Monday 23 April: Hello Hervey Bay

Author: Mr A

Location: Bauple to Hervey Bay

Distance: 110km

We awoke to the very serene sounds of early morning in Bauple – the school bus disgorging not so eager looking students who shuffled along towards their educational revelations on a bright Monday morning. I was just trying to get Tassie to have a little stretch outside, unsuccessfully after a busy night of power sleeping, when a car pulled up right outside. A guy bounded out and with my city hat on, I wondered what we had done wrong. But no – he had come to check we had enjoyed our stay on their free RV camp. He owned an adjoining property and was himself building an RV park on his other property just outside of town. We chatted about the likely demand, and what customers are likely to be looking for. I am so enjoying this different pace of life in the country where strangers are still willing, and have the time, to talk to one another.

We headed down to the local museum, a really well presented showcase of local history. One exhibit of note was the 3 metre long crocodile skin, which was taken from an animal shot in the lower reaches of the Mary River, where we had been paddling yesterday. A reminder our paddling time is going to require a little more vigilance as we move further north in Queensland.Then after some hectic calling around to determine a supplier to help us with some battery charging issues, we headed for Battery World in Hervey Bay, a relatively short drive down the busy Bruce Highway.We were promptly met outside by a very polite technician who started to diagnose what was going on. I’m in no position to assess anyone’s technical skills but I can see when someone is clearly sincere about trying to help customers. That was Dan. Then the girls in the shop were just as helpful, one of whom even gave Catherine a lift to a hair appointment she was running late for. Finally we met one of the franchise owners Dave, who picked up where Dan had kicked off and soon had the issues isolated.

It looks like our car wasn’t charging the Zone’s batteries efficiently, and a faulty plug was located. Dave also spotted the wiring from the car wasn’t robust enough to carry the current, so needs to be resolved if we are to get better charging. These jobs are booked for tomorrow morning, so fingers crossed we can move up the coast spending more time off the grid and powered up.

So to end the day, Mrs A returns from the hairdressers looking like this – I could only say….wow!!!