A week or so away in the van.

[AussieMick]

Tomorrow morning my wife and I are going to head east from Adelaide for a week traveling where the wind blows us, we have nothing planned.
Loosely headed towards the Great ocean road in Victoria then inland through the central Victorian farmlands towards home.
The school holidays start at the end of next week and also Easter which is when every man and his dog heads off camping as we are getting to the end of the warm weather down south in Australia.
This has kept our plans fluid as popular areas will probably be crowded and we may have to change plans as we go.
So the van is loaded and ready to go.
Traveling along the red line of map, maybe.

 

[T6ChrisO]

Have a great time! Im new to van ownership so have only done an over night stay, nevermind a full week ha ha

 

[AussieMick]

Its pretty much the same just one night after another.
I'm sure you will get out when possible.
The fun is just getting away and traveling somewhere with your little home on wheels.

 

[AussieMick]

Well its night number 2 and we have stuck roughly to our plan.
Spent last night in a free camp just behind a country pub that wasn't open until Friday night so there was just us in this quiet country town in western Victoria.
Today we drove about 300km to the Grampians, which is a large natural area of rugged mountains that stick up from the surrounding farmland.
We did a bushwalk of a few hours and now are in another free camp in the southern Grampians.
Considering it's the start of the school holidays today we almost have the camping spot to ourselves. Tomorrow may be different. A large motorhome came and parked near us and pulled out a generator and started it up so we moved to where we cant hear it as there is acres of free land to choose from. Amazing.
Observing happy hour with a few drinks as the sun is going down, then will make dinner.
Our little T6 is behaving itself so we are happy about that and the price of diesel has come down a little since last month.

 

[JOG]

Always love the getaway tales from @AussieMick - thank you

 

[Oldrat]

Love following your trips, ( and even your attempts at trips mucked up by Covid) Mick
Beats my 10 minute bimble down to Tescos any day.

Stay safe and enjoy

 

[snowdrop]

Are u visiting Mount Gambier? The blue lake is amazing

 

[AussieMick]

Maybe on the way home, we have spent a fair bit of time there working etc . I worked on the lift in the pumping station which is where the town of Mt Gambier draws its drinking water from the blue lake crater.
Amazing colour blue isnt it.

 

[snowdrop]

Great! my son lives there, envy your trip!

 

[AussieMick]

Our campsite in the bush, all to ourselves, even complete with a private toilet .
Now to pack the tent away and off towards the coast. Crowds haven't eventuated yet. Thank heavens.

 

[AussieMick]

We have arrived at cape Otway and are going to spend the night in the rustic bush caravan park so we can have a shower and a few luxuries.
Its 4:30 pm and happy hour is being observed of course and so far touch wood the unpowered area were we are is pretty empty.
Had a look at the lighthouse which is the oldest on mainland Australia, necessary due to the large number of ships that ran aground on the numerous reefs offshore.
Sailing ships had to follow the red line on my map between King Island and Cape Otway to reach Melbourne.
Storms and the prevailing winds are from the South West pushing ships towards shore especially at night or in foggy weather.
Drove in the van on minor back roads which is a great way to travel around seeing towns and sights we don't see when racing along highways. Good for economy too.
We will spend a day around here then head into central Victoria which is where the great Australian gold rush took place in the 1850s so many little towns have grand buildings due to the wealth back then.
We are done about 850km so far and van purring along. ( hope I haven't put the mozz on it)
Diesel prices around $1.95
-$2.00 aud.
I think that is a little cheaper than the UK but our distances are probably greater.
A few pics of today.

 

[JOG]

The best travel updates: progress report, a map, a sprinkling of history, pics. Love the updates @AussieMick

 

[AussieMick]

Left Cape Otway this morning, drove to Apollo Bay which is a fishing and holiday town.
Once we left Apollo Bay we climbed over the Otway Ranges back towards central Victoria.
Tonight's camp is a free camp on a small lake with a view of the Grampian Ranges about 20km away.
These VW vans are ideal for this type of travel as wherever we end up for the night we have our bed and kitchen with us.
Sitting outside having a glass or two of wine looking at the surroundings, quite content we are.
Pictures of today's travels.
Look at how many lights the prawn trawler has on deck for night work.
Picture of tonights camp with views of Grampians over lake.

 

[AussieMick]

Only drove about 40 km today back to Dunkeld which is a town at the base of the southern Grampians.
Climbed Mt Sturgeon today which had great views of Dunkeld and the landscape for 100km in every direction.
Camped back at the same free camp spot as a couple of nights ago.
Dinner tonight was a stir fry. The stove we bring on any trip without the trailer is a twin burner methylated spirits stove as used on yachts as I'm not meant to bring a gas cylinder inside a vehicle unless we have a gas locker with vents. Which I dont have.
The methylated stove actually works pretty good , almost as hot as a gas stove but much safer.
Temperature is cooler tonight so that will make sleeping easier, today was 27 degrees c but tonight is meant to be 7degrees c.
Saw a few creatures today, a reasonable size lizard and a wallaby(related to a kangaroo) and a few different birds.
Had to run the diesel heater for the first time in a while as we are leaving summer and its autumn now and much cooler once the sun goes down.

 

[JOG]

Firing up the diesel heater every month or two for 20-30 mins helps keep it in good nick!

 

[AussieMick]

Hi Jog,
I agree with you that a diesal heater should be run monthly. The tricky thing for us in warm weather is finding a morning cool enough so the heater will come on as 28c is my maximum set temperature and if the ambient temperature is around that my heater wont start.( without shorting the thermostat and stuff like that)
This was the first morning for a while I have had to run the heater to actually warm the van ( and us of course)

Doesn't hurt to put the starter battery on charge regularly too if van is not a daily driver.

 

[AussieMick]

Well this is the last night away in the van. Free camping again on the outskirts of a town called Penola. This is a wine/grape growing area famous for big flavoured reds.
We lashed out and bought a reasonable bottle of cabernet , which will go well with tonights dinner, pasta with a bolognese sauce.
Only travelled around 250 km today which is quite refreshing than covering big distances.
Around 400km to home tomorrow.
Our little home on wheels has been behaving itself so let's hope it keeps that up.
Today was around 25c but tonight there could be frost so anyone wondering if you should have a diesal heater, I can only say yes.
Having a lithium battery and solar on the roof has kept our fridge, lighting and phone charging etc going no worries.

 

[AussieMick]

Back home again, been out for a week and covered around 1800kms.
Saw various landscapes from coastal to mountains.
Van went well, diesel prices down a bit compared to a few weeks ago, used under 2 tanks of fuel so not too expensive to have a short trip.
Spent all but 1 night free camping so only spent $45 aud on accommodation costs.
Roads were quiet but Easter is this weekend so it will be bedlam everywhere I imagine, good time to be home.
I like to cruise along on back roads at around 95kph but on highways have to do the limit of 110kph or I would hold other vehicles up .
Much more fun driving back roads and seeing small towns and places of interest that highways bypass now days.
Once again need to modify a few things to the van, every trip seems to highlight something that needs changing or modifying.
Like all of us still trying to find the perfect setup but guess we never will.

 

[LakesT6]

I always enjoy your trip reports @AussieMick. Thanks for the updates.

 

[Oldrat]

Me too, AM, thanks for posting.
Diesel down in price eh- wow.
BTW, these van projects never seem to be finished, there’s always something else to fiddle with or install!