That Pioneering Spirit.

Today, on another site, I was reminded of the tough battle that our convict ancestors had on arrival in this new country. To start off with, the food they ate had to be brought with them, there were no ready built houses, no supermarkets, no party of greeters when they first landed at Botany Bay.They soon  found there was no water supply, re-loaded the ships and sailed into Sydney Cove where the Tankwater stream provided fresh drinking water for the first four years until polluted beyond human consumption. A new country with strange animals, a different climate and an indigenous people they could not communicate with.
While at Botany bay, two French Man Of War ships were seen on the horizon, so two ships were immediately dispatched to claim Norfolk Island as a British colony. It had been observed by Cook in 1770, that Norfolk Island had tall straight trees that would make good sailing ships masts and Flax grew naturally there as well and would make fine sailing cloth. Both theories were later proved incorrect.Those ships were HMS Sirius and Supply. Supply would make ten journeys from Sydney cove to Norfolk Island. Sirius was wrecked on Norfolk Island in 1790 while attempting to deliver Marines, Soldiers Convicts and provisions.All on board and most of the supplies were saved but there was no contact with Sydney until another ship called there. The extra mouths to feed as a result of this accident meant that the colony almost starved.
Meanwhile at Sydney cove that became Port Jackson, building of the colony was underway. These people bought with them a knowledge of building Northern Hemisphere buildings that they were to find out later, did not suit this new southern climate.
Take a moment to think of those on the second fleet. The shipping owners were paid to transport these poor wretches before leaving England so, they didn't care if they lived or died. On arrival in Sydney many had in fact, died en route, many had and were suffering from starvation, scurvy and dysentery. Things needed to be changed and they were for subsequent convict transport fleets.

We did some family history research for a friend recently and she was descended from a first fleet marine, who had been sent to Norfolk Island and a second fleet woman. Through Ancestry, this couple now are linked to 37,000 family trees.
Do you know your ancestral ties? Where do you originate from? Are these your ancestors as well?

Geographic Points.......

In our travels over the last four years or so, we have been to or very close to some significant geographic points. being raised in Gippsland, the Southern most point of our continent at wilsons promintory, was never far from home and we visited there quite often as kids.  Now as caravanners, we love waratah bay and is one of our favourite spots for a few days rest.
Three years ago, Tasmania was our destination for about ten weeks or so. During this time, we visited Bruny Island and the most Southern lighthouse is at Bruny South. The actual Southern point is within the Great South West wilderness area and not easily reached.
 We spent our Christmas and new Year on the Sunshine coast and our path South lead us to another great spot that we have visited several times before, that point most easterly, of Byron Bay.
 On our lap around this great country, we came very close to most Westerly at  Steep Point within the shark bay world heritage  area of Western Australia. Monkey Mia is perhaps more recognisable, and in the same area. Dirk Hartog island is also close by. The road reports to steep point were not good, so we opted for the softer option of forty kilometres of deep, soft sand and corrugations in and out to Cape Peron in the Francois Peron national park.
Further around on our lap, just after we had arrived on the East coast we decided to head for Cooktown towards Cape York. We found out though, it was more than a couple of days drive to the cape and opted out this time. Cooktown has its own special type of beauty and history that I am sure we will see again.
North south east and west, we have most of these covered....but wait there's more...central most point of the Australian continent is West of Alice Springs and within the Hermansberg area. We have been to Alice and some of those West Macdonnel ranges but not quite the central point.
In Victoria, we hear the term of central Victoria used to describe the area, generally around Bendigo, the actual central point of Victoria is near the old Mandurang church, about ten kilometres out of Bendigo. These points are readily available if you research them and plan a visit.

Aussie Traveller

In the building of our On The Move Grenade Series 2 caravan, we chose to have an Aussie Traveller awning, arms, mesh screens, windows and door. These great products have proved to us again, just how good the Aussie Traveller products are. Superior in every way  to say the least. We have had several comments about the screens on our windows. We have also been victims of Midgie attacks, but whilst being outside of course. We reckon that we can now predict the approximate time for these little devils to be around so we take ourselves indoors and out of their target zone. The screens handle them, no problems at all. We also have a set of the Aussie Traveller curved roof rafters for the awning. We usually install these when we are going to be in the same spot for over two nights. They reinforce the awning really well and give it a great fall from the roof line.

http://www.aussietraveller.com.au/pages/products

Ibis 3 Air Conditioner by Air Command

Hot weather in the North, but we have had cold nights. Our Ibis 3 Air conditioner has been able to cope with both extremes, and does it very well. We are most impressed by this system that comes with a remote that has an easy to read  digital display. This digital display shows the temperature set by you, fan speed indicator and mode as well as the current time. The temperature can be set and the unit left to maintain that temperature whatever mode you have chosen. The unit heats and cools our 23'6" On The Move Grenade Series 2 caravan very well and does it all silently. we have spoken to many people on the road about our van and the air conditioner is a popular topic. People have had trouble with noise, fans sounding as if they are out of balance, all types of complaints. Nothing from our Ibis 3. The panel has a low profile, so it doesn't intrude too much on the roof line. It has a series of led lights that indicate mode with the heater mode showing red. We chose to clean the easy to remove, internal filter after the Gibb River Road, this was washed and dried very quickly.

http://www.aircommand.com.au/cmsfiles/pdf_files/Ibis-3.pdf

Dometic Toilet

One of the companies that has assisted us in the build of our On The Move Caravans- Grenade series 2 has been Dometic. They are well known throughout the caravan and RV industry for a number of products.
In our case, we have a new ceramic toilet and I am going to review it as well as i can.
Not much of a challenge, you say, well here is where we differ. The Dometic ceramic Bowl toilet is a whizzer, pun intended! No, really its a beauty. To start with the ceramic finish is shinier that we have seen before in a RV toilet. The shiny surface means that it is easier to clean, means that you are not going to spend a great deal of time in maintenance of this wonderful product. The flushing system is also a little different from what we are used to. The flushing system is what you would expect, push the button in the middle and it works as per always. There is a warning light that indicates the need to empty the tank, soon, later, and NOW..we have only acted on the first warning, Orange.
the tank itself comes with an extender handle and is equipped with two trolley style wheels so rather than carrying the tank to the emptying point, it can be wheeled.

Every Picture Tells a Story

I think this quote from Flynn of the Inland, founder of the Royal flying Doctor service and born at Moliagul in Victoria, sums it up pretty well....

The Wave - a poem by Marg.

The Wave                    4/5/2015
Born thousands of ocean miles away, it has travelled far to arrive on this beach. Through sun and storm, cold and warm, to a destiny set by the moon.
At last, the welcoming shore of the new land.
Now the wave grows, swells, liquid but solid, dark green, lifting higher to a sharpening edge.
Now a tiny spray starts on its peak before it topples over with its own powerful weight. It is suddenly white and cascading; crashing down on itself and sucking out energy.
Now it runs forward, flat, ever weaker, until it’s a patch of ragged lace on the sand, only to be pulled back into the sea.
Just like that it is over, it’s gone.
But Mother Ocean goes on; for her, it is never over. She is infinite, and as beautiful as each of her waves.