Arno’s Wall, Winton QLD

Arno’s Wall, Winton QLD

by | May 27, 2021 | Adventures, Adventures Couples, Destinations, Miriams Moments

If you want to see something a little unusual on your next outback adventure, Arno’s Wall should definitely be on your itinerary!  This ‘monument’ is something a little bizarre that everyone should take time to see when visiting Qld’s outback town of Winton.

Arno Grotjhan’s wall(s) have been constructed over the past 30+ years, reach two metres high and extend for at least 70 metres and are made of concrete and rock from Arno’s opal mine at Opalton.

 

I was walking past the gates, video camera in hand, when 2 big dogs started growling at me from the back of the ute parked out the front. I took the long way round, and kept filming. On my way back past, a man came out the gates, telling the dogs to settle down. I thanked him and asked if these walls were his. He nodded, Chris joined us, and Aaron told told us all about the walls that his father had built.

Arno Grotjahan was one of Queensland’s most well-known opal miners, and immigrated to Australia from Germany in the 1960’s. Not long after he arrived in Winton, Arno mined a valuable boulder opal and was able to to purchase a house in Winton. He spent the rest of his life mining, raising his family and collecting Australian and international memorabilia. When his collection got a little too big, he decided to create Arno’s Wall.

While we were chatting, Chris looked at me, then back at Aaron, then back at me, then back at Aaron before asking ‘Were you on a TV show by any chance?’ Aaron nodded. ‘Yes, I’m Opal Hunters next top loser!’ he said laughing.

Aaron, who has now taken over from his father who is now deceased, invited us to come inside the gates for a sneak peek at what he’s got planned over the coming years. We met his mate, his cat and gained a lot of insight as to why these walls were built and his plans for the future. The backyard is overflowing with, what some people would call, junk, but according to Aaron – he has big plans for every piece of it.

 

These quirky walls are so much fun to look at – and the closer you look, the more quirkiness you see and the more fun you have! There are so many industrial and household items like typewriters, TV’s, entire motobikes, engines, sinks, sewing machines, wheels, ovens, nuts and bolts, appliances, springs, a letterbox, a petrol bowser and the list goes on.

Aaron is going to be finishing another wall and tidying things up so visitors can actually walk through the walls of art which have been made from items mostly scavenged from the Winton Dump.

It’s a great piece of Winton’s history concreted into the walls and floors at this property in the heart of the town, just behind Winton’s iconic North Gregory Hotel.

Black Rocks, Esk, NSW

Black Rocks, Esk, NSW

by | Apr 3, 2021 | Adventures, Adventures Couples, Camp Grounds, Camping Grounds, Destinations, Destinations Couples, Destinations Family, Miriams Moments, Reviews

Sand dunes, huge black rocks, perfect grassy campsites, and a spectacular coastline – this is Black Rocks, NSW – an incredible natural paradise.

We have thoroughly enjoyed the past four days camped up at the Black Rocks Campground in the Bundjalong National Park in Esk on the NSW North Coast. We have spent quite some time in this area over the past 10 years, but this was our first time camping at Black Rocks as our usual ‘go-to’ is Woody Head Campground, just around the corner. Day trips to Black Rocks are great, but not the same as setting up camp for a few days!

‘Set behind the dunes amongst tuckeroo and banksia trees, Black Rocks campground is perfectly positioned right by Ten Mile Beach and near Jerusalem Creek. Not far from Evans Head, it is a great place for a family camping holiday, with campsites for caravans, camper trailers and motorhomes.’

When I posted on our socials about our trip, the most common question was ‘how was the road in?’ We found the road to be smooth and in really good condition. Dusty in the dry, and of course the rocks are still there as they always have been. But all in all, great condition. We did hear that just a few weeks earlier it had been very corrugated, so clearly some work has been done to it since then – my guess is in preparation for the Easter holidays.

Black Rocks Campground is extremely popular, and spots are snatched up pretty quickly, especially during the holiday periods. We stayed the week before the Easter Holidays and were lucky enough to secure the very last site big enough to accommodate a caravan, which was site 28. This is a GREAT spot! It’s a large, flat, grassy site with a clothesline, fire pit and undercover table and chairs. It is also right across from the beach, toilets and public BBQ. We even had a host waiting for us upon arrival!

There are 50 sites available at the campground and most of the sites are similar, but of varying sizes. Some are suitable for caravans, some for camper trailers and others just tents. Some are ‘walk-in’ sites and others can easily fit your whole setup.

You will find picnic tables, barbecue facilities, carpark, clean drop toilets, fire pits and clotheslines dotted around the place, and there is even a dump point if you need it. You will need to bring your own drinking water and firewood.

The beach itself is incredible and you could easily spend hours exploring the huge black rocks dotted all along the coastline. The weather in the previous few weeks had been a tad crazy which meant that the ocean and beach was covered in foam and quite vicious looking! It was also extremely windy for most of this stay.

Jerusalem Creek is well known for those who like to take the kayaks out for a paddle, and the Jeruslam Creek Walk is a 10.3km, three to four hour walk through the wetlands for people who prefer to explore with their feet on the ground.  

Black Rocks Campground is part of the Bundjalong National Park, which means that booking fees must be paid and permits are required. We paid $24 per night camping fee plus $8 per day for the car.

Click here to book https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/camping-and-accommodation/campgrounds/black-rocks-campground

Riverina Hotel Free Camp, Holbrook NSW

Riverina Hotel Free Camp, Holbrook NSW

by | Feb 28, 2021 | Camp Grounds, Camping Grounds, Destinations, Free Camps, Miriams Moments

We ended up doing 600km from The Great Ocean Road to Holbrook and flicked open wiki to find somewhere close by. This free camp popped up and the reviews looked good so we thought we’d give it a go. We always enjoy pub camping; chatting to and having a beer with the locals is always fun!

It’s right behind the pub as they usually are, which means it was also close to the road. There is a grassy area with some dirt/gravel areas and a large gravel car park on one side (parking for the pub and trucks). You can enter via Bowler street through the car park or down the little road just past.

Big rigs do come and go – one started up and left at 3am, and overall it wasn’t super quiet, but not too bad. It was a warm night though so we had all the windows open.

The grass was green and the trees large and shady. We had no problem pulling in, turning and parking. We were the only ones there (Sunday night).

You must go into the hotel to let them know you are staying (for safety reasons) and buy a meal or a beer to use amenities (we are self contained so didn’t need to use them but I hear they are well maintained). We did have a beer, sat out front and had chat with the locals.

This is a great overnighter in a really convenient place.

  • Dogs are allowed

  • Shower (we didn’t see this but it says there is one in the wiki description)

  • Toilets

  • Bins

  • Good phone reception (we are with Telstra)

  • 72 hour limit

  • Accessible for big rigs

We Loved the Historical Anchor Stampers in Lottah, Tasmania

We Loved the Historical Anchor Stampers in Lottah, Tasmania

by | Feb 5, 2021 | Adventures, Destinations Family, Experiences, Miriams Moments, Reviews

We found the Anchor Stampers and it was one of the most interesting things we’ve come across on this trip to Tassie! I have lived here for most of my life and had no idea this place even existed. It really is great returning to my home state as a tourist.

The old Anchor Tin Mine was located on the southern footslopes of the Blue Tier and our visit to these rusted tin crushing machines was part of a half day trip to the Pyengana/Lottah region on Tasmania’s East Coast.

Pyengana Dairy

Our afternoon began with lunch at the Pyengana Dairy, a beer at the Pub in The Paddock (where sadly Priscilla 1 and Priscilla 2, the beer-drinking pigs, were hiding away in their little pig-house), a walk to the 90 – metre – high St Columba Falls and a visit to the incredible old Don Mine. It was an action-packed day, that ended with the short walk into the old Anchor Mine to view the old tin stampers.

Pyengana Dairy

Pub in the Paddock

St Columba Falls

Don Mine

We followed the GPS to Lottah where we found – nothing. Chris looked over at me while we were driving along the narrow, windy road surrounded by dense bush and said ‘great, another wild goose chase!’ But we were in the right spot and if you looked around, there was actually plenty to see. If we had more time, we would have included the Halls Falls Walk in the day’s adventures!

Given what we were seeing (which was nothing), you would never have known Lottah was once a bustling mining town and home to 150 miners and their families. The town had everything the residents needed including two hotels, a post office, general store and police station. Although any church goers weren’t catered for as interestingly, there was no church of any denomination. Lottah was once a main thoroughfare for those traveling between St Helens and Scottsdale but now the only way to get there is via a gravel road. This road runs alongside the beautiful Groom River that looks to have some stunning swimming holes – if you can find your way down to them! Lottah no longer has shops, and there remain just a few houses – which is so very different to a time when St Helens was built just to service Lottah and the Anchor Mine.

The Anchor Stampers signs are dotted along the road and not hard to see. Pull into the large, circular car park where you will find the beginning of the short 30 – minute – return walk.

 The track itself is a formed path that takes you gradually downhill with a couple of sections of reinforced dirt steps and past a few remnants of the mining days. You walk past the old dam and along what we think is the dam wall. It’s a bit overgrown in places with prickly plants like thistles and what appeared to be blackberry bushes, so be careful – I nearly tore a hole in my jumpsuit!

As you approach the first viewing platform, the two 10-head heritage stampers from the 1930’s loom up from the forest wall giving you a sense of being transported to another time; a time when there were no trees here, just a clearing with a working tin mine where hundreds of men laboured away, from 1880 until its final closure in 1996.

 Walking further down a little path, you will see that here are two different Stampers – one is the Thompson, brought across from Castlemaine in Victoria, and the other is the Salisbury, manufactured in Launceston (as you can see stamped on the front of each machine).

The stampers are huge and rusty and you can get right up close and even touch them- just mind the spiders!

The informative signs on both viewing platforms give a great explanation of what it used to be like here, and how tin mining has played such a huge part in Tasmania’s history.

As with most of Tasmania’s walks and hikes, be aware of snakes, leeches and ticks. Thankfully we only ended up with one leech on us this time! Our trip to the Don Mine delivered two leeches to Chris and five to me. Eek!

The Anchor Stampers are well worth a visit. I rate this little-known attraction a 5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Our GCI Traytec Canopy

Our GCI Traytec Canopy

by | Jan 19, 2021 | Gear, Miriams Moments

WHERE IS YOUR TRUCK BUILD VIDEO??? Yes, we hear you! And we feel it’s time we give you some answers.

We had really hoped that by now we would have had a full Chev build/run-down video posted … and we know you were hoping for the same thing as we get so many requests for it every day! We thought we’d better explain exactly what’s going on and why there’s no build video to be seen.

It’s a pretty straightforward reason really – the truck isn’t actually finished yet. Covid really made this build a tricky one; parts went missing (lost at sea ), wrong parts were sent, and some parts are still on backorder with no known arrival date.

So, what we have decided to do is a complete run down on the GCI Traytec canopy as this is one of the most common questions we get asked.

Why GCI Traytec? We believe without a doubt, that they are the best in the business. The innovation, styling, design, quality and precision are just some of the qualities that set them apart and has us being pulled over in the street!

The design is 100% Australian with all the work being completed at GCI Traytec which is part of GCI group. GCI group is one of the largest sheet metal fabrication businesses in Australia. The majority of the trays and canopies are manufactured at GCI, however the zinc plating on the mounts and some plastic CNC machining is outsourced.

Design, programming, laser cutting, CNC folding, welding, machining, powder coating and assembly is all done under the one roof in South East Queensland. The aluminium grades used are 5005, 5052, 5083 and 6061. There are zero raw aluminium surfaces as everything is powder coated.
Mounts are made from mild steel to ensure strength yet allowing for flex and copping a beating off-road without cracking or failure. The mounts are also zinc plated which means they don’t rust.

Here’s what we have:

THE TRAY:

Specs: 2000mmx2000mm tray, 900mm high, with a 200mm thick headboard.

HEADBOARD:

The headboard is designed in this way to match the C-pillar, allowing the tray to flow with the design on the car. In the headboard there is a 60L 316 grade (food grade) stainless steel water tank that gravity feeds into an under tray 100L stainless tank that is made from the same 316 stainless steel. It’s then pumped using a 9.5L/m 65PSI pump to the twin outlets on the rear of the tray. One outlet is for the hot water system/shower, the other is for the kitchen. Every component of the water system from filler to outlet is food grade.
The headboard also houses options for dual water and fuel fillers. The fuel fillers work with truck pump high flow diesel with zero splash back.

TOOLBOXES:

We have opted for toolboxes all round – these are actually drawers.
Front boxes are 51L and rear boxes are 32L. All boxes are on 16” (406mm) HD slides and are rated to 40kg per box.
They are all “box in a box” construction meaning there is an inner drawer and an outer box which gives the toolboxes their water and dustproofing. All side boxes have internal lighting.
The rear tunnel drawer is 1200mm long, 625mm wide and 150mm deep with stainless flip lid that doubles as a table. The rear tunnel drawer is also box in a box, meaning the stainless lid doesn’t add or subtract to the water/dust proofing.

MODS:

• Extra wide mudguards for our 37”x 13.5” wide tyres. This is not a standard feature, but this stretched standard design is to ensure truck is legal.
• Winch infill plate (winch to go in at a later date)
• Window protector. You can’t see this, but there’s one on there!
• Central locking on entire canopy– wired into OEM remote.

CANOPY

Size: 2000mmx1750mm

EXTERIOR

• Spare wheel holders to suit our 37” tyres
• Double folding rear ladder. Very similar to standard ladder, but it has had a redesign to allow for the 37s.
• Ladder uprights are 10mm thick, 5083 marine grade aluminium.
• Powder coat. This is a scratch resistant powder which is very hard wearing and super easy to clean with dust not sticking like it would to traditional 2-pac paints.

interior

• COLOUR

The internal colour is mercury silver. We chose this light grey colour as it is light enough to give an open feeling to the canopy but won’t be blinding in bright sunlight and doesn’t show every bit of dirt.

• LIGHTING

Both main doors have three colour strip lighting: white, warm white and amber.

BATTERY SYSTEM (CLICK ITEM to purchase)

Enerdrive and GCI Traytec’s design teams have worked together to create a fully integrated lithium battery power system. This entire system is housed on the driver’s side front wall. Our system consists of the following:
• BTEC 300AH Generation 2 Lithium Battery (located under false floor)
• ePower DC2DC Charger capable of producing in excess of 40 amp per hour while traveling and supporting up to 800watts of solar.
• ePower Battery Charger that charges at a rate of 60 amps per hour via mains power or generator.
• ePower Inverter – suitable for running 240V household appliances rated to up to 2000W, complete with remote switch & RCD.
• Simarine Battery Monitoring System.
• External GPO in between spare wheels
• 6 x double GPOs
• 6 x double USB sockets
• 1 x standard 12v socket
• 2 x Anderson plug sockets

You can view similar power systems to ours here – https://www.caravanrvcamping.com.au/power-systems

Current Exclusive Offers with Caravan RV Camping:

  • Use code ADUCREW40 in the shopping cart to get $40 off any product over $1,000

  • Use code ADUCREW50 in the shopping cart to get $50 off any product over $1,700

  • Use code ADUCREW75 in the shopping cart to get $75 off any product over $5,000

 

Don’t forget you can get a discount on Everdrive products (and anything else you’re after!) by heading to this page: https://www.aussiedestinationsunknown.com.au/caravan-rv-camping/ Discount codes can be used on any product on the caravan rv camping website

 

Also, on the driver’s side of the canopy we have two large drawers and the Companion hot water system. This is mounted on a slide/pivot bracket which also has a storage area for our gas line, hose and shower head. The rest of the area has been left open for storage purposes (ie. Camp chairs, table, folding solar panel etc).

Moving onto the passenger side of the canopy you will find ‘Le Chev’ aka Chris’s kitchen.

Starting from the left we have 110L Dometic upright fridge (click to purchase) which sits snugly next to our slide out pantry. In this pantry we have heaps of space for our food, condiments, coffee machine, soda stream and other bits and pieces.

The kitchen is next level and has to be seen to be believed.  It slides out, and then drops, folds and slides again before sliding, folding out and sliding out yet again. It gives us so much storage and bench space while allowing us room for our flush mount, stainless housed double induction cook top and yes, we even have a sink!
Above our transformer-like kitchen we have a large open top pull out drawer with front access and above that we have a microwave that also slides out and gives us more storage behind.

Upstairs we have the Alucab Gen 3 Rooftop Tent and 270 Shadow Awning. The Shower Cube will be installed as soon as it arrives, and we will run through the Alucab gear in more depth in a separate post. 
This is a dream build for us, and it’s now our way of life! It’s our home away from home (the caravan being our home!). By not compromising on quality, we have given ourselves the peace of mind to know that we can get on with our adventuring without worrying that something might go wrong.

If you want to see this ‘in the flesh’ we will be at most of the major national 4x4 shows and some caravan shows this year (covid pending).

If you are interested in a top-quality tray or canopy, contact the legends at GCI Traytec. They are one heck of a team!

Lazer Lamps Lights up the Silverado

Lazer Lamps Lights up the Silverado

by | Jan 14, 2021 | Gear, Miriams Moments, Partners, Resources

Those of you who are serious about good clear night vision know how important lighting is.  I’m talking to you beach drivers, outback drivers and those of us who like to get out and play after dark.

We set out to build the Chev with top quality componentry that will stand the test of time and handle the harsh conditions of the Australian environment.

We know the Australian market is flooded with a variety of cheaper lighting alternatives, but for us, quality far outweighs cost.

Not all LED lights are designed the same or built the same and during our research, we came across Lazer Lamps, a product that is designed and manufactured in the UK.

 

Just to give you an idea of the quality of Lazer Lamps, here a few key points:

  • Made In UK
  • 5 year warranty
  • Continuous Improvement – https://www.lazerlamps.com/news/continuous-improvement
  • Motorsport development and testing carries over to products for everyday road/off-road use (M-Sport, Hyundai Motorsport, Toyota Motorsport etc) – WRC / Le Mans 24h Winners
  • Tier1 Relationship in Europe with VW Group (plus many other Tier1/2 partnerships)
  • Innovation Driven
  • Bespoke Solutions e.g. Grille Kits
  • Premium Product Design and Build (no compromise in the selection of component parts for the best performance and build quality)

We have 100% confidence that we have made the right choice. The Triple-R 28 Elite is what we have chose to run with; boasting 28560 lumen, delivering 1 lux to 1253 metres when we flick the high beams on, it’s just one big WOW!

Head over to https://www.lazerlamps.com.au for more info and to check out the entire range