In the days leading up to our departure, the weather forcast indicated that the weekend was likely to consist of severe weather at our destination point including gale force wind, rain and the possibility of snow down to 1000 meters. Would we go, YES.
We departed Sydney at 9.00am on Saturday and headed towards Moss Vale via the M5 and then the Hume Highway. Our experience with the new motorhome had indicated that the best speed for fuel consumption is around the 85 kph mark. Our previous fuel fill was at Newcastle with average comsumption being 13.7 litres for the trip back to Sydney. As we headed south, we watch as the average consumption steadily rose until it reached 16.41 litres. This was the result of driving directly into the wind for about 120 kilometers. We cannot ever recall driving in such high wind conditions and 110% concentration was required to keep the vehicle in the middle of the lane.
We spent Saturday night the the Moss Vale Village caravan park which, according to the sign, is a family owned and operated park. This is a nice little park with heaps of shade and was very quiet.
History will now show that Moss Vale recorded the highest wind gust in the state on Saturday, was subjected to rain and also experienced a small snow fall. Fortunately the shorts and tee shirts we left Sydney in were replaced with fleecy clothes when we arrived there. On Saturday night and also on Sunday morning we put the diesel heater to the test and this resulted in the motorhome providing us with a very comfortable environement. We used the gas oven on Saturday night for the first time and we are now becoming very familiar with the operation of the new motorhome.
We left Moss Vale just after 9.00am on Sunday and decided to head straight home. Average fuel consumption fell to 14.01 litres per 100k’s overall by the time we parked the motorhome in our drive away.
On one occasion on Saturday, the IVECO computer indicated that the current consumption was 22 litres per 100k’s (into the wind). On the same stretch of road on Sunday, we were cruising along using 7 litres per 100k’s. This was with a direct tail wind. How nice it would be to get this level of consumption all the time!