First problem, we found the engine battery was so flat that we couldn't open the electric doors. We got a nice man from RACT roadside assistance to visit, check it out and charge it up for us. Lucky we'd upgraded our roadside cover to include Wanda! All this took some time, so we ate the lunch we'd prepared to have on the road on the kitchen table while all this was taking place. We didn't get underway until 2pm.
After the obligatory stop for fuel and tyre checks, we hit the Lyell Highway (A1) and headed towards the west coast. At 3pm, we toyed with the idea of camping at Hamilton, on the camping ground down by the river, but decided to keep going. Our "Free Camping in Australia" book showed a couple of opportunities up towards the old Hydro town of Wayatinah. About 21 km past Ouse, we found the turnoff (C604) to Lake Catagunya. This road was unsealed but pretty sound and we followed the directions towards the boat ramp. We found a quiet camping area (no facilities) right on the edge of the placid little lake. No-one else was around and it was already 3.45pm, so we placed Wanda in the best position, right on the lakeside, and set up our chairs to enjoy the view.
Of course, ten minutes later another motorhome (quite like Wanda) appeared. They had a little dog and a dinghy and seemed to be quite familiar with the place. They set out fishing, no doubt to get trout for dinner.
Robert made a yummy chicken curry for our dinner, and we enjoyed some old movies on TV. There was no ABC TV reception here! Sacre bleu. Later Robert watched the footie and Di finished 'The Maneaters of Tsavo', stirring tales of dangerous maneating lions which attacked the workers building the rail line from Mobasa to Nairobi. There was light rain overnight, and more in the morning.
Next morning another mob turned up with a tinnie and tried some fishing. We set off, planning to camp at Mt Field, but we took a short diversion first to have a look at Wayatinah. The camping ground there is quite large and busy, and the old town very quiet. Soon we noticed that the house battery was making odd clicking noises and was not recharging as it should from the car battery. After watching it for a while, we decided it would be foolhardy to try camping overnight again, as the battery would not support our heater, and it was going to snow. Best to go home instead.
On the way, we diverted onto C608 to look at Meadowbank Lake and check out the camping facilities there. The lake is pretty, but 1km past the lake the campground next to the toilets at the top of the rise is pretty stark. The road from there down to the campground at lake level looked a bit too rough for Wanda, although the camping area itself looked reasonably quiet and attractive.
We continued on towards Ellendale which looked pretty and quiet, this would be a good spot for tourists to stay before enjoying Mt Field and, possibly in the future, the Derwent Valley Rail Trail. We tried out a little road up to the right, looking for a spot to see platypus in the creek. No luck. Ellendale is just under Mt Field East, where we would be walking the very next day.
The weather was still low and drizzly when we arrived in New Norfolk, good weather for visiting antique shops. So we discovered the Drill Hall and a couple of its lesser neighbours. Di was looking out for a wall cupboard to hide the new NBN boxes in, but couldn't find just the right thing.
From there, it was a short trip home.
The investigation of the house battery's clicking noise led to Wanda receiving a set of solar panels, which would help to keep the battery charged up when we enjoyed "free camping".
No comments:
Post a Comment