Fridge Dramas

Yesterday we arrived at Ross Creek Store which has a beautiful free camp right next door.  It is on the way to Tin Can Bay from Gympie and other than the corner store there are only the odd farm house scattered around.  As we arrived early we were the only people there so got to pick whatever spot we wanted and the only spectators we had were the horse and cow in the paddock next door.  Just the way we like it.

Not a bad view at all.

We had to get the levellers out again and due to the fact there were a few prickles we pulled out our annex matting for the first time.  Once set up we got Kayla down for her nap and just sat back and relaxed.  It was so peaceful just sitting back and admiring the green rolling hills.  Eventually we set off exploring.  We knew there was Dolphin Feeding in Tin Can Bay in the mornings so we thought we would find out where we needed to go for that before moving onto Rainbow Beach. 

The kids love helping us set up.

Jason just had to find and see the Wall of Shame which is which is pictures of all the 4WDs that have come to grief on the Mudlo Rocks.  Luckily he had no desire to take our car on the beach, I don’t think my little worry wart self could have handled that.  Next we went off to Inskip Point on Jess’s recommendation.  It looks like a really beautiful spot to camp, however we don’t think we would risk trying to take our big van in there as it looks quite sandy.  Not to mention there were lots of campers.  So we quite happily returned to our little bit of paradise. 

On our return we had neighbours, a whole one other car.  I take my hat off to them, they are travelling around in a station wagon.  It looked so cramped and I kind of felt guilty that I could have a nice hot shower and a big comfy bed to sleep in.  Mind you I wasn’t exactly offering them to share as when free camping every litre of water is precious.  Not that I needed to worry about that as after dinner when I went to wash up I realised the fridge was on error, so no longer working on gas. 

Exploring the gardens around the store.

Dinner time.

Ending the night with a little fire and some toasted marsh mellows.

Out came the user manual – funny how you don’t read these things until something goes wrong!   We tried everything they recommended.  Next point of call was the Coromal owners Facebook page.  It is great having this page to bounce ideas off each other and we are really lucky to have two great guys on there who actually work for Coromal.  So within minutes of posting we had a bundle of suggestions.  Unfortunately none of them worked but it was great to see if there was a quick fix. 

Dale is actually from the Bundaberg Service Centre where we have our Caravan booked in for its first service on Monday.  First thing this morning he called us, unfortunately we missed the call but when Jason called him back he believed he knew the problem so would order the necessary parts for the Dometic Fridge and have them ready for us come Monday.  People say that customer service just isn’t the same now a days, however these guys went beyond any expectation I had, trying to help us out at 9pm at night.  You guys are awesome – thank you.

So obviously with no fridge working on gas we were presented with two options, move to a caravan park nearby or move on.  We decided to move on as we are on a budget that we would like to stick to otherwise it will eat into the money we have put away to go towards a house when we finish travelling.  So part of the budget is to only pay for 4 nights a week at Caravan parks, leaving 3 nights to free camp or plug in with family/friends.  We have a voucher for the Lake Monduran Caravan Park so thought we would put that into use.

Before we left the area we had to do the Dolphin feeding experience.  The Dolphins work on the same time as my kids and start to arrive at 7am with the feeding occurring at 8am.  So we were up and out the door relatively early to ensure we didn’t miss out.  It only cost us $20 for all of us to view it (standing in the water with them) and for Hamish and Kayla to feed them.  Hamish loved it, though was a too scared to feed them.  I think the black bird swooping scared him.  However Kayla had no fear, if anything I think the Dolphin was lucky to get the fish as she normally eats anything in site.  I really do recommend doing this if you are in the area.

You get up nice and close.

Hamish waiting to feed the Dolphin.

Kayla just loved it and wasn't scared at all.

So to leave you on a high note, Hamish didn’t asked if we were there yet until at least an hour into our trip today!