HERVEY BAY - home for the next three months.
The Welcome Committee -
Across the road from the camp a herd of Roo's-
Herd of Roo's? - of course we have heard of Roo's but we did not expect to see them in the cemetery across the road !!!
We were at Point Vernon in the middle of the bay with 12 miles of beach in both directions.
Beach means motor camps , big motor camps.
With packs on our backs we began daily walks through every camp we came across .
Looking at rigs , talking to the owners and started to form a list of " must haves "
We quickly realised that we could do a "walk through" every couple of days as the rigs were constantly coming and going.
"Grey Nomads" we are called over there and they claim over one million people enjoy the lifestyle.
The DIY conversions were generally not to a very high standard . A lot had good , even flashy paint jobs and graphics but the interiors were unacceptable to us.
One rig had an old , unpainted garden gate as a door to the shower!!!!!!!!
At the end of the Point , just cross the road and we were on the beach.
We had a stand alone, self contained cabin.
It was a great lead into small space living with its small, basic kitchen and minimalistic ablutions .
The neighbours were an attractive lot but their daily 4.00pm get togethers where rather noisy.
Our designing was proceeding quite well. Our ideas for the frig/freezer/micowave/ cupboard over unit were drawn up and we then checked it out by getting some heavy cardboard boxes . Next we cut and hacked the pieces required and glued and cello taped it all together in the kitchen at the end of the sink bench. It proved the point - it worked!
The message was starting to sink in - because you live in a motorhome does not mean you have to slum it or go without , anything.
We were now halfway through our stay.
Our concept plan was complete and the detail drawings were coming along nicely.
Out we went looking at product.
Now it is 12 miles of development which is a lot of area to cover.
We spent 3 to 4 hours a day out and about.
Each day we marked our map for the area we had covered .
The next day we would drive and park in the center of the next area. Then , with lunch in our pack off we would go.
The walk back to the car was along the beach and with scenery like this to enjoy was very pleasant. Coral of all shapes and forms literally was the beach in places and changed with every tide.
Flowering trees were spectacular and the bird life they attracted was amazing and noisy.
We even found a large colony of bats !! Apparently we are supposed to like them but to us and to the locals who live near to them , they are obnoxious , stinking creatures who crap more than their own weight every night. They could be smelt 300 metres away - defiantly not good neighbours .
But I digress - again !
But the time was well spent .
There were a lot of different brand names on the market here and we found making comparisons very interesting . The collection of brochures increased daily as did the ideas.
Waeco and Dometic were brand names that would be in our rig - for sure.
As would be LED lights . They had big displays of LED fittings , designed for every purpose which we knew were not available in NZ.
We did a good deal and bought lights for the whole rig - turned out to be a good decision.
We chose a TMC Electric toilet , but found out that they were available in NZ - thank heavens - imagine that as carry-on-luggage !!!
Time to come home.
We were very pleased with what we had achieved
and considered the 3 months , time well spent.
Our plans were now well developed and ready for final checking .
Our last walk on the beach was at low tide and thousands of Blue Soldier Crabs lined up as though they were a Guard of Honour for us.
Thank you all - it was a pleasure.
