Trouble at Mill !!

Mon 2 April – We left the camp and shopped at Coles before heading up the Oxley Highway.
 It was a steady climb up the windy road into the mountains. We stopped for lunch at Stockman Creek and continued on to Tia Falls at the Oxley Wild Rivers National Park. The 7km road into the Falls was very dusty.

We had a beautiful camp site in the bush very much like a US state park with a camp fire and table. We followed a track to the views of the Falls and the Gorge. What a site! The falls were huge and the gorge a real surprise.
 We even had a family of wallabies visit us. It was much cooler as we were at an elevation of about 1100m.

Tues 3 April – We walked down to the Tia River with more great views of the falls. Then things went downhill!!! The motor would not start - exactly the same feel as our problems at “The Pub With No Beer”. No cellphone coverage so we walked back up the road to the nearest farm. Don the farmer was a great help phoning the local garage, “Mountain Motors” about 40kms up the road at the small town of Walcha. Gary, the mechanic arrived from the garage and we tried all the tricks that had worked in the past but with no luck. Eventually we had to admit defeat and call the garage again this time for the flat deck truck. Poor “Andy” - loaded onto the flat deck truck and a fast trip to Walcha and Mountain Motors. Nothing could be done today so we stayed the night outside the garage. Hopefully they will find the problem tomorrow.

Wed 4 April – Gary spent some time investigating the problem with increasing pessimism. Chris, the owner was away for the day and Gary was reluctant to commit to the diagnoses. We walked around  Walcha which has many art sculptures scattered around. It is a pretty town but we could run out of things to do here. Fortunately, we have good TV reception and can watch the Commonwealth Games and the Masters Golf. It was decided we would spend another night here, discuss the problem with Chris and Gary, and make a decision as to the solution. We plugged into power and emptied the toilet. We also have water here.

Thurs 5 April – Chris eventually arrived and we got the bad news that the problem was the injector pump. Not a cheap or quick fix. The pump had to be removed and sent to Dalby, Queensland for servicing, a 3-week exercise. We decided to get public transport to Brisbane and fly home on our scheduled flight on 13 April. On reflection, we have travelled many 1000’s of kms in various campervans in NZ, Europe and North America and this is the first time we have ever had a major mechanical problem. Our luck had to run out at sme stage. Chris very kindly offered to store “Andy” at his property after he is fixed. There was no G3 cellphone coverage so no internet. We went to the library and researched transport and accommodation.

Chris is happy for us to stay the weekend outside the workshop so we will travel by train to Tamworth on Monday, stay 2 nights there and catch a bus for a long trip to Brisbane City where will stay another 2 nights before our flight home.

Fri 6 April- After watching the Masters Golf on TV, we asked Philippa, the office lady, to make up our bill so far. Not as bad as it could have been. The big bill will arrive later!!! At the library we finished our accommodation bookings, did some banking and cleared our emails. Then onto our bikes with the washing to the laundromat. After lunch we took our chairs over the riverbank, found some shade and had a long read. Another quiet night watching the Commonwealth Games on TV. (Well at least the Aussie version).

Sat 7 April - Chris has given us the loan car for the weekend. We packed our lunch and chairs etc and headed back down the Oxley Highway for 18kms to the Apsley Falls. We followed a track over a swing bridge and along the gorge rim to various viewpoints.

Unfortunately, the river is almost dry so the falls are not very spectacular. The gorge was great however. After our picnic lunch we walked the other gorge rim including steps taking us well down towards the river. We sat in the dappled shade and had a read before returning to “Andy”.

Sun 8 April – The car was handy to take all the towels and bed linen to the laundromat. We then set off for a 40km drive to Uralla, a larger country town.

We walked the main street with many beautiful buildings before having lunch and a glass of wine at a nice café on the street.
On the way home we stopped at a lagoon and had a read. In the evening we started closing “Andy” down, de-frosting the fridge, putting up screens etc.

Mon 9 April – We had an early start as the bus to take us to the train arrives at 8:45am and there was heaps to still do. We have been camped at the garage for 

6 nights! People have been very kind and having the car for the weekend had been great but we were not sad to leave Walcha for the short bus ride to the railway station. The train we caught goes from Armidale to Sydney but our trip was only 1 hour to Tamworth. Nice scenery but very dry and dusty. We had not researched the motel we had booked properly and ended up walking thru the centre of the town and then 4kms to the motel. It is very basic but clean and comfortable.

After a rest we discovered that the Big Golden Guitar was only down the road so we visited it, and took the usual photo. Back at the motel we had a swim and relax in the pool.

Tues 10 April – We caught the bus back into town. Tamworth’s population is around 50,000 and has a nice centre which we walked around before continuing on to the Country Music Hall of Fame. It was very good with video presentations of all the eras of Country Music. Back on the bus and another swim at the pool. In the evening we walked back to the Big Golden Guitar area and the Longyard Hotel for a beer and the Roast of the Day. It was great! It’s hard to cook a roast in a campervan! The place was flat out. Tamworth seems to be a very busy place.

Wed 11 April – A very early start (5:45am) for our long bus trip to Brisbane. 588kms and 9 hours! The trip was better than expected. Not many stops and interesting scenery. For most of the trip the land was dry and dusty but after our lunch at Warwick, there was more agriculture and we crossed back over the Great Divide and down into Brisbane. We made up for our distance to our accommodation problem at Tamworth as the bus stopped just over the road from the apartment we booked. It’s a great apartment and even has a balcony - Abbey on Roma.

Thurs 12 April – We had a sleep in and then went for a walk to the Queen St Mall to check out where we might have dinner. Back in our apartment we packed our lunch and walked to the South Bank area. Our plan was to have a swim at the artificial beach but being the school holidays there were kids everywhere. We ate lunch at the beach and had a read before it started to rain.
We headed back but stopped at a fan viewing area and realized that the Comm Games Mountain Biking was on so we enjoyed watching NZ get gold and silver.

We walked back to the Queen St Mall and had a very nice dinner at “Jimmy’s on the Mall”, a well-known landmark in Brisbane.

Fri 13 April – We will publish this last blog before we check out of our apartment. The plan is to leave our back pack here, walk to the botanical gardens and spend some time there. We will catch the train to the airport which departs just over the road. Our flight is at 6:30pm and we will land around midnight NZ time. It has been a great trip despite the problems we have had. Hopefully when we pick up “Andy” in late June we will have trouble free cruising!

Byron Bay to Port Macquarie

21 March - We continued south to Ballina where we shopped and were going to have lunch but continued to on Evans Head and had lunch overlooking beach and the coast. We followed the A1 on to Woodburn where we fuelled up. This part of the A1 (about 200kms) is being upgraded (not before time). This is the main road north and in parts is very rough, much worse than the worst bits on our main roads. We turned back towards the coast and stopped for the night at the National Park at Bundjalung.

A beautiful camp on the beach with a rough surf breaking in but costly at $45 without power!!! A few kangaroos hopped past our site.  It has started to rain and rain is in the forecast.

22 March - Breakfast overlooking the sea before continuing on down to Iluka for a walk along the beach. The surf was really pounding in. Back on the A1 to get to the other side of the Clarence River and down to Yamba Beach where we sat dodging the showers, had lunch and watched the mad surfers jumping off the rocks into the washing machine surf and out into the breaks. We followed the A1 to Grafton and camped in the showgrounds. Much cheaper fees, thank goodness! Rained off and on for the rest of the day.

23 March – We have had a few problems with our house batteries so we drove to an auto electrician who tested the batteries and diagnosed that one was buggered. Better then both though!! Back to the showgrounds at Grafton for another night. We walked the short distance into the town. This town is called Jacaranda City due to the Jacaranda trees through the town. Unfortunately, the trees have passed their best. It was a nice old town, set on either bank of the muddy Clarence River. We walked around the shopping area. It rained before dinner and then the skies cleared for a sunny evening.

24 March – We drove back towards the coast but the camp we were aiming for does not exist. We ended up at Arrawarra Beach, at a surfer’s camp. It had a very Bali feel. We were right on the beach with heaps of young surfers in backpacker accommodation. Our camp site is great, set in lovely trees, and cheap so we will stay here two nights. We rode our bikes along a cycleway to Arrawarra Heads.

25 March – We went for a swim in the surf dodging the surf classes either side of us. A beautiful day but after lunch the warm wind came up. We sat on the beach reading and watching the surf classes. This whole camp is run by a surf school catering mostly for young attractive girls staying in the backpacker accommodation which includes 6 old coaches with bunks. The “scenery” is great! We must be the oldest here. In the evening about 30 young ones had yoga class outside “Andy”.

26 March – Drove the coast road down to Emerald Beach where we walked the length of the beach before joining the A1 for our drive into Coffs Harbour. At Bunnings we swapped our out of date LPG bottle and then back to our camp at Park Beach. Our fridge/battery issues are now a thing of the past so we can now be off power indefinitely. We walked to the beach for a swim but was a bit cloudy. Rung Mum and the girls in the evening.

27 March – Checked out of the camp and walked around to the marina and along to Mutton Bird Island before shopping and heading south on the A1. All going well until a huge explosion under our front left tyre. A blow out! Managed to stop off the motorway and inspect the damage. The remains of the tyre had left black marks along the left side, smashed the right wing mirror, and damaged the plastic bumper and mud flap. We jacked up the camper but could not release the wheel nuts. Val phoned the insurance people and they sent a tyre company out from Nambucca Heads to sort the tyre out. A very helpful young guy put the spare on and we followed him back to his depot where they changed a few things around including a new spare for a very reasonable price.

 Back on the road to a “bush camp” outside Macksville at Gumma Reserve. It would have been a great place but the river had flooded a week before and left silt all over the ground.

28 March – At Macksville we shopped for a couple of bits to fix the tyre damage. (mirror replacement, cutting compound and some hardware).

We drove inland to the Taylors Arm Hotel. This was made famous as the “Pub With No Beer”. Some country and western history! Slim Dusty and Gordon Parsons wrote the song at this pub. Slim Dusty found a poem written about a hotel in Ingham (Queensland) that rang out of beer because the American Navy drank the place dry.

The song (written at the Taylors Arms) was based on the characters at the Taylors Arms. We camped at a reserve across from the pub and spent the afternoon working on “Andy”. Val did a great job recutting a mirror and I fixed the bumper bar and mud flap issues. We walked over to the pub and had a beer with the locals. We went back in the evening for a pizza and another drink with the social club. What a bunch of interesting people who made us very welcome.

29 March – Started up “Andy” and then he stalled. The motor turned over fine but no joy at all. Back to the pub where Wade called the local fix it man, Mick.

Back at the camper we did some sums and realized although the fuel gauge showed ¼ full we could be out depending on our tank size (unknown) and our fuel consumption (unknown). Mick arrived in the afternoon and confirmed that we were out of diesel. After borrowing 20lts from Big Jim (syphoned from his truck), Mick, with the aid of an aerosol can of a product called “Start you Bastard” got “Andy” running again. Nobody wanted to be paid so we had to force money into their hands. Too late to go anywhere so we had another drink at the “Pub With No Beer” and our new “mates” and stayed another night.

30 March – Andy started first pop and we went back into Macksville for fuel and onto the A1 for a 100km drive down to Port Macquarie where we had a camp site booked for 3 nights as it is Easter. We were at Flynns Beach so after lunch we walked to the beach and had a swim. The surf is rough and the beach is officially closed but we swam in the shallows. We walked home via Nobby’s Beach which allows dogs. Hundreds of them were enjoying rushing around in and out of the surf. We have a nice shady site overlooking the camp.

31 March – Another sunny day and we rode our bikes for a hilly ride to the town and harbour. We walked around the shops and then rode around to the harbour, returning to “Andy” via Town beach. Heaps of people around!! Managed to find the camp pool with no screaming kids in it so had a great cooling swim.

 In the afternoon we walked to the Koala Hospital who were having an open day. Got to say I really do not find them particularly cuddly! Decided to de-frost the fridge so we bought some ice on the way home.

1 April – Daylight saving finished last night.

We put on our new walking shoes and headed on the coastal track to Tacking Point Lighthouse. The walk was about ½ track and ½ beach. The coast is rocky headlands and beautiful beaches. On our way home we stopped at Shelly Beach and had a great swim. The total walk was 9kms. It got dark early and there was a cool breeze so we are inside watch TV and writing this. This is as far south we will be going and tomorrow we turn inland and start heading north.