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Tuesday, May 28, 2019

First full day in Australia... running around!

We made a sort of a rough list of things to do, and our host Louise had taken the day off work to run us around. We'll say it again... it has been so great having them look after us on our first couple of days in the country! Thank you so much Louise and Pat!

So we went out to get some things done. We were gone about five hours and I've already forgotten the order in which we did things, but here it goes...

We went to a thrift shop to get me some work clothes. I ended up with a pair of jeans ($8.00) and some sandals ($3.50)! Not really work clothes, but I will wear the jeans for working on (or under) the camper, and I needed a pair of sandals. Ruth got some Merrell walking shoes for $6.00! Gotta love the thrift shops.

Bundy and Joyce parked in the driveway at Louise and Pat's house.

Then we stopped at an automotive parts store and I bought some new wiper blades for Bundy. First thing I noticed yesterday was that he badly needed new wiper blades. I also looked for a tire pressure gauge and some convex blind spot mirrors, but couldn't find exactly what I wanted at the right price.

In between stops, we did some sight seeing!

This area is actually walking distance from their house.

It rained on and off a couple of times.

Next stop was at the post office where I bought a Boost Mobile SIM card for the phone. For $40 AUD ($37 CAD, $28 USD), we get a 28 day plan that includes an amazing 45 GB of data and unlimited calls and texts in Australia, and unlimited calling to Canada.

Nice.

Then we stopped at a few different camping stores. They have some nice stuff here. I was specifically looking for one of the small Mr. Heater Little Buddy propane heaters, and found one for $109 AUD ($102 CAD, $75 USD). We don't have very much space to heat and will just use it to take the chill off in the mornings and evenings. We would not run it at all overnight. I didn't buy it because we were shopping around, but we will go back to get one.

We did some more sight seeing.

Beautiful green rolling hills.

We stopped at a Buddhist place.

They are building some kind of temple.

Ruth at the base of the big Buddah.
Nan Hai Pu Tuo Temple Retreat.

Scenery along the way.

We stopped at the vehicle registration office to transfer the ownership for Bundy (our truck). Looks like it's going to be a fairly simple procedure, except I forgot my passport that I needed for identification. Just your driver's licence isn't enough. Plus, I need a letter from our host Louise stating the Bundy will be using their address as his "garage".

No problem, we will go back tomorrow. It's not very far.

Then we stopped at the "grog" store. Yes, the alcohol shop.

We had heard and been told that alcohol is very expensive in Australia. And certainly hard liquor is very expensive. And beer is about the same price as in Canada, so the prices didn't shock us. But wine is actually quite a bit cheaper than Canada! You can buy a 4 liter box for under $20 AUD ($18.75 CAD, $13.50 USD). And there is quite a variety of bottles available for between $5 to $8.

At the grocery store, again, prices are cheaper than Canada. A loaf of good gluten free bread is $3.95 AUD ($3.75 CAD, $3.00 USD). 

And for all goods, the taxes are included in the advertised price on the ticket. What you see is what you pay. Unlike Canada where they add 7% to 15% depending on what province you're in.

Gasoline and Diesel fuel are slightly more expensive. Gasoline right now is about $1.63 AUD per liter where we are. That's $1.52 CAD per liter or $4.26 USD per gallon.

Having a house party tonight with some of Louise and Pat's friends and neighbors. Everyone is so welcoming to us foreigners!

Didn't get anything done to the RV today, but we've got the full day tomorrow to get a lot done.

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Great deal on this Wired CCTV Home Security System.

And in Canada...




14 comments:

  1. Nice to get those chores taken care of and now to get Bundy in shape and on the road.

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    Replies
    1. It is going to take us a few days before we have everything sorted out and cleaned up but at least we are in a great spot to get that all done.

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  2. You will be glad not to BC right now. A low price for gas starts at $1.57.9 per litre!!
    Love the shots of the wild ocean.

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    Replies
    1. Yikes, we are definitely glad not to be there that is for sure, especially if we had to fill up Sherman! We should do just fine here with Bundy and his fuel milage. We plan on taking our time and not putting on too many miles over the next 10 weeks so hopefully that will keep our fuel costs down.

      Yep, it was a pretty rough ocean out there yesterday and today is probably even worse.

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  3. Wonderful, your adventure awaits!

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    Replies
    1. Yes, it does! Hopefully by the end of the week we should be ready to hit the road. :-)

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  4. Lots of preparation before you head out! that's a great deal on wine, you are going to get spoiled there!!

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    Replies
    1. Yes, there is quite a bit of preparation to get down and that is what we have been working on . Today will be sorting out what is in Bundy and Joyce and cleaning them up. Hopefully we will be set to hit the road by the end of the week.

      We are really pleased with the wine prices, so we know now that it won't be a totally "dry" 10 weeks. ;-)

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  5. Walking distance to the beach? Is that the way you walk or the way the rest of us walk? :cD

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    Replies
    1. It is less than a mile from their house to a view of the ocean, so it should be doable for just about everyone! :-)

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  6. Couldn't live without our little Glow Warm propane heater in the RV. Looking forward to the rest of the trip.

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    Replies
    1. We are definitely are going to need a little propane heater and the Mr. Heater Little Buddy should be perfect for our needs, I expect that it is similar to your little Glow Warm heater.

      It shouldn't be long before we can hit the road and start exploring. :-)

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  7. I knew there was no resisting Australian wine, glad to hear it is affordable, thank the wine gods for that.

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    Replies
    1. At those prices it would be hard not to resist! :-)

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