of the functions and operation of all the equipment and systems which make a motorhome.

This took quite some time but was well worth it. I had spend some time online and reading, becoming familiar with motorhome, but Tom made everything clear to Heather and I.

The final paperwork with the Dealership Principal Ron was made simple and pleasant experience and a quick test drive to familiarise the driving controls and position we then thanked Tom and we were on our way.

Newcastle suburbs are quite busy at 1:30PM but Heather found the Iveco very easy to drive. The ride is quite comfortable and the vehicle is very responsive and surprisingly nimble in suburban traffic. 

We decided to own up to Heather's parents who had no knowledge of our acquisition so headed down the Hunter expressway, cruising comfortably at the speed limit. 

After the initial surprise, Heather's parents were quite impressed in our new acquisition.

A lot happened during our wait. The design changed with a larger dry bathroom and the price increased. With the waiting time now 18 months + and the price rise, we could have sold ours and made a profit!! 

Our delivered S441 is a bit of a hybrid of old and new layouts. We ended up with the improved kitchen with the added lift up extension leaf and the older wet style bathroom which kept the wardrobe. We are happy with the mixed layout.

We also went with the options pack;

• An upgraded stove which included an oven
• The fitting of a Diesel Heater
• An additional 120Ah House Battery
• A small (1000W) 240VAC Sine Wave Inverter
• An external Gas Point for a suitable Outdoor BBQ
• A improved collapsible Table
• and the Grey Internal and External Finish (Now seems to be standard)

Link to the current Sunliner Switch

https://www.sunliner.com.au/motorhomes/switch