On the retirement trail

Peter and Margaret Grant from Saturn Antennas

OMG! What a homecoming we had after the Caravan Show in Melbourne. We arrived just hours after the massive, wild storm that battered the Cooloola Coast with hail and strong winds. What a mess along the road from all the hail. But that is nothing compared to the damage to all those crops that have been wiped out. Poor farmers – drought then hail and flood. Our thoughts are with all those adversely affected by the wild weather.

MOLONG

Have you ever been to Molong, NSW? No? Where is it, you say? Well, it is a small town on the Mitchell Highway 289km north-west of Sydney. We visited Molong to catch up with some friends that used to do the ‘show circuit’ with us.

Jan and Randal have semi-retired in Molong because their daughter lives close by. What an amazing place. Sadly, our quick two nights stay was far too short. We didn’t have time for Yuranigh’s grave, nor the Yarn Market Craft Cottage built in 1860, nor the Coach House which was built as a staging point for the Cobb & Co coaches.

But, of course, we did have time to ‘visit’ the famous the Freemason’s Hotel for a great dinner with all our friends that stopped over with us for our catch up. And I did get a chance to catch a sunset – beautiful.

I’m sure we will be back and we will definitely take the Animals on Bikes trail from Molong to Dubbo via Cumnock and Yeoval. It sounds like a lot of fun – look there is even a map to show you the way. You just can’t beat calling in to an information centre at each town. There is so much to do in your travels. Enjoy.

LED LIGHTS

Now let’s get down to business. The issue of interference of LED lights with TV reception is a hot topic at present with travellers. We experienced a complete wipeout of channels when we stayed in Nabiac, NSW. At night time, we could tune NO channels in with the LED lights turned on; without them we could get only 10 channels.

Nabiac is in a “variable” reception area where householders could experience difficulty with some or all channels (according to the government website www.myswitch.digitalready.gov.au). We have found that most times LED lights won’t interfere with reception. But when you are in a difficult area, the LED lights can wipe out some or all channels.

Solution? Turn off the lights or change them for lights that meet Australian standards. When I was putting up a video on YouTube about this topic, (link to our post on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHUrB-Ta2Wg ) I came across a video posted by ACMA (Australian Communications and Media Authority) that said that any lights that interfere with TV reception do NOT meet Australian Standards. Check out this YouTube video posted by ACMA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWdu9US_7MY

With storm season now in full swing, we hope you stay safe and remember “If it’s flooded, forget it”.

Safe travels!