Tag: Blog

Caravanning Hints4 Comments

Can you smell gas?

Itching for Hitching

We’re camped at Ayson’s Reserve near Elmore in Victoria and our mate Dee reckons that she can smell gas. We spend 15 minutes walking around their van sniffing in hatches, on our knees under the van and pouring soapy water over the gas connections. Sure enough, bubbles appear around the upright connector between the two gas bottles and we can now clearly see that the nut has a small crack in it. Daz is able to stop the leak and repair it temporarily until we can get into town and get it fixed. That old soapy water trick never fails. Continue reading Can you smell gas?

Overheard1 Comment

Mallee Radio

Itching for Hitching

We tend to listen to the radio when we’re driving, ‘though I do find the morning ‘Shock Jocks’ who try to incite fear into their listeners a tad tiresome. The ABC is always a welcome source of knowledge and “Macca on a Sunday” must be the patron saint of Grey Nomads. Sometimes we fluke a local station as pass by and get a feel for life in that area. Recently we were driving through Victoria’s Mallee region which for those who don’t know it is part of a very large grain growing area. An advertisement came on the radio and … Continue reading Mallee Radio

Well Bugger Me!3 Comments

Get a load of this

Itching for Hitching

We take a couple of mates out to our new favourite watering hole, the Ky West Hotel near Tongala in northern Victoria. It’s a warm day and we’re enjoying the hospitality of the pub when the farmer across the road decides to spread fertiliser. Around and round he goes and on each pass the pub is shrouded in smelly dust and visibility drops to zero. I don’t know about the quality of the soil but the barman is growing angry. Continue reading Get a load of this

Overheard23 Comments

Do ye ken? Pardon? What? Eh? Got the gist? Understanding the lingo

Itching for Hitching

When the recently deposed South Australian Premier referred to our Federal politicians as ‘knuckle draggers’ and an electricity generator as having ‘shat itself’ on television a few weeks ago, I thought it maybe worth a look at our own Australian version of English. The Australian vernacular is peppered with some peculiar expressions. When a nation is forged from the meeting of the world’s oldest surviving culture with a bunch of convict outcasts from an over-populated society, well things can only get interesting. Throw in two centuries of refugees and opportunists from another hundred or so countries and you’ll find not … Continue reading Do ye ken? Pardon? What? Eh? Got the gist? Understanding the lingo