I suppose everyone has a day like we had but it’s how you deal with it that matters. With everything that went wrong it could have been a very stressful day but I’m glad to say neither of us got flustered or upset and we both just calmly went about seeing what we could do to fix things and we laughed a lot.

Firstly, while camped at the lovely Oura Beach Reserve near Wagga Wagga in NSW, our power in the motorhome went out completely. It happened at night while I was inside preparing dinner. In a blink all the power went off, even the electronic monitor board went dark. After pressing the on/off button it came back on however the battery level was reading only 11. Oh no!

The last time that happened it meant new batteries. We turned off everything that could be turned off and managed to get through the night however the next morning we had to start the truck to be able to turn on the water pump to have showers.

So a stop at Battery World in Wagga was our first one for the next day. On the way back into Wagga the EDC error light came on the dash accompanied by a beep. Oh no! What now? This had never happened to our trusty Iveco 50c18 before.

We pulled over and made a call to Total Ag in Wagga as they are the Iveco dealers but no servicemen were at work….it was Saturday! So I called our usual mechanic in Griffith and discussed it with him. He determined that it is possibly dirty fuel or the fuel filter needs replacing but assured us it was OK to keep driving. It was disconcerting driving with an error light but we did what we were told and continued into Wagga.

After explaining to the auto electrician at Battery World what had happened it was decided to replace the batteries and we were fortunate that he had time to do it immediately. So two new house batteries all connected up and $830 poorer we set off again. We checked for the last time we had replaced the house batteries and it was exactly 4 years ago to the month and the ones prior to that were exactly 4 years to the month before that. It seems like 4 years is about all we can expect.

We replaced our batteries with two 120AH AGM batteries that have a 2 year warranty and were able to get back on the road in a very short time.

We decided we’d better head for home so we can book the motorhome in for a service to clear the EDC error so set off towards Narrandera. The motorhome was in limp mode and went OK until we came to a hill and then there was just no power and our speed dropped off. Oh well! We just went along slowly, which we do most of the time anyway.

We usually source our camp spots via WikiCamps, GeoWiki or word of mouth and on the way decided to check out Berembed Weir. Neither of us could remember ever going there and it plays a significant role in the irrigation area we live in. Berembed Weir is where the water of the Murrumbidgee is diverted into Bundidgerry Creek that eventually becomes the Main Canal that services the entire Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area. We live in the MIA so were interested to see this engineering marvel that supplies water for our very productive local area.

The turnoff from the Sturt Highway is at the village of Galore and is a good tar road for a while before becoming a reasonable gravel one. We passed the sign for Pipers Reserve but kept going towards the weir. You come to a T intersection. Left is towards Narrandera and right is to the weir. The good gravel road became a track alongside the river and it was quite muddy. It looked like a grader had been through recently.

We continued to follow the narrow track through the giant river red gums until we reached the weir. It is an impressive concrete structure and we could see the entrance into Bundidgerry Creek on the other side of the river. There wasn’t really anywhere that we felt safe to camp as there were too many of those big gums all around. We have a healthy respect for the ‘widow makers’ and never camp under one.

I’d been thinking along the way how bad things often happen in threes and we’d already had two things go wrong so far. What was the third thing going to be or were we going to beat the odds?

Back at the beginning of the track was a small clearing that looked like a possible spot to camp but as Rich was manoeuvring into place the drivers side rear wheels dropped into a muddy hole. Oh no! We were bogged. There was our number three!

Rich tried going back and forwards but each time the motorhome almost got out then the tyres would slip on the mud. I had the bright idea to use one of our chocks to provide a bit of grip and that worked a treat. Just that bit of grip was enough to get us out of the hole. Now we had a chock full of mud….a clean up job to do when we got home.

Getting bogged helped change our mind about staying at Berembed Weir and we set off towards Narrandera in the fading light and made it to Buckingbong Reserve. The reserve is just off the road and has a tar road all the way in to the boat ramp. There is a toilet, bin, and a large shade shelter with picnic tables and a fire place. A sign says Narrandera Fishing Club maintain the reserve and they do a great job.

We had a peaceful night camped by the bend in the river and we were the only campers. It was an uneventful drive home the next morning. Now to get everything fixed!