Thank you very much for the encouragement! Really means a lot and very happy you enjoy watching 😊

Nice to see something different I'm sure, but we only have places, not things. Zero culture development, only what used to be. Sadly.

Thank you! Yeah, I think it's pretty good in Australia for this sort of lifestyle.

Yeah, still a great view! 😊 Thanks

I'm definitely interested in the Jacoola toilet, only problem is the side opening valve that might not work with where my toilet sits. Need to do some more investigation....if you can swap the valve from left to right, it might be doable.

I believe you will find dumping no 2 s in a bag in a bin would be ground on by councils and the hygiene codes, it is sometimes hard to find dump points but the vans is why they exist, wee should not just be emptied on the ground either I wonder why you don't know rules for human waste.

Emptying urine on the ground is something I would never do. Personally, I am even against peeing on trees......

@@elsiecater156 Not entirely correct. Sewage dump points are there because traditional "chemical" toilets MIX solids and urine and then you have created black SEWAGE. Yes you must then find a dump point. Urine separating toilets do not create sewage. In everyday bins people dump a host "sanitary" and other items. Nappies, Dog and Cat Poo, sanitary and other household medical waste. When you have the solids container in a urine separating toilet and you mix each use with a handful of compost material to aerate it. The solids does not smell at all. Unless a local council prohibits cat and dog poo, nappies, and other sanitary waste, which they do not. Then a responsibly double bagged compostable bag with solids and compost material is fine. As for urine Yes you should dispose of responsibly in any toilet etc. However if your out bush then simply slightly dilute your urine container and it's good for trees, here is an ABC article on Urine as fertiliser for trees. www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-10/why-weeing-on-your-plants-is-good-fertiliser/100848746

Also Gan Gan Lookout. The road up there is a little steep but paved. I'm sure your van will make it up there.

Since my video uploads are about a week after me being somewhere, I've already left Nelson Bay, but fortunately I think I've ticked all your suggestions 😁 The hard part is cramming it all into 2 videos and keeping them under 30 min 😂 Really nice up there!

It's great there. I was planning to move there at one point too.

As the weather warms up I will be heading to some of those more inland places. I think there's some nice waterfalls near Gloucester as well 😁

Nice, glad you enjoyed it. The fort was an interesting visit for a rainy day.

😁 maybe....maybe not 😜 Though I might have a look there too...

Thanks for watching, Lynn. Got heaps more to come, so make sure you subscribe 😊

There's been quite a few sightings 😂 Even had a few people come and say hello. Feel free to drop over if you see me again....as long as the blinds are open....please don't wake me up in the middle of the night 😁

Thanks Sean. I'm working through my footage now and there's just so much! Really hard to cut it down to less than 30 min 😂

Thanks Sally. I wish I had the camera with me when the dolphins were surfing. That was awesome 😁 It is nice that they don't try to run us all out if town in Newcastle. Hopefully that philosophy will catch in in more places around the country.

It's certainly a beautiful place and I love Anna Bay. The rocks around the shore are pretty special! The spit isn't going above water at all now unfortunately....spoiler for the next video 😂

I guess it all depends what you want or need to do. There's actually quite a few people living on the road that are still working, being totally remote isn't an option. Personally, I would get bored staying in one place for an extended period. Already done that for the first 50 years of my life 😉 You're right though, the worst part is finding good sleeping spots.

@@MakingStuffGoingPlaces Also ideology versus goals, to some people staying in a place a week or so isn't really a long time and could be called slow travelling, some people have diesel to burn travelling each day and "the next place" becomes their goal. Finding spots and flat ones where you want to be, that isn't near people and drunks, almost impossible but great when they do come up.

Totally agree with that. Every part of this planet is getting so crowded now... getting away is becoming very difficult!

I want to go further north at the end of July, so will probably go that way. Haven't spent much time there in the past.

Worth the trip. But better on a sunny day 😁

Thank you very much, Jennifer. Glad you enjoyed it 😊

Hi Carol. The lighthouse wasn't open at the time, so couldn't get inside unfortunately. Watch out for the next videos on Nelson Bay... beautiful and relaxing place! 😊

Thanks Pauline. I have Campermate rather than Wikicamps, but have found it not to be as helpful lately. Does show dump points though...none in Newcastle 🙄 Fortunately the weather cleared up after those few days and it's been great during the day. More rain coming though 🙄

Not as cold as Victoria! 😂

😂....and carry a clipboard too.

Yeah, thanks. A few people have mentioned that now. I'll have to go next time I'm there. 😊

Nice! I did consider staying there. Beautiful view, but with so many walkers in the morning, I figured maybe not. 😁

Nothing attracts attention in industrial areas! I stop in them regularly, but it's never a good night's sleep. Always something going on and a guaranteed 5am wake up. 😂

Thanks Melinda. All I could see while I was there was hundreds of Ibis in the middle of the mangroves. They were making so much noise that I couldn't tell if anything else was there. 😂

A few people have suggested that.... problem is I don't drink alcohol 😂 I'm sure the scenery is nice though.

😂 yeah, pretty obvious if you see someone parked there!

Good to know! Yeah, seems pretty ok up there. Thanks for sharing ☺️

Been to Canberra a lot in the past but just not in winter! 😁 Lot of mountain bike parks around there.

Sounds like you'd fit in to vanlife. 😊 It's not always easy though, getting water, finding quiet places to sleep, etc. one thing for sure though, you save a lot of money!

Great place to live!

Cool! That would probably be pretty good along there.

I really like it there too. I've mentioned to some other people, I almost moved there while I was still working. Got a lot to offer!

Thanks. Most caravan parks that I've tried in the past won't let you on site just to empty your toilet, even if you offer to pay. The topic of emptying into toilets is quite contentious. Other than the risk of a blockage, no one has offered a genuine reason why it can't be done. I deliberately bag my paper to avoid blockage issues.

I would say so. I can't imagine it being anything else. Would have been an interesting flight!

Yeah, I was planning on moving up there too when I was working. It is a beautiful area.

Yeah, I've lived in Geelong for the last 25 years too.....very happy to be further north 😁

I couldn't believe how many vans were in Newcastle, but it is a really nice place 😁

Love watching your videos and recognising places in my local surrounds. It really is quite beautiful.

Your rig looks very comfortable. Very nice.

You're lucky to live in such a beautiful area 😊

I'm very happy with my van. It works really well for my needs 😁

No, couldn't see any hospitals. 😊 It's a secret 😂

Good to know, thanks!

Yes, you're right. The no camping signs are quite often in the parks and not at the entries to the carparks. In most cases you just need to obey parking rules and be fully within your vehicle and it's all good. Some councils are funny, but Newcastle is fine.

😂

😂 yeah, I love living in the van! Not always easy, but we'll worth it. I want to get up to Qld soon, but lots of "stuff" that I keep needing to attend to... we'll see 😁

Tell me about it! 😂 I so want to be further north but a few things holding me back at the moment....

Finding a peaceful place is probably the hardest part of vanlife. There's just so many people in Australia now that everywhere you go, there are other people. But they're not always noisy. Having a 4wd helps but then you tend to get all the 4wdrivers and they are very loud and quite often disrespectful to other people. I don't know how many of my videos you've seen, but if you watch a lot, you'll get a good feel for your question.

@@MakingStuffGoingPlaces I just found you recently so I’ll have a look through. Thankyou for the reply!

Not anymore. Just me now 😊

No, I didn't. Just looked at it from the other side 😁

Basically we are legally parked, fully contained within our registered vehicles and within the parking bays. Unless there's a specific council bylaw saying no sleeping in vehicles, it's all good. With a caravan, you should be fine as long as you follow the same philosophy, but finding a big enough parking space will be harder. You might just have to drive a bit further to find somewhere. And don't go putting out awnings and and deck chairs. Even a step would be pushing it in my mind.

Thanks for the offer. Best keep them to yourself. There's definitely some I won't share too 😊 Not a big issue for me at the moment as I don't need to stay anywhere long term. Just keep roaming around 😁

It's freezing everywhere right now! 😂 Seems abnormally cold this week.

@@MakingStuffGoingPlaces its certainly colder this year, but no snow on the mountain yet, to wet.

@nickislade5533 I hope there's no snow!😂 I need to go further north...

Soon! Got to go help out my mum in Sydney for a week then want to go way north in July!😁

Thanks for the recommendation. I've added them to my list.

👍

Thanks Jim, yes, fully aware I do that. That's just my personality....somewhat annoying 😜

@@MakingStuffGoingPlaces didnt mean to be agressive at all. It just simply gets annoying. thanks for the vids.

Your comments were taken as constructive criticism, no offence whatsoever. I've also had comments from people, not just on KZfaq, saying they love the way I laugh when I talk (yes, they were women). Ironically, those that spend a lot of time around me would say I'm a very negative person and I find holding the camera in front of me and laughing things off a good way to turn around any negativity that I'm feeling at the time. There you go...too much sharing!

@@MakingStuffGoingPlaces yep I hear where you are coming from. I just wish I had women telling me things like that hahaha

Curious as to why you think it's not acceptable to empty it into a toilet? And while there is a lot of info in where dump points are, there simply aren't any outside of caravan parks in most larger cities. I have asked in the past to use their dump points but most won't let you, even for a few.

​@MakingStuffGoingPlaces I can add to the question. Toilets are not set up for the quantity of effluent at one time . Leading to blockages . That may not be apparent to most . Huge cost to councils calling out crews on weekends etc. Does that give an insight?👍🇭🇲🦘

​@@MakingStuffGoingPlaces I forgot , not everyone travelling have healthy ablutions.

My question was more of a challenge to the original poster to explain why they seem to have such strong beliefs on the topic. Good to see you have a genuine reason for this and you're right, there are people out there that don't think but also, unfortunately those that don't care. One thing I really don't like is people (not you😊) aggressively pushing their beliefs with no factual explanation as to why they believe they should be forcing their opinions on to other people. For this particular topic, there is no reason why a sensible person can't empty a cassette into a toilet. Contents are heavily diluted in the flush water and breakdown to a slurry pretty quickly when in a moving vehicle. The outlet of a cassette is smaller than a toilet S bend, so if anything is going to cause a blockage, it will block the cassette first. As you correctly added, each person has a different constitution, and this is my experience from using these toilets for 5 years with no issues with blockages. The other reason to NOT dump in a toilet is if it is on a septic tank or a pit toilet. In those cases, you just need to make sure you're using chemicals that are suitable for septic systems. However, the excess water added during flushing to cassette toilets, means the contents really shouldn't be put into a composting type pit toilet.

@MakingStuffGoingPlaces sounds like 1st response was angry . So .... I chipped in . I was reg.Nurse , father plumber. I've been on road approx 11yrs , so I saw a bit and either know some or read between lines /research.

Yeah, it's an interesting contrast between the countries.

Can't find a Honeysuckle Bay. Do you know the name of the shop?

Yeah, I was wondering where the 2 old guys had gone from around at the main picnic area....found them.

I'd be a little concerned if they had a live torpedo sitting there! 😁