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Tom and Louise on Tour in North America
 

A Repair Stop at Britz in Adelaide

Our campervan has several nagging problems and one big problem. The big problem is the gray water tank which doesn’t seem to vent except through the shower drain. The drain on the gray water tank is very slow and the valve has stops at two open positions but no stop for a closed position. So it takes forever to drain the tank and then when the tank is empty you just have to guess when the valve is closed. I talked to the technician and explained the problem. I also mentioned that the hose f
tbutler

tbutler

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Roadtreking Blog
 

The Tech Gear I Take on the Road RVing

I get lots of questions and requests for suggestions and recommendations about the tech gear I use to capture and blog the reports I’m doing out on the road. I’m always adding various things, but here’s my latest update on the gear I like to take with me. My main video camera – I use the Canon XA20 Professional Video Camera. I love this camera. I got this in the fall of 2013 and have found it to be the perfect ”run-and-gun” camcorder, suitable for HD ENG work (Electronic News Gathering), event
Roadtrekingmike

Roadtrekingmike

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Tom and Louise on Tour in North America
 

Adelaide

Adelaide is the largest city in the state of South Australia. It is the smallest of the five cities in Australia with a population over one million. It is located on the southern coast of Australia in the State of South Australia. The Murray River is the largest river in Australia and its mouth is just east of Adelaide. It was the Murray River that we crossed on a Ferry on our way into Adelaide. We have arranged to have some repair work done on the caravan at the Britz office in Adelaide on
tbutler

tbutler

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Tom and Louise on Tour in North America
 

Langhorn Creek and The Bleasdale Winery

The campground at Mount Gambier was in a difficult location to find and when we did, it wasn’t the best place to stay. They let us choose our own site which was their way of not having to listen to us complain about the assigned site. We found no level sites and settled for one that was nearly level. It was at the bottom of a slope and back away from the road for some distance. This became a concern when I heard it start raining during the night. As the night went on, the rain continued in
tbutler

tbutler

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Tom and Louise on Tour in North America
 

Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road

Leaving Melbourne we head southwest toward the coast and a road called the Great Ocean Road. It is a little more than a hundred kilometers to the coast. When we reach the Great Ocean Road we find a curving, hilly, narrow road. Reaching the ocean, we are rewarded with wonderful views of a spectacular coast. We spent three days on the Great Ocean Road. We found so many viewpoints that we were unable to stop at all of them. The coast in this area between Melbourne and Adelaide is rugged limes
tbutler

tbutler

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SloMotion Adventures
 

Reman'ed Cummins Long Block

Well, I figured I better come back and finish this event. We have decided to have Cummins Coach Care of El Paso install a Cummins' remanufactured Long Block (basically a new diesel engine). The good part is that the new engine will carry the Cummins warranty and the bad part is the hit in the wallet, to the tune of over $10,000 for parts and labor. Had to do some real serious soul searching to decide exactly which route we wanted to go. It would seem real stupid to some to put that kind of m
C-677946

C-677946

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Tom and Louise on Tour in North America
 

We’re Back in the Camper Again

Arriving at Britz at 7:45 a.m. we found the place locked up. It was not only locked up, the parking lot was gated and there was no place to leave the luggage when we got out of the cab. The driver suggested that we go to a shopping center a block north of the Britz office. We found a bench near the mall entrance and piled our luggage there. Here we were homeless, we just needed to find a shopping cart for our possessions! I waited while Louise went inside to find a cup of coffee. When she
tbutler

tbutler

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Tom and Louise on Tour in North America
 

More Exploring on Tasmania

Day six was a late start as we planned a late night activity. Mt. William National Park in the northeast is known for its abundant wildlife. Most marsupials are active at night and the information on this national park suggested spending time after sunset observing the wildlife. Many of these animals we had seen along the roadside, killed by automobiles. Now we wanted to see them live. We hiked to the top of Mt. William in the late afternoon and returned to the car as the sun was setting.
tbutler

tbutler

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Roadtreking Blog
 

The Things I Like Most About My Roadtreking Life

As we wait to set off on our next trip, I’m thinking about all the things I like about this new small motorhome lifestyle we have embraced. Waking up to sunlight streaming around the edges of the shades of our Roadtrek and the smell of that first cup of coffee brewing as I start the day. The first peek out the window at our surroundings. We boondock a lot so often, it’s wildlife I see. I love to sip that coffee and quietly watch the world wake up. The smell of bacon frying as I start to
Roadtrekingmike

Roadtrekingmike

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Tom and Louise on Tour in North America
 

We Explore Tasmania

Our second day we drove south to Hobart and Tasman National Park. There we saw interesting natural features, tessellated pavement, sea arches and a blowhole formed when waves cut a tunnel through the cliff front so that water comes bursting through with each wave. At Eaglehawk neck we walked from one shore to the other in five minutes. A low sandy neck of land connects the area to the south to the north mainland. On the southern peninsula lies the town of Port Arthur which was a penal colony
tbutler

tbutler

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"Gramps" Blog
 

Compose the Picture!

I think photography is in my DNA. One of the things that fostered my interest in becoming a shooter is the fact that my Dad was one for many years. He shot thousands of pictures of places he traveled to while serving in the U.S. Navy, both at sea and shore duty. His pictures also included travels at home, to the mountains of North Carolina and Virginia as well a trip to Canada in 1967. Dad’s camera was always recording images of birthday parties, holidays, and trips to the beach. Now my daugh
-Gramps-

-Gramps-

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Tom and Louise on Tour in North America
 

Ferry to Tasmania and a New Home

Our wake-up call on Monday, March 3 was set for 6:00 a.m. so we could get a cab to the Spirit of Tasmania terminal by 6:30 a.m. Boarding would start shortly thereafter. Everything went on schedule and we were the first to board. The ride to Tasmania is scheduled for 9 hours and we arrived at 5:00 p.m. Avis Rental Cars has a facility in the terminal in Tasmania and we were second in line to get our car. The process went much faster than at an airport in the US. We were on our way by 5:30 p.
tbutler

tbutler

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Roadtreking Blog
 

When You Become Ill in an RV

It ain’t pretty. But it isn’t as bad as I though it would be, either. I knew something was wrong as soon as I got up that morning. I was queezy feeling and very chilled. Yet the sun was shining and it was already in the 70′s outside. We had arrived in Naples, FL the afternoon before. We ate dinner at a local restaurant and, 12 hours later, I could feel that dinner still sitting in my belly like a brick. I’m not sure whether it was food poisoning or the stomach flu or if there is really a diff
Roadtrekingmike

Roadtrekingmike

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Tom and Louise on Tour in North America
 

Melbourne - Life in the Big City

We spent three nights in a hotel in downtown Melbourne which gave us two full days to explore the downtown. We walked to the Carlton Gardens Park the first day, a good six blocks from our hotel. The grounds were lush and green with huge trees of all kinds growing along the walkways. The park is closed to bicycles so it is walkers only. They do allow families with young children to bring their bikes to the park. We saw groups of people playing various games, exercising, doing yoga, and just
tbutler

tbutler

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"Gramps" Blog
 

The Rule of Thirds (Using Your Eyes!)

I suspect that some of you that have read my first three lessons are thinking that getting deeper into digital photography and purchasing a DSLR is just TOO much. It is too complicated and too expensive. Why bother when my cell phone or inexpensive point and shoot camera works just fine? Well, it all depends on what you want from the experience of shooting pictures. If I can use an analogy, you can take a vacation, stay in a hotel in a great location that you drove or flew to, or you can travel
-Gramps-

-Gramps-

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"Gramps" Blog
 

Every Lens Tells a Story

Lenses: To quote Sony.com “Every Lens tells a story!” That is not true. Not completely anyway. A lens does no good unless it is attached to a camera, and the camera is only as good as the eye looking through it. Then again it is true if you remember that an eye is also a lens; a lens attached to a photographer. It is up to the photographer to tell the story. It can be a story about love, or friendship, history, the beauty of nature. It can be sensual. A lens is a tool to make that s
-Gramps-

-Gramps-

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Tom and Louise on Tour in North America
 

Good Bye New Zealand – Hello Australia

Thursday, February 27 would be our last full day in New Zealand. On the top of our list was turning in the campervan. We packed up all our belongings in our suitcases and I dropped Louise at the Sudima Hotel which is right at the Christchurch airport. The Britz office was just around the corner, walking distance from the hotel. The process of turning in the campervan was much easier than I had anticipated. Being there early helped. The agent dig through several dozen contract packages befo
tbutler

tbutler

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Roadtreking Blog
 

Keeping the Windows Open and the Bugs Out

We’ve sure enjoyed the warm weather down along the Gulf Coast of Mississippi and throughout Florida the past few weeks except for one thing: Bugs The mosquitoes are hatched down south. As are the No-See-Ums, Biting Midges and Sand Flies. They are particularly bad at night. With the warm weather, that means it can get pretty hot inside a camper van or Class B motorhome. We could have run the air conditioner. But that’s pretty loud. And it tends to make it too cold late at night. So we rolled d
Roadtrekingmike

Roadtrekingmike

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Milwaukee's Blog
 

How to find a best SEO specialist in Milwaukee

Website promotion is time-consuming and costly, but extremely important in the process of development and promotion of the business. Owners of web resources the help of professional SEO specialist in Milwaukee WI http://mkewebdev.com to make the website appear in the TOP search engines, and it was visited by interested users. Even those who promote your own site, sooner or later turn to the services of specialists. Is it better than to waste their time and money on getting the result, far from i
Milwaukee

Milwaukee

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Roadtreking Blog
 

The Manatees of Florida’s Blue Springs

There are few animals as universally popular and liked as much as the Florida Manatee. Yet there are few animals in more danger. The Florida Manatee, a large and slow moving aquatic animal, is protected by the federal Engangered Species Act of 1973, primarily because they are too big and slow to get out of the way of speedboats. As Florida’s boating population has exploded, the manatee has declined to an estimated statewide population today of under 5,000. They used to be everywhere. And despi
Roadtrekingmike

Roadtrekingmike

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Beastmaster's Blog
 

Rebuilding my 73 26ft.

I'm installing the panels in the ceiling that I made in my shop. Hand made from Curly Redwood with 3 coats of Spar varnish. This remodel has been quite the experience. I'm looking at 2 more months until its 99% done. Then a shake down run and final stuff.
Beastmaster

Beastmaster

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Tom and Louise on Tour in North America
 

Christchurch – The Rebuild Tour

Our second day of touring Chirstchurch we chose to take a tour sponsored by the Canterbury Museum. Titled the Rebuild Tour, this bus trip through downtown Christchurch showed us much of the destruction of two earthquakes, September 4, 2010 Magnitude 7.1 and six months later on February 22, 2011 at Magnitude 6.3, which literally wrecked the city of Christchurch. The theme of the trip was the effort to rebuild the city with building codes that would help the city withstand further earthquakes.
tbutler

tbutler

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russian-stamps' Blog
 

Rare Russian Stamps

Do you want to start collect Russian stamps? You have to know some facts about rare Russian stamps. Because of an error in clichés released in 1908 comicopera brand of the Russian Empire became a philatelic rarity. The name she was given three circles-"pearls" between frame with an indication of the value and ornaments framing the Central oval emblem. On a standard four brand "pearls". There are other differences, even less noticeable: the font of the words "Postage stamp" rarity above 0.2 mm, t
russian-stamps

russian-stamps

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