Picking up Pearl Pt 1

Thurs July 7, 2016 - We left Melbourne early at 8.15am and headed up the Hume Highway.
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It is great on the dual lane highway and we did 200kms in 2 hours.  We fuelled up at Glen Rowan North then I drove 270kms to Gundagai.  maccas for lunch there!  We left there at 2pm and the Google Maps lady said its 3 hours and 20 minutes to Batemans Bay.
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From Gundagai we went up to Coolac, Jugiong, Bookham then through to Yass, although you bypass all of these towns as they're off the highway.
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From Yass, we went down to Murrumbateman, turned off to go to Namina then followed the Murrumbateman Road then turned onto Shingle Hill Way.  We followed that until we hit the Federal Highway then turned onto Bungendore Road to Bungendore.  Then we followed the Kings Highway through to Manar then down to Braidwood where we fuelled up again.  Ruby is thirsty!
From there the roads got hilly and windy and Gus loved the drive through to Nelligen.  We made our way into Batemans Bay at 5.30pm, exactly on time.

Total kilometres for the day 786km in 9 hours
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We stayed at the Bay Breeze which is nice, clean and comfortable.
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Dinner was a short walk away at Kohli's Indian - also good.  Big sleep ready for tomorrow when we get Pearl!
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We awoke to a drizzly, foggy morning and it looked like we'd be picking up Pearl in the rain!
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Friday 8th July, 2016 - we headed for Moruya where the Ultimate Camper factory and showroom is.
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We were welcomed then John showed us Pearl and the set up and fold down procedure and all around her.
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Isn't she spiffy?
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They provided a nice lunch for us...
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Then it was time to hitch Pearl on and get on our way.  We are heading for Merimbula further down the coast...
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There she is, tracking along behind beautifully!
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It rained most of the afternoon but cleared up about an hour before Merimbula.
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We checked into the Sapphire Valley CP and had an ensuite site.  This means we have our own toilet and shower facility on site.
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As you can see, it was nearly dark by the time we started to set up but it still went up pretty quick and it wasn't long before we were sitting inside having a wine.
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We headed to Club Sapphire for dinner and had a nice meal there - a roast for me and fish for Gus.
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A well earned wine!
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Next morning, we packed up and headed off with a big day ahead and Melbourne in our sights!
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See previously published Part 2 for the rest of the trip.

Cheers - Joolz xx

Road trip to pick up Pearl ...

We headed for Melbourne today, leaving at 1.30pm but only got about 15kms out the road when Gus looked in the side mirror and noticed the left hand side canopy door on Ruby was open!  On inspection, we'd lost a big plastic bag containing a new skillet, saucepan, two nice melamine bowls and a large plastic tray to drain dishes on.

We back tracked nearly all the way into back into town then saw the bag and contents strewn diwn the roadside! Haha!

The tray had a corner knocked off it, both bowls were broken, the saucepan was bent out of shape and the skillet had gravel rash! Oops!

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We stopped for lunch in Penola so that delayed us a bit.  I drove Ruby from Coleraine to Ararat so Gus could make some calls.  We continued on and got to Ballarat without incident. With about an hour to go it was time for a G&T for me!

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We arrived at our hotel at 8.40pm and it was 10.9C and raining heavily.  Somehow, I don't think we'll be sitting outside our new camper sunning ourselves on Friday and Saturday.

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Room service dinner, a glass of red and nighty nights!  We have a big day tomorrow, heading up the Hume Highway to Bateman's Bay.
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Cheers - Joolz xx