What a top spot was Gadds Bend Reserve on the Upper Murray River. We spent the rest of the morning following the Great River Road along through lush green valleys with a short stop at Mt Alfred to admire the incredible view and the huge Eagle sculpture.
The Great River Road is a spectacular drive and we enjoyed it very much although we did have to watch out for large potholes on the edge of the road. Most of the road was in pretty good shape though. The road does wind in and out along the meandering Murray River.
We began our journey along the Great River Road at Towong and followed to its conclusion at Bethanga Bridge. Bethanga Bridge was part of the Hume Dam Project and was first opened in 1930. It was a joint venture between Victoria and New South Wales. The bridge is a 752 metre long road bridge with nine arches and is 37 metres above the riverbed. It was upgraded in 1961 and is now a Heritage Listed Landmark.
Once across the bridge we were back in NSW for a short time. I was able to snap a pic of the dam wall of Hume Dam as we crossed the bridge below back into Victoria. You could see water flowing into the river from the bottom of the wall.
Dam Wall, Hume Dam
Our journey then bypassed Wodonga and we made up a bit of time by traveling on the M31 (Hume Highway) until we turned off at Benalla. Benalla is a lovely town full of interesting street murals. I’ve written about those in previous blogs. We pulled into the RV free camp down behind the Benalla Library and found a lovely grassy patch to stop for a lunch break. There were 5 campers already set up in the RV Camp.
After lunch we continued on southwards through Swanpool and crossed Lake Eildon at Bonnie Doon.
Crossing the bridge over Lake Eildon at Bonnie Doon
We continued on via Merton and upon arriving in Yarck we found our way to the Yarck Recreation Reserve. It is a large grass area with lots of room for all sorts of RV’s. There is a toilet block, children’s playground and a shed with a BBQ. We don’t need those so we found a good spot right down the back next to an enormous Oak tree. Previous campers had set up a fire pit using rocks so we made use of that.
We spent a very pleasant evening around a little fire and, before retiring, we packed our chairs and table away. We were so glad we did as it rained during the night and we both love the sound that makes on our roof when we are warm and snug inside.
We counted 13 camps set up in the little Rec ground. Mostly caravans, a couple of motorhomes, one car and tent and a very unusual caravan/houseboat.
We took advantage of Starlink’s special offer of half price Mini’s in January 2025 and ordered a Mini for $299 and paid extra for the 12V cable. We also ordered a suction cup device to hold the mini in place in the overhead skylight of the motorhome.
We set up the Mini with a Roam plan unlimited that can be paused and unpaused whenever you begin or end your travels. It’s a little expensive at $195 per month but, for the benefit and safety of having internet wherever we are, we’re willing to give it a try. We’ve been many places where there is no mobile service and have often thought we should get a satellite phone. We no longer have to worry about that.
The Mini and 12V cable arrived in a timely fashion in Starlink’s very neat packaging. The suction cup holder arrived shortly after from Temu. Setting the Mini up was a simple as downloading the Starlink app to my phone, plugging the Mini in to the 12V socket in the motorhome, searching for the Mini on the app and after selecting the correct Roam plan, away it went. It all just worked…easy peasy!
We had a little difficulty working out how to remove the stand from the Mini so we could insert the suction cup holder but a quick search on YouTube gave us the answer we needed and it was simple really, once you knew how!
With the suction cup holder properly attached we stuck the Mini to the inside of our central roof hatch. We draped the dangling cable across to the side where we wouldn’t walk into it and that was it.
I use my iPad constantly when we are on the road and I am impressed how fast Starlink is. WikiCamps is so quick to load and I can check out potential camp sites quickly and easily as we travel along. There were no dropouts and we had full service all the time.
Even camped remotely on the Murray River where we are now a quick Speed Test showed 141Mbps. My Telstra phone shows 1 bar of 4G service.
Murphy’s Law states “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.”
And that’s why the fridge always runs out of gas in the middle of the night, sending off a beep, beep, beep and frightening you out of a deep sleep!
In 8 years of motorhome ownership the fridge has never run out of gas during the day but inevitably runs out in the deepest dark of the night. You are startled to wakefulness by the beeping of the fridge and that sets your heart racing.
Then there’s the usual discussion about who is going to get up and change the gas bottle over. I usually lose this one because we usually have the slide-out out and Richard can’t fit underneath it to access the gas bottle bin. So out of our nice warm bed, into jeans and my fire jacket, shoes on and torch in hand I set off into the cold and dark.
I have to get down on my knees and crawl under the slide-out to reach the gas bottle bin and it’s really a simple matter to turn the knob to the other gas bottle, turn off the empty gas bottle and turn on the full one. Then one has to crawl back out from under the slide-out, without banging your head on the edge and job is done.
It really only takes a couple of minutes but why does it always have to be in the middle of the night?
Is there a word that means ‘it feels like so long since you went camping’? I was starting to feel that way. It was now August and we’d only been away in the motorhome for a couple of nights since April. I really don’t like to see her sitting under her carport and not being used.
Brother-in-law to the rescue. We received message from Richard’s brother, David to say that he and partner Anni were spending a few days camped at Oura Beach Reserve near Wagga Wagga. We jumped at the chance to join them. With a short window of 2 nights due to commitments with grandchildren we quickly readied the motorhome for the trip.
How do you leave your motorhome after a trip? Ours is cleaned thoroughly and packed again ready for the next trip. All we have to pack are our clothes, perishables and cold food. A quick check that the water tanks were full, wood bin was full of wood, clothes and food were packed and half an hour later we were ready to roll out the driveway.
It’s an easy 206km from home to Oura Beach Reserve via Wagga Wagga and we arrived around 4.30 in the late afternoon. What a great spot it is at Oura Beach Reserve. The reserve is right on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River and is a large area with plenty of flat grassy spots. There are BBQ shelters, fire pits, a toilet, good phone reception, generators are allowed and it is dog friendly. When the river is not too high there is a lovely big sandy beach to swim from, launch a boat or kayaks or enjoy a spot of fishing. You can find Oura Beach Reserve on Wikicamps and it is located about 20 minutes drive from Wagga Wagga.
Just something to be aware of when camping near the river, beware of the huge River Red Gums and avoid parking under them. Big branches from them fall and if one of those landed on your camp it could be a catastrophe.
When we arrive David and Anni already had their Avida Esperance motorhome all set up, a fire going and Anni had prepared nibbles. We quickly set up our motorhome at 90 degrees to their camp and ten minutes later we were enjoying catching up around the fire.
David and Anni had recently purchased their 2014 Esperance and this was the first time they had ‘free camped’. What a learning curve that is. We’ve had our motorhome now for 8 years and have had some amazing adventures in it. We especially love free camping and finding those great spots away from the crowds. We are not fans of being squashed into a caravan park although we have stayed in some great ones and have even put up with being squashed into a busy park just so we could visit an attraction in the area.
But free camping is a learned thing! You don’t know what you don’t know!
We have discovered that the most important thing when free camping is battery management. We have AGM batteries in the motorhome and we have learnt how to manage them ensuring that our battery levels remain over 50% at all times. This is not easy to learn and we made lots of mistakes. Learning which lights and appliances draw what amount of power is the first thing. We quickly discovered that the strip lighting in our motorhome, whilst it looks lovely at night, draws a lot of power so we don’t use them at all. In fact I have taped up that switch so no one accidentally puts them on. I charge our devices during the day when our solar panels are charging the batteries. I use our washing machine powered by our inverter only when it is a sunny day. We turn off our diesel heater at night when we go to bed and turn it back on, if necessary, in the morning.
Of course, as newbies, David and Anni don’t know any of these and ran out of power overnight. David uses a CPap machine and had it on all night. This flattened the batteries and the next morning he had to start the truck to put some charge back in. There are Cpap machines that have low wattage and he will investigate those further.
The second important thing to learn when free camping is managing your water. It depends on how much water storage you have to how many days you can free camp for. It also depends greatly on how thrifty you are with water usage. We have 180 litres of water storage and can safely manage that for a week before we need to fill up. That means having very quick showers, minimising water use for cooking and washing up and not using the washing machine. We have often done a load of washing whilst filling up with water. One load of washing uses 20L of water in our little top loader. As we were only going to be a couple of nights we could have long luxurious showers without the fear of running out.
The third important lesson was how many days can your toilet cassette last. We’ve found that ours needs to be emptied every 3-4 days so we bought a second cassette and keep that for times when we are camped in such a great spot we don’t want to leave just because the cassette is full. Many campers have now changed to composting toilets and these can last for many weeks before needing to be emptied.
The next day David, Anni and I headed into Wagga to go to the dump point, fill up with water and go to Bunnings and Anaconda. Upon arrival at Wilks Park to use the dump point we discovered that the only hose they had was a 50m hose and we had no large fitting for the water tap, only a small one. Of course the potable water tap needed a large fitting. Oh well, add it to the list of shopping at Bunnings.
David emptied the cassette and the next stop was Bunnings. The Bunnings store in Wagga is a very large one. I can spend hours in there! We ended up with a new short hose, a variety of hose fittings to fit a variety of taps, a Makita blower and vacuum cleaner with a spare battery. A quick stop then to Anaconda where we picked up an extra large Muk Mat and a couple of large de-flappers for the awning.
What a great shopping trip! Then it was back to the Dump Point to fill up with potable water using the new short hose and large tap fitting.
Back at camp we found Rich had a relaxing morning reading a book and tending the fire. We all spent the rest of the day relaxing around the fire and chatting.
It rained a little during the night and I love the sound of the rain on the roof when you are warm and snug in bed.
The next morning it was time to pack up and head for home after a delightful couple of nights. It was great to spend a couple of days with David and Anni and help them get to know their motorhome capabilities. I’m sure we will have many more camping adventures with them in the future.
After spending a couple of weeks over Easter in the Snowy Mountains we came home to glorious autumn weather. It’s a lovely time of the year in the Riverina. We usually have sunny warm days and cold nights. Trees are changing colour and starting to lose their leaves for winter.
Our daughter and her three kids were keen to do a camping trip in their van and swags and we racked our brains as to where we could go just for a couple of days. The solution……….camping in our own paddock!
We live on a 7 acre hobby farm. The front 3 acres is our large farm garden and the back is divided into a couple of paddocks. Our paddocks consist of pasture that we mow regularly and at this time of year they are all lovely and green…..makes for a great camp spot!
Katie and the kids arrived with their little van and quickly set up camp. The kids set up their swags on a large mat and we set up the motorhome alongside. There we spent the next couple of days and 2 nights camping. What fun!
We had a bonfire the first night burning off a pile of prunings we’d been adding to over the last couple of years and we also made use of our little Kings fire pit. Excellent for cooking spuds in foil and baked bean & cheese jaffles for lunch.
What did your family do in the school holidays?
Paddock campingBacon & Egg Roll breakyPa settled inGreat-Gran came for a cuppaGame of Grip ballKatie, BBQ chefBonfireSunsetOur colourful little fire
On many occasions we have taken one or more of our 7 grandchildren away on a trip in the motorhome with us. Each year in January our large extended family get together for a week of waterskiing and catching up. In 2023 we were expecting some 72 family members to make the trek to ‘The Dam”. How epic is that?
For the last few years one grandchild has traveled with us on the Friday and camped with us overnight before continuing on our journey to ‘The Dam’ and meeting up with the rest of the family. This year it was our 6 year old grandson Henry’s turn and boy, was he one excited boy when we set of from home in the morning. How lovely it is to see excitement in children!
He arrived at our house bright and early with his bag, books, drink bottle and teddy all set for the big adventure of going in the motorhome with Gran and Pa.
I think he was a bit disappointed that we weren’t ready to leave and we didn’t drive out the gate until 10.30am.
It’s some 460km from our home to ‘The Dam’ at Grabine Lakeside State Park situated on Wyangala Dam in the central west of NSW. We don’t tend to travel that far in one day so we like to leave the day before everyone else and take our time getting there. Most of the others arrive at ‘The Dam’ on the Saturday.
Last year we must have left earlier because we made it to Gunning by lunch time and ended up camping at Bigga Recreation Ground however, because of our late start we arrived in Gunning late in the afternoon and decided to make camp at the Gunning Showground.
Gunning Showground is one of two free camps in that lovely historic town. The other is at Barbour Park next to the creek and close to the town swimming pool however we like the open spaces at the Showground. There is no power but water taps are scattered around the site. We don’t use the amenities but passed them by on the way in.
It was a busy campground with some 20 RV’s of all shapes and sizes from C class motorhomes like ours, a whizbanger, a coaster, a variety of caravans and a tent. It’s a large area so there is room to spread out.
As soon as we pulled up Henry was bursting to try out the adventure playground and fitness equipment. There’s also a small skate park next to the playground. That needed to be tried out too.
What to cook for a 6 year old? I asked him yesterday what his favourite was and the reply “nuggets and chips” so nuggets and chips it was. Glad to say the meal was eaten with much gusto and lots of lively chatter.
While Pa settled in with his book after dinner I showed Henry how we have a quick shower in the motorhome by wetting all over, turning off the taps, washing all over with soap then rinsing off. The end result one lovely clean boy who quickly jumped up on the bed with Pa. A movie was chosen and while I was typing this blog the sounds of Despicable Me 3 played in the background.
I picked up a leaflet while visiting the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion and it just resonated with me. Wouldn’t the world be a better place if everyone lived by these guidelines. I’ll share them below.
HUMILITY – I am willing and able to learn from others
PATIENCE – I have a calm and spacious mind
CONTENTMENT – I enjoy who I am and what I have
DELIGHT – I rejoice in the good fortune of others
KINDNESS – I am friendly, caring and considerate
HONESTY – I act with transparency and fairness
GENEROSITY – I give without expecting anything in return
RIGHT SPEECH – I speak with insight and sensitivity
RESPECT – I honour people with a deeper understanding and experience of life
FORGIVENESS – I let go of resentment and anger towards myself and others
GRATITUDE – I acknowledge and repay the kindness of others
LOYALTY – I am good-hearted and dependable in all relationships
ASPIRATION – I seek a fulfilling way of life that avoids causing harm
PRINCIPLES – I develop sincere and stable inner values
SERVICE – I help and benefit others in whatever way I can
COURAGE – I accept responsibilities and challenges with a calm determination
Meals on the road. Often people ask what we eat while on a long road trip. My answer to that is usually ‘the same as we eat at home’. Our motorhome has a full stove with three gas hot plates and one electric. It has a separate grill and oven below. Whatever I can cook at home, I can cook on the stove/oven in the motorhome.
What about a microwave? Well, we did have a microwave but as it could only be used when on 240v power (ie a caravan park with power) and we choose to free camp most of the time, the microwave just did not get used. We did use it to store our bread. Eventually we took the microwave out and my cabinet-maker son-in-law has fitted a cupboard door to the space. Now I have a fabulous extra cupboard above our fridge.
Our recent trip in June/July 2022 was to The Red Centre visiting Broken Hill, Port Augusta, Woomera, Coober Pedy, Alice Springs, the West MacDonnell Ranges, Uluru & Kata Tjuta, Kings Canyon and The Riverland. We were away for six weeks. We were traveling with our daughter and her three children who travelled in their 4WD and caravan. During the planning stage of our trip we decided that we would take it in turns to provide the meal for dinner and we would do our own breakfasts and lunches. This worked really well.
Our daughter carries a Weber BBQ in her van so we made good use of that too. We carry a Biji-Barbi and it gets a lot of use when we free camp and can have a campfire.
Here is our dinner menu for the six weeks.
Week 1 – BBQ sausages in bread (cooked on Biji-Barbi) – Tacos & Nachos – Spaghetti Bolognese – Chicken Burgers – Lamb roast (cooked in Weber), gravy and roast veggies – Shepherds Pie (has lots of veggies) – Chicken Kiev & salad
Week 2 – Tuna Mornay (has lots of veggies) & Rice – Beef Burgers (cooked on Weber) – Lamb chops (cooked on Weber), Boiled potatoes with coleslaw, cheese & sour cream, corn on the cob – Beef casserole (cooked in crockpot) – Pasta Bolognese – Dinner out at the Alice Springs Show – Southern Fried Chicken Burgers with coleslaw and tangy dressing
Week 3 – Apricot Chicken & Rice (cooked in crockpot) & Rice – BBQ sausages, chicken kebabs (cooked on Biji-Barbi), Boiled potato & salad – Chicken Schnitzels, Gravy, Mash & Broccoli – Beef Stroganoff, Rice & mixed veggies – BBQ Steak, Corn on the cob, Mash, Broccoli – Chicken Pasta Bake – BBQ Lamb Steaks, corn on the cob, baked potato
Week 4 – Tacos & Nachos – Lamb Roast (cooked in Weber), gravy and roast veggies – Spaghetti Bolognese – Beef Burgers – Dinner out at Yulara – Chicken Enchiladas – BBQ Lamb steaks, chunky chips and corn on the cob
Week 5 – Dinner out at Kings Canyon – Chicken Kiev with potato & mixed veggies – Chicken & Mushroom Risotto (cooked in crockpot) – BBQ Sausages & Rissoles, Potato bake and veggies – Salmon & Veggie Pasta Bake – Takeaway Fish & Chips in Port Pirie (awesome) – Macaroni Bolognese
Week 6 – Duck Soup (courtesy of our friend George), Marinated Lamb chops (cooked on Biji-Barbi), Boiled potato, corn on the cob – Crumbed steak, gravy, mash & veggies – Dinner out for Ben’s birthday in Renmark – Beef burgers – Beef stroganoff & rice, veggies – BBQ Honey soy chicken steaks, baked potato & pumpkin, corn on the cob
Breakfasts consisted of tea/coffee & toast, cereal, scrambled eggs & bacon, fried eggs & sausages. Lunches were a variety including sandwiches, toasties, wraps, salads and leftovers.
On that trip I also cooked a Chocolate Coconut Slice three times so we always had a ‘nice thing’ for after dinner. 6 year old Maddie was my enthusiastic kitchen helper who got to lick the bowl!
And, of course, we carry ice-cream so Ice-cream in a Cone was a popular dessert.
Wow! I received a notification today that my website has reached 10,000 views. I’m a bit stunned. I know that isn’t many for a full time blog however my little blog is really only to record our travels and maybe share some of our adventures with other like-minded travellers.
I started this little blog in March 2016 and I really enjoy writing about our meanders around our fabulous country.
Thank you to all who have been part of that 10,000 views. I hope you enjoy reading my stories as much as I enjoy writing them.
I’m always happy to hear from readers what you would like to hear about. Let me know your thoughts!
I haven’t written anything for a while now. Let me tell you why.
We live in a town in the Riverina in South Western NSW and our town was one of those that had managed to get through the first waves of Covid without too many cases. That all changed at the end of 2021 with the arrival of the Omicron variant. Numbers of cases went up dramatically.
Our family had two Christmas events on the weekend before Christmas, one on the Saturday for 20 people and the other on Sunday for 39 people. Everyone of those was double-vaccinated. Unfortunately one person tested positive from the Saturday and then another and another. This led to our whole family being is isolation for Christmas. It was the worst Christmas ever! On Christmas Day Richard and I drove to our daughters house. We placed their Christmas presents on their front lawn then had to stand back and watch our grandchildren open their presents from a distance. It was horrible not to be able to give them a hug for Christmas.
Our son and his family were not able to go to his in-laws for Christmas as planned. It really was the strangest Christmas.
We did manage to drive to our place in the Snowy Mountains for New Year for a few days however it was a very quiet one with just us, our daughter and her three children and our friends Sally & Kevin.
We set off on 7th January 2022 in our motorhome to travel to our Annual Family Water Ski Holiday at Grabine on Wyangala Dam. This annual event has been going for over 40 years and sees some 70 of Richard’s family get together each year. We were a bit hesitant about going this year although everyone agreed to do a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) or PCR test and be negative before they could go. Everyone was also double-vaccinated. What could go wrong?
We camped the first night at Bigga Recreation Ground. This is a campground provided by the local community and you can stay for up to 3 days for free. There is a dump point and potable water. The area is a large one with lots of rooms for multiple RV’s. Sadly the amenities block had been vandalised and was closed waiting on repairs. Fortunately we are fully self-contained and don’t need to use the amenities. The amenities block has toilets and hot showers and, hopefully, it will be repaired quickly. Why would anyone want to vandalise an amenities block? I just don’t get that at all!
That night a huge storm blew in and our young granddaughter thought it was extra cozy sleeping up in the Luton with the sound of the heavy rain on the roof.
Camped at Bigga Recreation Ground
We had a fabulous week of water skiing and catching up with family from all over, including a few who have been living in the UK for the last couple of years. As I said before, everyone was double-vaccinated and had a negative RAT or PCR test before they came. I suppose it was a little inevitable that someone would test positive and, sure enough, that’s what happened. One tested positive then another then another and so on. I became sick on our way home and was out of action for the next week feeling very unwell. Sure enough a PCR test showed I was positive for Covid. Luckily our house is two stories and I was able to stay in isolation upstairs whilst Richard lived downstairs. I am now at Day 21 since my positive PCR test and I am finally starting to feel better. I had a lingering cough, felt like I had a cold and was extremely tired all the time.
So many of our families have now had Covid and tiredness is the most lingering symptom.
Usually when we return home from a trip the Motorhome gets unpacked, cleaned thoroughly and the outside is given a good wash however this time it sat in our driveway for a couple of weeks until I felt well enough to get to it. Finally she is all clean and shiny now and ready for our next adventure.
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