


Saturday, August 10, 2019

I am not impressed...

I dropped the camera today, and yes... it is messed up.

The camera was in the case. It only fell from a height of about a foot and a half, and it only grazed the corner of the dinette seat before landing on my foot. I honestly thought it didn't hit anything hard enough to have caused a problem.

But I was wrong.

The image sensor (or something!) seems to have been knocked out of kilter.

Anyhow, more about that later.

The rest of the day was pretty good! The wind had died down enough that we thought we were safe doing the mountain pass over to Kangaroo Valley, and early on a Saturday morning we figured there would not be enough traffic to bother anybody too much if I drove slowly.

We crawled up the mountain to the overlook...

Nice view from Cambewarra Overlook.

I can see the sea!

Kangaroo Valley is a pretty little village.


The Catholic Church was built in 1888.

The Hampden Suspension Bridge was built in 1909.

The pub.

I had found a free camping spot about 8 kms (5 miles) away. But because it was a Saturday, we thought it might be busy so we planned to arrive early. Turned out the place is huge and we had nothing to worry about.

Lots of topes (speed bumps) coming into the camping area.

We were getting ready to go out for a walk. I grabbed the camera, and that's when it slipped. I didn't even really think anything of it because it hardly fell at all.

But when I went to take a photo of where we are parked, this is what I got...

Uh oh. That's not right!

I can crop it, but the focus is still not right.

The river.

This area has a lot of wombats. We've been in other areas that have a lot of wombats, but we've never seen one before (except a couple dead at the side of the road!). Until now... yes, there are a lot of wombats here!

Using the zoom, the camera seems better.

Funny animals.

They are not shy here!

Like I said, the Bendeela campground is huge.

But, there is very poor cell service to this area, which is why today's blog post is late!

So, with regards to the camera, we will have to make do with the camera in the phone, and the little pocket camera. I'll try calling a couple of repair places in Sydney when we get there on Tuesday, but we're only there for six nights and turnaround may not be that fast. Otherwise, it will have to wait until we get back to Ottawa at the end of the month. Hopefully it can be repaired for far less than the cost of a new one but I'm not counting on it.

Between laptops, smart phones, and cameras, it seems there is always money to spend every year, and sometimes more than once per year. Our phone is now over two years old, and although it's perfect and I don't want another one, the battery is starting to deteriorate, and apparently they are not easy to change. Again, we'll look into this when we get to Ottawa.

We've moved on to a hiking area with lots of waterfalls and viewpoints. Gotta get out and get some exercise!

Nice price drop on Camco's RV Step Rugs. Various sizes and colors at various prices, but some are pretty cheap.

And in Canada...

Great deal on a Dash Cam


  1. Bummer. It happens though and the good thing is, they can be repaired or replaced.

    Great pics! Phone cameras can do a decent job when needed.

    1. Yep, Kevin is feeling pretty down about the camera because it has been a great camera. Hopefully we can get it fixed, otherwise it looks like we will have to fork out money for a new one. :-(

  2. Interesting how costs mount up when you have technology. OUr first 2 years out we had no TV, phone, very basic camera and certainly no internet. Although the cost of a weekly phone call home was expensive it was still considered our best years.

    1. Yep, they sure do add up! And we only have our two computers, one phone and the good camera to worry about, and of course paying for internet. Thankfully here in Australia the price of cellular internet is fantastic, not quite like that back home in Canada or even the USA when you have to add on our exchange rate.

      I remember our second year when we were with you at Christmas near Valladolid in Mexico going to that small local store to use their phone to call back home for Christmas and it cost us at least $30!

  3. Sorry to hear about the camera mishap. If you purchased it using a credit card you may have been given an extended warranty by the credit card company that may help with repairs.

    1. We had already thought of that and unfortunately the guarantee is only good for 90 days and of course we are past that by about 6 months. :-(

  4. Replies
    1. I didn't think so, they are far too cute! I did however think they looked like big guinea pigs. :-)

  5. So sorry to hear about the camera. But I know you’ll still post some good pictures with your “alternate cameras”.... hope it gets fixed though. NowI know what a wombat looks like! Haha. They look like pigs.

    1. Thanks Lynnette, we are sorry about the camera too. Yes, the other two cameras will work but there won't be any nice closeup pictures until we can get the other one fix. Hopefully it will be an easy fix without costing too much but we aren't counting on it. :-(

      Wombats are cuter than pigs. I thought they reminded me of giant guinea pigs.

  6. Will you camp in Hawaii? Just got back from Maui yesterday and for sure will be heading that way in retirement.. Plenty of free camping in the area and in the mountains where it is above the humidity..

    1. No we won't be camping in Hawaii, we are only there for 3 nights so we have booked an Airbnb and a car rental.

