Tuesday 22nd April, 2025

At about 11.00 a.m. we walked to the library where Stephen was hoping to find more information about the town. After yesterday’s rain it was good to have a sunny day. We were told about a nearby cafe, so we went to check to see if Google Maps was correct about it being open. Fortunately it was and we enjoyed hot drinks.

Stephen had a chai latte made with sticky tea leaves and spices. Turned out to be very expensive and we paid $15 for both drinks. It was also difficult to get it strong enough and they had served the milk separately, with a strainer, and he found this a bit tricky to manage.

At that point we decided that we would go to Northam, a bit closer than York. Northam has a free RV camping area on the river. When we arrived we were able to get a good parking bay on the end of a row. The RV park is somewhat similar to the one at Wundowie and it too has a dump point and drinking water tap with a push button. You can’t fill your RV tank, but it suited us to just have access to fill our water jug.

We had a very warm and sticky afternoon. It was uncomfortable inside and by 4.00 p.m. the midges came in and made it uncomfortable to sit outside. We went for a walk to the bridge, but showers made us cut it short after a little while.

We had leftovers for tea, spaghetti and pasta, with frozen peas. We had bought some bread, salads and alcoholic ginger beer at the IGA in Wundowie. We had two cans of the ginger beer, unlike us as we usually just share one. The alcohol didn’t seem to have any effect on us.

By about 10.00 p.m. it had cooled down sufficiently for us to have a comfortable night. There was some rain overnight, but it didn’t actually storm until the morning. Fortunately, there was no wind, so we could leave the windows open and watch out for lightning and listen to the thunder and heavy rain.

We got ready to leave between rain showers and headed off at about 11.00 a.m.

We had a Working Voices Alumni meeting at 2.00 p.m. in Bentley. To extend our holiday a bit we shared a big breakfast at the Dome Cafe and only headed off in time to get to Bentley by 2.00 p.m.

The battery level was at about 50% by the time we left Northam. We didn’t get much solar due to the clouds and rain, but went ahead and did all of our usual things (boiling the kettle 3 times for teas and coffees, and I blow dried my hair) We also ran the Starlink. This was because we were testing out the system, we have the gas stove as a backup of course.

By the time we arrived at Bentley, with solar and the DCDC charger, the batteries were at 90%. We would not be able to use as much electricity if we were intending to stay for a second night.

The batteries reached 100% quite quickly on Thursday morning. The fridge is still on, but as we haven’t been using the electric appliances, there is very little draw on them.

Overall, we are happy with our power set up. I’ve sold our two Ecoflow power boxes on Facebook Marketplace and our replacement Ecoflow Delta 3 plus hasn’t arrived yet, normally we have some backup. Perhaps it was good to test out the system without any backup, I found I was still prepared to push things a bit, just to see what would happen. But, I’ll still be glad to have backup power for our winter trip

Monday 21st to Wednesday 23rd April, 2025

We are testing out our new wiring. Up until recently, there were a couple of electrical items that hadn’t been added to the Victron shunt, which meant the battery percentage was basically only a rough guide and I was relying on the battery voltage to see if we had enough power. After dropping the van off to CaravansWA to correct this we can now rely on the percentage reading, which is such a relief.

The battery percentage went down to about 73% overnight. We had shade first thing after sunrise, so the battery went down to about 68% after boiling the kettle a couple of times and using the hair dryer. At 10.00 a.m. it’s now on 71% and getting about 200w of solar.

We’ve also had brackets for a fold out washing line put on the side of the van, a new, very sturdy clip for our front door, and a new hot water system anode. We are ready to go. We’ve also ordered new blind/screen cassettes, but as they are coming from overseas they may not arrive in time for our winter trip. CaravansWA will be the installer.

Separately, I’ve ordered some thermo blinds for the Hilux windows. This will not only ensure privacy, but hopefully keep out the heat and cold. We use the front cab as a storage area when we are parked up, so the blinds should also provide extra security as there shouldn’t be any gaps.

We had thought of going on an overnight on Thursday, but that takes us into the Anzac Day weekend, with possibly a lot of traffic. As we had nothing planned yesterday and our first appointment is on Wednesday afternoon it seemed a good time to slip away. Rain is forecast for tomorrow, but in fact it rained yesterday afternoon on our way to Wundowie, and we had quite heavy rain, lightning and thunder overnight. We have one of the good sites with a concrete pad beside the door, so are not having to deal with mud.

Wundowie is a small village just off the Great Eatern Highway which offers a donation camp, with a water tap that is suitable for filling bottles, but the tap can’t be used for filling the van, and a dump point. It’s a short walk away from a general store. There is an open field next to the camp and a large sports ground nearby. On a clear night it would actually be quite good for stargazing. We didn’t bring the telescope this time as we knew the weather was likely to be unsuitable and it wasn’t the purpose of the trip. Next time perhaps.

Our plan for the day is to spend a little time here to check things out more, then drive to the free camping area in York. If we can’t get a spot in the town there is a free camp close by.

Thursday March 27th to Saturday March 29th, 2025

We did a lot of the preparations and planning on Wednesday and were able to leave by about 10.30 a.m. Lowles Road, Tammin, where the star party was held is approximately 190kms from here and I wanted to get a good deal of the driving done in the morning.

However, that didn’t stop us from making a stop at Mundaring to visit the bakery for drinks and to buy some of their beautiful bread. It was too early to consider having lunch.

Stephen drove from the Northam turnoff to Meckering, and we arrived in Cunderdin at about 2.00 p.m. Our plan was to spend the rest of the day there and only head to Tammin later in the day. We were too late for the hot lunch, but they made us some beautiful toasted sandwiches. We were able to enjoy their big lounge chairs to rest after lunch.

We then headed towards Tammin, and I was breathalysed by a nice policeman on arrival. Quite ironic that we had spent the afternoon in a pub, but hadn’t had anything alcoholic to drink.

We then headed out to the site. We were arriving a day early as we had to leave again on Saturday, and were relieved to find that there were other early birds who had taken responsibility for setting things up. We had been sent detailed information on this, a standard document, when we registered.

It was still rather hot and quite cloudy, so we didn’t expect to have a good night sky, but after dark the clouds cleared and we had a lovely view of the night sky. We were too tired to set up telescopes. Stephen got out with his binoculars and I just enjoyed the Milky Way.

The Tammin site is an area of land leased by the ASWA (Astronomical Society of WA) for about $1 per year. The land is rocky and unsuitable for farming, but ideal for star gazing. They’ve set up a line of concrete for the telescopes, a shipping container with air conditioning and a special waterless toilet. The toilet is especially nice inside, quite different to what I was expecting. There are a couple of portaloos and a shower for campers. They were running a generator constantly, including overnight, and I realise it was because of running a fridge.

On Friday we spent most of the morning on site, then headed off for the Tammin Roadhouse to ride out the heat of the day. We shared a steak sandwich and chips which were served on separate plates, very nice. There was a comfortable lounge where we sat after lunch, so in many ways it was like our day at the Cunderdin Pub the previous day.

On both days we had been able to park the Sherwood in shade, but the shade cover at the Roadhouse was really good. Of course, it meant that our batteries didn’t get topped up, but better than having it sitting out in the sun. Both days reached about 37C.

When we went back to the site more people had arrived. We had parked at a distance from the telescope area and began setting up the telescope.

When we walked down to the container for the meal, we found that the BBQ had already happened and the salads and fresh rolls were being served. The flies were still really bad whilst we were eating, but they went to bed after sunset.

We enjoyed talking with some of our fellow star gazers as we relaxed after eating. It meant that by the time we went back to the Sherwood it was after dark, which made finishing setting up quite challenging. I set up the SeeStar as well and got a bit of an image.

Stephen gave up on the telescope as he didn’t feel he had set up the scope correctly and he had a headache. However, we continued to sit outside for a while enjoying the stars and waiting for the Seestar. It takes a lot of patience to wait for the stacked images to result in a good, final result.

In the morning I found that Stephen had not slept well. He gets nauseous when he has headaches and had been half sitting up for much of the night.

After packing up we went to say goodbye to everyone. They had been very welcoming and we felt that it had been more like an actual Star Party than the other events as people socialised more. Of course, we had recently been to one of their monthly meetings, so we knew some of the people slightly.

The drive home was punctuated by a visit to the sweet shop in Meckering. This is run by a Canadian and has a wide range of sweets. We had hot drinks and bought some fudge. He doesn’t have seating inside, but we secured the only table and chairs outside just in time as a large group of bikers and vintage car owners arrived to have drinks and lollies.

Our next break was in Mundaring where we wanted lunch, so went to the Dome Cafe. At first we were glad of the air conditioning, but later we were freezing. When we were leaving it had become quite cloudy and looked like a storm was coming.

The Dome cafe has redone it’s menu to include some items it had on the specials list. We ordered Rosti and eggs to share and appreciated that the dish was put into separate, warm plates for us. Thank you Dome.

We arrived home when it was still quite warm. The clouds eventually covered Victoria Park and we had at least one shower overnight.

On Sunday we joined a friend for lunch, then went together to a fundraising concert in North Beach. We then called in to see Matt, who was having an early dinner. Afterwards we sat outside with him for about half an hour. By this time I was very tired and wanted to get home. We’d had a good afternoon tea and weren’t hungry until later.

Yesterday, Monday. I had to drop the Sherwood off for some repairs/enhancements at CaravansWA. We haven’t been to them before, but they have been a Suncamper dealer in the past, which is why I know about them. We need our blinds/screens replaced and they have now ordered them from overseas. It will take a few months for them to arrive, so we will probably have them installed after our winter trip.

I’m having our internal Anderson plugs and the 12V fridge linked to the shunt which gives me information on remaining battery percentage via Bluetooth. Both were installed by Ken Peachey Caravans, but not linked for some reason. I had contacted KP to have this corrected, but still hadn’t heard back regarding a time after three months, so gave up.

As it happens, they did ring last week and apologised for the wait, but still couldn’t do the work until mid May, so I went with our appointment with CaravansWA. We still have to wait for things to be done, but not as long.

As well, we are having a new catch put on for the screen door. The plastic catch has broken and they will install a metal one. They will put up brackets for an outside collapsible clothes line that fits into our rear locker when not in use. I’ve also asked them to check the HWS anode.

They used to be a Suncamper dealer, but the company has been getting a bad reputation for poor standards of construction, ignoring customers requirements and generally going downhill. New Suncampers, including the Sherwood, are extremely expensive, getting up around $200,000. For that money you really want to have a well made motorhome. It makes me very glad we bought one secondhand, with the issues already sorted out. So, CaravansWA has told them that they no longer want to be associated with them as the bad reputation is staring to reflect on their business as well. I’ve actually noticed this on the online forums.

Yesterday I was extremely tired and went back to bed after dropping off the Sherwood. I managed to get a few things done, despite being very lazy.

Stephen rang his neurologist a few weeks ago and was told he would have to wait five months for an appointment. He gave up at that point. However, he tried again today and now has an appointment on the 13th of May. I’m glad it’s before we head off on our winter trip. We are going to be quite remote and it feels risky given that we don’t know what is happening. He is really being affected by the headaches and nausea and it seems unusual for someone of his age to begin having migraines.