Chris

We did spend a night with Rod and Jewel, and Rick and Lee, then we all caught up again for a night a few days later. There was some alcohol involved but not too much. You see, we are all responsible drinkers these days. That, plus the fact we all need to be in bed early

And Rick and Lea are joining us here tomorrow! How good is that?

We arrived in Tasmania a couple of days ago, after a roughing crossing on the Spirit of Tasmania. It has been cool and damp since we arrived, but we expected that. We spent two days at the by-donation camp at Forth, then today moved to the CMCA RV camp at Railton. This is a lovely camp, on nice green grass, and there is a covered shelter where happy hours are held each afternoon, a great innovation. And icing on the cake, we are next door to another Kedron; Rod and Jewel. How good is that! i will be writing a trip report and putting it up in a few weeks.

Tony, I am heartened to hear about the cream bun research. You are the only one I can bank on!

In the morning, hopefully bright and early, we launch onto our latest trip. This time we plan to be away from home about five months, and we are including Tasmania for four months of that time. We will take nearly a week to travel from home in the Barossa Valley (SA) and reach Melbourne. Then we go over to Devonport on the ferry on 21 March. Although we have been to Tasmania before, we have never taken the van. It is a bit scary to consider getting the van down to that wharf but I am sure we will manage it OK. If any of you see us, please say hello!

Sandra, what a lovely place that looks! And the photo on the ferry (a selfie yet!) is classic.

I have directed the Webmaster’s attention to this matter, bigaxe. Hopefully she can quickly resolve any issues for you.

Jonathan and Becky, if you have any questions about the forum just yell out and one of us will be happy to help. chris

OK, right now we are at another special spot. It is called Lake Ratzcastle, 12 kms South of the small (as in very small) town of Goroke, Victoria. This is the Wimmera which is full of lakes and water reserves. Of course, in dry years they are not all full of water. But this is a good year and our Lake is full to the brim. S36 48 42 E141 27 55 It is a lovely quiet spot, with flushing toilets, a tap and a hot shower. Donation is requested. And it would be very bad form not to pay a fee for such special surroundings. Here we are.

How good to see another new owner on the site! I know you will have many happy hours travelling with the van. And if you see another Kedron van out and about, stop and say hello. It is a big happy family. Chris

Ah yes, that looks pretty special too. I wish we could be there with you for the gathering. Have fun, everyone. chris

We are now in a really special place. The small town of Moyston, Victoria, has a Recreation Reserve in which they provide power and water sites for $10 a night. The Reserve is quite lovely and has a heap of sporting facilities like a tennis court, netball court, cricket, football oval and a boules court. While there is not much in the town (a small general store and cafe) it is right on the doorstep of the Grampians. Here we are, under the pine trees

I hope the weather is being kind? Where to from there.

Welcome to the Kedron family Jono and Becky! We are also in SA. We are up in the Barossa Valley...It would be great to catch up when you get back. Of course, we are away right now too, in Victoria and on our way back home in a week or two. chris

Get outta here with all that “Tasmania in Summer” talk. ?. Make sure you post regular trip reports.

Yes, Maldon is another spot I could happily live. The old buildings....the lovely countryside! We will go look at Butts Reserve.

Any correlation between the Castlemaine Rock and dentistry...? We have been here a few times before and absolutely love the area. I would happily live here. We drove out to Mt Alexandra and looked at the two camp sites out there, but realised they will not be too good in the hot weather which is coming You were lucky to be born here.

We love it here. It is a fascinating area.

We are now at Castlemaine, at a caravan park which charges fiercely at $50 a night (peak season!). I didn’t realise the cost when booking, There is a story about the booking... Yesterday was an interesting day. Not for the right reasons. We had booked at a caravan park in Melbourne, for five nights. A Big4 we have stayed at several times before. Since our last visit, they have removed more van sites and put in more cabins, as they are wont to do. Our booking was made two months ago for a specific site which would fit our van, a 19 footer with a long drawbar. We arrived about 1.00pm after a fair drive, and entered a tension filled reception office. The staff were all frazzled, and it related to booking confusion. They said it had been a hard day. It looked like it, too. Anyway, we gave our name and booking reference. We were told someone else had been placed on that site but they would try very hard to find an alternative site we would fit. This took a looong time, with muttered referring to the computers by two staff. Eventually a site was found. We drove in to see it. It was among a pile of tents, next to a cabin and an impossible angle to get onto it. So we asked for our deposit back and left. It seems someone had before we arrived been accommodated at short notice, and took someone else’s site, who then took someone else’s site who then....you get the picture. All this was done by the park staff who probably just prayed we would fit the given site, or not turn up. Grrrr. So we rang Castlemaine and booked a site here. Another nearly two hours travel and we arrived. It is a delightful town and lovely park and we are now relaxing. The road detours due to closure of part of the Western Ring Road out of Melbourne did not assist either. Without a very good Hema navigator we would have been lost. As I said, it was an interesting day.

It is great to see you deciding to join the Kedron ‘family’. The product is second to none, with beautifully constructed vans, and the Gall family, who own the product, are great to deal with. They produce a product which represents their family, and their pride shows. As Tony says, consider becoming a financial member, especially once you have a van on order. There is additional information in a section of the forum available only to financial members. Chris

I think they are talking about the leg rests which fold out from the couch....

We are now at Mount Gambier in South Australia’s Limestone Coast. You understand, Mt G is not actually on the coast, but that is the name of the region. It is so hot and windy today that we moved to a powered site at the Showgrounds this morning. It is a great spot; power and water on nice green grass, for $22 a night. We have been camping at a national park for a few nights (42 Mile Crossing on the Coorong) and then two nights camping at the Kingston RV park which is $10 for two nights. Kingston obviously recognises the value of visitors. It was busy there as you would expect in the Summer school holidays, but not too bad. We got that lovely spot down the back behind the shady tree.... Our plan is to stay at Mt Gambier until Monday when we move over to Lower Glenelg National Park to a riverside campground.

Hi Ernst, and welcome to the Kedron family.... I hope we meet up somewhere on the road! In the meantime, have a look at the section of the forum where details are provided of Kedron gatherings and events. See here. And post trip reports as we love trip reports! Chris

fMy lawyer said I can respond with a similarl expression of goodwill, defined as wishing positive outcomes but not limited to festive seasons exclusively. Anyway, Merry Christmas and Happy Summer Solstice.

So you will be finished that house sit by the time we get down there!