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OUR HOME AWAY FROM HOME
Both my MOTH (Man Of The House) & I love traveling but are not ones into
organized tours, much prefering to do our own thing and at our own leisurely
pace. Any of my kids can assure you that I do not like being rushed, especially
when I am taking photographs or eating. I am the kind of person who would take
ages, and I mean AGES, to get the lighting just right or the subject exactly
just so, before I press the button on my digital camera. When it comes to
eating, I am usually the last to leave the table, especially at those
all-you-can-eat meal deals. The MOTH, on the other hand, enjoys his sleep too
much to get out of bed too early in the morning and dislike strict routines. At
the same time, there is a great desire for us to see much more of our own
beautiful country before we get to the walking frame stage of our lives. It all
started as a passing thought about the middle of last year while we were at our
fishing hole and the fish weren't biting - I was thinking out loud about how
great it would be to have a motorhome...
Upon
hearing this, my MOTH almost immediately put his rear into gear and began a
research on motorhomes. He started buying countless magazines and spending
countless hours surfing the Internet for information. In order to get the feel
of life as Grey Nomads, we attended a CMCA (Campervan & Motorhome Club of
Australia) Chapter weekend at Geelong as guests of a Grey Nomad friend of ours.
We got first-hand information from the members there who welcomed us to check
out their respective motorhomes while freely giving their advice on the dos and
don'ts when shopping for one ourselves. After lunch, we watched them while they
played a game of Disc Bowls before sauntering over to the hall for afternoon
tea. We declined their invitation to stay and participate in their Trivia Night
and left shortly after, quite impressed by the comaraderie of the CMCA members.
Thus inspired, we spent many a weekend driving all over the place "just
lookin'" at motorhomes, from new to pre-owned ones. Heck, we even made a
special trip to Queensland to check out the used motorhome dealers there in May
this year.
Disappointed
at all the crappy ones they had, my MOTH decided to detour from our usual
inland route to 'drop in' at a place in Coffs Harbour on our return journey to
Melbourne. We got into Coffs Harbour in the late afternoon and impulsively
decided to have a banana split at where else but The Big Banana. As a result of
this indulgence, we got to the motor-home dealers just as they were beginning
to close shop for the day. Undeterred, we asked if we could have a bit of a
"look-see" at their display models. We finally took the hint when the remaining
staff member began locking up the office. We stayed the night at a nearby motel
and bright and early next morning, we were back at the dealers.
In the brighter
light of day, we did another 'inspection' on the available pre-owned motorhomes
for sale. We were somewhat taken by one in particular but was told that it was
under contract. We continued chatting with the manager, a nice young chap by
the name of Tony and became visibly excited when told that we could pick any of
the used models on display and it could then be renovated to suit our personal
requirements. I could tell my MOTH was gripping the cheque-book in his jacket
pocket tighter and tighter as the "extras" I listed got longer and longer! Gee,
I don't really want much - just a new 4-burner cooktop with a griller, a
rangehood (so cooking odours won't get trapped inside), a bigger fridge, tv
antenna, a fixed bed at the back (I don't fancy climbing up and down to access
the above cabin berth and dislike the idea of having to convert the dining area
at the back into a double bed each night), an awning, extra power-points for my
laptop computer and electrical appliances and a dinette - oh yes, and an extra
seat-belt fitted to the dinette so we can take our grandson as passenger on
fishing trips! We all headed back to Tony's office where I quickly slipped into
my Chinese Jew mode and began the haggling process, which soon stopped Tony
from rubbing his hands with glee. A couple of hours later, the deal was made
and I broke into a happy dance. Yay!!! No more "just lookin'" - our dream will
very soon become reality. Just after lunch, we continued our drive back to
Melbourne.
Armed with a few changes of clothes, a double bed sheet, a pair of pillow cases
and a lightweight comforter (quilt), we flew up to Coffs Harbour (via Sydney)
on July 18th and was picked up at the airport by a friendly staff member of CCM
(Coffs Caravans & Motorhomes), Scott, who drove us back to CCM and supplied
us with a courtesy vehicle, a 1988 manual diesel Pajero. It was not a limousine
by any stretch of the imagination but hey, it sure beat walking! As it was
almost the end of the business day, we decided it was best to take delivery of
our motorhome the next morning. After checking into a motel nearby, we drove to
the town centre to do a spot of shopping. We left the not so bustling town
centre a couple of hours later with another doona, two pillows, an electric
jug, other bits and pieces and a box each of Chinese hot fried noodles with
seafood for our dinner in the motel room that night.
About 9am, we rocked into
CCM to be warmly greeted by Tony who led us to our new "baby". Being the fussy
beings that we are, my MOTH and I checked things out to ensure that everything
was to our satisfaction. We took it for a test drive and were suitably
impressed by its performance on the road. It was advised that it would be a
good idea if we stayed in town for at least another day, to familiarize
ourselves with the workings of the motorhome and also, in case any issue had
been inadvertently overlooked by the boys in the workshop. While we were in
Tony's office and while the blokes were chatting, I developed a wandering eye
and spotted a flat screen tv on display. This of course tempted me to suggest
to my MOTH that we should get one installed while we were hanging about in the
area. The joint decision having been made, "Moneybags" (my MOTH) then shakily
penned his signature on the final payment cheque. Tony gave us a nice bottle of
Petit Verdot to celebrate the occasion before we got into the courtesy vehicle
to while some time away while they put the finishing touches as needed,
including a hastily thought out name for our "baby" - "Just Trip'n". We got
back to CCM in the late afternoon and was recommended to stay at a caravan park
at Moonee Beach for the night.
What an exciting first night experience in our motorhome - there we were like a
couple of kids playing house. We made our bed and had a shower at the caravan
park before heating up our tv dinners in the microwave oven. Just as I was
about to put a spoonful of Rogan Josh into my mouth, my MOTH loudly exclaimed,
"They forgot to install the fornicating rangehood!!!" This oversight caused him
to hastily reach for his mobile phone to contact Tony regarding this matter. To
tell you the truth, I was too rapt with the sound system of the new Kenwood CD
player that was installed without cost to us to replace the original cassette
player to notice that the range-hood was missing! After this mini-drama, we
watched a couple of movies on my MOTH's portable dvd player before a good
night's sleep. Oh how great it was to get up during the night and not have to
venture outside in the cold and dark to use the bathroom!
I was up with the larks in the morning and after a breakfast of hot coffee, we
hastily left the caravan park and drove straight to CCM to have the range-hood
and tv installed. Much to our dismay, it was going to take some time for the
boys to fit in the range-hood as some major carpentry work was in order. With
not much choice, we again jumped into the Pajero and did a spot of sight-seeing
and a leisurely lunch of fish and chips near the Coffs Harbour Jetty. It was
late afternoon by the time we made our way back to CCM and despite the fact
that the boys in the workshop had been going at it hammer and tongs, the
mission was not fully completed. While waiting to take our motorhome back for
another night at the caravan park, I happened to notice that the wheel studs
were not symmetrical and drew my MOTH's attention to it. Well! That certainly
got him peering at them up close and personal and he discovered that the one I
noticed had been cut off and another was burred. On the phone with Tony again
who by this time was just about ready to tear his hair out. It seems that folks
in Coffs Harbour are rather laid back and not used to working at full speed.
One of the boys in the workshop chucked a darkie (the act of getting very angry
and then letting people know how mad you are by being very vocal) and almost
walked off the job. Luckily, Tony had managed to call time out for a smoko
break while everyone took a breather. Meanwhile he frantically arranged for new
wheel studs from Mercedes to be delivered immediately so they could be replaced
first thing the next morning. Back we went to the Moonee Beach caravan park for
another night there. That night we were able to test out our new tv and were
very pleased with our impulse purchase.
The next morning (Friday), after another quick breakfast of hot coffee, we
filled our baby up with diesel before arriving at the CCM workshop at 7am for
the wheel studs to be replaced. We again jumped into the Pajero and got
directions to the nearest McDonald's for a big breakfast each before driving to
the town centre to buy a slab of beer and a 1.5kg tin of cookies for the boys
in the workshop to show our appreciation for services rendered. For Tony, we
bought a carton of smokes. We then headed back to CCM with our gifts which of
course delighted everyone there and to make up for our time wasted, Tony gave
us another bottle of wine, this time, a Shiraz. Just before noon, our baby was
brought around from the workshop and after hearty handshakes all around, we
left Coffs Harbour for the drive back to Melbourne.
Not wanting to waste any more time, my MOTH decided to drive straight through,
stopping for dinner of hamburgers from a roadhouse at Dubbo around 8.30pm. From
there he drove on until we reached a power nap area somewhere between West
Wyalong and Narrandera at about 2am. We power-napped quite comfortably for five
hours before a wake-up hot coffee and continued the journey home, arriving just
before 2pm on Saturday. Sunday was spent shopping for a lovely pair of thick
sheepskin seat covers so we won't end up with sore butts from the super hard
seats in the cabin as we did this trip! We also bought four double bed flat
sheets, pillow cases and a continental quilt for the top berth for our
grandson's comfort when he travels with us during short trips. Just Trip'n was
officially registered at VicRoads on Wednesday, July 26th.
I have
since woken up my sewing machine from sweet slumber and sewn four fitted sheets
and extra pillow cases, a duffle bag to store my grandson's quilt and pillow, a
bolster for myself, two lightweight blankets, new railing curtain for the above
cabin berth, a shower curtain for the window in the toilet and also made up a
shower-proof cover for the toilet paper holder from the curtain remnant. While
still in sewing mode, I also cut up and hemmed a single bed doona, sewed
elastic straps to it to fit over our double bed as an underblanket/mattress
protector.
My
MOTH being a typical ex-aircraft engineer has his own list of "must have"
gizmos like his new fancy Navman GPS that I had given him for his birthday,
a reversing camera (birthday gift
from the kids), dual batteries system (already fitted) and is currently saving
up all spare change to get a generator, solar panels, cruise control and other
gadgets too numerous to mention. Once the generator and solar panels have been
installed, we will be ready for longer jaunts to more remote areas. In the
meantime, we are happy with doing short trips like the one we did this past
weekend with our grandson, just to whet our appetite for life as Grey Nomads.
22 Aug 2006
OzLadyM
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OzLadyM
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