I had a great time.
I must say I was a little "dissapointed" when I removed the scope cover from the 20" on Wed morning to find my rocker box had become a swimming pool overnight & the servocat unit underwater.
Terry lent me a drill & I quickly created a nice new drain in the corner, which was followed by several hrs of hairdryer usage. (day time)
By Wed night all was dried out. I sheepishly turned on the power
... NO SMOKE
We were off again.
Winning the major raffle prize was an absolute shock. Those that were there may have noticed my lack of excitment at the time. I was still in shock. Winning that was the LAST thing I expected.....
Funily enough, just before the draw Pam jockingly held up one of our 18 tickets & said "get ready to go up the front, this is the winning ticket".
And bugger me IT WAS !!!!!!!! The exact ticket she held up... I think I'll start a clairvoyance business & hire her out
A comment on the issues.
Power:
I can see that it is an issue, but really, we all spend soooo much money on gear. Why can't some of that be spent on stand alone power.
I have 2 batteries in my trailer which operate everything. I recharge with solar during the day.
I had no power issues at all. Granted I'm only running the scope & 1 lappy. More power required?? Then buy more or bigger batteries & bigger solar panels. If more of us can be self sufficient, then the less power issues there will be.
Then the actual 240v supply from the camp can be used for other things.
I brought & used a gas heater in my camping area. Worked a treat. I also used gas to heat water for coffee when I didn't feel like walking to the kitchen.
My fridge ran from the batteries in the trailer.
The only thing I used the 240v for was a top up of the batteries with the charger. Other than that I was self sufficient for the 9 days.
(other than the hairdryer incident noted above
)
Cost:
I agree that the cost for camping is excessive, but I do understand that we have no control over it. It cost me a total of $200 & somthing for the 9 days. Not too bad really, but I didn't have 1000klm to drive. That's a big hit of fuel cost as well.....
All in all. Was a great success..........