17 Feb – 19  Feb

Lakeside CP -> Mannering Park -> Murrurundi -> Bingara

Finally, after 9 months of planning we leave Sydney. We have put so much planning into this adventure and have been desperate for the moment that makes it real. We left Sydney on 17 Feb 2018. 

But we had a very an inauspicious start to our travels. About 10 km from the Lakeside is a public weigh-bridge at Oxford Falls and we were keen to get in there and check that all of our weight parameters were within legal limits. We had put in so much research and modifications to vehicles to ensure that our rig was not only legal but safe, that this was a high priority requirement. So in we went and carried out the procedure we got advice on from the Caravaners Forum. The procedure and results are shown below. But while on the weigh-bridge and trying to fix the jockey wheel to the van, a truck came up and made it clear that they were in a big hurry. They started revving their engine, putting pressure on us to get out of there quickly. 

So when we finished our measurements we got “out of there quickly”, but unfortunately caught the rear driver side of Mobi on a very large block of concrete. Stupid place to put a concrete block!  All the workers came and had a good look and it was clear that trying to drive away would have done even more damage. So they brought in a front loader and a short chain and hauled the block out of the way. Fortunately there is no damage to the structure of the Van, only to the fibreglass flares over the wheel archs. That was a very disappointing and humiliating start to the journey.

The weigh-bridge procedure and results were as follows – note that parameters such as GVM are described in detail at click here:

1. Place the front wheels of the cruiser on the weigh-bridge, keeping the van connected (so that the ball weight is included). For The Cruiser, the front axle weight should not exceed 1.63t – our reading was 1.44t.
2. Place both axles of The Cruiser on the weigh-bridge, again keeping Mobi connected but off the bridge. This is the weight we have to compare to the GVM of The Cruiser, which cannot be exceeded. Our max GVM is 3.8t – our reading was 3.5t.
3. From these readings we can also compute the rear axle weight, which was 2.06t, compared to the maximum level of 2t. So we have to reduce the weight on the rear axle, albeit by a small amount. 
4. We then put both The Cruiser and Mobi on. This tells us how we are placed with regard to the GCM which for us should not exceed 6.8t. Our reading was 6.58t.
5. Next we moved The Cruiser off the weigh-bridge with the van still attached to the car so that we could assess our GTM. This was 3.04t compared to our max legal limit of 3.28t.
6. Then we attached the jockey wheel so that the only weight on the weigh-bridge is Mobi. We did this by moving the vehicle just off and then quickly putting  the jockey wheel on, lowering it to take the weight, record the weight and then simply lowering the hitch back onto The Cruiser. This gives the ATM of the van, which for us cannot exceed 3.5t. Our reading was 3.24t .
7. From these reading we can also work out the tow-ball mass – the weight of the van on the tow-ball. Our max is 350kg and our reading is 200kg. This is a bit low (should be around 10% of the van weight so about 300-325kg). We will have to make some adjustments to slightly increase this while also not increasing the weight on the rear axle.

So pretty good weight readings, with only the rear axle and tow-ball mass to think about. We can move a few things around to ensure we comply. Tricky business this weight stuff!

We got to Mannering Park about lunch-time Saturday to find it mobbed by families and children. Our site was about the only one left and was one of the best there – on a corner and spacious so we could set up on an angle.

On arrival we took the opportunity to try our very heavy (22kg) and expensive ($2,200) motorised jockey wheel. Unfortunately it only moved the van about 100mm and then only backwards. Worried by rear axle weight we decided to take all 22kg of it back to Sydney rather than try to deal with it on the go.  So on Sunday morning I did the dash and put it in our soft storage. Getting back to the Park, people were moving out at a rapid rate, their weekend over. Pretty soon we had the place almost to ourselves and had a lazy day. At last.

The CP is the Ingenia Holiday part  part of the Big4 chain.  We paid $37.50 a night for a powered site, which we thought good value. The sites here are large and we are quite close to the lake, and the facilities are good and well maintained.. The camp kitchen is great, just next to the pool, with BBQ plates and burners.  

We were talking to a unique couple while cooking dinner. There rolled in on a big motor bike towing a trailer. Pretty soon the trailer was a mini camper with a bed atop and cooking/washing facilities below. The fellow had made it himself – and gets enquiries everywhere he goes. They are from Brisbane going down the coast to Tasmania for a month. Living the life!

On Monday morning we dropped Mobi off for its service, then had a lovely brunch with a like minded couple, Barb and Keith who we met at the four-wheel-drive training course. They live quite close to the caravan park we were at, a magnificent home right on the water. That too have an Elite van and we hope to meet up with them somewhere in the Kimberlys. After that we picked up Mobi and headed north up the New England highway. We got far as Murrurundi at the foot of the Liverpool Ranges about 100km south of Tamworth. 

The New England highway (NEH) hasn’t changed much at all since we last drove up here about 10 years ago, except of course for the Hunter Expressway providing a great 4 lane highway from the M1 to close to Singleton. Great road. But for the main NEH, there are lots of 50kph zones through towns and villages, and it’s mostly a one lane each way bumpy old road. A few stretches have been improved but not so many. Clearly all the funding is going to the coastal M1. 

The Murrurundi caravan park is excellent, a real “old world” little pocket of charm on the north side of town with very big sites, good facilities, if a bit dated, and lovely people to welcome us, Carol and Doug. At $30 a night it is a steal. Doug came out to guide us into our site and then to help us get established – really nice people. We had to lift up our driver’s side Mobi wheels to get it level and used out Andersen levellers for the first time – worked a treat. If you are travelling the New England this will place make a great stop-over away from the mining dominated towns to the South.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That night we were going to walk down to the pub and have dinner there, but the rain came down. The landscape has been so dry and brown that we cannot begrudge them a little rain in these times of desperate drought.

The drive to Bingara (242km) was fairly uneventful – up the New England to Tamworth, then up the Fossickers Way to Manilla, Barraba and then to Bingara. Pretty good roads all the way and little traffic. We sat on around 90kmh in Sports 4th gear, changing down to 3 going down steep hills. This seem to be a great combination.

We did take a 10km detour out to see Split Rock Dam on the Manilla River for old times sake. Its water level is very low. So far Kerry had not driven the rig and this seemed a good time to start, perhaps back out to the main road. So off we went – her first time driving a 3t Cruiser towing a 3t van. At the main road she decided that this was all ok and drove the rest of the way to Bingara. So we can now share the driving.

See a short video of this – click here.

Bingara is a very old and nice town on the Gwydir River. Our caravan park is very close to the river and about 1km out of town. The office was closed when we arrived but there was a big sign on the door – “Pick your site and we will catch up with you later”. Now that is an agreeable way to do business.  We picked a drive-through grassy site with a slab for under our awning, near the amenities. Set up in no time. But then we had a few showers – great for the landscape but not so good for us.

We talked about what, in the short time we have been away, has really struck us as a change in lifestyle. For Kerry it was “this place is so easy to clean”; and “I can tow a caravan!”  For me it was “just  living outdoors all the time”; and “the variety of people we meet.” Lets see how that may change over time.

For photos associated with this blog, click here