Ian and Sue

Greg and Cathy Sounds like your first trip went well and has set the way for following trips. If you are looking for a really nice dog friendly caravan park in Hervey Bay the Top Tourist park is the one - they go out of their way to make both you and your doggy welcome. Cheers Sue Karratha WA

Hi Russ We could leave our guys for hours and they never had an accident - exactly the same as when they stay at home. Our oldest dog used to be really good at hanging on, not that we ever tried to make him but during some really big cyclones a few years back he would refuse to go out and do his business even if we took him outside on his lead in our sheltered back garden he STILL wouldn't go. During Cyclone John we estimated he waited around 12 hours before we finally managed to get him to do something, more than I can say for me who spent heaps of time in our little room on that occasion Back to the question - our guys are indoors dogs and have been trained since puppyhood so switching over to the caravan really wasn't any different for them. We just make sure that if we think we will be a while we don't give them a huge meal at the last minute and do take them for a good walk/run. Sue PS might see you over the weekend we are coming up to Cossack.

Ok - I have been and seen. The cost is $1 per 50 litres and the pump cuts off. The reason behind the installation is that the previous honour system was being abused and the honor box was being stolen.

Karratha Visitor Centre has now installed a bowser complete with a credit card facility for those who need water. I haven't heard how much the cost is but will take a cycle over later and have a look. I don't mind paying a small fee to fill tanks after all someone has to pay somewhere along the line but am hoping they aren't charging like the do for everything else up here. Cheers Sue

Hi Greg & Cathy Congratulations on your new caravan, may you have many years of happy travels in it and make lots of wonderful memories too. We have always travelled with our babies, two Jack Russell Terriers. Sadly our oldest boy passed away on a recent trip but we are left with many happy memories of all the places we visited together all over Australia. Our boys both started travelling with us when they were young pups and have learned the ropes of first the tent, then in more recent years the caravan. We would often leave them in the caravan whilst we went off doing our own things and they would curl up and sleep until we came back, naturally we would not leave them if the temperature wasn't right etc etc. Quite often people would comment that they didn't even realize we had a dog with us! We would always take our boys out for a good walk, or carry in the case of the old boy before we went anywhere that way they could "empty out" and we knew they would be comfortable whilst we were away. We always left them locked inside the caravan with the top hatches open and dependant on the weather we would leave the door open too so that they had maximum airflow through. The worst thing that we would have happen would be that our youngster (11 years old) would jump up on the bed so we always make sure that he is clean before we leave. Happy travels Sue

Looks good, are we all invited over to the Christening?

Hi Ash And now I know who you are :-) We look like moving back up to Karratha in the next two weeks and will be living there again until at least Christmas and more likely a hell of a lot longer All of our geocaching goodies are already packed into Keddy so as soon as we get our new house we will be back out in full force hiding some pretty sneaky ones. Hopefully you will be around still to find them. cheers Sue.

Sign me up!! The Ian can't complain when I drag it down a narrow track and over that cliff and, and......

We had a Smev in our old van and have a Swift in this one, never had a problem with heat or lack of and use it all the time. I couldn't be without it.

Towel rack??????? I just asked Ian and his comment was "to stand on to check the roof"

Glad to hear you are back on the road Geoff & Joy. We too had some excellent service two years ago in Cairns when a new 3 month old battery failed. The Cairns agent wasn't under any obligation to give us a new one but as it was the easiest option that is exactly what he did.

Hi Bob, The web address for the SOG was as follows. />http://www.aussietraveller.com.au/pages/products/category/15/toilet_ventilation I emailed them and has a very prompt and friendly response along with a price of $199 plus $11 postage to Western Australia! Lucky for me I have a very handy husband who will love having yet another job to do! LOL. He has still got to fit the diesel heater we bought whilst on our last trip, hmmmm... we have only been home two days do you think I am rushing him a bit???? Sue

To save you from one of my blonde explainations I have used my copy and cut function to help explain the SOG. I am sure that other members can give an even simpler answer. The SOG Toilet Ventilation System is an ecological solution for motorhome and caravan toilets. It is 100% chemical free and 100% odorless. Surely the saving on the use of chemicals must be a bonus when you think what these chemicals do to our environment. You don't have to find a dump point and this in itself means more freedom when you are travelling around Australia. There are four kits for cassette type toilets. Made with the traditional German engineering and know-how, this solution to a smelly problem will be an investment in quality of lifestyle. Additives are no longer necessary and optimal decomposition is guaranteed by the increased flow of oxygen The fast and powerful ventilator immediately removes odours by suction No more smells in the vehicle No further problems with the pressure of gases caused by decomposition Kit Type Thetford Toilet Models A C2, C3, C4 B C200 D C400 F C250 The ventilator is switched on as soon as the blade valve starts to open and is switched off again when the blade valve is closed. The fact that no smells can leave the waste holding tank is brought about by: As soon as the ventilator is switched on there is a suction effect in the waste holding tank which draws in fresh air through the blade valve. This downflow acts as a seal and prevents the gqases and smells from rising. The fresh air that is drawn in removes the new odours in the toilet bowl when it is being used. The decomposition process for sewerage and toilet paper is accelerated by the increased flow of oxygen so that no additional chemicals are required. No special toilet paper is required, in fact ordinary toilet paper is recommended for use with this system. The exhaust ventilator with its motor has been specially designed for sanitary systems. The power consumption is very low at 0.43 watts.

Thanks Sue, Rod & Mavis, I can tell you I don't need any convincing to get one. I trhink I will place an order on Monday - Ian can fit it and we can do a trial run down to Perth. If we need to "plug" it whilst travelling then so be it, fingerscrossed ours will be one that doesn't require that action. I am quite happy to put on my rubber gloves and get dirty rather than have an odour, OK a STINK, everytime we need to use it. Can't hold my breathe forever. We use Walex Porta Pak in our toilet - it was absolutely wonderful until we hit the warmer temperatures. Cheers Sue

Hi Rod & Mavis, After travelling with the foam in, (it wasn't taped just sitting on the bars) and finding no dust we actually left it out for a couple of hundred kilometres and had the same no dust result. Ian is pretty sure it is the short drawbar. Now the dust in the back is another story..... who forgot to shut the rear window properly

As some may know I am the Kenny of the Kedron, ie. my duty, other than spending all Ians' money is toilet cleaning. Actually I rather enjoy the challenge of keeping the cassette in such good condition that there is never an unfriendly odour, so you can imagine how enthralled I was when I learned about the SOG whilst at the Goomeri Festival last May. This delightful gadget has been foremost in my mind every visit to the small room especially as we ventured further north and the temperatures started rising. Around Darwin I decided I should seriously look into getting my hands onto a SOG even if the are very expensive! After some research I have found they can be purchased for $199 here in Oz and was about to hit the purchase button when my hard to impress husband suggested that I might like to consider how they actually fit onto the cassette. You see he has in mind that given that there is a tube fitted to the spout on the cassette then said tube must become clogged with #2's especially when travelling with a half full cassette along a bouncy track. He arrived at this conclusion following the discovery that the cap on our spout quite often houses, well I think you all know where I am going.... Needless to say he isn't keen on my spending his money even at the reduced price until I have confirmed that the only thing to find its way up the tube to the filter is the odour. So for now I look forward to reading your experiences as I am still really keen on the idea of having one. Cheers all Sue

Adding our two bobs worth to the conversation After chatting with a few Kedron owners regarding dust entering through the four seasons hatch when the hatch is on the front of the Kedron we were worried that it would happen to us and as we intended to travel the Savannah Way back west we purchased a piece of foam to block the potential flow of dust in. Many hundreds of kilometres of dirt and bulldust followed and to our surprise and delight we need not have made the purchase as the foam was as clean as when it was installed front and back. Our conclusion, valid or not, was that with our short drawbar the dust wasn't going up as high as the hatch. Ian spent ages watching as we hit bulldust holes and the fine stuff poofed up around the Cruiser and van and the only times he could see dust going that high was from on-coming vehicles. If we had of had the long drawbar with more space between the rear of the tow vehicle we could see how the dust could be thrown up over the roof with potential to come iin though hatches. Hmmm... another long winded answer, I hope it all makes sense Cheers Sue

Just met a couple who had come through GCR only a week ago and they told us that the road is in very good condition at the present. They were talking about it being like a dirt highway - all sounded too good to us They were towing one of those cross-over kind of camper trailer caravan thingys. We have met a few travellers who have been through in the past month and none said it was really corrugated and rough. cheers Sue

Hi Gayleen & Collin, Love the idea of a tips section, I always enjoy reading others ideas and quite often find very useful ideas to take away. I don't know how easy they are to get these days as I bought a heap a few years back and keep reusing them. If you look in the bags section of the local supermarket you can/used to be able to buy special "plastic" bags which allow the fruit and veg to breathe and add heaps of life to them. They really do work and are worth seeking out. We have had the same problem with our old boys and the fire alarm so feel for you. We are fortunately in that Rusty (our JRT) has been trained to wake me should there be smoke in the house as when I am asleep I don't hear smoke detectors (or bombs probably) going off so Ian has removed the battery for now. I have told him I don't like going around without it as it might alert someone our van is on fire if we are away from it. I have a small dust cap especially made for the smoke detector back home but forgot to put it into the van before we left home. Everything will be rectified when we reach home and BEFORE we depart again. Cheers Sue

Darwin Sunday eh? I will have to look up and see where he is. Thanks for the thumbs up Jaygee

John Williamson eh? You lucky ducks - one of my wishes is that one day he will be performing somewhere we can reach, so glad you enjoyed the show you guys really deserve a good time. It is good to hear that you have made it through the dentist and doctors visits and hopefully come out unscathed, albiet the wallet is probably a little lighter :-) ' So now at last you are heading off toward warmer areas. We will be thinking of you and wishing you both well as we sit here in the Darwin sunshine.

Hi Richard I think it is I that you are directing the foam rubber question too. We have two "towel" rails across our four season hatch and the foam we purchased is around 2 inches thick so fairly stable, the rails hold it in place. If it doesn't work we have duct tape! Might see you on the Savannah way. Sue

Hi Chris Just doing a catch up on the forums as we have been out of range. Great to hear that you were dust free after a dusty trip especially as we are considering whether we take the high road through Booroloola to the NT border and then maybe GRR on the way home down the West coast. We took the precaution of buying a piece of foam rubber whilst in Rockhampton to place up in our 4 seasons hatch as we have heard they can leak dust and as a back up I have an old sheet for over the bed. We normally tape our doors and will tape over the stove exhaust vent as it is on the rear of our van. No problems with our diesel heater which is still keeping us nice and warm via the placebo effect, ie.. it is still uninstalled and under the bed! Safe travels Sue

A huge thanks for the tip, we have heaps of wasps back home - it hadn't even crossed my mind that they may think the various intakes and outlets of the Keddy are a great place to build nests etc. When we get home we will make sure to cover the appropriate places.

Hi Richard Ian and I share driving and have covered many kilometres of dirt roads over the years we very much play it by ear with tyre pressures dependant on the road we are travelling, the key is to travel to conditions, stop regularly and check what is going on behind. On our last "big" trip we took the old van up to Cape York to Sissesa, got the spelling wrong I am sure, took it slow over the heavy corrugations, wondered a few times why we were doing it as the our fillings rattled in our teeth, got there and back without any hitches as people who flew past were seen waiting for new springs at the tip. Had the best time as we always do when we are travelling. A tip on the real rough for your wife, find your extra towels and put them into the cupboards on top of your dishes, pots and pans or anything which could jump about, doesn't have to be packed in tight just keeps the bouncing/vibration to a minimum. You look like you are heading the same way as us - we have a sliver/blue 60th anniversary LC200 pulling a white ATV with blue strips. Ah the give away would be that we have large boxes across the back of our van which are quite distinctive, oh and our Kedron Owners Group sticker. Happy travels. Sue