The Simple Life living on the road in Australia - what is it all about....

Part of the attraction of living on the road in our caravan is that it is a simple life.  Nothing is complicated and our time is spent doing things other than cleaning, gardening and household maintenance.

There is some caravan maintenance and Nick is pedantic about that because the van has to last us a very long time.  Nick likes to keep the van (and the truck) clean so it gets a bath from time to time, and that is a task that he enjoys doing. He has diary reminders to check and clean the air conditioner filters and to change the anode  (which he did this morning) in the hot water system about every six months as well as the two water filters...and that is it as far as maintenance is concerned.  Oh, the other thing is emptying the toilet which Nick does every 2-3 days or sooner if we are bush camping and there are no toilets.

Yes, there is still washing of course.  But it is so easy, I don't even know I am doing it. For instance, I normally load the washing machine at night and then put on the wash in the morning when tea is being made.  Then we sit in bed with our tea and iPads and when we get up to shower, the washing is done. I may put another load on which will be finished by the time we have  finished breakfast.

I am the one who mostly vacuums and dusts, can do it in 15 minutes...maybe a bit longer if I take the floor mats outside to bash the hell out of them.

The shower is always clean because we use a natural soap free body wash that does leave soap gunk everywhere and the shower walls are squeegeed each time we shower by who ever is the last one to shower which is normally me because Nick is the king of breakfasts.

Making the bed is making a bed ....so that is no different.  But we have simplified it by having woollen doonas of different weights for different weather temps. So pull the sheets up, throw on the doona, plump up the pillows, put the cat cushions on the bed for Teddy to rest his head, and bingo...its done.

The other thing that makes living in a small space very doable and a pleasure is that we are both neat freaks. So things are put away where they live rather than being left out and we have a place for everything. The secret to having a place for everything is not to have too much stuff with you.  In our previous van, every time we went away, when we came back we would take out of the van stuff that we didn't use so I think we have got it down to a fine art.

So, what do we do with our time you may be thinking.  We have the time to spend planning our meals and cooking from scratch.  Cooking is something that we both enjoy.

Nick in the kitchen...what no apron!!!!

Nick vacuum packing boerewors ....
wont last long though, my son will be here tomorrow

Although we have a large fridge/freezer (215lt) it is prudent to buy only what we are going to use in the next couple of days.














As for the freezer, we have a great vacuum system and vac pack all our meat, as flat as possible to fit it into the freezer.

The vacuum system is a small had held one which works on batteries or 240v and has various size reusable bags.

We still buy our coffee from Skybury on the Atherton Tablelands, Queensland and Nick grinds the beans each week so our coffee is nice and fresh and drunk with Gippsland Double Cream and no sugar....is it coffee time yet?

Seed crackers ready to go into the oven 

Nick bakes two types of biscuits.....sesame biscuits (made with almond meal) and seed crackers (made with pepitas, sesame seeds, flax seed, cumin seed, salt and psyllium husks).  They are both favourites and lovely with cheese or home make chicken liver pate, which is another thing we make in 1 kg batches and freeze in portions.  I have even made butter, but to be honest, with the lovely butter from grass fed cows that Ashgrove produce here in Tasmania I don't bother making my own now.

Done...and ready for lunch...with avocado and triple brie...yum

Mise en place...all ready for the chicken liver pate

Sesame Biscuits & seed crackers
Tub of pate
Homemade butter
Peppermint coconut bombs

What else do we do, well pretty much the same as everyone I guess.  We read, play games on our iPads, ring/message friends, watch movies, that sort of thing.  We go walking and exploring.  We talk to and have sundowners with our neighbours.  And, we sometimes have afternoon naps...pure heaven.

Nick is working on his family tree and I have been sewing and knitting.  I am knitting a scarf for Nick for next winter and I have put in some pockets into my pants and covered my old pot holders.  All by hand, I might add.

New pot holders...pretty in pink and black

A pocket with a zip inserted into a pair of pants. 

So what it is all about?  It is about doing less and living more and doing what is important to us.

We are thoroughly enjoying the simple life on the road.....living wherever we want, doing what ever we want, going wherever we want, meeting great people and seeing this fantastic country of ours in our  fantastic mobile home.... a 23' Kedron XC3 Cross Country caravan.
 

Miena....the Great Lakes Tasmania and "The" Birthday

Well, when we got to Miena we pulled in for a loo stop.  The place was deserted, dry, forlorn looking and so different from the time we were there before in June this year with our friends Deb and John that we decided it wasn't the same without them and we would push on to Derwent Bridge.

Located on Sway Bay of the Great Lake, Miena is a top spot for fishing and boating and also for lunch or a drink at the pub. We have been there a couple of times before. Once in March 2010 when we stayed there in our vans with Deb and John and then again in June 2015 for Johns birthday.  We chose the Great Lakes Hotel for Johns birthday because he had mentioned on a number of occasions over the years that he would like to be there in front of the lovely big fire, to celebrate the momentous occasion of him becoming biblical.....three score years and ten.

Our intention back in June this year was to take the vans up there and stay a couple of days but our plans had to change when the road was closed to vans because of the weather (snow) and only open for 4WD's. Of course we had not told John of our plans and just told him when we left Snug that we were going to Bothwell.  It is an easy drive up to the Miena from there.

And what a beautiful drive up through the snow to the Great Lake Hotel it was too.

It was a lovely day, clear, exceptionally blue skies, cold fresh air, snow and also snow that had turned to ice.

View from front of the Great Lake Hotel

A closer look of the Great Lake

The Great Lake Hotel opens at 11am and we made sure we were there at that time.  The fire was roaring and it was nice and cosy inside.

All rugged up....Deb and the Birthday boy

Of course, there had to be snowballs ....

Lunch was the normal pub grub but the lady that runs the place, came over with a muffin and a very large flaming candle and sang "Happy Birthday" to John.   You couldn't miss him, he was the one with the "I'm 70 badge" pinned on his jumper.

On the way back to Bothwell, we called in to see the Steppes Sculptures.

Strange to say the least, the Steppes Sculptures consist of a circle of standing stones each with a bronze sculpture reflecting the history and wildlife of the area.

The sculptures are the work of Tasmanian Sculptor, Stephen Walker who is also responsbile for the magnificent Southern Wright Whale at Cockle Creek and a number of sculptures on the Hobart Waterfront. Stephen passed away in June 2014 at the age of 86.







In case you missed it, you can read more about Bothwell in my post titled 'Rural Bothwell (11-12 June 2015)' and you can see a photo of the Southern Wright Whale Sculpture in post titled 'All Aboard...Tassie here we come (28 April to 3 June 2015)'

Now back to this story.....once we left Miena, it was with tripidation that we look the Marlbourgh Highway across to Derwent Bridge.  But the road turned out just fine... a good wide dirt road and we had no trouble towing the van across.

And, still further south we go....to Liffey Falls.

Railton is a small town that looks like it is dying.  Many shops are closed including the supermarket.  They have tried to entice tourists by becoming known as the town of topiary, and just about everyone is into it.

Many homes have a piece or two of topiary in their gardens and the main street is lined with topiary trees.  Theres an elephant, a giraffe peaking over the fence, a train and many more.

We had the "gravel pit" to ourselves....

There are two places to free camp, one is a grassy spot behind the pub and the other which is quaintly called 'the 'gavel pit' because it is dirt.


The 'gravel pit' has a dump point and fresh water and although it is next to the railway line, the trains are infrequent and the noise was not a problem.  We have stayed here before.

Was a lovely sunny day

We went to the pub for dinner, met up with a lovely couple from New South Wales who we had met the previous day (they were staying behind the pub).  It is a small world because, as it turned out,  they knew a mate of ours from our Harley days and the publican is the guy who owned the Daly Waters pub when we were there in '95.  He was most hospitable and shared a lovely bottle of red with us...his shout of course.



Another story about Railton is that in late 1950's there was race between two businessmen (Len Field and Fred Sipman) in the main street on Elephants who where part of the circus that was visiting the town.  And, the winner was.....Len.  Should I say by a trunk....haha   The mural comes from the memory of Wayne Muir who watched the race as a young boy.

The Great Elephant Race (Supermarket is now closed)

We were going to stay three nights but decided to push onto Quamby Corner in Golden Valley.  We had met the owners when we were staying in Snug earlier in the year...they were on a "bushman holiday"...checking out caravan parks and Snug in particular as it has such a good reputation.

We were disappointed.  They have owned the place for 5 years and it must have been a mess then because it doesn't look like much has happened during those 5 years.  The entrance is very uninviting with piles of sand and 'stuff' lying around their house/reception and infact, we drove past and turned around, looking at it before making a decision to stay.    What swayed us was that we really wanted to go to Liffey falls and this was the only way to get there from this side of the mountain.

We didn't know where to check in but just drove in and a lady who was staying there came over to us and told us just to park somewhere and the owner will be down later.  We had met this lady before, she lives on her own in her van with her dog.  We met her at St Helens a few months back.

The amenities were basic but clean and the washing machines and dryer were free, but still, at $25 per night was not worth it.




Liffey falls though, was worth it.  The walk down to Liffey Falls was pretty steep in places with lots of steps, but we made it.  The surrounding forest was just beautiful, brilliant green and full of tree ferns.  The falls are actually four falls that cascade into each other on the Liffey River.  

Having a rest on the way back and a photo op for me....

Tasmanians say that it is better than Russell Falls, but due to a lack of water, I would definately say that Russel Falls wins my vote.

But still, am glad that went.  We also got to check out the camp group at the lower end of the falls with a view to staying there at another time, but think we would give it a miss.....it was full of tents and "colourful" people, if you get my drift.

After leaving Golden Valley we headed on the Highlands Lakes Road to Miena....the highest point being 1210m...seemed like we were travelling in the clouds.....

Heading South.....

After a three month stay in Ulverstone, we finally left on Sunday, making our way down to Snug, just south of Hobart.  We enjoyed our stay there and in a way, was sad to leave but we will definitely return sometime next year.

We drove a whole 14 kilometres to Forth and the GPS took us on all the backroads so it was an interesting and winding drive.  We stayed Sunday and Monday nights at the Forth Recreational Ground which is a lovely spot next to the wide, and strongly flowing, Forth River.

The Forth River

 A nice large grassy area is set aside for fully self contained RV’s, so you have to self sufficient,  that is to be able to provide your own power, have a holding tank for grey water, your own shower and toilet although there are good clean toilets there. There is no dump point though.

Area set aside for RV Free camping at Forth

The maximum stay is 48 hours but Andrew, the ranger from the council said that we could stay longer as it was not very busy there.  There were a number of large groups when we arrived….I think they came for the long weekend (it was Show Day in Devonport on Friday) but around midday, most had left to head home so we were left with about 15 there, an assortment of caravans, motorhomes, whiz bangs and a couple of sedans. Yes, people travel and sleep in their cars, normally overseas tourists.

One thing that is great at present, is that we are getting enough power into our solar panels.  This didnt happen in winter because of the angle of the sun and the short duration that the sun was shining.   Now, the sun shines from 6am to well past 8pm and we are still getting solar coming in.  So, every electrical device gets fully charged each day and the batteries are full for overnight for the running of the fridge and Nicks CPAP machine.

Home....and the solar is pouring in. 

There was a pub within walking distance (we didn't go there but we heard it had good meals) and there was also an interesting coffee shop.

The area around Forth is hilly, green and a large vegetable producing area. For example, Perfecta, a producer who is a major exporter of onions worldwide to destinations such as Japan, South-East Asia and Europe.  They also grow, pack and export cherries.

Around about (the whole of the North East Coast) there are paddocks of white……pyrethrum…which is used to make a natural insecticide from the dried flower heads.  They can also just be used as flowers of course, being from the chrysanthemum family they look just like daisies. Tasmania is a major producer of pyrethrum on the world stage.

Pyrethrum

Tasmania also has a opium poppy industry and we passed fields of white poppies, but I didnt get to stop for a photo.  Click here for a fact sheet on the poppy industry.  The warning signs put up all  along the fences are interesting.

Premium Fresh is another producer in the Forth area who grow carrots (including purple ones) onions, swedes, turnips shallots, leeks and brussel sprouts.

After Forth, we traveled 30km to Sheffield…a town well known for its murals.  We are staying here at the free RV camp site two nights.  Again no power or facilities although there is fresh water and a dump point. It has been extremely windy and I mean windy….the sort of wind that shakes a 3.5t van.  Needless to say, I have not ventured outside the van in two days.  Like you in your home, I have plenty to keep me occupied….

This will be the third time we have been to Sheffield so I do not have any photos of the murals but if you click on the link it will take you to images of the fabulous murals (images of murals sheffield)

Heres hoping that the wind dies down for a short journey to Railton tomorrow.