The Yellow Submarine of Holbrook

Holbrook has done an amazing thing to get itself on the map.
Murray arts decided to do the biggest yarn bombing done so far in Australia. For those of you who dont know what yarn bombing is, this is the best explanation I received. Yarn bombing is going in the mid of night and covering some structure with knitted yarn.
As the submarine is so large, they couldn't do it as it is meant to be done, however they have done a great job. People from all over Australia knitted items for this. they even had people from Scotland where the submarine was constructed send over knitting for it.

It was organised to celebrate 100 years of Submariners in Australia and 50 years since the Beatles first toured Australia.

We had local radio stations and news services here reporting on it. A lot of travellers called off the highway to have a look. The submarine will remain covered until the 12th July.

Here is a photo of how it looks.

It has finally happened !!!!

The motel is sold !!!!!!!

Settlement is to be the 1st July.

I will be staying in Holbrook for a couple of weeks to settle things with the Accountant etc and then will be heading to the Gold Coast to see Ashleigh and Havana. While I am there I will change my licence, catch up with Ben and Michael, which will be great. Would like to be there for a couple of weeks but depends the cost of caravan parks on the Gold Coast. Then onto Noosa (home town) to catch up with a couple of people.

After there, who knows. All I know is that I will be heading north, so no more freezing winters.

It will be sad to leave Holbrook which has been home for 7 years. I have promised people here that I intend to come back every couple of years.

It is also scary to realise that I am now at my own devices. I will have to get to know this bloke Neil and work out what I am going to do for the next 10 years. I dont think I can retire even if I had the money to be able to, (which I don't) because I need to be doing things, being constructive, involved and useful. However having said that I am looking forward to a few months of nothing but reading, fishing , socialising and getting the van into the shape I want it to be.

Talking of the van, the battery charger doesn't work so I have had to buy a new one. Another $500 to be spent on the van. At least I will know everything is ship shape.

Within about 1 month this blog will be getting updated much more regularly as I start my new life.

Join with me as we go through the ups and downs and see Australia.

Neil

This is pure indulgence

Some photos of my 3 month old granddaughter  -  Havana

Finally bought a Porta Bote

So I have finally found a Porta Bote at the right price. I had organised that any new listings for a porta bote on Gumtree or ebay would be emailed to me. I received an email from Gumtree on a Friday and the boat and what came with it looked good. However I decided to wait and think more about it. It is a lot of money and I don't have much left. Should I do it or should I wait and see if I really need a boat? By Saturday afternoon I had decided that - yes I would need a boat and even if I didn't then I could always sell it for what I paid for it.
Rang the seller on Saturday afternoon, to try and organise when I could see it ( as he lives in Lara - near Geelong - which is about 5 hrs drive away) and while talking to him realised that there was a lot of interest in it and if I couldn't get there quickly I would have no chance of buying it. I have been watching the prices of Porta Botes for a couple of years , so had a good idea of what it was worth. Made the decision there and then to pay what he was asking. It worked, he was happy, I transferred the deposit straight away and organised to pick up the boat the following Thursday. Just happened to be one of the hottest days in Melbourne for the summer.
Anyhow, got the boat back here and today I will unload everything out of the car and see what I have got. It came with a pull apart trailer which I will unload on ebay, as I will not need it. Be good to get some money back.

Some photos of the boat:-

You will see the sides look funny but that is because I have attached the dolly wheels. The motor is a 5hp Yamaha about 6 or 7 years old but has virtually no use.

It took less time than I thought to put it together - very easy. Cant wait to take it on the water, maybe with Ben and Michael after I finish at the Motel

Clarke's Lagoon Reserve near Walwa NSW

Also known as Clarke's Nature reserve, this lovely little area is approx 20k's southeast of Walwa. Saw it first on Wikicamps and a few weeks ago had a Sunday drive out to it and several other campsites around the same area. A photo of it below:

(ps click on a photo to get them all full screen for seperate viewing)

A photo from the reserve looking south along the Murray River ( looks more like a creek)

Well, decided to take Jemma and myself out there for the night. It has great camping areas beside the river with plenty of grass, so no dirt. you have to be self sufficient in everything, but as you know thats why I got the Kedron Van.

Just a nice area, here are some photos of where I was camped:

 View from the van over the Murray

 The expensive new awning in use

So as I was there just for the rest , I didn't go fishing , and the only fish I saw caught were Carp.
Got the choofer out for its first run and it worked great, cooked the evening meal on it.

 Neils choofer Mark 1

IT Works, It Works!!!!!

These choofers are great and they don't take much to make. All the black stuff you see on the ground under it, is the burnt off paint.

So after about 24 hrs relaxing, I am back at the motel. The van went well but each time I use it something breaks and therefore gives me more jobs to do on it. What can you expect from a 10 year old van? The list for this trip is:-

External 240v power point cover broke.

2 of the stays on the front window covers rusted shut, so two more stays.

and coming back I have lost most of the radio aerial, so got to get a new one.

The advantage of all these repairs is that I am really getting to know the van. Oh by the way I installed a 600w inverter and wired it into the living area of the van. It worked great.