McLaren Vale – Sep 2019

It had to happen eventually… we hooked up the caravan and went for a trip. 3 nights in McLaren Vale, about a half hour drive south of home.

First things first however, we headed off to for a weigh-in, after which we continued South.

Friday

The trip was uneventful, as might be expected (at least, hoped for) on such a short journey. Upon arrival we did have a small hitch… the code they allocated to us for the gates would not work. A second code was issued and that seemed to fix whatever the problem was.

Parking the van was pretty straight forward if a little slow. We just took our time. When reversing in we did find that the van behind us was quite some way into our site. Later we found out they had to site themselves so far back because they couldn’t unhitch otherwise. The slope of their site combined with their low van to prevent the hitch clearing the car. Our position on the site meant our sullage hose was way too short to reach the pit. We rectified that on Sunday via a visit to the local Bunnings. Until then we just collected our waste water in our grey water tank.

First Hiccoughs

We did encounter a more serious issue on attempting to roll out our awning. The toggle that switches between roll out and roll in positions was missing. We are assuming it was torn off by a close encounter with a tree branch. A pair of multi-grips and a climb onto the caravans rear bar later and the toggle had been thrown, allowing us to roll out the awning just as the rain began to fall. Rolling it back up on Monday morning was a little simpler, given I could reach the switch location from ground level.

Pro tip: George, George, George of the jungle, watch out for that tree!

However a much more serious issue was that I forgot to pack my coffee machine!

Card Night

Our friends, Jess, Shelley and Shelley’s daughter Addison, joined us for dinner and cards on Friday evening. By the time they arrived – which coincided with our return from the local shops – a large amount of water had collected on the awning. I used a broom to push it off and then lowered the outer edge of the awning to ensure proper run-off from then on. Obviously the rain was heavier and more consistent than we thought. Had adjustment of the awning been simpler (by not having lost the control/lock lever) we may have prevented much of the water collecting in the first place. Curved awning supports, that help prevent water collecting, are on our list of things to buy. Perhaps we should raise the priority on those. The same wind and rain that threatened the awning also meant the cards were played indoors – which was a bit snug in the club lounge – but that didn’t dampen the evening. The rain and wind continued on and off for the next two days.

Saturday

Saturday remained wet and windy. We spent the bulk of the day just lounging around the van, inside and out, with a couple of short trips to local shops. A few shows on Netflix filled in the rest of the time.

Sunday

By Sunday the weather had improved so we headed out to look around. Just down the road from the caravan park we found a cellar door called Alpha Box & Dice where we – I – could try some wine. They are also dog friendly. I had a nice glass of Shiraz – a bottle of which I later purchased – while we sat in old, comfy armchairs by the wood-burning stove. Jack Jack was offered a bowl of water and got plenty of attention from other guests. Afterwards we walked the main street and settled on a snack and coffee at the local Bracegirdles.

Sunday morning also brought our first visit to the dump point. The less said about this task the better, but it wasn’t so bad. Megan also did the deed by herself on Monday morning before the trip home.

All in all things went off without too much of a problem. Our first trip is now under our belt.