Satellite tracking

Having a substantial investment in a caravan/RV and then to have that property stolen can be extremely traumatic. We often see the plight of victims of this sort of crime, posting photos of their vans on social media to assist with a speedy return. We have the usual tow ball lock and use it rarely. As we are on the road permanently, our van is usually only left while in a caravan park and we trust the local security of that park. If we choose to stay in a National Park or bush camping, we rarely leave the van unattended and if so, that's when we use the trailer tow ball lock.
Melbourne Caravan and Camping Supershow is where we first saw a demonstration of the new Al-Ko Anti-Theft System.This little jigger stays hidden in your caravan/ leisure vehicle and is hard wired into the house battery system. The system also carries on board battery backup should the house battery system fail or be disconnected. The ATS is easily monitored through the Black Knight tracking systems website and is accurate within 5 metres. The system does not need a separate sim card as it uses whichever telco provider is nearby and satellite technology.
Fleet owners can use the Al-Ko ATS system to manage their vehicles as well. For instance, "fences" can be programmed into the system restricting the vehicle to, say, a 250 klm radius. If that vehicle exceeds the range, then an alarm is sent to the fleet controller alerting them to the fact. Our system can go to sleep while stationary and starts up again with movement. Daily tracking movements can be checked while parked for the night.
We hope that we never have to call on the device in the case of theft, but it's great to know that it is on board and actively looking after our investment.

Westward Ho!!

The Melbourne Caravan and Camping Supershow was held from 11th March to the 16th and our new On The Move Caravans Grenade series 2 was on display for the duration of the show. Due to unforeseen circumstance we were unable to be at the show for the entire time but did manage to attend for the last two days. During this time, we spent several hours at the On The Move stand talking to people and showing them through our new and exciting caravan. The van then went back to the factory as it was not quite ready for handover. That happened on the 16th March at 31  Randor Street Campbellfield, where the official handover and orientation by Lennie Mifsud took place. It was then that we hitched up and towed our new van back to Treetops scout camp at Riddells Creek for the swap over from our old van to the new one.

 We were really keen to get on the road, but the changeover took a little longer than we expected. A visit to our storage facility was required and after a goodbye to our friends and family, we headed to South Australia by way of Mildura and the Riverland. 

CES, Caravan Electrical Solutions, from Campbellfield do all the electrical work for On The Move Caravans. They also do electrical work for quite a number of other caravan builders around the area. Jason and his company not only fit but supply all and everything to do with the electrical side of our build. This eliminates the need for the builder to source the different products from the various suppliers when Jason at CES can do the lot. In our caravan, they have installed their very own 240 volt power points which have a silver buff backing plate and black socket and switches, which suits our decor to a tee. When we go off power, our 240 volt outlets switch over, by way of the invertor, to stored power. We have given this a trial run and it's all good. We maintained a good strength of voltage through our 3 x 120 amp/hour batteries and nothing faltered.

It was great being able to pull up in a wayside stop on the Eyre Highway while crossing the Nullarbor and Marg was still able to have her brewed coffee.

On the Road with On the Move caravans

Having now returned from our Christmas and New Year on the Sunshine coast with our daughter and family, we are now gearing up for another exciting time in our lives with our new caravan. Prior to our trip North, we had been planning with Lennie Mifsud and Kimberley Duncan from "On The Move" caravans at Campbellfield regarding the build of a new Grenade Series 2 caravaan. This van had recently been judged by Caravan World magazine as the "Caravan of the  Year" in the 80K+ bracket. Our meetings have resulted in a fantastic build including new innovations not attempted or available in previous models.We hope to bring you more up to date photos including reviews on the van and its components over the next twelve months or so.

Sunshine coast over christmas new year

Of course we had a great time visiting our family while we were camped at Maroochy beach caravan park. We had a couple of special times when parents went out to the cinema and we had a chance to look after the two grandchildren, a sort of bonding, if you like. We are not too sure when we will be back and kids change very quickly if they're not living under the same roof as you. we did find that the humidity was hard to take. don't get me wrong, we can take the heat alright, i used to work in 35-40c dressed in period costume and I didn't think anything of it. The difference here is it was a dry heat and this heat carried about 72%moisture..Umm, no thanks.
We have moved South now and having a look at several areas on our way to Glen Innes where we currently are, still like the availability of the coast and perhaps when we get a little further South, may escape the humidity. We both loved Ballina and the area, Yamba and Iluka are both very attractive as well. Sandflys are another problem for me and the mangroves around Ballina may harbour hordes of them. Don't know, we will see...A couple of quiet days in Glen Innes and off to Armidale and Nundall tomorrow. We thought we may go back to highway one through the Hunter valley.......

I would like to title this photo from a fairly well known country song..Some days are diamonds, some days are stones....

Park and campsite etiquette

I have been thinking about writing an article on the above and would like to see what basic "rules" that others live by in their particular situation... Thoughts??
You know the kind of things we all talk about or do automatically...

It doesn't take a lecture from us on what TO do and NOT to do in your own particular camping area, BUT, some basic rules prevail...
Please don't put up stray clothes lines between trees, as it hangs other campers after dark, especially us taller ones.
Please keep your campfire conversation volumes a little lower after you see others going off to bed.
Please turn your generator off after 9.00pm

Coincidence or fate?

A couple of years ago, we booked into the Inglewood caravan park for about a week. The park advertises that it has en-suites to each site and that, in a small town like Inglewood, had a certain attraction. We settled in for a bit more investigation of the area and perhaps some gold fossicking. The couple on the next site had said hello and had gone off early most days and we were settled inside on their return on most nights. The next day, I noticed their van had gone and they had left several items around the doorway of their en-suite. We went out exploring and returned and solved the mystery of the surplus stuff. They had returned that afternoon with a NEW van and that's when their problems started because the new van didn't have the storage that their old van did, so there was a surplus. After introductions and the explanation of the problem we settled down to a pleasant happy hour. As it was, we left the next morning and thought it was probable that we would meet again.

A year or so later, we went back to the Richmond Queensland Lakeview caravan park and I was on my usual exercise program, that is I walk around the park and lift weights at the same time, usually around 4:00pm and 375ml at a time. A voice calls to me "Don't I know you? Are you a fossicker?" Well, yes on both counts, it was Terry from Inglewood caravan park. They were there to explore the dinosaur diggings that we were there for, again. A good catch up that night and we were off again heading south to family and they were heading to the coast for the same reason.

We've been back at Inglewood for four days of mostly rain and inside work. Today, Friday, the finest of the last few days and I see a familiar van and ute pulling in to a site not too far from us and called Marg straight away. Guess who? Terry and Jen again back where this relationship started.... Coincidence or fate?

Kumho tyres

Those of you who are regular followers of our Blog would be familiar with our story on the trial and reporting of the Kumho Roadventure SAT on our Landcruiser. Well after another pleasant visit to Tyrepower Sunbury, we had the tyres rotated and balanced and a visual check to see how they are going after 35,000klms they are performing as stated. by that I mean they are going really well. Of course they are showing signs of wear and degradation but not to the extent that I have seen other types of tyres after that many kilometres.They still have a lot of "meat" on them.
The rain over the last week or so has also given us a chance to try these tyres in the mud. We are currently in the goldfields of central Victoria and the back roads are usually gravel but with over 45mls of rain they have turned to a much stickier consistency. Needless to say, this is NOT extreme 4wdriving but the tyres worked a treat anyway. No sign of slippage or skidding, or any other problem. Now we have covered the whole gambit, bitumen surface, with hardly any road noise, deep fine sand, no need to engage low range or to adjust tyre pressures, and now light mud on clay based roads after heavy rain...All Good..