There is an amazing amount of thermal pools open for the gray nomad tourist traveller and Reg and I continue to spread the going jock amongst us nomads that for every hour in a thermal pool we become one year younger.  We joke about leaving home as young seniors and returning home as teenagers.

In Australia with many of our thermal pools free to use, their benefits, are often undervalued, where in other countries these pools are prized and are often turned into expensive treatment spas and incredible claims are made of curative benefits.

It is interesting too that some thermal pools are actually dangerous places where radon gas makes use of the pool too dangerous.

All the well know thermal pools in Australia are safe if you follow the guidelines, these include not submerging your face in the water remembering that certain types of organisms, can breed in the warm water.

Some of the therapeutic powers attributed to soaking in thermal pools are the healing of Various skin diseases * Rheumatism * eliminating muscle spasms * Gout * Neuralgia * Arthritis * Colitis * For improving circulation * good for opening skin pores and the best treatment for acne.

Thermal pools in Australia are a wonderful social meeting place where nomads gather to talk about their journey to the area and their travel plans from the area, exchange information about camps and road conditions.

Reg and my favourite thermal pools are at Mataranka, Northern territory, Moree NSW and at Nanga Bay Resort, in Western Australia.

 

Like many people, I try to avoid refined carbohydrates and artificial food substitutes and keep to healthy natural foods, yet somehow my defences went down and I had regularly been purchasing a low calorie, cordial for my husband Reg to encourage him to drink more water.  I myself am happy to drink plain water or if I want flavoured I add a squeeze of lemon or limejuice.

Anyhow, Reg has had a lot of skin rashes and pimples on scalp and I suggested he cut out the artificially sweetened cordial and sure enough, for the first time in ages Reg is free once more from skin irritations and our home and caravan has no more artificially sweetened products in it.

Aspartame has brought more complaints to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) than any other additive-ever. It is responsible for a full 75 percent of the complaints the agency gets. From 10,000 consumer complaints, the FDA compiled a list of 92 symptoms. Skin irritations being one of the least dangerous ones and is a reasonably common one.  I was very slow in waking up to what was causing Reg so much skin irritation.

If you are interested, take a look at the long list of side effects to Aspartame and other chemical artificial sweeteners, see the link above.

I am at least glad I had this timely reminder that fresh and natural is best. 

 

Reg and I bought our eco tourer caravan and troop carrier as our Ruby wedding anniversary present to each other and I decorated it with ruby coloured cushions and doona cover, that first year.

I am reminded of this because we are visiting Reg’s sister, now and I was admiring some wedding decorations and she showed me the 35th wedding anniversary mementoes she bought and hid away in the caravan before her husband and herself, left for their caravan tour around Australia.

It seems us women; still want to celebrate these special occasions, even when we have supposedly downsized to travel.   

As our caravan and car was Reg and my ruby wedding anniversary gift to each other, I missed the ruby ring, so I just gave Reg a three years in advance notice that our sapphire wedding anniversary is the 45th one and that is in three years time. He replied, ‘I will take you to Sapphire in Queensland. Lol.’, J.  That sounds like a ‘gray-nomad’, male, for you, doesn’t it?

 

Tarra Valley, Campfire Chicken Sang Chow Bow.

Shop up at Yarram before driving up to Fernhome at Tarra Valley to set up the caravan at one of the powered caravan sites on the Tarra Riverside.

I put the hot plate, out on the table, beside the campfire.  Large sacks of firewood can be bought here for $15. a bag, though we found our own, easily enough, by the roadside.

 

This meal was delicious and healthy. I am eating meals at around 300 to 350 calories a serve and enjoying this wonderful place for walks and stair climbs to waterfalls, this healthy eating and the outdoor exercise at Tarra Valley has been my idea of a  click here to lose weight fast, method J.

I have lost weight easily this week as the fern gully walks, and jogs, have been a heavenly way to do my cardio exercise.

·        OK, back to making the Sang Choy Bow. J 

·        I lightly sprayed my non-stick saucepan with olive oil prey.

·        Stir-fried, 220 gram of minced lean chicken and one chopped onion, for a couple of minutes.
 

I chopped one zucchini, one carrot, one red pepper, 2 celery stalks and the tops, one  baby bock choy, one clove of garlic , 3 teaspoons oyster sauce, 2 teaspoons salt reduced soy sauce, add to the chicken and onion  and stir fry for a further 4 minutes.

Add 2 handfuls, of fresh bean sprouts, stir through until heated.

Chop the white and some of the green stem of two spring onions

Divide a crisp iceberg lettuce into cups on dinner plates and scoop the chicken and vegetable mixture into the lettuce cups, sprinkle the diced spring onions over the mixture and roll the cup of lettuce up into enclosed parcels.

Eat with your hands, around the campfire.

If you are not counting calories, enjoy with a chilled white wine.

Serves two.

 

A lyre birds walk past your camp,  a kookaburra will sit on the post and laugh at you, the red and green rosellas will be darting through the tree ferns and sit still by the campfire after dinner and the possums come out to see if you left any for them.   It is paradise here J at Fernholme, in Tarra Valley.

I recently sold an onsite van we do not need anymore.  It does not take long for business, investment, establishments, to get wind that our bank account has gone up, instead of its usual dwindle and we begin to get Emails offering 6.5% interest term deposits and investments in  gold coins to consider.

At this stage of an Australian tour, I will be keeping that sum of money fluid; it always pays to have a certain amount of funds available in case of emergencies when you are travelling, even if you are starting out, as we are, with your vehicles in top shape ad everything you need on hand.

For now, I just want to take in the scenery, here at Tarra Valley, and not think of finances. J. I could live like this, beside a running river, tree ferns, blue gum, and tall mountain ash around me.  Sit still for long enough and a blue wren will land on your head, lol, J, one just did land on mine.

The possum and bird,  art fridge magnets are available direct from artist, wherever we are camped. We will be visiting family in Maffra tomorrow, Friday and you can order them through my fridge magnet art website

 

A picturesque drive north from Yarram, along a narrow winding road, brought us to Fernholme, at Tarra Valley where we have set up our Eco-Tourer Caravan beside the Tarra River through until Friday morning. It is beautiful here :-).

See how neatly our van folds down, We needed a low van for this drive, the trees are low branching across the road, The road is not suited to a tall motor home or fifth wheeler.
 

Reg and I had a great new TV antenna installed on our Eco-Tourer caravan for our current tour. One that is roof mounted so we do not have to find a space to pack it and it winds up from inside the caravan, so easy.  Of course we were eager to try out our new toy, and we found ourselves parked under a dense tree this week, blocking TV signals and next week we are going to be ‘behind a hillside’, No TV, no wireless internet and no mobile telephone.  I am not sure how long I will last.  I want to stay for one week and I will be able to access a satellite internet connection in off peak hours before 11 am, so it is ‘possible’ I will survive the culture shock of being removed from access to the internet aside from rationed, morning time spans.

I found this, the grey-nomads guide to TV reception, yes he describes the tree that is blocking our signal. We once  owned a satellite dish, to get TV reception in remote areas, but sold it, we found it far too complicated to set up and tune in.  We like to keep it simple.

So for the first part of our 2010 tour, we have a two positioned tv stands,.set up in our caravan where we can watch the TV from our bed or from the chairs at the front of the van. We just have not been in an area with TV signals strong enough t give us decent TV as yet to actually try out our new ‘toy’,

I went to the market in Cowes and bought a few DVD’s, so we have had some evening entertainment and of course am always happy if I can go on line and read and write, which I have been able to do this week.

So once we are in a TV area, I will be able to let you know how our new aerial is performing.   

This weekend is a huge one for tourism at Phillip Island. It is the Super Bike World Championship.
The motorbikes are arriving at Phillip Island this evening and the place is getting busy so it is our time to move out and seek a quieter retreat again. We have has a wonderful one week holiday on Phillip Island and we head towards Tarra Valley tomorrow.

My garden at our summer retreat will be thriving under the watchful eye of good neighbours and I have a dense covering of thick leaf mulch all over semi decomposed in my composters. This will hold the moisture into the ground and when we do call back home for a short time we should be able to enjoy the flush of autumn roses before heading over the western Victoria to see the Grampians again.

If you are in the Tarra Valley region of Gippsland next week, I would love to hear from you. We plan to stay at Fernholme.

 

Reg and I have our Eco-Tourer Slipstream Caravan set up beside a solar heated swimming pool and we are having a wonderful time at Phillip Island.

We are swimming every day, walking on the beach and the dog and I are working in our get fit, sprints along the sand.  We have had the Wii Fit Plus for a full month now and we are happy to report that it is not sitting building up dust. Reg and I actually weighed in on it this morning, though with all the opportunity to swim walk and even run  and a lot of writing assignments that have come my way lately I have not been doing my full body workouts on it this week.

Next Saturday we move on to Fernholme at Tarra Valley. We should have our Eco-Tourer caravan home set up beside a river by nightfall. That is an easy job, the pictures are of Reg, winding up the sides with the battery operated drill, it only takes a few seconds.

Reg and I plan on doing a lot of bush walking around the forests near Tarra Valley and I may find myself a little restricted in internet time as I will need to switch over to a satellite internet connection and apparently use it mostly before 11 AM, the off peak time. If the system works out well for me and does not hinder my writing we will stay a week and do lots of bush walking secure in the knowledge our summer retreat is safe in the care of family and neighbours and with adequate home insurance and the bush fire danger for summer has passed and we are free to travel the country at our leisure once more.

 

When travelling with special requirements, such as oxygen or mobility aids, it may be wise to make your arrangements through a travel agent. This would provide you with assistance in the event of any problems such as schedule changes.

You can view a wide range of  mobility products  and compare the function and price of each item at mobility compare .

When making your reservation, be sure to tell the agent the type of accommodation you require, and to what extent. If travelling with a wheelchair or scooter, let the agent know what type you use (manual, electric, wet cell, dry cell) and explain how much assistance you will need with boarding and disembarking.

Regardless of how you choose to travel, it is important that you take steps to ensure that your trip is a safe and enjoyable one.

Remember to:

• Discuss the proposed trip with your doctor.
• Get prescriptions for adequate amounts of required medications and fill them before you leave.
• Get extra prescriptions for oxygen to make it easier to get oxygen en route.
• Get instructions from your doctor for what to do if you develop a medical problem.
• Get a summary of your medical history from your doctor.
• Carry an up-to-date, detailed list of your medications.
• Confirm all reservations 24 to 48 hours in advance.
• Review your itinerary and confirm that any special services you may need will be available on each leg of your trip.
• Get confirmation of all services in writing.

Know your rights

It is also helpful to know your rights as a traveller with special needs.

In 1986, US Congress passed the Air Carrier Access Act, requiring the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to develop new regulations, which ensure that persons with disabilities will be treated without discrimination in a way consistent with the safe carriage of all passengers.

These regulations explain the responsibilities of the traveller and all domestic carriers, airport operators, and contractors involved in the airline industry who meet certain requirements, (such as passenger capacity).

Please note that foreign airlines are not required to comply with these regulations, although U.S. carriers on international flights must.

Australia has similar laws protecting the rights of disabled people who wish to travel. Nican is a national information service providing information on recreation, tourism, sport and the arts for people with disabilities. 

Under the Caravan category of this website is a review of a caravan designed for wheelchair access.