On the show this week we have another interesting episode. Phill meets Daryl and Judy from Hervey Bay. They caught up at the Tara Cultural Festival & Camel Races. They are members of the Jayco and Optimum Owners group. They own a motor home and joined the group. The group formed in 2018 on Facebook for people who had issues primarily with Jayco Motorhomes as well as share ideas.
They have owned caravans and travelled around, then changed over to a motorhome, the one they purchased weighs 5.2Tonne and also to tow a car on a trailer behind They also travel with 2 German Short Haired Pointers dogs. They are large dogs and are used to travelling and being in the motorhome. Lucky they don’t need much exercise.
Daryl and Judy have been part of the group since 2018 and have attended the different musters and travelling in a group of 4 vans at the moment. The last rally/muster had over 170 motorhomes. Judy is the coordinator for the QLD group. Its a great way to meet up make friends and have travel companions. They have been on the road for a week.
They are setup for free camping with shower/toilet, batteries and solar panels. They also carry a 20lt container to get more water, you learn to find out what you can do without.
The motorhome gets 15lt’s to the 100, and they feel much safer in the motorhome than towing a caravan, the other good thing is you don’t need to get out of the truck and jump in the back especially if its raining. https://www.facebook.com/groups
Next on the show Phill meets up with Neale McShane, The Outback Cop. Neale enjoyed his time there in the community of Birdsvillle and the community also helped playing a part in his time there. He started back at the age of 19 as a policeman and spent time in Victoria and then moved to Queensland, all up 40 years service.
Neale chose to move to Birdsville and spent the last ten years of his service there, but had to be a Senior Constable so chose to take the opportunity of being a one man show in the desert. His wife was happy to move out there and he says it was the best time in his career.
Neale used to be a policeman in Birdsville a remote town in Outback Queensland. Its one of the most remote police postings in Australia. It can be lonely, uneventful but then they can have many dramas from desert rescues to floods, to venomous snakes and visiting VIP’s and don’t forget the influx of ten thousand plus visitors with the Big Red Bash and the Camel Races each year. Six months before he retired he had a stroke, so this ended his career. He was flown by the Flying Doctors 1800 km’s to Brisbane for the hospital. He was awarded the Australian Police Medal.
Neale wrote a book “The Outback Cop” which is a fascinating read into the life behind the scenes of a country cop in the most remote area of Australia. Neale attends a lot of the festivals in the outback like the camel races, Birdsville Bash and also Mundi Mundi Festival. The book is also available on CD and MP3 through Neale at the events.
Next on the show Phill chats with Jeff DeAth from Check Weight, the subject this week is do you need a license to tow a caravan. This is a fascinating subject with all the accidents involved lately with caravans and new people to the pastime.
There needs to be more education on towing and driving. Some of the pros are given more specialised and targeted information with training. A license should be a standard around Australia but with each state having different ideas may take time. Its like last weeks topic speeding where each state is different. A towing course is a good place to start like doing a Towing course. EG Towed. Travellers should take responsibility and read up on these matters and educate themselves.
Its an interesting topic and Jeff makes some relevant points. https://checkweight.com.au/
