Summer 2006-07 Northern Rivers NSW & South East Queensland

This page: Gold Coast to Mylestom - Day 1-5 [15-19 December 2006]

Six months have passed since taking delivery of our new van. This section of the journal marks the beginning of our planned 5 year (or more) trip around the Australian continent. We won't be rushing around highway one. The trip will be more of a "where to next" affair, going north and south, east and west following the seasons. We still have some unfinished business on the Gold Coast so begin by staying within a 500 kilometer radius of the Goldie. This area is the fastest growing region in the country and offers a vast amount of natural and manmade attractions.

With the silly season fast approaching and most caravan parks along the coast heavily booked for Christmas and New Year we decide book a site at Mylestom. A small holiday village about 20 kilometres south of Coffs Harbour situated on the peninsular bordered by the Bellinger River to the west and North Beach to the east.

We have an appointment in Coffs Harbour with our caravan manufacturers dealer on Monday 18th and our park booking is for the Tuesday 19th. Mylestom is just 330 kays from where we are on the Gold Coast, we will take 4 days to cover the distance. Free camping along the way.

Day one was a very long trip of around 15 kilometers to our friends place in Mudgeeraba a suburb of the Gold Coast in the foothills of the Hinterland (The Green behind the Gold). We spend that night there, enjoy Christmas drinks and eats and change the oil in the Cruiser.

Next day after dropping into my fathers place for a couple of hours we are on our way. Knowing that we have three days to cover just 300 klms we take a few detours looking for a nice spot for the night. One place we end up at is Mullumbimby (turn off Pacific H'way at Brunswick Heads). We go there to check out a camp at the Mullumbimby Leagues Club. It's not free but is well priced with the fees not being increased for the holidays, dogs welcome. There are a few Motorhomes and vans in residence and after a short chat with a lady traveler we get all the info. $10.00 un-powered and $15.00 powered, just set up and fix up the caretaker when he turns up. Play the 11 hole golf course for $2.00 a round into the honesty box. Fish from the bank of the Brunswick River.

Wanting to test the new van's ability to say out for several nights we don't stay but make a note for next time we are passing and want a stop over for a few days. We drive on checking out a few places and roadside rest areas when the navigator spots a good looking area almost under the bridge on the southern bank of the Richmond River. A nice free camp right on the bank of the river where I drowned a couple of baits with a nil result. This spot is not mentioned in any free camp publications (that we are aware of). To get there going southbound on the Pacific Highway. As soon as you cross the bridge at Wardell take the first left then next left and next left again. The area we parked on is in fact the unofficial parking area for the small boat ramp under the bridge.


There was heavy rain that night but undeterred we sat out under the ROA and fished without result with a couple of local lads. A great overnighter or two with one drawback, it's very noisy at night. The bridge has a lifting section with metal plates over the lift sections back onto the road that make one hell of a noise at night when heavy transports hit them at speed. After not such a good night's sleep we are back on the road heading for Coffs Harbour. With plenty of time up our sleeves we will check out some of the beaches and seaside towns along the way. One place we want to see is Red Rock. There is a caravan park there but not dog friendly and besides we are still trialing the power supply in the van before arriving at Mylestom.
We are just north of Coffs and our booking for warranty work is tomorrow. We decide that Red Rock is a nice spot to have lunch and we spend the rest of the day there before moving to Coffs Harbour, find the Jayco Dealer service division from the instructions given and that is where we spent night two. In the industrial precinct outside Watson's Jayco service dept.

I'm a great believer in the old adage of "If you want it done right, do it yourself" and that has been the case with most items that have needed attention in the van. However there some faults that must be attended to by the manufacturer and we have a small list:- No mohair in screen door down the lock style. Reversing sensors don't work. Radio/DVD Player - After playing first disc wont play a second. Radio/DVD Player - Radio just starts up by its self. Did this once when we were out, came back to van with radio going at full volume. Toilet - Full indicator LED not working. Porch light switch sticky and has no rubber boot. Overhead cupboards in ensuite need adjusting. Rubbing on gable ends. Simplicity suspension squawking very loudly. We unhooked the Sterling out side and left them it to while we did a tour around Coffs Harbour. Will have to take pictures next time as we left the camera in the van. Coffs Harbour is modern city with all the services and shopping found in any major city. Is the largest provincial city in NSW with great climate in the centre of the Coffs Coast. We return after 3 or 4 hours and our van is in the workshop with the tail light panel off and on the floor. The service guy is trying to locate the fault with the sensors. After another half hour or so he reckons that he has it sorted, I'm not as confident and when it's all back together suggest we give it a test. He's still confident that they are working now and no test is done. The Sterling is taken from the workshop for us and we hook up ready to be on our way to Mylestom with one more overnighter on the road. I grab the unit for the sensors and plug it into the cig lighter socket for a test before heading off. You guessed it they don't work. Out of all the items listed above only items 6,7 and 8 have been rectified. Item 6 has been replaced again (second time) but still has no rubber boot to prevent the ingress of dust. No doubt it will fail again at some time after the warranty period and I will "Do it myself". As for the other items #1 - the dealer does not have the mohair and when I quiz them about why some vans have it installed and some don't (check in the sales yards) the response is that it's just how they come from the factory some do and some don't. #2 - Reversing Sensors - someone else is going to have to have a go at them, probably me. #3 & #4 - the Radio/DVD player has to be sent back to Jayco and they are closed until 22 January and as we don't know where we will be then we will have to make other arrangements. #5 - LED is blown but they don't have a spare in stock and will have to get it from Jayco and Jayco is closed until 22 January. Oh well 3 out of 7 ain't bad. We leave Coffs, just 17 klm down the road pull into a rest area just north of the Repton/Mylestom turn off for the night (Camps 3 N37).

After another sleepless night at a roadside rest area with heavy transports thundering by all night it is on to Mylestom and how silly are we. Just over the first hill is the turn off to Repton and then just six or seven clicks and we are there. We pass a couple of great looking areas that we could have pulled into for the night. Our battery and power system has performed well and as long as we are traveling each day there will be no shortage of 12V electricity. However we are low on water.