Day 73: Wed 26 Apr 23 Mildura to Hay

April 26, 2023

Wed 26 Apr 23 Mildura to Hay (Towed 288 km)

We were hoping today might be our 2nd last day before we get home, but we only travelled 288km, and with more than 500km to go to get home, we will have another overnight stop somewhere tomorrow - we're aiming for Jugiong. It was 14 Deg overnight reaching 27 Deg in Hay, slightly overcast morning with no wind and another nice sunny day. I woke still not feeling well and felt worse as the day unfolded. The road from Mildura was good in a few patches, but mostly very bumpy, rutted and damaged, I assume from the rain and the ridiculous volume of road trains and B-Doubles on the road. The truck traffic was like a constant convoy in both directions. We left Gol Gol at about 0815, and at 1000 we stopped for our morning brew and a rest at a gravel pit along the highway. I had considered driving further today, but by the time we arrived in Hay, I was feeling very tired and unwell, so we made our way to the show ground RV Park and set up on a nice grassy patch. It's so dark and quiet her tonight, it's hard to believe we're anywhere near a town. There were only two other vans here when we arrived, and another four had arrived by the evening. After lunch and a sleep, we drove into town for a look around, then returned to the van. This is when I noticed that the bumpy roads today had finally brought my centre awning bracket adrift again, after the repairs I made at Tanunda. I drove back into town to Mitre 10, and the young man, although very helpful, could not suggest anything to fix it. He suggested I try the Auto Pro shop down the street which I did, and the owner was super helpful. The short story is he recommended a Nut Rivetter to rivet a nut into the side wall of the van to fasten the bracket with bolts - at least the bolts would have something secure to screw into. It made sense (I'd never even heard of such a tool), and it seemed like worth a try. After handing over $105 for a Nut Rivetting Set (something I may never use again), I returned to van and put my ever growing handyman skills to the test. The end result is I have the bracket back in place, and it looks good, feels tight and secure, but the real test will be tomorrow when we continue driving along these horribly bumpy roads. Unfortunately while I was fixing the bracket in the remaining daylight, I missed the stunning sunset happening behind me - no photos so you have to take my word for it. After cleaning up, it was another routine night - dinner, blog and bed. Tomorrow, we're aiming for Jugiong, but we'll see how we go.