Camps Australia Wide Version 11

 I was thrilled to learn that one of my drone photos showing our Bushtracker camped up for the evening will grace the cover of the new edition of the Camps Australia Wide book.

It's also the photo header on our Blog page and was taken last year on our way to the Big Red Bash. The photo was taken at sunset on Edeowie Station with the Heysen Range in the background which is adjacent to the Flinders Ranges. 

A Very Very Short Breakaway

 Just one week before heading away, our 2015 VX 200 series Landcruiser decided that it didn't want to play the game.

Firstly the water pump was weeping, and secondly and more importantly we have three warning lights displayed on the dash. The 4lo light is continually flashing, and the engine warning and the slip indicator lights are hard on.

A call to Toyota who is a little over 10 km away said that it could be possible for me to drive it there, but there could be a chance that the engine could go into limp mode. So our roadside assistance through Ken Tame paid for a flatbed truck.

Long story short is that there is a problem with the EGR valves, and they need to be replaced. Parts alone are over $2000,00 and $500 for labour. 

I couldn't believe our good fortune when Toyota advised that they would pay for the parts. Our warranty period expired two and a half years ago, and during this time we have travelled  87,600 kilometres. We picked up our Landcruiser just one day before taking off, and Toyota assured us that the problem was now fixed.

With COVID-19 still creating problems around the country and many states with closed orders, our break will be limited to just New South Wales. 

Having a fully self-contained van that is only limited by the amount of water we can carry, then this holiday will be like all previous ones where we spend only three nights in caravan parks. Hopefully, this also lessens the chance of coming into contact with anyone who may have the virus.

Our trip away coincides with NSW school holidays, but by leaving the coast and heading into parts of Outback NSW, we hope the crowds will be less than if we remained along the coastal strip.

Regular readers of our blog will know that on our first days' drive from home we prefer a short trip just to get us back into the swing of things. This holiday will be no different from the others with our first nights stop at one of our favourite locations just 152 km from home.

Cangai is just over 60 km west of Grafton and east of the Gwydir Highway. The site is located in a valley and beside the Mann River. The following photo was taken last year. 

Understandably its the start of school holidays but we couldn't believe just how many groups of campers were already set up any way we were only here for the evening and heading off in the morning.

An early exit the next morning just after 7:30 am had us heading further west before climbing the Gibraltar Range towards Glen Innes.

We cruised up the range with our auto transmission temperature never exceeding seventy degrees until just three-quarters of the way to the top the same three lights that were supposedly fixed by Coffs Toyota reappeared on the dash. And to make matters worse, the engine went into limp mode. 

On came the hazard lights while we inched forward at only a few kilometres an hour before finding a spot where only half the van remained over our lane before I turned off the ignition.  I cleared a P1251 and C1201 code using our Scangauge before restarting the engine. During this time we were passed by many caravans and cars, and even though the warning lights remained, we were now thankfully out of limp mode.

A decision was made to continue onto Inverell and see the Toyota dealership on Monday morning. The engine went into limp mode on two more occasions before arriving in Inverell, but thankfully on both these occasions, we were on overpassing lanes. We checked into the Inverell Caravan Park as it was the closest to the town centre.

Unfortunately, the discussions with the service people at the Toyota dealership didn't fill me with much confidence, so I arranged to have the cruiser dropped at Grafton Toyota and the van towed home. Ros and I rode home in the truck.

Of course, nothing is ever easy, and we had to remove the Hitch -Ezy from the van and replace it with a ball mount so that the van could attach to the trucks tilt tray.

The Landcruiser remained with Grafton Toyota for two and a half days, but they were unable to see any problems or codes even though they drove the vehicle numerous times recording data on each drive. All there data is showing that the car is operating normally. The 97 km return journey was unevental with the Landcruiser running correctly as it always had done in the past.

New Drone Controller

I've finally bitten the bullet and upgraded the standard controller that came with my DJI Mavic 2 Pro drone, with DJI's Smart Controller that was first released back in 2019.

It's certainly a game-changer for me and allows me to fly my drone without using my smartphone, as shown in the picture below.

The advantages absolutely outweigh the disadvantages of this new controller. 

The smart controller's ultra-bright 1080p screen is twice the brightness of standard smartphones, and now there is no need to have a hood to protect the screen from the sun's rays. 

Its a much more pleasant experience flying the drone and this controller has a more ergonomic feel than the original. There will be no more fumbling while I remove the protective case from my iPhone before attaching it to the cable and control arms of the original controller. There was also the risk of dropping the phone while attaching it, which of course has happened on more than one occasion.

There are just two buttons to press, and you're ready to fly. So take off is much quicker than with the original controller.

Another advantage is not having to place your phone into airplane mode before takeoff. Calls and messages received whilst flying are distracting and can lead to disaster.

One more important feature is the 2.5 hours of battery life with this controller that allows you to fly four to five flights before a recharge. The original controller's short battery life was a significant problem and so too was the drain on the smartphone's battery.  

The ability to use this controller from -20 to plus 40 degrees Celcius is another advantage.

The MicroSD card slot on the top of the controller allows you to expand the storage capacity of the controller and I've inserted a 128 Gb card to help with backups and transfers of videos and photos.

Two other worthy features include Go Share, which allows you to easily share your photos and videos to your mobile device and SkyTalk that will enable you to live-stream your drones camera view live to Facebook and Instagram. However, at this stage, I'm not sure I will ever use SkyTalk. 

For me, there is really only one disadvantage, and that's the price. It's $1,099, but in my case, I think it is money well spent.