Lionel's 2013 Trips

Caravanning and RVing in Australia

My daily Trip Diary has been giving me trouble this year so I've decided to try a blog instead.

My web site by the way is here.

My email is here

To go to August click

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6th, July 2013

I'm currently  at Smalleys Beach in the Cape Hillsborough National Park about 40km north of Mackay and the weather is overcast and drizzly.


I've made two trips to Queensland this year and will be heading back down south when my new house is ready to be installed on my daughter and son in law's 20acre farmlet near Stawell Vic.

It's being built in a factory and will be delivered by low loader.

Currently we are waiting on a Council Permit.

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It's now Sunday 21st July and I'll be moving from Smalleys Beach in the morning and visiting Tony and Denyse Allsop in Mackay. They are fellow Caravan World contributors.

There's a Q&A about me in the August issue. 

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The reason I  went back down south after my first trip north was to attend my No2 grandson's graduation ceremony as a Protective Services Officer at the Police Academy in Melbourne.

It was a most impressive occasion and I was very proud of him - especially when shaking hands with Victoria's Chief Commissioner of Police.

Following that I went back to the farm at Illawarra for a week during which I met a few times with Vince, Sales Manager at Portabuilt, to go through colours and other details like light switches, etc.

Then Sue, Shaun and I headed for Adelaide for a surprise visit to my daughter-in-law's 50th birthday party.

Next Day Sue and Shaun headed back to Vic and I turned northwards again - this time to Brisbane via Sydney where I picked up a snazzy little generator for those times the sun's hides its face.

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Yemmy - my little Mercedes Sprinter motorhome, stayed in the Newmarket Gardens Caravan Park in Brisbane while I went on a Pacific Cruise with P&O. There were 77 Apex 40 members on board for our first ever ship-board gathering and Annual Meeting. It was a great trip and we visited Noumea, Vila and Vanuatu. The local 41 Club in Noumea hosted us for a sight-seeing tour and then a great evening back in their club-house where we had french wine, beer, cheese, sausage and bread sticks plus much singing and good humour.

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I did a helicoptor trip in Vanuatu and although quite short it was a great way to see the island. (You can watch it in full screen if you like - click the little box  bottom right)

How would you like to paint an Ocean Liner?

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When I got back on dry land again I spent a few days with friends Helen and Ray at Verisdale Scrub near Beaudesert, SW of Brisbane. They have a lovely property with fantastic scenic views. 

Then after a couple more stops I headed for old favorite Smalleys Beach in the Cape Hillsborough National Park north of Mackay.


  The two weeks I spent at Smalleys Beach were quite good although the weather wasn't too bright at times. I had good neighbors on both of the sites I used and the lady at Site 7 kept herself - and us - amused by blowing colourful bubbles.

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22nd July, 2013

I couldn't get a decent site at Smalleys to stay longer so I took advantage of fellow Caravan World correspondents Tony and Denyse's kind offer of dinner and a 'sleepover'. After a great visit with them I headed back to Seaforth Post Office hoping to pick up a parcel Sue posted for me last Friday. Not there - and the lady said it wouldn't be in until Thursday at the earliest. What a pest as I didn't really want to hang around that long. Then I got smart and asked if it could be forwarded to Sarina when it arrived as I was going to Cape Palmerston Holiday Park for a week and could drive back to Sarina to pick it up. It contains my next supply of medications so it's important I get them although I'm not running short.

The park I'm now in, Cape Palmerston Holiday Park, is very new and the amenities are among the best I've seen. Unfortunately it's cold and very windy today, Wednesday, but aparently the cold spell is nationwide.

There's no mobile reception where I'm sited but Skype worked for a couple of calls but I couldn't get it to work for Jackie at Katherine.

I walked down to the beach last night hoping to get mobile there but no luck. I did however see a beautiful sunset 

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I deleted the blog by mistake this morning and it's been frustrating trying - and succeeding - in getting it back. I won't do that any more I hope, 

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25th July

I just heard from Portabuilt and they tell me the house will be ready in the factory in about 10 weeks. Hopefully that will give the Council plenty of time to issue the permit. It takes it up to early October so I guess it will be sometime late October/early November before I can move in. Once it's on site there will be the veranda to build on to the house plus the carport roof extension and then all services will be to connect - LPG gas bottles, water tanks and pump, electricity and septic system.

This will probably all clash with the ACC National Muster at Mudgee in October!

Who's coming to the house warming at Christmas?

My tablets didn't go back to Mackay as promised so that will be tomorrow now and they will be in Sarina on Monday. Now I know roughly how long before I need to be back in Illawarra I can plan a bit more travelling - may even get up to Walkamin on the Atherton Tableland.

l'll go back to Forest Glen first though and get Yemmy's oil leak sorted before doing extended kms. I had an oil change and service there on the way up and he started using - and dripping - oil straight after that.

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I just came back from a walk down to the beach and thought I'd take a few shots with my phone

Would you believe I hit my head on this branch - twice!.

... and they thought they were on their own!

It's a lovely park and what's been done in just two years is amazing. I'll come back here some time in the future to see how it develops. (Yemmy's on the far left - he doesn't like to be left out.)

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 I notice they cater for all sizes in the toilets!

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Sunday 28th of July 2013

What's happened to the 'Sunshine State'? It's been raining off and on all night and this morning it's grey and damp. I left my chair out all night so it will be a while before I can sit in it. Fortunately it's not cold though.

I've put a link to the blog on the Australian Caravan Club's Forum so welcome any ACC members reading this.I also put it on 'Sprinter-Forum' so welcome to any Sprinter owners who drop in.

I was looking at the early days of the ACC - yes I've kept all the emails - and I see I joined the Board on the 29th of September 2006 and at the next Board Meeting found myself Chairman - a position I held for five years. 

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I mentioned earlier in the blog that Sue and I went to Adelaide for son Chris' 60th Birthday so here's a picture of Dad and the Lad

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This has been a great weekend for petrol-heads like me. V8s racing at Queensland Raceway at Ipswich and Formula 1 at  MAGYAR NAGYDIJ in Hungary.

I was able to watch the V8s live on the telly - young guns to the fore - but the F1 race is at 10 o'clock tonight and I may just have to wait till the morning to see the result. If David from CLIC is reading my blog I'll say sorry David, I don't want your son's Red Bulls to win. I'm a Ferrari fan!

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29th, July 2013

Murphy had a play with my Skype last night. I normally never turn the computer off and often leave Skype logged in. Last night  number 2 grandson tried to talk to me but I could hear nothing - I could see him, he could hear me but not a sound my end. After he'd hung up I tried the Skype test call and it was dead! I turned Skype off and then logged in again and everything worked fine.

Seeing I was still up I turned on the telly and watched the closing stages of what must have been a thrilling race - and hooray - a Mercedes won. Good on you Lewis.

I seem to have achieved a lot today. I packed up a bit - leaving outdoor stuff outdoors. Pulled out the power and drain, pulled down the two antennas - TV and Internet- and headed for Sarina.

The parcel had arrived at last and because it was under 500grams there was no re-direction charge.
I'd filled out my Health Super forms that needed an accredited witness and a very helpful lady in the Shire Office next to the Post Office did the deed and also gave me photocopies as a record. 

Then I went shopping at Woolies and then headed for the new IGA where I'd bought the best pork pie I've had in Australia last week and I wanted two more. They didn't have any! Murphy?

Just as I was leaving the store my friend Roy from Narooma rang and I sat at a table while we yarned for ages.

Then I spotted a laundromat nearby and as I had quite a bit of dirty washing I passed an hour reading my Kindle while the machines did their work. My sister-in-law Mary rang while I was waiting for the washing and she was quite confused about our phone numbers since moving from the Peninsula.  She must be nearly ninety years old so there's an excuse if she doesn't always take things in.

I took a half chook out to Grasstree Beach for lunch on the lovely foreshore. We often used to camp there in the old days before camping was banned. 

Sue emailed with news about the septic report and the plans for a new complying systems should be ready this week. It was a busy day as Keiran from Portabuilt sent some pics showing all the insulation is now in place in my house.

Ben and Helen who stayed here last year asked if the camp kitchen is finished yet. No Helen - it's not but the roof's on and the barby works.

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30th July 2013

You may have wondered how I did the panorama of the view from Veresdale Scrub earlier on in the blog. It was actually about 7 photos stitched together with a programme called HUGIN.

I've just done the same thing with some pics I took of the Cape Hillsborough area from a hill on the way to Yarapari. Smalleys Beach is just to the left of the big hump on the skyline.

Yesterday on the way back to the caravan park I continued along the road and came to a collection of beautiful homes right at the end of the road. 

There was also a gravel track leading to a boat ramp and this lovely beach.

It was wet and miserable here today so with nothing better to do I did a bit of net trawling and to my utter surprise came across a personal travel site that contained this little gem:

"It is getting late by the time we take off so we have decide to stop at QT125 rest area. Just 3 groups in here but it is nice and clean and tired. We decided to sit outside and have tea on the picnic tables as we sit down the lovely old timer in the van in front of the table starts to talk. He is like a pig in mud when we start talking about travelling and what we have learnt on the road, what a surprise when it turns out to be Lionel Mussell the gentleman who wrote the book Australia Calling, a handbook on RV travelling. The other couple from the winnie comes over and talks too. Good quite night and very pleasant indeed.

I'd quite forgotten that evening till I read that.  Thanks for the memory Sheila.

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31st July 2013 

This has been a fairly hectic but satisfying day. It started with packing up and leaving Cape Palmerson Holiday Park after a very pleasant stay.

Then I set the TomTom for Forest Glen and the Mercedes Dealer that serviced Yemmy last time. While sipping a coffee at Marlborough the thought came that it would be silly to go all that way for something that could be fixed locally in Rockhampton. 

I saw the three pointed star on the way in to Rocky but it was a truck dealer and they directed me to the right place  - even so without Tom I would never have found it!

 Sam, the workshop foreman, was most helpful and even removed the oil filter himself as all his Mercedes technicians were on other jobs. Eric - Sprinter guru - on the Sprinter Forum was right as usual when he said it could be the O ring that seals the filter. It was warped and split. Unfortunately it comes with the filter so I had to have a new filter.

The job was more that $100 but I would have used more fuel than that going to Forest Glen. Now I'm able to continue my adventute.

I didn't want to go back up the Bruce Highway as I'd already done 300km today on it so I decided to head for Emerald and then go north from there.

I'm in a huge rest area at Duoringa  tonight and I've never seen such a huge collection of RVs in one place before!

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I've started a new blog from August. To go there click