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.

 

 

Perfect at any time.

Most people would expect that the best time to visit Port Lincoln would be in the warmer times, with its mild climate and water activities. It is also a great place to visit even in the depths of Winter.

Yes we di have to contend with gale force winds on a couple of occasions, and the rain has affected some possible activities, but there is plenty to see and do. In our week here we have only just scratched the surface.

Walks

There are several well designated walking trails for those who like to get out and experience the environment close-up. Close to the town is the Parnakalla Trail.

Further afield is the Investigator Trail, named after the ship captained by Matthew Flinders, with markers pointing out places of historic and environmental significance.

The Marina

Claimed to be home to the largest fishing fleet in the Southern Hemisphere, the Port Lincoln Marina is a great place to visit. When we were there it seemed like the whole fleet was in port. The Prawn and Lobster fleet were tied up, and there was a little activity as some were preparing to head out in a few days.

One of my nephews is the engineer on one of the Prawn boats, and evidently they are provisioning for the next trip, where I believe that they will be doing some tagging of prawns to help with research and management of prawn numbers. I must check out just what that involves.

Also in the fleet are many small vessels used to take the feed out to the numerous tuna farms located around the bays at Port Lincoln. From our position in the caravan park, looking out over Boston Bay we can see a couple of these tuna farms, and the boats regularly heading out to them with cages full of pilchards to feed the tuna.

National Parks

Located close to Port Lincoln are the LincolnNational Park and the Coffin Bay National Park.

Access to these requires a permit, and we bought an annual pass that allows access and camping for the next 12 months. We checked out one of the camping spots in the Lincoln National Park and will definitely be heading out there in the next few days to share the environment with the kangaroos and emus.

Stormy Weather Forecast

 

Last night we had a phone call from Joe (who we first met about 6 months ago at a Happy Hour session) to alert us to the forecast of stormy weather that was heading our way.

I think Joe was reminded of the incident of when our awning was partly blown over the top of our caravan. It was great to hear from him, especially as he reminded me that I could check the progress of the storm using the radar images provided by the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM).

This particular storm was forecast to arrive in about an hour so we had to make the decision to leave the annexe up or take it down. Since we have the van sited so that the side of the van would be facing the wind, and experience at Christies Beach and McLaren Vale in strong winds showed that the annexe can take quite a battering, we decided to just batten down and ride out the storm.

That decision turned out to be right in this situation. All flaps were closed, the guy ropes and pegs checked to make sure that they were holding. The annexe door was zipped up. The annexe took all that the winds could throw at it, and held firm. The only adjustments that had to made today were to fix the awning ends back into the anti-flap devices, and tighten the guy ropes.

A quick look around the park last night saw everyone who had just an awning (no annexe), had rolled up their awnings. The only van that had an annexe erected, like us chose to leave it up, and they too did not seem to suffer any consequences from that decision.

It was, however, a little concerning to hear the sound of the canvas sides and the awning roof flapping in the strong winds, with the support poles creaking and groaning as the force of the wind battered the walls and roof. The occasional rocking of the van in the sudden gusts also did not fill us with confidence, but everything turned out fine.

Next time, we might make a different decision. Better to be safe than sorry. I guess it’s a matter of judging the circumstances, and not becoming over confident in what the van and annexe can take in the way of battering from stormy conditions, and taking note of the prevailing direction of the winds.

 

2 Interesting Problems.

 

Yesterday while preparing to make the very first move with our caravan these 2 elements caused some problems. Sorry, no pictures for this post, because I was so busy trying to work out what to do that I clean forgot about the camera. They would have provided some great images to look back on!

Wind:

The fine weather forecast for yesterday meant that the annexe canvas was going to be dry after a couple of days with a few showers. An ideal opportunity to dismantle it and store it away.

Well, that was the plan. Yes, the sun was shining and the annexe walls dried out nicely. Part of the walls had been removed and then a strong North wind started to appear. Decision made: get the annexe down soon and roll up the awning before the wind gets too strong.

All was going to plan until I removed the peg keeping one leg of the awning on the ground. Right at that moment a gust of wind took one end of the awning up onto the top of the caravan. That leg, which also serves as the arm connected to the caravan, when it flipped up, pulled out the bolts and screws holding it to the caravan wall.

We were left with the awning half over the caravan and half in the right place. thankfully there appears to be no damage to the awning material and the fittings apart from the bolts that were pulled out. It has been rolled back into place and seems to be sitting well in the rolled up position.

Water:

I’m not sure why I disconnected the water yesterday, but when I did, I discovered that the hose connecting the park’s tap to my caravan had a mass of white powdery stuff come out of the end when I turned on the tap. Strange, I thought.

But that it seems, was not the problem that stopped water from coming from the taps when I reconnected it. There was just a trickle getting through, and than that stopped completely. So I removed the hose again from the caravan and looked inside the fitting. It was black and slimy. There is a simple filter that is meant to catch any particles that might be in the water. And this was covered by the slimy matter.

After clearing the gunk from the filter and replacing the hose, still no success. Remove the hose again and check the filter. Yes, blocked again.

So I ran water through the hose and collected it in a bucket. Several more bits of the black/green slimy matter were collected. After running water from the tap, without using the hose, I discovered that none of the gunk came from the tap.

Conclusion: The expensive white hose that is meant to make sure that the water does not get the rubber taste of ordinary garden hose AND is supposed to stop the formation of algae, was not very effective at that. The black/green slimy stuff was algae.

The growth of the algae and the white powder (probably calcium deposits) had been building up over the 5 months that the caravan was connected. I had noticed that the water appeared to running slowly, but because that slow down had been gradual it had not attracted my attention.

I also have to wonder why it took until the last day at the park to discover that the water supply to caravans is not town water, but from an underground source. This bore water obviously has some mineral content, probably calcium from the limestone in which the underground water is stored. That also explains why water left on the sink left white marks when it dried.  Another new experience and something to look out for at future caravan parks.

In the next few days I should also check the anode in the hot water service to see what effect the bore water has had on that.

We made the move.

Despite these little problems, we did manage to pack up everything and make the first move with our caravan earlier today. Not a big move, but it was a significant step and helped with a couple of things that need to be done for smooth travelling. More about that later.

Heavy Rain and Caravans

 

Just 2 days ago we experienced the heaviest rain since occupying our caravan. That has emphasised just how much more dependent we are upon the weather.

The heavy rains came soon after a burst of hot weather, which challenged the air-conditioner, and made the day times very difficult for anything other than sitting around and keeping up the fluids. Unless of course, we decided to get in the air-conditioned car and head out for the day.

But rain, is another matter. The onset of rain often means that several things need to be done.

• Are all of the hatches closed? Especially those above the bed or the dining table. The hatch over the shower is not a problem so it gets the lowest priority.
• Windows. Especially if the rain is coming from the direction where windows have been opened.
• Leaks. There shouldn’t be any, but it’s a good idea to check. None found.
• The annexe is another matter.
• If the awning is not set to the correct position, some water can get inside from the stitching at the edge. Thankfully we discovered that very early on, and have adjusted the awning. This time just a small amount of water got in through there.
• Flaps down. The screens, if rain falls on them, make a fine mist and water splashes quite some distance.
• The door to the annexe. It was rolled down since the rain was coming through it from the direction.
• The anti-flap devise at the awning edge. Now that’s a perennial issue for our van. Despite adjusting it recently the edges of the awning have managed to work free in a couple of spots. That lets in a little rain if it is heavy.
• The floor. Despite a trench being dug to take water away, this time the rain was so heavy that some water managed to enter the annexe from under the edges. So, today meant that some parts of the annexe walls were removed to allow air and sunlight to flow in and start the drying process.  More will be needed in the next few days to help dry it out.

The rain we experienced was the edge of a huge system that has caused flooding in may other parts of the country, so the small inconveniences we suffered are indeed only minor, and just add another experience to be talked about.

Rain is not all bad news.

There are, however some benefits to this recent rain. The small man-made lake that gives the Caravan Park its name, Lakeside, was empty and dried up completely. The park ducks are now in their element, happily swimming around and looking very contented.

Earlier today I was puzzled by a sound that I mistook for somebody’s radio playing the distance, but discovered that it was the sound of frogs in the nearby creek, that had filled with water. So this afternoon I took a walk to the creek to check them out. This little video is the result of that investigation. At the time of recording, the frogs had to compete with the galahs settling down for the evening, but they were in fine voice, as you can hear in the video.