AROUND THE BLOCK

[millard1399]

Hey there kiwijim, real bugger with the Nissan. Nothing worse than breaking down a long way from help, ay!?

Pretty neat free camping spot there, although it looks a bit crowded! You probably wouldn't get a spot there either in the Xmas-New Year period!

Yep, those Apostles are slowly getting whittled down one-by-one. But that stretch of coastline is just an awesome trip. Some of those headlands and rock formations along that road are amazing!

I got tricked at Warrnambool with their dual lanes separated by the wide median strip. First time there, and came out of a side street to turn right onto the main road. Saw the two lanes ahead of me, so made the right turn into the second of the two lanes. Bit scary when you suddenly realise traffic is coming towards you on the same lane you are on!. It was then I realised that "a bit further over there" were another two lanes that I should have been on. Bloody country towns with their wide streets!

Hole in the ground??...jeez, you're sure soaking up the 5-star accommodation!! LOVE IT!! ;D ;D

cheers,
Al.

[kiwijim]

Howdy Al,

Yep, I know exactly what you must have felt like, doing a right hand turn on that duel main street,
I almost did exactly the same with the van behind,
We had pulled in for fuel,and then shot out the drive way, I spotted a break in the traffic and was just going to floor it when the Cheese & Spice gave a shriek stating "Where the hell are Ya going" Ya on the wrong side of those trees,
You may recall that line of Pines down the center Island.

Any way after doing a couple of fancy "S" maneuvers I got out of the situation before the mass of traffic descended on us, only thanks to the traffic lights being in our favor.

We have been using a number of other cheaper Camp sites in our travels, and saving big $$$ in doing so,

The cheapest camps by far are the Show Grounds, most towns have them and as a rule, the cost is $20 per night, far better than C/van parks which at present average in the mid $30's.

Thanks to that Camps 5 book, which has well and truly payed for it's self by know, we have found some great spots,
The last one we found was on the Great Ocean Road,just after the Twelve Apostles position,

At a rivers mouth, this site in the bush was another Show Grounds Camp site, although there was a couple of KM of gravel road to find it, it was nice and secluded and once again only had 1/2 doz campers (and NO kids)....



Cheers kiwijim

[Deleted]

Go the Camps 5. Keep it coming Jim.

[bobt]

Hi Kiwijim

Travelling during school hols is not good for the economy. We discovered that last year. One park we stayed in - off season it was $23 - peak it was $36.. We chose not to stay for the couple of days we originally planned.

Now just how did you get to travel far with the dodgy alternator???.. or was it a bit of kiwi magic ;D ;D

At the rate your travelling I reckon youshould be back home in time for easter ;D ;D

bobt

[kiwijim]

Howdy Bobt,
No, nothing to do with kiwi good-luck as far as traveling with a dodgie Alternator,

I found that as long as I kept the rev counter above 2,500 r.p.m.
the red light went out, the volt meter then read around 10.5 - 12 v, not enough to charge the batteries but enough to make the distance to Colac.

Now two days later the Nissan is fixed with a new Alternator and some-one is $565.00 lighter in the pocket "GEEEEZZZZZ"

While in town this morning we booked the crossing to Tassie, grabbed a day time sailing (at Pensioner rates) on the 14th of Feb, I think thats pretty close to your time of crossing

AS the temp here in Colac is picked to be 36deg tomorrow, we will head South very early in the morning for a couple of days, possibly to Apollo Bay, then return to Colac on Wednesday to collect the Ferry tickets.

I'm still trying to wet the rod, so hopefully the wind will finally be blowing off shore and the fish will be on th bite.

Cheers kiwijim

[Maureen]

Hi Jim & Jean

Enjoyed the stories and photos thus far.
We find the Camps 5 very helpful too.

Hope you've managed to catch some fish by now.

If you are going thru Lorne you might like to try some of the
beaut crayfish from the fishermen's co-op there. We found it even better than those at Kaikoura.

We will be on the road again from Easter til early June so hope to meet up for a beer etc. Let's know now the best time to call or message your mobile so we can make contact when you're back on the mainland.

Cheers maureen & Peter

[kiwijim]

Howdy Maureen,

We will be into those Crayfish tomorrow, thanks for the info.

We have booked the ship for Tassie and will boarding on the 14th, Feb.

Return date is..........some-time near Autumn,

We will meet for a wine or three on our return. ;D ;D ;D

cheers kiwijim ;D

[kiwijim]

Howdy all,

After we left Colac yesterday, we traveled over the very winding and steep road through the Otway rangers to the Coastal stop-over of Kennett River. half way between Apollo Bay and Lorne.


At the top of the Otway Rangers.










There were several Koala's in the trees at the C/van Park.

And just for you Al....some pic's of me and the Cheese & Spice,
these are just in case we meet some-where, so you know what that kiwijim looks like (on one of the better days)




It's off to Lorne tomorrow, hopefully into some lovely Crayfish ( Rock lobster )
more pic's are bound to follow.
cheers all kiwijim

[kiwijim]

Howdy Gang,

We have just returned to Colac and are now in possession of our tickets on the Spirit of Tassie, sailing Sun Morning 14th Feb.

Our last night on the Coast at Kennett River had a few surprises and a disappointment, First off I did manage to dip my rod at last,

Surf fishing that is, as usual no luck, wrong tide and Sea weed every-where, after loosing 4 sinkers, 4 swivels, 4 traces and about half the line I thought "Yep" Fish & Chips for tea, Again.

Now the surprise we had was in the evening when the ground came alive with Rosella's, they have obviously been hand fed for some time and were not at all afraid of us,

This is the first time we have seen them in actual life ( they don't live in our part of the woods back in Perth )

Here are a few shots of them,.........







"Hey Look" Kiwicarl, guese who took the photo

Cheers kiwijim

[Deleted]

Gidday Jim and Jean,

Well that sure is a durn purdy place ova there Jim, and we finally get a shot of you two relaxin' too.

Gotta luv those parrots mate and pretty tame to boot.

Nice work on the piccies Jean keep it up. ;D

Carl

[kiwijim]

Howdy Carl,

Now that's done it,

The Dear One is wandering all over the camp, showing every-one what a great photo she took.

And you had to tell her to keep it up.....................

Now I gotta go and buy another camera. ;hee hee

Cheers Mate ;D ;D ;D

kiwijim

[atouchofglass]

Mate at least she is happy you're attracting birds......

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Well at least that type of bird won't get you into tooooo much trouble......


Cheers
Atog

[kiwijim]

Howdy Atog,

Yep, with that Grey hair, I only attract PECKERS now,

Funny that, I'm sure I had Dark brown hair when we left Home ;D

cheers kiwijim

[bobandjacqui]

G'day Kiwijim.

Good to see another bird fancier on the forum ;D ;D Enjoy your time in Tassie it's certainly a great place. We did a ten day tour last year ( coach) and have promised ourselves a couple of months caravanning there when we retire When you get to Qld try to get up to O'Rielly's in the Lamington National Park in behind the Gold Coast. The road up is not for caravans but it is well worth a day trip in the car. A good camp is in Canungra where we have our Vintage Van runs usually in November.

We're enjoying the photos so keep them coming.

Cheers Bob and Jacqui.

[millard1399]

Way t' go with the deckchair photo, kiwijim!! ;D ;D

The judging panel here had no hesitation in awarding you scores of 8.5 and above! Slouched back, shoulders slumped, hands relaxed...in fact NO sign of stress at all!! ;D ;D

We think you should give Tassie a miss, and turn northwards for the upcoming Grey Nomad Olympic Games. We reckon you're a "shoo-in" in the Deckchair Marathon. Can't see any reason why you couldn't beat the Games record of 2hrs 8mins of relaxing. You would do the Classic forum proud! ;D ;D

And a huge round of applause for Jean for her "Highly Commended" award in the Dashboard Photography judging! Such a crisp, clear photo...made us all think we were actually in the car WITH you!

What a great life you guys are having! ;D ;D ;D

cheers,
Al.

[kiwijim]

Howdy Gang,

First off, thanks to Bob & Jacqui for the info regarding some great spots in Qld,
It may be some time yet before we get up that way, but I have made a note of all these recommended places and who knows them,
Come the day when we are in the area I will be in touch for some guidance for sure. many thanks for that.
Yes, I believe we won't be wasting our money by going to Tassie,
I think it will be very similar to kiwi-land and it's a darn sight cheaper than flying back Home.

G'Day there Al (Millard1399)
"Yep"... I may have a go in the Grey Nomad's sweep-stakes, if you reckon I wouldn't be an embarrassment to the Forum,
may-be one should wear a paper bag over the scone, then if a place is gained I could wave a Forum flag, or a Classic Wheel Trim, or something.

There was a very good reason why I looked so relaxed in the deck chair..........I was fare B#^^@7@d after driving over those Otway Rangers, ( 3 Times ) second gear in the Nissan in places and for-ever turning a corner, talk about good practise for those Tassie roads.

We were going to move on from Colac tomorrow and head to-wards Geelong, but after tonights forecast of heavy rain developing tomorrow after-noon ( 50mm + ) expected, we have decided to stay here for another couple of days.

I have told the Cheese & Spice about your remarks regarding her photo's, funny,...... didn't say a lot, but I did notice she wrote something in her diary regarding people to catch-up with,

Does daggers drawn besides names mean anything. ;D ;D ;D

Well sounds like the light is up-setting the T.V. so, better close down before my plug is pulled. ;D

Cheers all. kiwijim

[bobt]

Hi Ya Kiwijim

I have been off puddling about with other things. Yep approve of the photos, perhaps your dear beloved could spend some time with "MINE" and teach her how to take GOOD photos out the windscreen of the car whilst on the move.

She will need to get it right before we travel across the great bass straight................ Once we get going around the apple we will not be able to afford to stop. fear of never getting it started again

We sail on the 19th. Have an uncle sailing on the 14th There is a convention of Motor Homers going to tassie to witness a thompson doing the crossing........... ;D ;D

Are you planning on staying in Melb before you head off to the isle?

[kiwijim]

Howdy Bobt,

You want my Dear-one to teach Your's how to us a camera !!!........
"JEEZ" surely your good Lady couldn't be that bad

I'm just glad that we no longer use conventional film
just think of the cost ( wastage ) if that had been the case.

"Yep" I have heard all about the Motor-Home Convention going on in Tassie, there appears to be a heap of people going over there very soon, hope they don't up-set the Isle.

We have run into a lot of West Aussies also on the way there,
I was talking to a bloke in Kingston a while back who had spotted the Thomson on about 5 different occasions since leaving Perth, they will also be on the same crossing as us.

I don't intend to stop in Melbourne before we ship out,
after experiencing the Night-mare run through Adelaide I want to steer well clear of these big cities,
Our plan is to find a c/van park with-in a short distance to the ship then do a very early morning run to the Terminal, well before loading time.
We have been told there is limited parking there, so the last thing I want is to............ have to drag the van around the block looking for some-where to stop while booking in.

Has any-one any ideas as to where to camp the night before we sail

Cheers kiwijim

[Deleted]

kiwijim
Why not stay in the car park outside the Terminal?and perhaps if you ask the security at the terminal gate that you have just arrived from interstate,and could you do one of two things park the van inside and stay at a hotel in the area,or stay in the van over night in the terminal.

maps.google.com.au/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

P.S. When you go to the link zoom in on station pier,and you will see the car park just outside the terminal.
You could evan ring the terminal and and ask if you could do what I am suggesting
Peter

[bobt]

Hey there Kiwijim.

When these motor homers get to gether they do it BIG... they achieve some large turn ups to their events. If the VVers and CCers could achieve 1/4 of the turn up it would be a major event.


There are a couple of caravan parks on the out skifts of Melburn between geelong and the city. Don't have my caravan parks book with me so cannot give guidance today. Ya just need to be careful as some of them are not so desireable.

Did ya know there is a penny farthing fair happening on the 20th? We will be there..

As for photos... look under "I'm Missing from my garage" for examples of my dear beloveds handy work _{(sorry aint talented like peter can not work out the hyper link thing)}


bobt

[shaneandsimoen]

Hello kiwijim,

if your still in Colac, if you turned left in Winchlesea, ( half way between Colac and Geelong) and head to Inverleigh, there is a parking area that is used by caravaners to stay. Just over the river on left heading towards Geelong. Free camping. Shop, pub and toilets and petrol available in Inverleigh. ( Inverleigh 30km to Geelong.)

If staying in Geelong there is some caravans parks along the river in Belmont, Not to far from shops.
There is also Elderado (top touristpark) on Ballarat road, not far from Geelong ring road, good stop if you want to go to Tassie ferry, ( turn right out off caravan park, 1km turn left to Melbourne.)less than 1 hour drive.

Hope this helps.
Regards Shane

[kiwijim]

Howdy Peter,

"Yep" it would be great if we could arrive at the terminal the night before sailing, but I am pretty sure the Security Blokes would have something to say about that.

I have been chasing up Caravan Parks using Google maps with a fair bit of success, I found one on the coast at Werribee but, I will give them a ring before going there, just to make sure there is room for one night,

There are other Parks listed closer to Melbourne but we have been told that they could well be filled with Permanents.

Howdy Shane,
Funny enough I was looking at the camp site you mentioned in the "You Beaut" Camps 5 Book only last night and have decided to head there on Monday Morning when we finally pull out of Colac.

We were going to pull out today but hearing of a Vintage Tractor Pull and old car show being held here, right in the Show-grounds today and tomorrow, we decided to hang on for another couple of days.

It rained, bucket fulls here a couple of days back, so I'm sure glad we weren't on the road,

Heaps of pic's coming up......rain........old tractors.........old stationary motors, plus vintage cars.

Catch Ya Ole soon. kiwijim

[kiwijim]

Top of the Sunday ta Ya Ole.

Here we are on our last day in Colac,
The Sun is shining and it's a beaut 29deg.

A heck of a lot better than what we had a couple of days back.....



The show on here at the Show Grounds is in full swing......



Being backed right onto the arena the van is full of Diesel and Kero fumes from the hundreds of tractors, stationary motors and traction engines all chugging away,



The tractors (all Vintage) are making a great mess of the grass center arena while trying to pull the Drag Machine........



Here is a mob of Chamberlin's (Made in W.A.).....................and hundreds of the Grey Fergies.

There were a number of Classic cars, such as this 66 Thunderbird



Even an old Vanguard along with the usual collection of really old Vintage cars........



Check out the............................... rear drive of this Model A

There were reconditioned Fergies.................... and Mini Fergies





This truck had a couple of Vintage engines mounted on the rear....fired up and making noise "Big Time"

Thats it folks, next I have some pic's of Miniature farm machinery an old boy ( in his 90's) made by hand.
I will show them when I recharge this Darn Pre-paid INTERNET.

Cheers all kiwijim

[atouchofglass]

Hi Jim
Thanks for the photies mate
I've always wanted a grey fergie


Now I know there's one the size I can have on a 800 sq mtr block ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Keep the photos coming mate

Cheers
Atog

[bobt]

hmmm!!!

think we have lost a 'kiwi'

I wunda if he is still trying to do a hook turn

or did he run off the edge of station pier?