Hi everyone an update to my and Blackies  camping trip.
I had written a story about it but while editing it I accidentally deleted the whole article, leaving me with the following note and a bit frustrated.

So hear I am  sitting in our campsite listing to my mate Hoss’s favourite tune John Williamson
True Blue ,
with Rex lying at my feet contemplating the words and their meaning to Australians .

So I had forgotten how realaxing camping can be when a beer fixes everything.
And at night if the weather is permitting I can roll up the flap on my swag snd lay there directly under the stars amazed at their perfection as they shine bright on a cloudless night . 

The first thing I learned on the first night was when camping on sand was to take a ground sheet  next time , as I have a swag bag , thats a fancy name for a big rugged sleeping bag .
It’s impossible go get in the bag in your swag so I got in mine outside my swag , stepping in not only my feet but half a ton of sand into the bag.

My care factor was zero and I had an awesome sleep,
Because this was going to happen every night , I didnt bother even emptying it out.
Until we got home .

Camp ovens for cooking are great and surprisingly they are reasonably efficient as you dont need that much wood to cook in them , we did a chook the first night , and fish I caught another night.

When it comes to fridges we ran two ,
My solar panel is 240watt
This panel did the job easily and  we didn’t have to run the vehicle to charge the second battery at all.
Solar is a great option when it’s not cloudy.
Serious campers probably take a portable generator with them .

I noticed that a lot of people are now using caravans to accommodate them instead of the traditional tent .
The thing is with a van you have somewhere to shelter from the elements and with a swag you dont unless you put up a tarp as a roof cover .
Thats where a lot of campers have pull out awnings attached to their vehicles roofs that are simple to erect .

So I did a bit of fishing , surf watching, cooking and socialising.
Theres a pic of Blacks in the water at one stage retrieving a salmon that I caught and fought fir 5 min to get it over the rock ledge .

So there were other things of interest on the way there up the coastal drive that stood out to me , firstly on the beach side most of the way the bushes were low coastal scrub , in complete contrast on the inland road side there were plenty of grain silos and rail line running parallel to the road .

The whole farming area is mostly cropping, and I was told it’s mostly wheat and canola that is produced there , there is no water irrigation system available and the crops rely on mother nature to grow.
There is a whisper of a desalination plant to be built  sometime in the future .

So the weird bit is when the crops are harvested by a header machine, the stalks are left in the paddock and remain standing  there dead and dry in an empty dusty paddock.
I think they are left to rot into the ground as a fertiliser for the next crop.
The trains are so long that the ones I noticed had three locomotives hooked up , two at the front pulling and one at the rear pushing. Im sure the tonnage is huge. 

Also in places on the beach side is big ponds with lots of  mounds of white powder like little pyramids along side them .
So they fill these ponds with sea water and  I’m not sure of the depth but i would think quite shallow.
They then let the water evaporate, leaving behind pure salt .
They also make gypsum but I’m not sure of that method.

So we stayed at Blackies cousins place with Bob and Julie for a few nights on the way home, the car was such a mess by then
But we were happy campers,
We both had a spin in a buggy and had a great catch up with Blackies family .

So the drive home was interesting as nearing Adelaide the wipers when I went to wash the windscreen were super slow. Then the radio started to turn on and off and we lost highbeam ,
I said to Blackie its not thr alternator and I think that’s the battery has had a meltdown.
So with just lowbeam lights I followed a truck sll the way to Melbourne, by the time we reached Tooradin service station, and I fuelled up again and moved the ute to the shop part , by the time I went to restart it was dead.

Plan b
Empty out half the camping gear from the back , grab my toolbag and proceed to remove the duel battery after checking the poles on both of the batteries  were the same .
Then pull the fuse on the isolation switch,
Turn the key and we are back on the road,
Sk just a thought if you are getting a duel battery maybe pick a battery that can fit your vehicle, I understand that lots of duel  batteries are deep cycle, but in an emergency it will do the job .

So just like any trip its always good to get home and back into your comfort zone.

Im just going to put up random photos of everything.

Cheers xxx
Curlyg