Battery Rock and Merriwa Trip

Heather had an appointment in Muswellbrook, a great excuse for another overnight shakedown trip.

The original plan was to check out the RV friendly town of Aberdeen 12km north of Muswellbrook. 

The Hunter River Leaving Singleton

Taylor Park is listed as both a daytime rest area with a free camp are nearby. Our stop at lunch was very pleasant. Our dogs enjoyed a walk between the trees.

 

Abercairney Terrace Memorial Grove Aberdeen

Next door is Aberdeen's Nine Hole Golf Course

The Aberdeen Free Camp was closed 😞

We had another plan if there was a problem. 

Back on the road and almost an hour later we arrived at Battery Rock, located between Sandy Hollow and Merriwa on the Golden Highway. 3km west of the township of Gungal. 

The rock formations are an attraction, an interesting example of Columnar Jointing, somewhere over 30 million years old.  The rest area has just been done up and has a section well away from the road. 

Battery Rock Rest Area

We met a friendly couple. Jill and Geoff from Bathurst who had just picked up their new caravan and talked about the usual Grey Nomad stuff. What we did one for work, family, where we are going and where from etc. Bambi did her best Chihuahua Ambassador thing.😄  

Our Passengers

Here is the Fur Family relaxing. I'm sure that they are the guests on a luxury motor coach holiday and Heather and I are the staff.

Will remember for our Mudgee trip as a known good overnight stopover.

On the way to Merriwa on the Golden Highway

Approaching Merriwa

The Merriwa River

GrainCorp Silos at Merriwa

If you want to know more or wondering why the merino sheep has red socks check here - https://www.australiansiloarttrail.com/merriwa

Liddell Power Station

I wonder if an electric car needed more charge you could knock on their door with a Jerry Can, no, a Leyden Jar and get some more electrons?

A problem

We planned to return the back way from Singleton via  Clydesdale though to Maitland Vale but unbeknown to us the bride east of Hillsborough was closed for replacement. Turned around and down Luskintyre Road past the  Luskintyre Airfield and back onto the New England Highway, to Maitland and home.

 

 

Luskintyre Bridge over the Hunter River looking towards Lochinvar.

Turned around and down Luskintyre Road past the Luskintyre Airfield and back onto the New England Highway, to Maitland and home.

Cody was much better and less anxious.

Overall the trip went well! 

There were some lessons learnt, too. 

• Don't forget some oil for the BBQ. (Fixed)
• Fit a fan to move the air when there isn't any breeze. I have ordered a Caframo Sirocco II Fan, as these come highly recommended by others.

We are now planning a major trip for December

Our Overnight Shakedown Trip

Off we go....

Now that Rural NSW is out of lockdown and travel is permitted, we planned our overnight shakedown trip and made it happen. 

Not sure of what to expect with numbers, we elected 3 possible sites to free camp along The Golden Highway, around the Jerry's Plains area.  

The purpose of the shakedown was to test out systems and sleeping in the motorhome. Our 4 little dogs were also joining us.

The map 

We left home at 2pm and our first stop was the Brankston Rest Area for a doggy break. Set up there was a COVID-19 popup test centre doing very little business.

Back on the road and there was little traffic heading west, with a steady flow of work commuters heading east to home. The motorhome is easy to drive and easily keeps up with the traffic. The ride is good, but some find it a but firm. Our other vehicle is a Jeep Wrangler so we are used to a firmer ride.

We were enjoying ourselves so much we somehow missed the Golden Highway turn off with its huge sign over the roadway. 😆 

Not a problem as Whittingham has a right turnoff, Range Road, over a railway bridge and 3km (1.85 Miles) later we were back on track.

View from the Railway Bridge - Range Road

Range Road goes the Australian Army Infantry Museum, then before we knew it, back on to the Golden Highway.

The Golden Highway runs eastwards from Dubbo towards Newcastle. The origin of the name is unclear. I found a quote on Wikipedia "The Golden Highway provides a fairly low altitude crossing of the Great Dividing Range. It runs through the Hunter Region and gives access to the golden west of New South Wales." 

The first potential overnight site is at the Warkworth Rest Area. A short distance from the highway. We visited there in the Jeep in between lockdowns and found that the toilets were clean and civilised, has undercover picnic tables and plenty of space to set up for an overnight stay.

The Oval was boggy and a concrete Cricket Pitch was hidden in the tall grass.

Unfortunate Sign Placement

This visit found that the toilets were "out of order:, no real problem for us, but frustrating for those who stopped for a comfort break, of which there was quite a few!

Time for a Cuppa

We Walked the dogs and were promptly swooped by Magpies. Moving to a different spot within the rest area didn't help.

The park has a sports oval in the middle along with a concrete cricket pitch. The grass was around 30cm (1 foot) tall! Perhaps the intention is to make hay? 😁

The park was originally called Johnstone Park, named after the founder of the nearby colliery. On static display is the Lee Norse Continuous Coal Mining Machine from 1959. Times change and now Coal which once bought prosperity, is a dirty word, hence the original park name is no longer in use.

History of the area

Spot Number Two

We decided to move on to our next possible overnight camp at Jerry's Plains and leave the aggressive Magpies and frustrated comfort break seekers behind.

The area is known for horse breeding, wine making and coal mining. The origins of the name Jerry's Plains and other info can be found here.

Eleven minutes later we pulled into Jerry's Plains camp and found it almost empty. The weather had been windy for the whole day and there was scattered rain about. The site provided some protection from the winds.

Only one other person here!

Oh! ...I forgot to mention our curious and friendly neighbours.

We set up camp and were ready for dinner when the rains turned up.

Not looking good!

Now starting to Rain.

Windy and Wet - wasn't for long.

Back to the BBQ. We had a range of salads with us, too.

Happy excited travelers. L-R Bambi and Buffy

We settled down to a relaxing evening. The toilet and shower, along with the supporting systems, were trialed out successfully and feeling tired, we went to bed.

Unfortunately Cody was very unsettled and although he had traveled well, was a bit spooked with the idea of being away from home. He kept us up for a few hours before settling down.

Next Morning

We slept in to almost 9am! Thanks Cody! 😀

Saturday Morning at Jerry's Plains

We went for a walk

Cute little Pony - Our pack thought he was another dog. 😂

We only had two others camping overnight and some visitors taking a break in the morning.

Jerry's Plains Camp is a great place to spend a night. It is Free Camp with nice Toilet facilities an undercover free BBQ and tables, drinking water and a kids playpark.

A Dump Point - Exciting when you need one. 😁

Friendly neighbours!

The trip Home

We then packed up and decided on a brunch at Rose Point at Singleton. Another walk for all.

Except for children's Play Park, Rose Point was very quiet 

Looks a nice spot to have some Brunch.
Sallad and cold meats on fresh bread rolls.

We had brunch inside as it was very windy - The view was nice!

Resting Driver

Overall the trip went well! 

There were some lessons learnt, too. 

• The location of some needed items were inaccessible when the bed is down.
• Water usage was poor but we did not use any of the water available at our stops either.
• Power was excellent with the batteries only going down to 88% overnight and back up to 100% at 9:30am. 
• We need a dustpan and broom!

Now to plan the next trip! 

That was fast!

 The news regularly covers the story on the delays with Australia Post, freight and courier services due to strike action and COVID-19 absenteeism to the need to quarantine. 

Our Motorhome has more fuses than anything on wheels I've ever encountered. So far I have found 3 fuse boxes and a 240VAC combined ELB/Current breaker! 

I ordered a box of assorted fuses from Sydney yesterday at 11:30am and they were delivered the following day by Aramex (ex Fastway) midday.😮

In a previous life, I was partner in a business and our experience with Fastway lead us to calling them Slow (as) Snails. How things change, well done Aramex!

This will go into the handy kit of things, along with one of my multimeters.

Happy Hour and a BBQ

 Happy Hour and testing out the BBQ.

The BBQ connects to the motorhomes external LPG gas outlet

Steak and Salad preparation under the supervision of the tribe.

The evening was a great success!

Modifying and Equipping Our Motorhome 3

 The outdoor BBQ

Our Motorhome BBQ was sent from Kaiser Boating by Australia Post on the 19th of August and arrived today 23 days to travel from Seaforth Victoria to us here in Largs NSW. COVID-19 has adversely impacted post in both NSW and VIC.

Samantha, Trent, Aubree & Abbie had sent me a nice BBQ flipper tool for Fathers Day which goes very nicely with it.

We are looking forward to the rain going away and for us to try out the BBQ here at home.  A purpose made cotton canvas storage bag is on its way.

Why not a cheapie BBQ? 

One well known camping store has a BBQ for only $119, a well known hardware chain have one for $149 and a Webber is $329, but buying a BBQ is not that simple.

The BBQ was bought to plug into an external gas outlet on our Motorhome and therefore must comply with the regulations requiring it to have a Flame Guard Safety Stop. Marine BBQs have had this requirement for longer than RVs.

Currently most of the big names products do not comply with this requirement!

It is a false economy to take risks with a RV worth $150K plus and remember insurers don't like paying out if they don't have to.

For a detailed explanation read below.

AS/NZS 5601.2 Gas Installations – LP Gas installations in caravans and boats for non-propulsive purposes clause 6.3 states “all appliances shall be fitted with flame safeguard systems to all burners.”

When a BBQ is connected to a bayonet or fixed installation it is deemed to be a part of the installation and must have flame safeguard.

If the BBQ is fixed to a caravan or on a product such as a slide out, the BBQ is deemed to be a part of the installation and must have flame safeguard.

Having a gas bayonet is legal if fitted by a licensed gas fitter. Appliances with flame safeguards can legally be run from that bayonet fitting. In the case of some popular barbecues on the market they do not, so legally they cannot be used off the bayonet fitting.

The report continues on: The solution is to have a BBQ that has flame safeguard or to not fix the BBQ to the caravan or a product such as a slide e.g. supply loose, connect via a gas bottle directly e.g. the gas bottle sitting on the ground and have labels to ensure the gas bottle does not get fitted into compartments where BBQ is. See This Link.

Modifying and Equipping Our Motorhome 2

The next item to be fitted is the antenna mount.

This is the 2m/70cm/CB antenna mount. 2m is an VHF Amater Radio Band, 70cm  is a UHF Amateur Radio band and CB is often what gets referred to, in error, as "The UHF". Used by Truck drivers and travellers.

In truth the UHF Radio Spectrum is used by many services such as, Government and Public two way radio/data, Digital TV, Garage Door Openers, Car Remotes, Military, Amateur Radio etc and CB uses a small part of the UHF spectrum too.

Depending in which state you are in dictates the rules on mounting antennas, light bars etc, so check with the rules that apply to you.

Some states frown on antennas on the drivers side  and anything that sticks out beyond the dimensions of the vehicle. Having said that I'm constantly amazed in what we do see on the road!

Deni Ute Muster 2014

The install of a commercially available mount was quick and easy once I knew where. 

A neat solution

Now to run in the cabling through the firewall gland and tap off the 12 volt power.

A Sticker for the Motorhome and what it means.

As newcomers to the motorhome world we became members at the Caravan and Camping show earlier this year, to a club called the Campervan & Motorhome Club of Australia Ltd (CMCA).

The CMCA offer some great products and services to their members and becoming a member is well worth considering.

The CMCA also support an initiative called Self Contained Vehicle (SCV) Policy and Leave No Trace® (LNT) Code of Conduct.

Those who have a RV suitably equipped and sign up the Code of Conduct get a sticker for their rig.

The Leave No Trace® (LNT) Code of Conduct is as follows

As an environmentally conscious recreational vehicle owner, I/we hereby agree to the following: 

• To have my vehicle comply with the CMCA Self Contained Vehicle (SCV) Policy and to display the SCV
accreditation on my vehicle at all times. 

• To stay in any approved rest area for the period that the accommodation vehicle can be self-contained
or as designated by the relevant signage. This includes obtaining any necessary permission from
controlling authorities and or payment of fees where applicable. When camping in other locations please
observe the CMCA Bush Camping Code. 

• To always take care of the natural environment and respect community facilities to ensure future
generations of RV travellers can continue to enjoy what local authorities have provided. 

• To park my vehicle so as not to obstruct reasonable passage, exit or access to other vehicles or property.
To be courteous and do not park in a manner that impedes the movement of other vehicles especially in
rest areas used by heavy transport. 

• To dispose of all rubbish, and grey and black water in an appropriate manner. 

• Where time and means permit, support local communities and businesses as an appreciation for the
facilities that have been provided.

Quite simply be thoughtful and a responsible motorhome/caravan user.

In NZ the accreditation (an official NZ Standard - NZS 5465) allows those accredited motorhome/caravan users to camp in posted areas where there are no facilities and the environment is protected. Australia needs to follow suit.

Shouldn't we all be able to follow the above? Yes, but there are a few who give RV travellers a bad name.

Who would have thought that this would be necessary? telling people to bury their waste? A promotion by Aussie Travel Code

The mind boggles!