We set the alarm for 7:30am but we were both awake well before that time. The caravan has very good window covers and it is near impossible to know when the sun has risen. We had been concerned about warmth in the van but now know that our AC unit is capable of providing enough heat to make the van comfortable. This is very good news. We have also bought the correct doona with us as we were warm last night.
Unfortunately the battery voltage was still at 12.1 volts when we got up and that indicated a problem does exist. “He” checked the battery charger and all looked OK. A red warning light on another piece of electrical monitoring equipment highlighted the fact that the batteries are less than 12.5 volts.
Fortunately the cause of the issue was found when checking the internal control panel where the “output” switch had been disabled and this resulted in zero voltage at the battery charger output terminal. Another switch relating to the number of batteries attached to the electrical system was also incorrect and it would appear that we disabled the charging several days ago. Reference to documentation revealed that disabling “output” allows you to read the voltage of the batteries.
We had been thinking about free camping tonight but the reduced battery charge coupled with overcast weather saw us starting to consider heading for a caravan park and 240 volts to recharge our batteries again.
Prior to hooking up, “He” drove to Braddon to refuel and to take advantage of a 10 cent voucher for Coles Express. Unfortunately diesel in Canberra is about 10 cents per litre higher than Sydney so the voucher helped.
We left the caravan park just after 10:00am and headed to Yass where we shopped at Woolworths. At Yass we made the decision to abandon the plan to camp at Jugiong and we decided to head to Gundagai.
We arrived at Gundagai in the early afternoon and were given a site under cover. This is extremely unique to us and we wonder if it has anything to do with muting some of the noise from the nearby Hume Highway. The caravan park in question was the Top Tourist Park and we cannot speak highly enough of the welcome we received, the covered sites and the excellent amenities. This is one to stay at again and to recommend.
We visited two local lookouts and also found a place near a river where RV’s can stay for 72 hours. This site is not shown in CAMPS and we will post the location shortly. Might be a good spot for a chapter meeting.
We purchased a chicken for a lazy evening meal and we will have the remainder of the chicken tomorrow night.
We had a couple of Skype sessions and will need to watch internet usage if we want to continue using Skype. We used an easy 106mb whilst talking to our Daughter-in-Law, Son and Grandson.