Day 72: Wed 6 Jul - Normanton
10-25 Deg, The heater came on this morning to take the chill out of the air, but while windy and cool for most of the day, it was another clear blue sky turning very warm in the afternoon. It was a beautiful day in the sun out of the wind. The day didn't start well though. We've had problems with our three-way fridge for the past week, nothing major, but it hasn't been performing in Auto mode as it should. This morning when we woke, we noticed the fridge had stopped working overnight. After a couple of hours of unsuccessful fault finding, I called Simply Caravans in Albury, and Geoff guided me over the phone in resolving an issue known to them. Unfortunately, while we thought we fixed the problem, we actually created another which stopped the gas flow. We eventually identified the problem late in the day (fingers crossed) as we were about to go out for dinner. This was going to affect a lot of our plans in the coming weeks, including cancelling some free camp stays, and restricting stays to caravan parks with 240v power access. Needless to say, the beers tasted much nicer tonight. I said last night that there isn't much to see or do in Normanton, but here I am at the end of the day, wondering where it went. Apart from playing gas/fridge mechanic, Noeleene and I had an enjoyable ride around town in the morning, saw a few more local attractions, and had morno's with Greg and Wendy at the Green Room (Albion Hotel Cafe). In the afternoon Greg and I went for a longer ride through town out to the Rodeo grounds and returned to the van. I also had to refill one of our empty gas bottles - it cost me $25 in Canberra before we left; and it cost me $61 today in Normanton. You just have to remember where you are!
Wednesday is pub night dinner, so we went back to the Albion where we had an enjoyable meal and a lovely evening followed by a bit more star-gazing outside our vans on return. Good news is the fridge was still working when we got home (touch wood it stays that way). A bit more late but good news tonight - we can start using our Swift Gas stove and oven again, as it falls outside the manufacturer dates of concern (by 4 months). Great news. Tomorrow, we depart for Karumba for a three day stay - only a 75km drive.
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| Burns Philp & Co General Store Established in the early 1880s, now the Town Library and Information Centre |
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| A wonderful tribute to the Indigenous in the Information Centre |
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| Indigenous Stockmen |
Glad to hear you got some good news on your rv fridge & stove. That would be a great relief. Were enjoying following your trip. Loving the photos too. Thanks. Enjoy every moment you guys.
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