We caught up with the rest of the safari in Emerald.
Our safari leader needed to replace his grey water tank. Instead of going to a tank maker as I would, he bought an empty used 100 litre drum and fitted it himself (with help from his friends)
There were lots on motorhomes in town and they had parked in an area not far from the centre of town between a football field and a sawmill which is signposted as a truck parking area.
On the second evening of their stay, they had been visited by the local caravan park owner in company with an officer from the Health Department of the Shire Council. They were asked to move on but the sawmill owner, hearing what was happening, called his mate Paul Bell, the Mayor, who hot-footed down, told the council worker and the caravan park owner not to be so silly, renamed the lane Paul Bell St for the duration so that we could legally park beside it and invited us to stay as long as we wanted.
Some towns are very friendly and some are not. I have devised a standard response to any caravan park owner who expects us to patronise them. I ask them if the same rule applies to the butcher, the baker or the candlestick maker - shop with them or leave town - . . . and does this rule apply to locals as well as us.
Emerald Shire Council have made big efforts to be traveller friendly. They have built a very expensive dump station complete with a slogan - "don't hump it, dump it" - and a very professional graphic showing a big motorhome dumping its black water. Unfortunately the design of the thing allows only vehicles with cassette toilets to use it as it is surrounded by a metre high fence. As it happens, the town sewage treatment works has facilities we can use. We have a long way to go to educate all the local authorities.