So… our final night has finally arrived. After leaving the Supreme Service Center in Craigieburn (Melbourne) we decided that we would break up the long drive home from Melbourne by having an overnight stay at one of the pubs that offer free overnight camping in exchange for buying a meal at the pub. These pubs can be found on a free subscription website called Country Pub Camping.

Originally we were planning to stay at The Riverina Hotel in Holbrook (where we had stayed once before) but since we thought we wouldn’t get away from Supreme until 3:00pm we decided on staying at The Plough Inn in Tarrawingee.

Tarrawingee

Tarrawingee is a small town (village) of less than 500 people not too far from Wangaratta and Benalla. It was ideal for our purposes because it broke up the drive home to Royalla and wasn’t too far off the highway.

The Plough Inn

The Plough Inn is a lovely country style pub that has a large parking area out front and a very large paddock out the back. Out the back is a small stable and a large beer garden area that adjoins the paddock area where caravans and campers are permitted to stay as long they are self contained.

We were allotted a space beside a tall tree in a beautiful grassy area that was relatively flat and quite level. In front of us was a massive olive tree that was bursting with fruit that were also littering the ground around it.

The olive tree looked about seven metres high with a very thick trunk at the base. I didn’t ask but I hoped that they picked the olives and brined them because they looked plump and juicy.

Inside the pub was the typical front bar where the locals were gathered for a Friday afternoon drink. The great thing about The Plough Inn was that they had a good range of local craft beers on tap. The had an XPA from Beechworth Bridge Road Brewery that we had visited a couple of years ago on a prior trip to Melbourne. The standout beer though was a Weiss beer from the Two Pot Brewing Co. in Yackandandah. It was a crisp, dry beer that was perfect for a warm afternoon after the drive.

The pub bistro was good honest pub food and chock-a-block with a Friday night crowd creating lots of atmosphere. They did muck up my order but that was OK because the food was good, the beer was cold and it was a nice way to spend our last night on the road before returning home

The Drive Home

Since we didn’t have to hitch up the next morning we had a nice bacon and egg breakfast in the van to use up the last of our eggs and get us ready for the last long drive home from Tarrawingee to Royalla.

The drive itself was fairly uneventful as it is pretty much dual lane freeway all the way to Yass and then a simple drive back into Canberra, down the Tuggeranong Parkway and out through Calwell to Royalla.

The only interesting event of the drive occured when when stopped in at the Service Center near The Dog On The Tuckerbox for lunch. We decided to have KFC and Jo was lined up waiting for our order. Rob went to a coffee kiosk close by and sat down at a table. Not long after sitting down two men approached the coffee kiosk and started speaking loudly to the lady serving there. The conversation became louder and then one of the men shouted at the lady calling her a profane name.

The man then picked up a sauce bottle dispenser and shaped up to throw it at the woman. At this point Rob and two other men at two nearby tables jumped up to approach the man who then threw the sauce bottle at the women (failing to hit her).

Rob confronted the man and ordered him to leave the premises immediately and with the assistance of the other two men effectively cornered the sauce thrower giving him no option but to back down and briskly walk towards the exit. One of the other men, at the request of the coffee lady, followed the sauce thrower and took down his number plate and checked that the coffee lady was OK.

With the incident finished Rob and the other men re-took their seats and everything pretty much went back to normal as though nothing had happened. Center staff then proceeded to talk to the coffee lady and make sure that everything was under control. Quite a bizarre incident to finish our trip.

Trip over… we’re now very much looking forward to our Grand Tour – Big Trip later this year when we head off around Australia proper…

So… an overnight detour down to Craigieburn, northern industrial area of Melbourne, where the Supreme Caravan Factory, Dealership and Service Center are located.

Warranty Repairs

I don’t think that any caravan in history has come off the production line and not suffered some issues. Our van is not different and prior to this trip (as well as during) we had a number of warranty issues pop up. Given that a couple of the fixes could only be done by Supreme and the fact that we were in Victoria for the second half of the trip we organised to drop into the Supreme Dealership and Service Center to get our issues sorted.

We were booked into the Supreme Service Center at 3:00pm on Thursday, 8th April. So a three and a half hour drive from Corowa down to Craigieburn. We were met by our Supreme Service technician Daniel, who was a really nice young bloke who carefully went through all of the warranty items on our list and assured us that they would be complete by 3:00pm the next day. We handed over the van keys and headed off to the nights accommodation.

The following day we were called at 1:00pm and told that the van was ready, two hours ahead of schedule. Happy days! Daniel once again took us through all of the repairs and made sure that we were totally satisfied with the work that was done. He also answered a number of questions we had regarding other aspects of the van.

We are incredibly happy that we chose a Supreme caravan and cannot fault their service and support post sale. If these are the worst problems we have then we are lucky van owners…

Interior Water Leak

When we first picked up our van in February 2019, we discovered after a heavy rainfall that water was leaking into the front right-hand cupboard. We subsequently discovered that there were a couple of holes in the silicon seal on that side of the van. This was fixed at the van’s first service by our local service center (Capital Caravan Service Center). That fixed the initial leak but we later discovered when towing through some heavy rain that water was still getting in. Our local service guy, and Supreme, said that it was likely getting under the horizontal joins in the panels at the front of the van. Silicon was run along horizontal joins and hopefully that is the end of the internal water leaks.

Table Leg

When we originally picked up the van we noticed that the table leg was square unlike the display van we had viewed, which was round. We discovered that this was a different leg to the one originally specified on the plan and was probably an automatic upgrade.

Unfortunately… the square leg only allowed the table top to move up/down, left/right and backwards/forwards. It did not allow the table top to swivel. This made it awkward getting in and out of the seating.

Given that our floor plan originally specified a Nuovo-Mapa (brand) table leg, Supreme gladly swapped it over and now the table top swivels as well. The original leg looked a bit more stylish but being able to swivel the table top makes the sitting area so much easier to use and comfortable to sit in.

Overhead Locker Strut

On one of our weekends away one of the struts in the overhead lockers above the table had come loose and the plastic edge strip deformed. Rob had tried unsuccessfully to repair it previously but the deformed plastic strip kept pulling the screw out when pressure was applied.

Supreme replaced the plastic strip and strengthened the point where the screw held the strut in place. Looking new again after the repair.

Water Level Indicator

After a couple of weekends away we noticed that the water level indicators for the two fresh water tanks were not working. It was originally thought that the sensors needed adjusting. Supreme discovered that the battery in the indicator was flat and that there was a short circuit in the indicator. This was fixed, battery replaced and the indicator is now working perfectly.

Radio Blue Tooth Connection

The van is fitted with a radio/DVD player that can also connect to our phones via Bluetooth to play music, make phone calls etc. The radio itself was working fine but the Bluetooth connection was failing.

Supreme noted that there was a known fault with this brand and installed a new replacement unit, which is now connecting without any problems.

Water Hose Line Leak

As noted in our post about Corowa… The day before we headed down to Supreme, serendipitously, we discovered water leaking down one of the tires. It turned out that the water line had come loose from its anchor point above the tire and had been blasted by road debris coming off the tire to the point that it was punctured and water was constantly dripping out of it. The timing for this to occur could not have been better.

Supreme cut out the punctured hose and replaced it with new hose, including a filter, and reattached it to the underfloor. The hose is still exposed above the tire but we will monitor it during our next few trips and if it looks like it is still being damaged then we may have a piece of checker plate installed over it.

Airport Tourist Village

Whilst the van was being repaired, we stayed overnight at the Airport Tourist Village in Attwood. No photos… but we can say that it is good value for money if you’re going to Melbourne Airport or the Craigieburn area.

It consists mostly of various relocatable style cabins (that you find in caravan parks), however we stayed in a brick apartment that had a king bed in a separate bedroom, large living area with large television, good-size kitchenette and bathroom (shower was a little squeezy though). The apartment was very clean and the air-conditioning was good.

For $121/night we can thoroughly recommend this as a good place to stay for a reasonable price in Melbourne if you’re happy to be on the northern outskirts. It is also walking distance from a cluster of cafes and supermarket.

The only downside was the people in the neighbouring apartment were quite loud and carried on until around 3:30am. Jo slept through it all but Rob had a very restless night’s sleep. Not the Village’s fault though.

This was the penultimate night of our ShakedownTrip so after picking up our van, which Supreme had given a complimentary wash, including glossing the tires as well, we felt as though we were driving away with our new van again. Very happy customers.

Off to The Plough Inn in Tarrawingee for the last night of our ShakedownTrip before heading home.