Well, it’s time for us to move on from Werribee. It has been a busy time for us over the last 2 months that we have spent near Melbourne. After viewing numerous makes, models & sizes of 5th Wheelers, we have finally made our decision on the manufacturer that we wish to build our 5ver. We have decided on a Truelux 28ft to be customised on the Opal Series. Truelux are a family business who had infinite patience as we visited three times with the most obscure queries/questions. They simply reiterated that the only dumb question is the one not asked. Have a look at their web site: http://d454457.u23.fasthit.net/home.html.
One would say that that was the easy decision taken care of, now we have to decide on the tow vehicle which is proving to be a testing & stressful time. Nothing is ever straightforward as we originally think. The more we delve into this, the more we come up other issues, a bit like a domino effect.
There are still lots of places to see & things to do that we’ll have to leave for another day. Our last week at Werribee proved to be quite interesting with us having Arthur (Vicki’s grandson – 13mths) come & stay with us for a few days while his mum & dad make a quick trip back to Adelaide to sort a few things out. It was quite strange to have this ‘foreign object’ sleeping between us at night; not an exercise we are accustomed to. The days when he couldn’t go outside to play due to the wild, wet & windy weather proved to be quite testing at times. However, once the sun came out to play so did he. With one leg in front of the other he would do his ‘crab crawl’ over to the neighbour to visit their little Chihuahua. We left Werribee on Monday May 10th & headed to Col’s daughter’s place at Kingston-on-Murray via the Sunraysia Highway (connects Mildura to Ballarat) which we’re looking forward to travelling along.
There must have been a club travelling out of Learmonth as we passed a number of motorhomes & a 5ver. Just outside of Lexton we came across another wind farm information bay overlooking the wind turbines in the distance. The information bay was I feel to be the most informed site we have come across so far. The day had been quite a hard day as the wind wasn’t on our side, so by the time we got to Teddington Reservoir, North West Victoria at Stuart Mill (about 35km from Avoca; midway between St Arnaud & Avoca) we decided to stay overnight. St Arnaud Range National Park has 13,900 hectares of mainly steep, forested terrain and is an ideal place to experience what the forests were like before the gold rushes. The park has one of the largest intact areas of Box-Ironbark vegetation. It encompasses the former Kara Kara State Park and much of the St Arnaud Range State Forest.
It was a lovely freebie spot to stay & wind down. This time gave me a good opportunity to sort out our remaining fruit & vegies so that we can get over the border without having to throw anything away. The next day when we awoke to a very frosty morning & had an overnight temperature of a warm 10.30C, we decided to stay another day as I appeared to have picked up a 24 hour tummy bug & wasn’t feeling too bright at all. While here, we took the opportunity to explore our lovely surroundings of the once very popular reservoir.
Wednesday morning & it was time to move on to K-o-M where we’ll stay a couple of days & catch up with Col’s daughter & family. We thought yesterday was cold, but after taking a look at our thermometer it showed us that yesterday was warm comparatively – a Brrrrr 0.40C. By the time we reached St Arnaud, it was time for a short stop to recharge our batteries with a walk through the township. St Arnaud was named after Marshal Jacques Leroy De St Arnaud, the commander of the French forces (b1796 – d 1854).
A stretch stop at Birchip to take a look around town & to see the Big Red Mallee Bull which stands proudly in the median strip of the main street through town proved quite an excitement. Not far out of town when I felt something on my leg which I thought was just a breeze coming from our car air conditioner & just brushed off. However, I had the same feeling but this time on the other side of my leg, but this time felt something more. My greatest fear was that it was a spider (which I am terrified of). After insisting that Col pull over to the side of the road & stop the car, I rolled up my trouser leg only to find a big locust. What a relief!!!
UPDATE June 2010
After several weeks of looking at the available tow vehicles, we now have purchased a 2007 Landcruiser VHD79R Cab Chassis. This is one of the recommended vehicles that can adequately tow the new van. Currently the vehicle is fitted with a custom built camping canopy that, being useful as we await the fifth wheeler, will have to be removed to have the 5ver hitch fitted when the van is made.
We originally wanted to use an Isuzu D-Max twin cab ute, however, the decision to go to the 28ft fifth wheeler counts this option out. In Victoria, we visited three companies that imported and converted the popular US tow vehicles, Ford, Chevrolet and Dodge RAM. These are beautiful vehicles but at what cost? So we decided to compromise and save by buying the Toyota. Refer to our update picture albums.
We are still at our home base at Napperby where we can relax while setting up our Toyota; additional battery, some minor servicing of the van and to sell our current 4WD, our ever reliable Mitsubishi Pajero, it will be sad to see it go.
The school holidays are nearly upon us once again. We will be here for a while, at least until the end of the school holidays when we’ll continue on with our travels. Testing the new tow vehicle!
To all my past colleagues at OE, have a safe break with your families.
One would say that that was the easy decision taken care of, now we have to decide on the tow vehicle which is proving to be a testing & stressful time. Nothing is ever straightforward as we originally think. The more we delve into this, the more we come up other issues, a bit like a domino effect.
There are still lots of places to see & things to do that we’ll have to leave for another day. Our last week at Werribee proved to be quite interesting with us having Arthur (Vicki’s grandson – 13mths) come & stay with us for a few days while his mum & dad make a quick trip back to Adelaide to sort a few things out. It was quite strange to have this ‘foreign object’ sleeping between us at night; not an exercise we are accustomed to. The days when he couldn’t go outside to play due to the wild, wet & windy weather proved to be quite testing at times. However, once the sun came out to play so did he. With one leg in front of the other he would do his ‘crab crawl’ over to the neighbour to visit their little Chihuahua. We left Werribee on Monday May 10th & headed to Col’s daughter’s place at Kingston-on-Murray via the Sunraysia Highway (connects Mildura to Ballarat) which we’re looking forward to travelling along.
There must have been a club travelling out of Learmonth as we passed a number of motorhomes & a 5ver. Just outside of Lexton we came across another wind farm information bay overlooking the wind turbines in the distance. The information bay was I feel to be the most informed site we have come across so far. The day had been quite a hard day as the wind wasn’t on our side, so by the time we got to Teddington Reservoir, North West Victoria at Stuart Mill (about 35km from Avoca; midway between St Arnaud & Avoca) we decided to stay overnight. St Arnaud Range National Park has 13,900 hectares of mainly steep, forested terrain and is an ideal place to experience what the forests were like before the gold rushes. The park has one of the largest intact areas of Box-Ironbark vegetation. It encompasses the former Kara Kara State Park and much of the St Arnaud Range State Forest.
It was a lovely freebie spot to stay & wind down. This time gave me a good opportunity to sort out our remaining fruit & vegies so that we can get over the border without having to throw anything away. The next day when we awoke to a very frosty morning & had an overnight temperature of a warm 10.30C, we decided to stay another day as I appeared to have picked up a 24 hour tummy bug & wasn’t feeling too bright at all. While here, we took the opportunity to explore our lovely surroundings of the once very popular reservoir.
Wednesday morning & it was time to move on to K-o-M where we’ll stay a couple of days & catch up with Col’s daughter & family. We thought yesterday was cold, but after taking a look at our thermometer it showed us that yesterday was warm comparatively – a Brrrrr 0.40C. By the time we reached St Arnaud, it was time for a short stop to recharge our batteries with a walk through the township. St Arnaud was named after Marshal Jacques Leroy De St Arnaud, the commander of the French forces (b1796 – d 1854).
A stretch stop at Birchip to take a look around town & to see the Big Red Mallee Bull which stands proudly in the median strip of the main street through town proved quite an excitement. Not far out of town when I felt something on my leg which I thought was just a breeze coming from our car air conditioner & just brushed off. However, I had the same feeling but this time on the other side of my leg, but this time felt something more. My greatest fear was that it was a spider (which I am terrified of). After insisting that Col pull over to the side of the road & stop the car, I rolled up my trouser leg only to find a big locust. What a relief!!!
UPDATE June 2010
After several weeks of looking at the available tow vehicles, we now have purchased a 2007 Landcruiser VHD79R Cab Chassis. This is one of the recommended vehicles that can adequately tow the new van. Currently the vehicle is fitted with a custom built camping canopy that, being useful as we await the fifth wheeler, will have to be removed to have the 5ver hitch fitted when the van is made.
We originally wanted to use an Isuzu D-Max twin cab ute, however, the decision to go to the 28ft fifth wheeler counts this option out. In Victoria, we visited three companies that imported and converted the popular US tow vehicles, Ford, Chevrolet and Dodge RAM. These are beautiful vehicles but at what cost? So we decided to compromise and save by buying the Toyota. Refer to our update picture albums.
We are still at our home base at Napperby where we can relax while setting up our Toyota; additional battery, some minor servicing of the van and to sell our current 4WD, our ever reliable Mitsubishi Pajero, it will be sad to see it go.
The school holidays are nearly upon us once again. We will be here for a while, at least until the end of the school holidays when we’ll continue on with our travels. Testing the new tow vehicle!
To all my past colleagues at OE, have a safe break with your families.
Click on the link below the picture to view some photos.
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