005. 2nd April 2005. Our first trip but there are some teething problems…

Pretty much the first weekend after we arrived home we took the motorhome for a trip to Smalley’s Beach near Seaforth North of Mackay. Before I mention any more about the weekend I have to jump back to our arrival from NZ and then jump forward a couple of weeks to explain a few things.

When we arrived back from NZ to pick up the MH Paul told us the starter batteries were flat so put it on charge overnight. We then took it to a Auto electrician to have two new batteries installed  and have no further battery problems. Huh. Jump forward a couple of weeks after our Smalley’s Beach weekend. Donnis was in Mackay and I was going to drive to Mackay and we would spend the weekend in the MH … somewhere. It started OK but the lights went a bit dim and I thought nothing of it.  Arriving at the garage to fill up with diesel I switched off the engine. When I came back after paying, there was no power. Nothing. Zilch. Nada. I called RACQ and we pushed the MH to the back of the garage where they could look at it in the daylight on Monday. Seems the starter motor short circuited. It fused in the process as well as melting one battery and disintegrating the battery clamps. $1,300 and a week before we were back on the road. Also seems the previous owners when backing the bus out of their driveway scraped the brick letter box and put a nasty scrape down one side. A panel beating and spray painting job was also coming up. Gee wizz. I sold the yacht to get away from troublesome motors and such forth!

Now back to Smalley’s Beach. This was our first real outing and it was wonderful to camp near the beach and go for walks and cook meals inside and eat outside.

Smalleys Beach. Our first camp out.

We also got to have a look around and visit Seaforth, Cape Hillsborough and Ball Bay. It certainly felt a more relaxing way to camp and get around than the little unit we rented back in 2004.