Anyhow, we watched as the last of the cars chuffed off into the distance and found that the power was back, so we had a cuppa and our breakfast before hitting the road, unwashed, unshaved and not all that happy.
We stopped to take snaps at Lake Hart, a large salt lake that this year had a heap of water in it. We were about to leave when Judy convinced me that I should stagger over and ask another 'vanner' with his head under the bonnet of his Hilux if I could help.
It turned out that 'it was all a disaster, nothing but trouble, blah blah' sounded a bit panicky to me. I asked what the problem was and he told me all about the blown fuse in the truck and how the 'Redarc' relay kept clicking in and out and how the lights on the van didn't work and the ammeter didn't show any current and we've been stuck here two days already...
Whoa. Tell me about the caravan lights. Look, i turn the cars lights on and they work but the ones on the van don't.
Tell me about the fuse. I found a blown fuse and replaced it and it doesn't make any difference.
Which fuse? This one i think. I think its the cigarette lighter fuse.
Tell me about Redarc. Its clicking in and out and it should only do that if the battery is charged.
OK. lets look at the lights. No they don't have any fuses in the caravan. No they aren't connected to the solar panels, no they don't have anything to do with the blown fuse. Give me a right hand blinker.
Look it's fine. Give me a left. That's fine too. Hit the brake. Yes, that's ok. Try the lights again. No it's not working, it must be the plug on the back of the car. He looked at me as if i was from Mars. He unplugged it and stuck it back in. The light came on. He looked at me incredulous.
Let's check your cigarette lighter. It heated up and was working fine. Have you got your fridge plugged into it? Oh... yeah, probably overloaded. Now listen carefully... There is absolutely no connection or relationship between the blown cigarette lighter fuse and the lights on the van. They are both working just fine.
Lets look at that Redarc relay. Oh, its staying in, which means that all the batteries are fully charged. You mean it's doing what it's supposed to do, both the batteries are fully charged, so it's turned itself off? Er, yes.
What about this ammeter? He produced a box with an ammeter on it and an in and out plug to go into the back of the truck where his anderson plug connects the batteries in the van to the car. He raved on about how it didn't show any current and how the circuit was always active and how the solar panels were working properly. He decided that the meter was defunct, which i didn't bother to question. He threw it into the dark recesses of the back of the truck.
Judy was by now chatting to the lady and befriending the dog.
I came back at them all smiles and in a big voice claimed that all was now fixed, there was no problem and that they should get on with their holiday asap. We said some goodbyes and left them with it. I'd love to have been a flea on the dog's back as the wife questioned her husband more closely as to exactly what was wrong for 2 days...
It occurred to me after we were on our way that the ammeter wasn't showing any current because all the batteries were full up to the brim and thus there was no current flowing.... what a fabulous troubleshooting tool, it registers nothing if all is well, and it registers nothing if the charging systems aren't working... in fact, completely useless. There was some other chat apparently about the gas not flowing through to the stove, but hey, that's someone else's problem, they probably have it turned off at the big red handle under the sink!
We drove 'quickly' the next 200 km toward Port Augusta, only to be hung up 40km out, behind a biggish van (that had been next to us in Glendambo) that wouldn't overtake the biggish motorhome in front of it. Knowing that a road train travelling at exactly 100kph was only about a kilometre up the road in front of them, all i could do was hang back at 90-95 and follow them into Port like a little lost puppy. For no rational reason, this really annoyed me, and when Judy suggested we stay 2 nights at Port Augusta rather than push on, I grabbed at it as being the best thing I'd ever heard of all day.
Had a bit of a fiddle about in the town, and when we saw dolphins playing about down near the bridge and the wharf, we scampered on down to check them out. When we had had enough fun, we grabbed a few things from Woolies and retired back to the van for a soothing wine and retired for
the evening.
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| Dolphin!!!!! Port Augusta SA |
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| Dolphin indeed there were. Port Augusta SA |
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| Port Augusta SA |
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| Old and new road bridges. Port Augusta SA |
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| Spencer Gulf Port Augusta SA |
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| Big yellow finned fish. Port Augusta SA |
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| Port Augusta SA |
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| Ah, that's better! Port Augusta SA |
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| Wharf. Port Augusta SA |
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| Lake Hart, SA |
G'day Blacks,
ReplyDeleteSo, you are back down south. How do you feel about that? Is this the point where you turn left and begin travelling eastward?
We are enjoying the posts very much and are looking forward to lots more.
Travel Safe
John and Bev
Sadly, yes. the physical 'turn left' is about 100 metres back from the van park.
DeleteThe run down from Uluru was pretty tiring, so we just rested up here for a few days before heading to Adelaide.
As to how i feel, i dunno. i think I'd like to have stayed in the outback a bit longer, but I'm already starting to appreciate the more civilised side of life as well. It probably sounds odd, but it's an easier re-entry coming this way than going across to the Qld coast, which seems almost alien for the first week back. The thing is that SA is mostly outback and has a really rich history to dwell upon while you travel through.
bb