Beachmere

So...we've been passing the time by taking on a house and dog sitting gig in Beachmere for a lovely family who were heading off to Bali for a month.

The house is right on the beach and the three dogs I'm sitting, are pretty cute. There were only supposed to be two dogs, but there was a Pug next door who spent her entire life on a rope, not being walked or getting any attention, so she became part of the family and thus there were four doglets to look after. Dick likes them all and it's nice to see him playing with some little buddies.

Beachmere is a cute little suburb between Brisbane and the Sunny Coast with a few shops and cafes, not dissimilar to Agnes Water. I like it here. The residents are in dire need of house sitters, I've been asked constantly if I'll do other house sits since I arrived. I feel bad letting them know this is a one off as I'm temporarily stuck in Brisbane.

And I'm not good with being sedentary when I'm supposed to be flouncing about the countryside! My mother would say I'm 'pacing like a restless lion'. But that's due to the distasteful fact that we are only here whilst we threaten Titan Caravans with legal action via expensive Brisbane lawyers.

Titan finally gave in last week, once they'd seen the independent inspection report I'd been waiting over a month for, which reported the floor needing replacing as it was 85% water saturated and rotting, plus the roof was collapsing. Those jerks had been spewing lies for two and a half months, making out it was my 'misuse of the van' and a faulty water filter.

I despise liars. I despise bullies. It is so typical of ignorant, misogynistic Australian men to underestimate and attempt to rip off a lone female. Did they really think I'd just walk away? Do people do that?

I'm disappointed I won't have my day in court. I enjoy giving witness testimony. I've acquired evidence against them of perjury, attempting to obtain property by deception and the strict liability offence of misleading me about my entitlements under Australian Consumer Law, with a mandatory fine of $10 million dollars. So, it would have been a satisfying day. Fortunately, the Office of Fair Trading are prosecuting them for a plethora of trading offences, so they will be fined tens of thousands of dollars and lose their licence to trade. I can walk away satisfied with my refund knowing the OFT are getting rid of the rubbish. I wish the OFT the best of British luck in shutting them down.

Whilst staying in Beachmere, I've been searching high and low for a new van to continue our travels. It's not as sexy looking as the Blackhawk but it does have the advantage that it comes without major defects and is not a write off. It's a double axle and 2 feet longer, but it has everything I require on board including a washing machine (had no idea how important one of those would be) and it fits within all the weight restrictions. Pictures below. I think we were doing a tow ball weight test in one of those photos.

I'm having some long awaited surgery next week, then we'll be off as soon as I'm recovered, a week or two after that, westward bound. Tally ho!Read more