Day 7 (though I should no longer count the days) Friday 21/6/19 Home in Melbourne
Woody returns the hire car. We get word to say that the car and van have left Murray Bridge. We receive an email, a picture of a camel in the wild. Yes, they found one.
Saturday 22/6/19 Still at home
It’s a cold wintry morning and I decide to have some marmalade on toast. Oh bugger! The half jar of marmalade is in the van, on a truck, somewhere.
We get a call to say that the truck has arrived in Melbourne but will be delivered to our repairer when they open Monday. The van will be dropped off here, at home. And then another rather patchy call from Toothless, somewhere in the desert with a lousy signal, his diesel heater has broken down and he’s wondering where his instruction manual is…damn, it’s in our car, on a truck, somewhere!
Camels = 1, Car = 0, Van = 0
Sunday 23/6/19 Still at home and really cold
We walk the streets to keep travel fit and warm. Toothless rings to say that they’ve reached Alice Springs much earlier than planned as it’s just too bloody cold to meander. The Prado’s locked themselves in their van again this morning. That’s the 4th time they’ve done that and it seems like an annual event. The diesel heater is still on the blink but they’re staying in a powered bush camp.
Camels = 1, Car = 0, Van = 0
Monday 24/6/19 Still at home
Priscilla, our van arrives home being towed by a truck that has the Jeep up on the tray. The tow truck then drops the Jeep at our friendly garage in the eastern suburbs and we await the outcome.
Camels = 1, Car = 0, Van = 1 yippee.
Tuesday 25/6/19 Still at home
We get the bad news that the car problem was a blocked thermostat, causing the coolant hose to burst and thus cooking then engine and because the thermostat had failed we had no warning of the problem. Sounds expensive? Yes it is, and requires a replacement engine which will take about 2 weeks.
Camels = 1, Car = ½, Van = 1.
Situation Update
Since we’ve arrived home Darwin has suffered a 7.7 earth tremor. Thankfully with no damage.
On the home front, I’ve contracted a flu virus (though not the type that I had the 2 shots for, how many types of flu are there?) and feel all achy and sniffly. I knew there was a reason why we escape Melbourne every winter I’d just forgotten what it was. Woody is making gallons of soup.
The camel chasers – Toothless has had problems with his diesel heater. Because of the freezing nights they put on their skates to get to Alice. Then rambled up to Darwin. The Prado’s have done it again. For the 4th time, they’ve managed to lock themselves in their van. Feeble cries for help alerted Toothless to their predicament. Note that won’t you, locked in at Streaky Bay 2015, Rollingstone 2017, Streaky Bay again in 2018, now Alice Springs 2019! But best of all while watching a crocodile El Prado warned his dear wife Elle not to drop the phone in and with that dropped his sunglasses into the enclosure with the croc.
The car arrived home on 5/7/19 with a new reconditioned engine that only has 80,000kms on the clock and it looks better than I feel. It’s time to shake off the bugs and bugger off ‘cos we’re itching for hitching but Woody has a tickle in his throat…oh here we go again!
And that dear readers is why every Aussie caravanner should have RACV Total Care (or their state’s equivalent cover) for their rig. It takes a lot of the worry and cost out of getting home when things go pear shaped.
It’s time now for a blogging break, you won’t hear anything from me for a few weeks whilst I recharge my own depleted batteries and cook a lot of soup for a suffering Woody.
itchingforhitching 
Rest up L. Soup is definitely the answer to these Melbourne Winters! 😉
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Cheers to the chicken soup!
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👍🏼❤️
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Oh dear yes we too have the equivalent cover with RAA in SA. Now I understand why.
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Most members of our caravan club have used the service at least once. One couple and their dog were brought back from the middle of the Nullarbor so it is great value.
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Fingers crossed we have been lucky so far but what a great service.
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We’ll I for one will miss you. But come back fit, energised and full of good cheer!
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Thanks Margaret. One could say that I’m ‘on assignment’.
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Glad the vehicle is back better and stronger than before but hope you can get some proper rest and get over that flu. Annoying.
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All better now thanks guys.
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I wish you both well and warmer weather
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Thanks Derrick, yes we’ve found it.
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We had RAA premium cover and thought that covered the car and camper as a unit, but no. The car broke down in WA, they’d deal with that but since there was nothing wrong with the camper that wasn’t their problem! Glad to hear you’ve been lucky and found a replacement engine, hope you’re both fit and on the road again soon.
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Ooh that would be an expensive problem. The trouble is you never know how good your insurance is until you have to use it. We were so happy with the park that they covered the costs for in Yeppoon a few years ago that we’ve booked in there for a third time. And yes, the chicken soup did the trick thanks.
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At the time of our debacle we were also covered by Jeep Assist and they were far more helpful so we used them. It was the same tow truck operator whichever company we used!
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How ridiculous.
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Forget the soup, pack up that van, put your foot down, and tell your travelling companions to back off their accelerator until you catch up. It’ll chase those flu bugs away quicker than soup.
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Indeed we did, as soon as we were able to drive, we figured that we’d get better twice as fast once we reached a drier climate zone.
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Are you on your way up the middle again?
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Sadly no just chasing the sun.
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We’ll be waiting.Have fun!!
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Thanks Peter.
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Oh no! Feel better soon both..homemade chicken soup for the win!!
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Thanks Debbie all good.
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If you are heading north to Qld, now, good luck on trying to escape the cold! We have just returned from a little explore around the Riverina and Hilltops areas of NSW. Coldest I’ve been in years. Frosts you could scrape off flat surfaces.
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Thanks for the warning we’ve made it to the GC and will probably stick to the coast now. But the diesel heater has been fabulous.
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