The south end of the beach at Hua Hin, Thailand.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Hua Hin, Thailand.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Maldives on March 23rd.

Monday, June 10, 2019

Here in Australia, every small town has a free RV dump station.

What a Sunday night we had! They were calling for high winds, and boy were they high! It was hard to get much sleep... there were times we thought the rig was going to take off... or at least fall over!

But, we survived to tell about it. Nothing much out of place in the morning, except a few of the fake flowers from the graveyard were blown around... and our entrance steps were a good 20' away from where they had been when we went to bed.

We drove the short distance back into town and used the facilities there. Yes, we have a porta potty in the rig, but it's really for emergency use only, given that there are normally very good public toilet facilities in every small town in Australia. And, we do use the porta potty at night when we need to go.

Also, every small town has a free RV dump station. They aren't like the ones in North America though... I'll have to remember to take a photo for you next time I see one. They are more like the RV dump stations in Europe.

Like I've said before... Australia is very RV friendly!

Yep...there are lots of Kangaroos!




As you can see from the above three photos, the weather wasn't the best in the morning. That's okay, we were driving anyhow. The forecast for the afternoon was better.

We stopped and did the short 2 km (1.3 mile) hike up to the Silverband waterfall and back.

Once again, the waterfalls in this area would be better in September!

We pulled into the village of Halls Gap. It's a really touristy place, and really busy on a long weekend! But, being the last day on a long weekend, things were starting to clear out.

Interesting camping rig!

Some blue skies and sunshine started clearing out the drizzle... enough that we figured we would do the short 5 km (3 mile) hike up to Chatauqua Peak and back.


Starting to get a view.

Scenery along the way.

No, we're not at the top yet!

Now, we're getting close!

Ruth, looking over the top!

Ruth, with a couple of younger people we had met doing the same hike.

Nice view from the top!

There's me!

And 45 minutes later we were back at the bottom.

Walking back to Bundy and Joyce, we spotted this fellow just sitting on a post...

 A Kookaburra.
We didn't realize they were so big.

Ruth, watching some fairly tame kangaroos (wallabees?).

There is no free overnight camping in the village, but you don't have to drive very far outside the village. I had read about three different possibilities, and wasn't counting on much because the reviews said they tend to get quite busy. But, this is the off season, and the end of a long weekend. We arrived at the first of the three choices... and we were the only ones there!

Just us and the kangaroos!
Should be a nice peaceful overnight.

Monday's drive, 68 kms (42 miles).

Monday's hike was just a warm up though. Tomorrow (Tuesday) morning, we are doing the 9 km (5.5 mile) Wonderland Loop Trail up to the Pinnacle Lookout. Should be fun, and the forecast is looking good!

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And in Canada...



10 comments:

  1. Wishing that more North American cities would offer the same facilities as Australia. Instead they want you to buy things but then get out of town.
    Be Safe and Enjoy the scenery.

    It's about time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Some do but not very many, unfortunately.

      We try hard to spend our money in towns that are RV friendly and just visit others that aren't, without spending much money or any money.

      Delete
  2. Thought the rocks might be slippery after the rain!

    As kids we used to sing a song about kookaburras.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Surprisingly enough the rocks weren't very slippery but all the same we were cautious on them.

      Thanks for emailing us the song, I am not sure if we have ever heard it before.

      Delete
  3. So many kangaroos! Is a Kookaburra the size of a crow? Difficult to tell based on the picture

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep, lots of kangaroos and the ones in this little town aren't afraid of humans at all.

      A kookaburra is a little smaller than a crow but fatter, almost like a big fat pigeon.

      Delete
  4. A Canadian pointed me in the direction of your blog. It's interesting to see you travelling in my home Australian state and viewing it through your eyes. While we have only RV'd once, I quickly learnt that we use the European system of dump stations where you empty your cassette whereas I think in North America, you pump out or is that drain out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for checking us out and for taking the time to leave a comment, we really do appreciate it. :-)

      I hope that we can do your state here in Australia, justice. So far we are loving our travels here, even in their "winter".

      Yes, Australia dump stations are geared for cassette toilets because that is what is used the most in the RV units here, although the way some of the stations are set up, it would be just as easy for an American style unit to dump with no problem. And yes, in Canada, USA and Mexico the dump sites are set up to be drained through gravity with a wide and sometimes long hose. There are some campgrounds that don't have dump stations at their site and in those cases a "honey wagon" is used to pump the tank out. Here in Australia, like Europe the campgrounds rarely have dump stations at each site, there is just one station and you carry your cassette over to it to empty it.

      Delete
    2. Thanks Ruth. Yes, the walk of shame carrying your cassette to the dump point. Like you, we only used ours in an emergency. We only used it twice in two weeks, and once just parked next to the dump station. Lol at the name honey wagon.

      If you mentioned it, I missed in my skim backreading. How are you coping with driving on the other side of the road? Not all drivers on the Great Ocean Road manage to do that so well. I look forward to reading more.

      Delete
    3. We have only used our portable toilet for during the night. Haven't had to empty it yet but it is pretty much due for it any day now.

      Kevin isn't having any problems with driving on the other side of the road. He has done it before for four months when we were visiting Namibia and South Africa back at the end of 2013 and beginning of 2014 so he has had lots of practice. He does have to concentrate a lot more when he is driving then when we are back home, especially in the cities and towns. We have heard to be very careful and very aware of everything around you on the Great Ocean Road, not everyone visiting Australia is a competent driver on the other side of the road and that there have been some bad accidents because of it.

      Delete

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