It was cold in the caravan when we awoke (about 2 degrees) but with the sun shining, the gas kettle lit and window blinds opened, it didn’t take long for the caravan to warm to a reasonable temperature.
Before retiring to bed last night, we had forgotten to switch off our water pump and on two occasions during the night we heard the familiar sound of the system pressurising. We ignore the first one but “She” was quickly out of bed to turn the pump off after we heard the sound for the second time. Knowledge tells us that the water pump starting is associated with the release of water and one can assume that the pump starting without a tap being open signifies a water leak.
So, immediately following breakfast “He” did an internal check for a water leak before venturing into the cold outdoors. After exiting the van, “He” noticed a small amount of water under the drain pipe for our hot water heater. No problem, this has happened before and the problem is solved by releasing the pressure and then the valve should close tightly. Not today, the flow actually increased after the pressure was release as the valve failed to close tightly. This was a problem as it meant we would have a water leak any time that the water pump was running but more importantly, we would have to have the issue fixed in Sydney before our next trip and towing the van for repair in Sydney IS a problem.
We had agreed with our friends to leave Sofala today and then head to Lake Wallace (near Wallerawang) and join a group from the Auswide Motorhome Club and then spend several days free camping alongside the lake.
We informed our friends that we would catch them later and head into Bathurst to see if we could have the leak fixed. They decided to follow us and they needed to obtain a part for their fridge that had failed whist we were at Hill End.
Leaving Sofala, we finally got telephone reception and phone calls to the three caravan repairers in Bathurst revealed that no one had the spare part we required. However, one suggested that we visit the Bathurst Reece Plumbing Supplies as they were likely to carry the spare. And that is what we did and yes, they did have the spare part we required. We stopped at Bathurst Caravan Solutions and Richard was able to fit the part immediately. Service was second to none and he even cleaned out our water tank before installing the new valve.
We left Bathurst, refuelled near Kelso and then joined our friends again and located a nice spot to camp adjacent to Lake Wallace. Other than strong winds, the site was perfect.
We enjoyed a group happy hour before heading back to our caravan for the evening.