Wulgulmerang and McKillops Bridge

So the first trip in The Bug is down to Victoria and a BlazeAid camp at Wulgulmerang, population 11.

In actual fact, I was killing time having a few days free before meeting family in Adelong NSW.

The quickest or should I say the shortest way there is via Cooma, Jindabyne and cross the border at Suggen Buggen. Signs at Jindabyne suggested border passes were required to enter Victoria but I saw nobody. In actual fact only saw a couple of vehicles on the 100km trip. That was good because most of the road is gravel and just a single lane in some places and best travelled at about 40km/h. The Bug went well on the gravel.

Stay a few days and did some hilly fences with a mostly overseas backpacker group of volunteers.

Heading back to NSW decided to see McKillops bridge, a magnificent structure in some wild hilly country that was built across the Snowy River. Main Road C611, is listed as one of the most dangerous roads in the country according to www.dangerousroads.org If I had read that about the road beforehand I would not have gone that way! But I'm glad to have seen it. Fortunately, after a significant amount of rain overnight, I didn't see another vehicle as the gravel road was wet and very slippery on the shady side of the mountains. A fallen tree across the road did not deter either.

The bridge has a very interesting history.

Check out this video on Youtube that ends with the bridge crossing.

McKillops Bridge

Tree down and no chainsaw, but I managed.

The Bug

Over seven months in one place, staying in bricks and mortar, well that's not been achieved since hitting the road full time, leaving Narrandera back in March 2010. Usually, a long stay for me would be coming back to Cotton Tree for the annual Certificate of Inspection required for heavy vehicles like my motorhome, pay bills, catch up on the snail-mail, check the unit, splash in the warm waters of Maroochydore, then off again.

Surprisingly good real estate prices and quick sales appear to be a product of the pandemic here in south-east Qld. Two units in my block of ten changed hands after each having just one day of open-house inspections and they got very generous prices. A friend up in the hinterland, not all that far away, sold her house to an interstate couple with just photos on the Internet, go figure. It's all go here.

The new plan sees me trade the Suzuki for a VW Multivan. The Bug as I call it gives me the cruise control I want and the space I need to carry stuff and sleep in the vehicle. It's white and nondescript unlike an 8t motorhome. A few additions make it a comfortable option for those overnight trips. If a motorhome is a home on wheels The Bug is a weekender.

The bed storage and generous sleeping space when extended.

Turning the page.

From the sublime to the ridiculous as the saying goes.

Had occasion to go camping in my dingy, my Suzuki. Fitting in all the bits required to sleep, cook and clean up was OK but both at once, no way. To sleep in the back and roll out a mattress and associated bedding required the removal of everything else. Then an extension to the cargo space needed to be concocted to get the flat length required. With the back door open, and a makeshift frame for a wet weather tarp in case of rain or dew. Lots of time required to set up and no security during the night for me or my belongings, not ideal. But it was a shake-down trip to see how/if it worked.

The plan: to drive from Cotton Tree in Qld to Tumut in the Snowy Mountains of NSW and then back again accommodating myself in the Suzuki whilst on the road.

Simple but effective if the weather permits.

Complete with bug net and surprisingly comfortable, for sleeping anyway.

It's mid-December and I headed off not totally happy but committed to the venture. Three nights on the road on the way down and one night on the way back and I'm over it big time. Mind you, I was dry every night even though it rained heavily on two of the nights. The Suzuki scooted along and was easy to drive but cruise control would have been nice, no scratch that, mandatory.

So now back in Qld and I'm considering it might be time to make some changes. Open a new chapter in my life, turn the page. Commuting up and down the east coast between Maroochydore and Tumut looks to be what I will mostly be doing for the foreseeable future. Not living on the road as before, but doing a couple of nights on the road type trips, every now and then.

Love that car but hey it's just not made for the job.

Maintenance and repairs 2020

 

Imagine sometime in the future... the conversation goes a bit like this. Hey Grampa how did you survive the 2020 pandemic? What did you do during the lockdown and travel restrictions to stay sane? Well, son, I refurbished my motorhome.

The work gets done at a local workshop, it's a team effort, the mechanic does all the spanner work and I do all the bill paying. It matches our individual skill sets.

Currently, the motorhome is still in bits, awaiting some other bits from the states, metal bits, not animal bits, but they have to go through quarantine apparently?

But the patient is progressing well she should be back together soon and better than ever. All that's needed then is; restrictions lifted, borders open, free travel everywhere. We'll have to wait and see on that one.

Had to take the front end assembly off to drop the engine out.

The cylinders, pistons and block are all good.

Both heads when tested leaked like sprinklers.

Bird of Prey

Wow, how things have changed in a month - COVID-19, but hey life goes on.

The MH is in the workshop with no indication of exactly when she will be ready for the road again. But as things stand there is no hurry.

So yep I'm in lock-down like the rest of the nation - pleased not to have found myself on the road at this time. I'm able to get out for exercise, bike riding and Stand-up Paddling are my preference. The weather here has been pretty good of late for both.

My accommodation here in Cotton Tree comes with a roof garden giving me a bit extra space to hang out in. It's complete with pergola and shade sails and I have a $20 inflatable swimming pool for when it gets really hot.

Of late I've noticed I've got a freeloader perching on a corner of the pergola keeping an eye out for fish in the river. This bird of prey seems not to worry when I walk past or stop to take a photo from just a few feet away and I feel privileged to be able to be this close.

I added an extension to his perch so his poops go over the side

Magnificent!

Not everyone is happy Ol' Mate is here!