1 week to go!

With one week to go we headed for the national parks of the great dividing range. They are spectacular with huge escarpments, great cliffs, deep valleys, and waterfalls.

We were also fascinated with the wildlife and birds.

In spite of the more than 5000 Kim's we have certainly not seen all of the green bits of Victoria and NSW. A lot of it was closed for the winter season! Who knows when we will get back to fill in the bits we left out! 

So far the Earthcruiser has proven to be a very comfortable vehicle. She is comfortable to drive in. The view from so high up is quite different -usually better except for the steep drop offs -the height allows a good view straight down the slope! 

Camping is so easy. Set up takes seconds, and no physical strength is required. Cooking inside is also easy with enough preparation area, and enough food storage -although we stored large food containers in the outside locker. 

The heater is a dream, and so is the hot water. We showered inside in the cold weather, but I look forward to trying the outside shower on our next trip.

My greatest concern while we waiting for the vehicle was whether I would ave trouble climbing into the cab. I thought I might need to use a footstool. That cabin is a long way up. However to my great relief (and surprise) I found that I could do it! And I got stronger as the weeks went on. 

So after almost 6 weeks on the road we arrived back in Sydney. The Earthcruiser needs its 5,000km service, and the stove needs some adjustments, so we left her in Sydney and flew home. We will return to pick up the EC and resume our northwards wandering in a few weeks. 

Waltzing Matilda with just the two of us!

After the young people left we were on our own! We planned to make our way slowly back up to Sydney camping in national parks and state forests. We were blown away by the tall gum forests of Victoria! Beautiful places!

We tended to alternate between the forests at higher elevations and the coastal areas.

Victoria has some quaint little towns with historic buildings and bridges. 

We enjoyed Bucchan Caves.

Everyone we met asked why we were in the cold southern states and not in warm Qld. After awhile I began to wonder myself!  Especially since the heater wasn't working in the Earthcruiser. You can tolerate the cold by cuddling up at night -but only until the novelty wears off! A camp fire certainly helps but even that is better if you have a warm bed to retreat to later. We especially felt this at Walhalla. We left our camp chairs outside overnight and woke to find a heavy frost.

So after criss-crossing the state of Victoria we crossed into NSW. We then decided to do a quick trip to Sydney to get the heater fixed, along with a few knobs and buttons which had fallen off the vehicle. Mark was onto it straight away and we were off towards Canberra less than 24 hours later! 

The war memorial was a great surprise. The exhibits were very interesting and the scope of the place amazing. We took a free tour with a guide -very well done and I would recommend it. We commented that this is a place all Aussie kids should see - both to know what sacrifices our service men and women made (and still make) and to demistify war. 

We also took a look at the Turner (no relation) exhibition at the National Gallery. I was hoping to see my ancestor (James Douglas) recognised -he "discovered" Turner and gave him his first canvas for his first oil painting (Rochester Castle). This painting stayed in our family for a number of generations. But there was no mention of James Douglas. Joe however enjoys paintings and Turner in particular so the visit was not wasted on him. 

Then it was off to the snow again. There had been significant snow falls since our first visit. I was anxious to test out the heater and hot water systems. We need to know how these perform before we end up in the northern hemisphere! 

We camped at Three Mile Dam (west) again. This is a lovelly site, right on the water. Check out the view through the bedroom window! 

There was a little snow around. There was even a short flurry of snow fall at about dusk. But we awoke in the morning to a blanket of snow on the surrounding landscape and on the car! Just what we wanted, and the heater had worked beautifully. 

And here is the place we camped on our first visit here with the young people - where Zef sat outside in the frost....

Next night we went to a different campsite which happened to be in a frosty pocket. When we arrived there was a little snow about, but over night the temp dropped to -5.4C. The mud around the campsite froze. And local wallabies looked decidedly chilled. 

But there was no water in any of our taps.... The pipes had frozen. The pump still worked though so that had not frozen. Now we need to know from Earthcruiser how to care for the system when freezing temperatures are expected. Apparently the "pipes" are actually hoses so freezing will not split them. But the pump could be a different matter. 

The maiden voyage.

Our plan was to try out our new Earthcruiser (EC28 - the 28th Earthcruiser made) with visitors, and in the cold. Both extra numbers and cold weather was likely to stress the systems and that is what we wanted.

So we headed off towards Canberra. Our first impressions of the vehicle were the size -much bigger than anything we have driven before, except for the motor homes in NZ. The EC is more compact - especially in width, with the camper only as wide as the vehicle, and in height -with the height easily seen from the cab. This makes estimating clearance from overhead obstacles much easier than in the motor homes. 

The next thing we noticed was all of the attention our vehicle created. We constantly saw people staring and turning to watch us. Drivers strained to see the name of the vehicle. Pedestrians stopped to ask questions. At first this was all very gratifying, but over the next couple of weeks the novelty soon wore off. Every time we returned to the vehicle there would be people standing around it and wanting to know about it! 

Our first night camping was a pleasure as we tried out the equipment and worked out how to camp with our setup. Notice how clean the vehicle looks! 

The young adult members of our family arrived in Canberra the next day, swelling our numbers to 5 adults. Two were to sleep in the roof top tent and one on the folded down back seats, on an inflatable mattress. 

And it was off to the snow! Unfortunately this was a very poor snow season in eastern Australia. Our first night in the alpine area we camped at 3 mile lake west, not far from the Selwyn snow fields. There was no snow but there was a severe frost. Some of us braved the cold and sat around a camp fire, but the others stayed inside with the heater.

The next 10 days were very enjoyable as we settled in to the vehicle and some routines. The boys skied at Perisher in man made snow, and we didn't see snow fall until our last day in the alpine national park. 

However we did enjoy the alpine national park - with it's waterfalls, tree ferns, and majestic s gums. 

The family left us in Melbourne after we all caught up with friends, and after a great holiday. 

Beryl