Lookii Project Submission Page

Many people who are traveling in an RV (Recreational Vehicle) will be looking to get the best value for the money that they have budgeted for their travels.

This is especially true for those who have retired and intend to spend long periods of time living in their RV, while discovering new places to to see and new friends to make.

To complete this mission please submit some money saving tips that could be included in the chapter about Money Saving Ideas.

Support the project and join one of the Grey Nomad Guide missions at Lookii.

Examples to consider would be

• Free or Low Cost Camping
• How to find free tourism attractions
• Handy and cheap gadgets.
• and lots more.

Successful submissions may be edited and included in the ebook guide that is being produced.

If you have accepted this mission, please add your content as a comment on this post. Make sure that you identify yourself so that successful completion of the mission can be credited to you.

Free Camping.

After completing our stay near Melbourne we have moved north, and found a delightful camping spot just out of Bendigo. It means that we have been off the electricity grid, and the learning curve for Free Camping has been re-invigorated.

One factor that we have been struggling with is the lack of power for recharging things like the laptop, the modem, my iPhone, etc. The cloudy weather has not helped, although it is surprising just how much recharging of the caravan battery can be achieved with just a short burst of sunshine.

Battery Problems.

Things were not helped when we discovered on the first night at the free campsite that the battery was not powering even the lights, and especially not the water pump. A night spent reading by candlelight was our re-introduction to life off the grid. That was solved when I bought a new battery. Since then we have saved enough money from not paying caravan park fees to pay for the new battery.

Recharging Appliances.

The modern Grey Nomad lifestyle almost requires that there will be a range of appliances that will have batteries that need recharging. The laptop that I am using to write this post, has been idle for a few days while we worked out the best way to organise ways to recharge it. I almost ran the battery right down on the iPhone, which is not a smart thing to do.

New Friends and Old.

The atmosphere at this free camping site is a lot more friendly than that in caravan parks, as everyone tends to spend some time sharing experiences and plans with each other. It is a time to pick up  few more hints and discover new places to visit and stay at.

You meet some interesting new people, such as Pat and Dave with their 3 dogs, who were waiting to move on after the sad experience of have to part with a fourth dog whose age and illness meant that she could not complete this trip.

And then just when it looked like we were going to have the site to ourselves tonight, who should arrive but a couple that we knew several years ago when we were working as volunteers on a community playground construction project. Australia is a big country, and it is surprising to be able to reconnect with people such a long way from home base.

 And Looking Back

One House Sit draws to a close and another opens up.

There is still nearly a week to go on our current House Sitting assignment, which means just a few more days to do some of the things that we were looking forward to on the Bellarine Peninsula and at Geelong. It is also time to go through the experiences we have had as a result of this house sit.

The video slideshow below has just a few of those places visited and revisited. I have sequenced them as if they were part of the Great Ocean Road trip from Apollo Bay to Portarlington, with a short trip back to Maits Rest to wander among the tall trees.

Planning for the Next Move

From Portarlington we are hoping to move closer to Melbourne for a few days to visit the Zoo, Aquarium and other attractions. Then it will on to Kelly Country, across the Murray, up one of the inland highways to maybe Queensland. After that it will be back south to Sydney as we have organized a House Sit for later in the year.

But First

A short stopover at Salt Creek on the Coorong.

We will be making the move in the next couple of days to head off to the next House Sitting assignment in Portarlington on the Bellarine Peninsula near Geelong, Victoria. That will give us the ideal opportunity to drive the Great Ocean Road, and iconic destination for all Grey Nomads.

We will be taking this first trip on the Great Ocean Road from Adelaide to Geelong. That allows us to have a stop over at Salt Creek, a very small community in the middle of the Coorong.

And the real reason for making this little side trip is to enjoy the hospitality at the RoadHouse, where we have previously (on at least 2 occasions) enjoyed the Coorong Mullet and Steak Sandwich from the menu. We also want to check out if we are given the usual  Apricot Jam sachets with the bread and butter that goes with the meal!

These photos are from previous trips to Salt Creek.

Time To Prepare:

For the next move.

Now that the first House (Pet) Sitting operation has ended, it’s time for preparing for the next assignment. That is about 4 weeks away, so we are spending a week trying to tie a few loose ends before venturing further afield.

And while we are, the weather has turned cold (in the mornings in particular) so it’s rug up time and trying to keep warm, especially at night.

Morning mist at Mount Barker in the Adelaide Hills. The mornings are so cold that the warm bed is the place to be until the sun starts to have some influence.

With the frost on the oval and hill near the caravan park it’s a sure indication that we are in for a sunny day. And that’s been the case for the last couple of days, although we have been busy running around to appointments and meeting potential buyers for the car we are trying to sell.

Tomorrow promises to be more of the same, so when we hopefully head off on the next stage of our Grey Nomad Journey the weather stays kind to us.

The 12V Experience.

Our first experience of Free Camping, completely of the grid, has pointed out that for a reasonable stay we will have to find ways to make sure that we have power for all of those appliances that are essential.

I guess the first thing to consider is just what is essential and what are un-necessary luxuries.

Since we are living in the caravan full time, with the occasional house-sit, most of the appliances are necessary.

Currently we have both 12V DC and 240V AC powered appliances. The 240V ones are the  Microwave, Washing Machine and Airconditioner. 240V power is also provided to the power points for things like the toaster, frying pan, grill, computer and modem. While free camping, at unpowered sites these are not useable. Read the rest of this entry »

Location: Whyalla

There are 2 caravan parks in Whyalla. The Foreshore and Whyalla Caravan Parks.

A visit to the Information Centre as we came into the town from Port Augusta gave us that information, and indicated that one has a beach front setting and the other a bushland setting. We chose the bushland option.

It has given us just a few more opportunities to add to the checklist of birds seen on our travels, and the next task will be to find a way to add photos of those that stay still long enough.

Today’s best example is either the Kite that sat in the tree near our caravan, despite being hassled by a pair of PeeWees who weren’t too happy about its presence, or the pair of Little Grebes seen on a stroll around the Wetlands.

Yes, there was a pair of Little Grebes. One of them just missed out on being in the photo by ducking under the water.

The Journey Begins

Wednesday: 6th June.

A short trip to revisit some familiar territory and connect with family has begun. The destination: Port Lincoln.

Since this is the first significant distance to be travelled with the caravan, it will be broken up into several stages.

Stage 1: Christies Beach to Yacka

After a slow start which meant that we were a few minutes late for checkout at Christies Beach and the boom  gate would not operate when I punched in the code, the first real experience at driving through the suburbs was negotiated successfully. If I ignore the slight scrape from the sign in the caravan park when I took the corner a little too casually. A great lesson learned!

A big rig like the one in which we are travelling makes it necessary to make some changes or adaptations to the driving behaviour that have been entrenched over many years. For example….

• On busy multi-lane roads in built up areas driving in the left lane is not recommended. In just 1 reasonably short trip that recommendation was very helpful in keeping the movement through the suburbs to be smooth.
• Stopping distance has to be increased.
• Parking: Just where can you park something that takes up 3 normal car spaces?

First Stop Over: Yacka

This has been at the top of the places to stay since noticing the park on the banks of the Broughton River at the northern end of the town on one of the many journeys through the town in the last 2 years.

Yackamoorundie Park is a community operated park with camping facilities. To get access to the park for camping and using the facilities there are several places where the key to the gate can be collected. For a reasonable $15 per night for a powered site. There are 8 available.

Even before the caravan had been set up Joy discovered an echidna or spiny anteater who made a hurried retreat. Well relatively hurried for a slow moving creature like him, aided by being able to slide down the steep river bank. But not before a quick photo was taken.

Facilities at Yackamoorundie include a Shower/Toilet block, 8 powered sites, campfire areas, barbecues (electric and wood burning), sheltered eating area and several magnificently mosaic decorated picnic tables and seats. At the time we were there two more tables were being prepared. A revisit to the park at some time later will almost certainly be on the agenda.

The Natural Setting

As good as the features described above, they do not really compare with the natural surrounds.

Being on the banks of the Broughton River, there are plenty of trees and consequently birds to delight in the morning and evenings. part of the park has a gently sloping area with dense scrub to attract these birds. In just a short period several species were spotted and crossed of the checklist and some even managed to find themselves in front of my camera.

This park is well worth a visit, especially if you want to get away from the stresses of day to day living. Phone reception is poor, internet connection is almost non-existent for wireless reception and since Yacka is only a small community out of the reach of major TV transmitters there was no TV to distract from the peaceful surroundings.

Preparing for windy conditions.

After what turned out to be the little incident with the awning that could have been a lot more drastic, it has come time to put up the annexe again.

The repairs have been carried out. That involved fixing and reinforcing the bracket where the awning arm became separated. Luckily there was no damage to the awning itself, or to the arms and anti-flap devices.

This time we are parked on a concrete slab, rather than the gravel or lawn which we will encounter in other parks. That gives us a solid base on which to park the caravan, and also firm footing in the annexe. The only problem is the slab is wider that the width of the caravan an annexe.

To be able to peg down the walls of the annexe would mean moving the caravan out and putting it back again but further over. And I am not going to do that.

The solution:

Do what many have done before, and drill some holes into the slab, fill with a plastic plugin and screw a hook for holding down the side walls. The slab has many little holes filled with small plastic plugs.

Actually my solution was to screw in an eye (not a hook) and connect it to the eye at the bottom of the wall with a small d-shackle. It makes a neat little alternative to a tent peg, even if I do say so myself.

Since putting up the annexe we have had one night with some strong winds, and everything held well. When it’s time to move on it just a matter of undoing the shackle, removing the eye, and packing them away for next time.

Sunsets Over The Sea.

Yesterday we made the first move from the first Caravan Park. After 5 months of setting up, testing out, buying a tow vehicle and juggling around work offers, it came time to make the move.

The biggest lesson to come from the experience is to have a checklist of things to do before hitching up and heading off. And the first thing on the checklist should be to make a checklist. We managed to remember most things, and with a couple of hints and tips from a fellow caravanner the first short trip was accomplished safely.

Down By The Sea.

We are now at the Christies Beach Tourist Park(http://bit.ly/JdirLD ). It seems that Caravan Park is no longer a label that is used, which is perhaps understandable since there are many different types of mobile homes, such as motorhomes, camper vans, camper trailers and tents that use these facilities.

Being close to the beachfont gives an ideal vantage point for watching sunsets with their everchanging colours and moods.