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Wednesday, July 3, 2019

A new laptop for Ruth

We got up early and drove right away into the small city of Sale (pop 15,000). We found a big, nearly empty parking lot by the marina and set up there. It was a nice sunny morning, so we put out the solar panel and let the battery catch some rays while we did some internet work.

Such a nice morning that we even had the door wide open!

I looked up a couple of computer stores. For a city of this size, they have a pretty good variety of shops!

Parked up in Sale, catching some rays!

Besides shopping for a new computer for Ruth, we also needed to do a major grocery shop. And, we are due for laundry and showers! Sale seemed like a pretty good place to get all of this accomplished. 

We figured we could easily enough park overnight right where we were. No signs saying that you can't. But, we figured if we could get a decent price at the showgrounds we would stay there for the night and use the showers and laundry at the same time.

So we drove over there. Spoke to a couple of ladies camped there who said that the manager was out, but they "thought" it was $15 a night for no services. We decided to go get some groceries, and return later.

We went and did a major stock up at the local Aldi store. How Ruth manages to fit everything in the fridge and cupboards amazes me, but she always gets it to work. Sometimes, I think she amazes herself!

We spotted a computer store across the road, and went to do some shopping there. They didn't have a lot in stock, so we went to see what other shops had.

We ended up at an appliance store that also had an electronics section. They had a nice 14" HP laptop with 256 GB SSD storage 8GB RAM and an AMD 6 processor. For $799 AUD ($738 CAD, $560 USD), taxes included.

And, the $72 AUD in taxes that we paid should be refundable when we exit the country. I'll have to look into the details of that.

So, not a bad deal. Not fantastic, but not bad. It's a bit more money than we would normally spend, but hopefully she will get quite a few years out of it.

I forgot to tell you about the chocolate chip cookies Ruth made the other night.

We love having a proper oven in the camper!

We went back to the showgrounds and found the lady who runs the place. I saw the sign on the door that said $25 a night with power, and $18 a night for "cars, tents, vans" or something to that effect. I figured okay, $18 a bit pricey for a parking spot, but we'll use the showers and laundry and get stuff done. 

But, she said we had to pay $25 whether we wanted power or not because we are neither a car, a tent, or a van. 

I said "but I only want to pay $18, and we are not going to hook up to power", to which she says "well, you'll have to go somewhere that you can do that".

Not a very friendly woman, and with that type of attitude, I decided I wasn't going to give them any money at all. I found out later that this particular showgrounds is privately owned, whereas many are municipally owned.

We had a late lunch and made our way back to the same spot we had originally been at. We stopped in at the visitors center and spoke to the helpful ladies there. Sale is a really nice town... we like it here. But they don't offer any official free camping. However, they do tell you about some of the different free camping available nearby. Some, with free showers as well!

But they did not endorse the idea of staying where we are. I think it's an unofficial policy though because we spoke to other people who said "oh, campers stay there all the time. In summer, the place is nearly full.

So we decided to stay put and we'll move on to one of the surrounding towns tomorrow to get showers and laundry done.

Not a bad day... and the forecast is for more decent weather.

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12 comments:

  1. council owned and run or privately owned and run, in our experience both can be good or bad. yes, the $76 will be refundable.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, this is true, just because something is municipal/council doesn't mean it will be any better run, than something private.

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  2. We stopped at a fairground in eastern WA. Rates on Ultimate Campground were listed as $15/night for tents or no hookups. Cost us $30/night, if you sleep in the vehicle and it has 4 wheels, the cost now is same as hookups. We were unhappy, but tired from driving in strong wind and thunderstorms, so we paid the price to park on a soggy lawn.

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    Replies
    1. It was sort of similar at this showground except it allowed for tents, cars and vans. I guess if you are self contained they consider that you need power, I don't know but we were early in the day so basically Kevin told her to stuff it, we weren't going to play that game.

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  3. The manager probably thought you were desperate to park and saw the opportunity to make money.
    That is a high price for the Laptop.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No it's not. Look up a laptop with those specifications in the U.S. or Canada.

      Delete
  4. Always trying to get another dime out of you. I hope they learn that some dime is better than no dime. I wouldn't have stayed there either, I hate people that gouge that way.

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    Replies
    1. Yep, sometimes that is the case, it was their loss!

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  5. I paid about that for an average HP laptop at London drugs 4 or 5 years ago. Still working great! It is so unlike you to use 10$ disposable propane tanks on your mr. heater. Buy the adapter hose (30) or the re-fill fitting (20) and use your refillable tanks. Planet friendly, far better value, and support the local propane retailer. We need to stick together you know! haha. Love the Emu pics ! They are kind of like bird dinosaurs and I wouldn't get too close or try to feed it some birdseed or bread. They look like they can look after themselves just fine thank-you

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I know... I need to buy one of those adapters!

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  6. Sorry to hear about the witch at the campground. 😒. Get your adaptor here before you leave. 😊 Glad you got a laptop. Adam and I ordered fine weather for the next few days for you 😊😊😊.

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    Replies
    1. Not sure we would call her a witch but still she was sticking to the hard and fast rules and not able to allow us the price of the tenters and from working at a campground ourselves we know that tenters generally use more of the services other than electric than the RVers would use. Oh well, they didn't get any of our money!

      Good idea, we will definitely buy one before we leave. :-)

      Thank you for ordering the nice weather for the next little bit for us, we appreciate it. :-)

      Delete

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