- Weather: A mild night, it was 17.7° at 12:30am and in Moree it reached 24.2° at 1:45pm, just before we arrived.
- Wind: Calm.
- Daily distance travelled with fiver: 532 kms. Total towed this trip: 14,452 kms.
- Next G Mobile reception at Gwydir CP, Moree: Yes.
- Next G 'Blue Toaster' reception without external aerial: Yes
- Telstra WiFi (MF-60) modem reception without external aerial: Yes
After going to bed just after 8pm, it was no surprise that we were both up by 6am and on the Internet. We were all packed and ready to left at 7:45am.
We said goodbye to John, our neighbour at the back, whom I had many happy hours with. We left the Broadwater Tourist park at 7:45am and headed along the Freeway to the Logan Motorway, swinging past Ipswich, heading for the Cunningham Gap (Major roadworks at Cunningham Gap, they are replacing slabs of roadway), only delayed for approx 5 - 10 minutes. The traffic was extremely light, highlighted by the first truck I spoke too about passing me was just south of Goondiwindi,that was nearly 400kms from Southport. Sunday is definitely the day to leave the Gold Coast. We stopped just south of Fassifern for a break, then did a fuel stop at Caltex just outside of Warwick, stopped at Oman-ama for a break, then stopped BP Goondiwindi for fuel and lunch. Arrived at Gwydir CP, Moree at 3pm and had to wait for 10 minutes while the office girl attended to the new arrivals. Finally, we set up camp on site 19 and spent the afternoon just relaxing on the internet, we were too buggered to go into the thermal pools, so we didn't.
Tomorrow we head for Peak Hill, to stay with Leighton and Pauline who own
Peak Hill Caravan Park.
- Weather: A cold night, it was 6.2° at 5:30am and reached 21.5deg at 1:30pm.
- Wind: 20 kph with gusts to 50kph E.
- Daily distance travelled with fiver: 446 kms. Total towed this trip: 14,908 kms.
- Next G Mobile reception at Leighton's Peak Hill CP: Yes.
- Next G 'Blue Toaster' reception without external aerial: Yes
- Telstra WiFi (MF-60) modem reception without external aerial: Yes
After going to bed just after 8:30pm, it was no surprise that we were both awake by 6am and on the Internet. It was cold overnight, I took Marg's spare blanket, which caused dramas around 5am, so tonight the sleepingbag makes a triumphant return. We were all packed and ready to left at 7:45am.
We left the Gwydir CP, Moree at 7:45am and headed south along the Newell hwy, we stopped at Narrabri for fuel, then stopped at Coonabarabran for a rest, then stopped at Gilgandra for fuel and lunch. We arrived at Leighton's at 2:09pm, Leighton put us on one of his new drive through site, very nice. At 4pm, Leighton came around with the scones and jam, when he completed his deliveries, he came back and we chatted until Pauline contacted Leighton on their 2 way, more customers had arrived. Marg and I walked over to the Peak Hill RSL about 5pm, all of 200 meters away. I sat down and had a few chilled refreshers, Marg played the pokies. My big thrill was saying hello to Cec, Cec is still alive, he is 93 and is still cutting hair. Back in Easter 2009, we stayed at Leighton's with Pat and Cheryl and both Pat and I went to Cec's for a haircut. Cec is still as sharp as a tack. We had dinner at 5:30pm in the RSL's bistro, it was YUMMA.
Tomorrow we head for Shepparton.
- Weather: A cold night, it was 8.3° at 6am and reached low 20°s during the afternoon.
- Wind: 20 kph with gusts to 45kph NE.
- Daily distance travelled with fiver: 574 kms. Total towed this trip: 15,482 kms.
- Next G Mobile reception at Shepparton: Yes.
- Next G 'Blue Toaster' reception without external aerial: Yes
- Telstra WiFi (MF-60) modem reception without external aerial: Yes
After going to bed just after 9pm, we were both awake by 6am and on the Internet. It was cold overnight but not as cold as I expected. I had my sleepingbag on from the start and if anything, I may have been a bit too warm, we were all packed and ready to left at 7:30am, but it took 10 minutes to empty the shitter. Thanks Leighton for the use of your dump point.
We left Leighton's at 7:40am and headed south along the Newell hwy, we stopped at Parkes for fuel, then stopped at a rest area for a rest, then stopped at West Wyalong for a rest, then we stopped at the Fruit Fly disposal bin just North of Narrandera, as we had some tomatoes, so we threw them in the bin. We stopped at the Caltex Narrandera on the Southside for fuel and lunch, we bought egg and lettuce sangas and they were YUMMA. Next stop was for a rest at 'Luke Park' in Jerilderie and then onto Strathmerton for a rest and then stopped on the Northside of Shepparton for fuel and arrived at the Big4 Parklands at 3:26pm.
I can't believe the lack of traffic both ways, I think we were passed by about 4 trucks on the road. So far so good.
Tomorrow we should be home about lunchtime.
- Weather: An unexpected mild night, it was 16° at 6am and reached about 20°s during the afternoon.
- Wind: 40 kph with gusts to 80kph N.
- Daily distance travelled with fiver: 224 kms. Total towed this trip: 15,706 kms.
After going to bed just after 9:30pm, we were both awake by 6am and on the Internet. It was a mild night but not as cold as I expected, I only used my blankets. As we wanted to hit Melbourne around 10am, there was no need to leave early.
We left Shepparton about 8:10am and headed south along the Goulburn Valley hwy, we stopped at the Service Centre just south of Seymour, where I bought a bag of crushed ice, and tipped it down the toilet. The ice goes into the black water tank and slushes around and cleans the inside of the tank. Think about it.
We turned onto the Western Ring road and at one stage the van in front suddenly slowed and I had to swerve around him, but in hindsight, I had a bit of room to move. The advantage of the 5th Wheeler design, it just sat behind me, without any drama. That was the ONLY incident on our whole trip, so we were very fortunate.
We turned left onto the Calder Hwy on 1st April at 10:55am and passed that point on 28th Sept at 10:11am, completing our lap of Oz.
We pulled up out of the front of our house at 11:08am. The rain came about 12pm and so we haven't unpacked much of the van, but then again, there isn't a rush to do it, either.
Overall the Navara and the Trailblazer 5th Wheeler, behaved magnificently, we could not fault either one.
A brief summary of our trip:
- Total distance travelled (including van and without van): 23,197 kms used 3,644 litres.
- Diesel highest price at Renner Springs,NT $2.059 lowest price at Southport $1.439
- Distance travelled towing the van: 15,817 kms averaged 18.3 litre per 100kms or 5.5 km per litre.
- Distance travelled without van: 7,380 kms averaged 10.2 litre per 100kms or 9.8 km per litre.
- Total Diesel Expenses: $6,371.86
- Away for 180 nights staying in Caravan Parks every night, except ONE night at Robe River, WA.
- Total Caravan Park Expenses: $5,879.85 ave $32.67 per night.
- I took 6,719 digital photos. I fluked the odd good shot.
We have to have the fiver unpacked and cleaned ready for the Melbourne Leisurefest at Sandown Motor Racing circuit on Wednesday afternoon 5th Oct. This will be my 4th year that I will driving our rig around Sandown, so if you are there, come and say "Hi" and I can take you for a couple of laps around Sandown, if you wish.
