Day 17

Nothing very exciting happened today - except the police arrived during the morning. Nothing serious as another car came with him and they chatted for a while before driving off.

My next door neighbor on my left went off somewhere in his 4x4 and came back dragging a large limb from a tree and then went back for another. He finally got his chainsaw going and chopped them up into logs. I guess they must be staying awhile to need all that wood.

I took a couple of videos while out walking today. They may give a better idea of this lovely place.

Slipped a bit with the walking today - just 2,574 steps and 1.8km

Day 16

Another lovely day for walking and sitting and talking. I've spent a bit of time with Ken and Kay and have been able to help them with a few web sites including this one so I'd better watch what I say as they will probably read it!

One thing about staying here at this lovely spot is that I'm not spending money - for the first 7 days of the trip I was burning more than $100 a day on diesel. No shops here either so I'm using stuff I brought with me. Tonight was Butter Chicken but heated in a saucepan this time.

I cryo packed some ham off the bone and that's been handy for lunch - there's quite a bit left in the freezer so I'll last till I next go shopping. My quick showers are eking out the water and I've got a jerrycan full if the tank runs dry. During the day I'm using the camp toilet and that is a help.

A few ducks came visiting looking for scraps. This one was very tame and came quite close - he looked to understand what I was saying to him and then went to sleep in the sun.

The dog went kayaking again today - the water looked beautiful and I was a bit envious

The water birds silhouetted at dusk

I'm keeping up the walking - 4,252 steps and 3km today. The scooter is tempting but riding it doesn't improve my health.

Day 15

I had an early morning visitor today - a crow! They are very noisy at times here but this varmint was on my bbq  pecking up scraps.

Unfortunately the sun was behind him so I didn't get a good shot.

There's not a lot to write about today - reading, walking and talking about sums it up.

 If you had seen me last night though you would have seen me green with envy! A lovely, quite modern ex-ambulance Sprinter parked next to me and they invited me over for a chat.

They had owned earlier models but this was a beauty. Unfortunately it was dark when we finished chatting and so I didn't get any photos. They invited me in for a look around and John showed me his skillful handiwork in fitting it out. The lighting was ex-ambo and brilliant. It had a wider body than Yemmy and even though it had a double bed there was lots of room. They left early this morning so I still didn't get a pic. They didn't have hot water though so Yemmy is one up in that department.

The lake teems with water birds

A different view of Yemmy's spot

A few pelicans added to the waterscape

Dinner tonight was a frozen Beef Bolonaise - I don't have a microwave so put it into a foil roasting container and heated it on the barby. It wasn't bad and was very easy to get ready.

I managed a straight 3,000 steps and 2km today!

Day 15

Day 13

This was certainly a different day - much more relaxing. I must have chosen the most shady spot to park because trees kept the morning sun off my rooftop solar panels for a while and my folding ones were inaccessible until I off-loaded the scooter.

After a lovely bacon and egg breakfast cooked on my Hot Ozzie Barby I went walking and then unloaded the scooter and set up the panels, No extra volts! A bit of messing around with the voltmeter and I found the trouble  - the earth lead from the feed from the panels had become disconnected. That fixed and the combined voltage input was nearly 10 amps.

Yesterday the fastener for the top storage of the scooter broke so today I fixed that. It's a good job I carry a battery-operated drill and containers of assorted screws, nuts and bolts so I drilled the holes bigger and used larger self-tapping screws to fix it.

Rick and Chris from a nearby caravan came for a chat - they both lost their partners ten years ago and now team up for winter trips away from the cold of Bendigo. I joined them for happy hour tonight and it's a pity they are leaving in the morning as we got on well together.

I took a copy of this week's forecast for this area! I'm sorry people down south but I couldn't resist gloating!

This tree looked beautiful in the sun.

The view was so much better with full sunlight today

The dog looked to be enjoying his kayaking trip!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 12

Would you believe that the tyres arrived in Moranbah yesterday - but to the wrong address! They got then and fitted them today so I was all paid up and out of there asap. I had to reload the scooter and bring all the stuff back from the motel but it didn't take long and we were on our way.

I bought some milk and bananas in a little store in Nebo and then as I was driving out of town I spotted a dump point. A quick u-turn and I was at the facility. The toilet was getting fairly full and there's nowhere at Lake Elphinstone to empty it so it was a great opportunity.

The sunny weather disappeared today and there were a few small showers but the forecast for the next seven days looks good with lots of sunny days coming up - just as well as I'll be on solar for the next week. It's still 21 degrees in Yemmy but will be warmer tomorrow.

Lake Elphinstone is as nice as I remembered it - I took a few pics but sunny would have been better.

The reason I couldn't find the China's Restaurant was because I was looking the wrong way on the map and could have walked for ever before finding it! You know who I blame!

Not the best weather for photography!

Yemmy's spot - at least he can see the water from there.

Even though I didn't actually go for much of a walk I managed to knock up 3,486 steps and 2.4km so far and it's only 5pm with a few more loo trips before bedtime.

Day 11

I was on the phone today to my mate Lazo. He's the Editor and I'm Assistant Editor of the 'Nomad' the Australian Caravan Club's quarterly magazine and I do the proof reading. Today's phone call had him correcting all the mistakes I had found on his computer as I read them out from mine.

I haven't walked very far today - just 1,743 steps so far but I covered a lot more on my scooter exploring the town centre. Yes - I know that doesn't count but it was an interesting ride.

The counter told me I'd climbed one floor and the picture bears that out as I have to use the steps to get to my room.

There isn't any food heating or cooking gear in my room so I took a pie and another un-named thing that I bought at a nearby servo last night, to the RACQ place and used the microwave in their tea room.
They are very helpful people and nothing seems too much trouble (except getting me some tyres in a hurry - I hope they arrive tomorrow as I don't want to put in the weekend here!)

Hey - Bernie left me a comment yesterday and that's good. Shows someone reads the blog.

I went out during the evening to try to find a nearby Chinese Restaurant but in vain. A job using the scooter in the morning perhaps? Anyway it brought my steps up to 4,774  and 3.3 km.

Cheese and crackers for dinner tonight! There's food in Yemmy but I'm not walking over there again tonight!