Page 231 - Mit dem Wohnwagen durch Australien

We were very lucky with both our vehicles. The caravan is practically new. It was used for a very short time and
hardly shows any signs of wear. Because of the different qualities of the roads from AAA to riverbed, the caravans
are built much sturdier here. The chassis looks like from a lorry. When I asked the dealer about the ALKO Chassis
he just laughed and said, they would not survive the local roads for long. Most of the internal works like Toilet, warm
water boiler, Fridge etc, come from Europe however. All bigger caravans are equipped with an electrical braking
system. As soon as Beat started to brake in the car, we heard the tyres screech and we produced a black mark on
the road. The unit was set up too strong. We adjusted it a bit and now Car and Caravan agree on the strength of the
breaking. But then, the cruise did not work anymore. An analysis of the electrician showed, that our break lights had
a fuse with 10 Amps which was to weak. A 15 Amp fuse presented us with renewed break lights. Now what have
brake lights in common with the cruise? No break light – no cruise. As simple as that, that is technical logic for you.

The fact that everyone drives on the left hand site, sits on the right side of the car, has the indicator on the right side
of the steering wheel and shifts with left hand is a real challenge. But, that the other motorists pass us left and right
at all speeds is taking things a bit far. Nevertheless, it is completely legal here. One can overtake on any side as long
as one does not pass a double line. Normal single white lines are passable any time. In addition to that, each state
has some finesse to their traffic code. In Victoria, for example, we are allowed to turn left despite a red light if there
is a special turning lane. One just does not have right of way. Very practical.

GOLD RUSH
With a few days delay due to all the technical fine tuning, we have now arrived at our first stop in Creswick, site of
one of the earliest gold finds in Australia.

When we finally got our act together and left Melbourne, it was 40 C, the hottest day so far this summer. There was
a hot, strong, dry wind from the Deserts in the North. An ideal day to check the efficiency of our Air-conditioning. In
the car it was so so la la. But on the Campground in the Caravan, that was something else. We had a very agreeable
25 C in no time. We rescued ourselves every couple of minutes in there to cool off a bit while installing all the
equipment. Even the simple Campgrounds offer electricity and water tap at the site. We can take water directly from
the mains and Beat does not have to carry water any longer. We have looked in vain for the familiar water tanks with
wheels to carry clean water to and gray water from the caravan. They do not exist here. We know now how to get
freshwater, but what to do with the gray water? We were given 10 m of sullage hose and a coupling to connect to the
caravan, but where to put the other end? Nobody was very specific. The consensus was, that the dry ground would
quickly swallow any drop we would disperse. No worries! We found a hole near our van and put the end in there. All
was well, until I washed up the first time in the van and then let the water of the sink gush out. It gurgled and
splurged and viola, the shower was full of water resplendent with the red remains of the tomato sauce. We studied,
analysed and discussed the problem, then accepted my suggestion.

We turned the coupling around so that the Kitchen water comes first and does not surge up the line to the shower,
So far it works. The shower in our van is really very efficient. This was proved at 3 am when Beat went to the Toilet
and inadvertently opened the shower. In no time he was wet through and fully awake. Almost at the same time it
started to rain and the temperature dropped from 40 C to 10 C. It is a constant up and down with the temperature
and the weather here.

Our Campground has 3 stars. We could not care less, as long as the whole surroundings are good, but camp owner
Frank cares. It was time to cut my hair and I decided I would do that in the common shower area. There, I can see
myself in the mirrors, contrary to the Van, where even Beat sees only his forehead. There were three sockets. I tried
the first, no electricity. The Second, same thing. I knew that the third had to works, since a girl was drying her hair
with a blow-dryer. I was so thrilled that the shaver worked, that I forgot to put on one of the regulators for the length.
I shaved a path down to the roots before I noticed. Well, I just left the surrounding hair a bit longer; nobody is the
wiser, I hope. Next time I saw Frank I asked him about the two sockets. He smiled and showed some missing front
teeth “I know” he said “I should once connect them, did not get round to it yet. You know, we need a socket per
washbasin in order to get the three stars. There is no rule, that they have to be connected.” That’s Aussi rules.

We are in the heart of the goldfields. Close by, the first gold was discovered in 1851. We keep our eyes to the
ground, just in case there would be a blitz of gold, finally letting us have unknown richness’s. The largest Nuggets
ever found, one 69 the other over 70 kg were found around here. We have seen them in the Gold museum at
Ballarat. There! On the embankment to the railroad, under a fallen gum tree leaf. What is this? I can hardly believe