Spoiled with our own bathroom and electric hookup

We slept great at the 36 hour RV rest stop. It was chilly when we woke up though... we didn't want to get out of bed! And even though the sun was coming up, we were in an area shaded by lots of trees. So the most logical decision was to get up and drive.

Bundy the truck warms up quickly though.

It wasn't a long drive and we were in the seaside tourist town of Lakes Entrance. Nice little spot at this time of year though.

Blue sky and sunshine were in the forecast, and we parked up in a day use area that had little shade. It didn't take long for us to warm up.

Views from the lookout just before Lakes Entrance.

It's been interesting dealing with our limitations with this RV.

On the one hand, we have much more cellular internet data available to us than we are used to. It's really cheap here in Australia compared to Canada. Even cheaper than Mexico!

But on the other hand, we have a lot less electrical power to keep our laptops and cell phone charged up enough to use the internet data that we have available!

We are operating off one single 12 volt battery. Whereas when we are traveling in Sherman (our North American motorhome) we have four  6 volt batteries. In simple terms, we have more than 4 times as much power available to us there as opposed to here.

If we were staying longer, or keeping the RV here (we think we have decided to sell it), we would add another battery tray and install a second battery. But given that there is under six weeks left to this trip, it doesn't make sense. We will have to make do with what we've got.

We set up the solar panel to take advantage of the essentially cloudless sky...

A beautiful day in south eastern Australia.

And we decided to leave the solar panel out while we went for a walk. Normally, we would be concerned about someone stealing it. But it's common here to see an RV with it's solar panel out. Plus, in this area there are likely lots of CCTV cameras. And, what thief might risk the possibility that we are still in the RV?

Also, solar panel suitcases like ours are actually a lot cheaper here. You can buy a 160 watt (two 80 watt panels) plug and play suitcase unit for $199 AUD ($182 CAD, $139 USD) taxes included! So they are not as likely to be stolen because the pricing is cheaper.

Lots of boats in this area.

Scenery along the way.

There is a pedestrian bridge to the ocean side.

The lake side is pretty though.

Lots of people out enjoying the day.

We walked 2 kms (1.3 miles) along the beach.

We walked to the lakes entrance piers.

On the opposite side there were seals, also enjoying the sunshine.

Where we had walked from.

This is the channel that goes between the ocean and the lakes.

Colorful fishing vessels.

We made it back to Bundy and Joyce for a late lunch.

We had walked just over 10 kms (6.5 miles).

What a gorgeous day. Beautiful blue sky, and a high of about 17C (63F) and no wind to speak of.

We had some lunch and then drove to the nearby village of Lake Tyers Beach. I had read of a pub that offered one night of free camping with hot showers and electricity included... no strings attached.

But I also read that they were doing some renovations in June and couldn't find an update on that. It turns out that the renovations are ongoing, but they had one usable spot and it was first come, first served.

The site was ours.

Yep, this will do for a free night!

The little building on the right is our private washroom and shower block. There is also a laundry machine at $4.00 a load, so we'll do that in the morning.

And, to say thanks we will go into the pub that owns the property and have a beer and a glass of wine this evening! There is no obligation at all to do this... but we don't go out for a drink very often, so it's a good opportunity to socialize with the locals.

And when we leave here, our battery will be full charged.

We took a short walk from the pub down to the beach.

You could walk for miles... 

A pied currawong.

Once again, we think that Australia has to be the best place in the world for free camping. 

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