Our path today took us across the mountains to Mt Beauty and then on to Albury where we stopped for lunch in a park adjacent to the Murray River. It was at this location we discovered that there was zero gas flow heading into the refrigerator. Reference to the Dometic user guide revealed that an indicator light that we believed to be a normal part of the operation was in fact the gas failure indicator. Reflecting back, “He” recalled that this light had been on since departing Sydney.
The issue with the gas was resolved by the removal of a gas safety switch which had been installed as a safety feature. What had happened was that the safety switch had actually “tripped” and had stopped any gas flow. We removed the switch and were relieved to see the refrigerator switch to gas mode successfully once the power was cycled.
After lunch we left Albury and headed towards a bush camp site located 16 kilometers to the east of Wagga Wagga. We detoured and stopped to see friends on a property at “The Rock” and were surprised to see how dry this part of NSW was. On the way south we had been surprised with the amount of green around but that is not the case when you move further inland. We were told that there had been virtually no rain in the area and prospects were bleak. Large areas around the house that had been green during previous visits were now either brown grass or bare.
For the second time during this trip, the fuel warning light came on with the computer indicating a range of 78 kilometers. We had 30 kilometers to travel to our intended fuel stop at Wagga Wagga so there was no concern. Once again, we added just over 80 litres of fuel so we are still uncertain as to the accuracy of the fuel gauge and the real range of Blue Snoopy.
We temporarily parted company with our friends at Wagga Wagga, they were heading to our proposed camp site whilst we were heading toward shops to purchase chicken for tea.
Whilst leaving Wagga Wagga we notice a couple walking who were also at Nagambie and we stopped to say “hello”. They had intention of free camping at Wagga Wagga and were doing a tour of the local shopping centre.
We called our friend on the UHF on route to the camp site only to be told they were waiting for us just off the main road. Our camp site had been selected from “Camps 4” and was called “Oura Beach Reserve”. The site actually had a tick against it in the book and was shown to be complete with all facilities. Our friends informed us that there was a sign at the entry point to the reserve that indicated that the site was closed in 2003. We had no where to stay.
We elected to head towards Gundagai and several sites documented for free camping. We stopped adjacent to “The Dog on the Tuckerbox” and setup camp in the car park. This iconic site is currently closed for refurbishment but the council allows use of the facilities (toilets are locked though).
What was very surprising about the trip from Wagga Wagga was the fuel consumption. The rural roads we travelled on required us to keep our speed around the 80kph mark and this resulted in consumption around 13 litres per 100k’s for the trip to Gundagai. Whilst this is fine over a short distance, one still needs to consider the time saved from higher speeds versus the additional cost of fuel.
We were joined by another motor home (also at the Nagambie function) and after a few drinks, settled into our evening meal of chicken and salad and the remains of a nice bottle of wine. This site is located close to the Hume Highway and is fairly noisy.
We did not realize the number of semi trailers that travel the Hume overnight as the noise, although not deafening, never ceased but we did manage to sleep for the majority of the night.