I'm dreaming of a 4.2 diesel patrol or landcruiser one day. They're the Falcon & Commodore of the 4x4 world. Everyone is one or the other.
My VZ commy towed a trailer from NSW-WA, then a caraven back to NSW. Didn't skip a beat. Love her to bits :)
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I'm dreaming of a 4.2 diesel patrol or landcruiser one day. They're the Falcon & Commodore of the 4x4 world. Everyone is one or the other.
My VZ commy towed a trailer from NSW-WA, then a caraven back to NSW. Didn't skip a beat. Love her to bits :)
Wysiwyg - if they are planning on nomadding for a long time, perhaps they/ you should invest in a Camps7 book. I believe they are awesome and have been recommended them many times.
Cheers will check it out.:
Hello fellow campers - after a pretty disastrous Easter camping trip (weather & illness) we have decided to ditch the tent for a 2nd hand campervan - jayco type.
Does anyone have one? What type? What do you love/hate about it?
That is the reason we bought a caravan too Phoenix. We took a week off last March and got caught in the floods around Bega and we eventually packed up in pouring rain and limped home.
Vans make for a different camping experience, but for us it has meant we go a lot more often, which is good. We are selling the boat though, cos you can't tow both.
We bough an outback expanda. You have to decide what you need for your family. For us we wanted the kids to have their own spot. So they have a bunk each which is permanent. Doesn't fold up. Our bed folds away.
We had a Jayco Eagle Outback and it was fantastic but the set up did take quite a long time (up to an hour with flys etc.) We sold it to help us seachange but will probably get a second hand one down the track. They hold their value super well - we bought ours brand new, added a few things like a tv (rofl) antenna, bbq, tube storageetc. and sold it for the same as we bought it for, so were out of pocket about $1000 for the stuff we added to to over the 18mths that we had it for.
If we did it again we would probably look at the expanda as well or else a fixed size caravan, they don't have as much set up - you can get in and out much more easily to put stuff in or to stop on the side of the road for a cuppa etc. and also leave stuff like bedding in there. Good luck choosing!!!! How exciting!!!! We camped in the middle of winter with ours and yes I suppose it's "glamping" when you have an oil heater when camping but I don't care - it was the coldest night of winter last year at Philip Island and we were toasty as can be!!!!
We are about yo sell our camper too to get the Jayco expanda, again because we hate not going out in winter. With three kids we need the bunk beds. Dh has noticed they don't come up for sale very often and when they are as Tan already said they hold their value.
Thanks everyone - we had a look yesterday at an outback hawk with aircon/heating but it was a bit small & no real storage space.
Ideally would love an outback swan or flamingo. Would love an expanda but don't have room to store it & it's slightly out of our budget :)
The weather was so windy at Easter we couldn't set up the tent the first day we had to hire a cabin for the night & set up next day.
Are there places you can store trailer tents, campervans etc? Anyone any experiences with them. When mum and dad are in UK will need to do something with it - we only have a garage which is half full of stuff and one car spot so not sure can keep here.
Some parks have storage hun, for eg. There is Wantirna Caravan park (eastern Melb suburb) lots of vans parked there, I'm sure no one actually stays there for holidays!!!!
Yes I know the one near where I used to work - I always thought funny place to go on holiday :-) not too far really - cheers will check out.
If you are happy to store it outside its not all that much to have it outside we haven't got room here either. I think hubby said it was around $10 a week. There are quite a few places in the eastern suburbs that store them.
You can store those sort of things in storage sheds too. Lots of people store old cars etc in them :)
Hi everyone!
Where's everyone been travelling to? We've been busy. I think since the last time I was on here, we did our Queensland trip -16 days all up. Three days driving with overnight stops at Goulburn and Manning Point, then Gold Coast Holiday Park, then four days to get home with nights in Tamworth and Forbes.
The park at Goulburn was revolting. I've made two complaints to the chain that owns it and have been totally ignored.
The Big4 at Manning Point is beautiful and I want to go back. Sensational park, only trees divide the park and the beach.
Gold Coast Holiday Park, honestly I can't rate it high enough. It's a five minute drive to Movieworld and Wet n Wild, 10 from Dreamworld and 15 mins back to Surfers. We were all really sick during the trip but still had a blast. We did a few animal encounters - I swam with the dolphins at Seaworld and DH fed a tiger at Dreamworld and swam in the coral reef with all the fish and sharks at Seaworld.
The parks at Tamworth and Forbes were really clean and quiet. We went to The Big Golden Guitar and The Dish. The Dish was really interesting.
Since then, we went to Daylesford for the Harvest Festival and we're heading to Halls Gap this weekend. After that, we're going to Kilcunda, down on the Bass Coast. We've got a map stuck up in the wardrobe of Vic and are just puking random spots to visit. So if anyone has any recommendations on top spots, I'd love to hear about it.
Our caravan is going well. We upgraded our towing pack and added electric brakes so the car is coping beautifully with the van's weight. The van is halfway through a restoration and we've gone retro. She's had a paint job and a new floor, new tyres, stereo system installed, new bed with box storage underneath and a new fridge. We're going to redo the padding on the front and eventually replace the canvas around the pop top bit. Storage was our biggest issue - trying to do overnight ears was so hard because the floor was covered in stuff that we usually put out in the annexe and we don't bother setting it up for overnighters. Plus we had the added fun o everything flying around on a crappy road from GC to Tamworth that the GPS took us on. Even the fridge opened up and food was all over the floor!
Hi everyone!
Where's everyone been travelling to? We've been busy. I think since the last time I was on here, we did our Queensland trip -16 days all up. Three days driving with overnight stops at Goulburn and Manning Point, then Gold Coast Holiday Park, then four days to get home with nights in Tamworth and Forbes.
The park at Goulburn was revolting. I've made two complaints to the chain that owns it and have been totally ignored.
The Big4 at Manning Point is beautiful and I want to go back. Sensational park, only trees divide the park and the beach.
Gold Coast Holiday Park, honestly I can't rate it high enough. It's a five minute drive to Movieworld and Wet n Wild, 10 from Dreamworld and 15 mins back to Surfers. We were all really sick during the trip but still had a blast. We did a few animal encounters - I swam with the dolphins at Seaworld and DH fed a tiger at Dreamworld and swam in the coral reef with all the fish and sharks at Seaworld.
The parks at Tamworth and Forbes were really clean and quiet. We went to The Big Golden Guitar and The Dish. The Dish was really interesting.
Since then, we went to Daylesford for the Harvest Festival and we're heading to Halls Gap this weekend. After that, we're going to Kilcunda, down on the Bass Coast. We've got a map stuck up in the wardrobe of Vic and are just puking random spots to visit. So if anyone has any recommendations on top spots, I'd love to hear about it.
Our caravan is going well. We upgraded our towing pack and added electric brakes so the car is coping beautifully with the van's weight. The van is halfway through a restoration and we've gone retro. She's had a paint job and a new floor, new tyres, stereo system installed, new bed with box storage underneath and a new fridge. We're going to redo the padding on the front and eventually replace the canvas around the pop top bit. Storage was our biggest issue - trying to do overnighters was so hard because the floor was covered in stuff that we usually put out in the annexe and we don't bother setting it up for overnighters. Plus we had the added fun of everything flying around on a crappy road from GC to Tamworth that the GPS took us on. Even the fridge opened up and food was all over the floor!
wow lady sounds like you had a ball! i love the sound of your caravan going retro.
we recently did a 12 day trip from Darwin to a place called Umbrawarra Gorge, Lake Argyle (which is over the WA border about 100km), back to the NT to Gregory National Park, flora river nature reserve, katherine and then home! with a 22 month old and 3 year old. ;0
Umbrawarra Gorge is an amazing place. one of the few camp spots with no crocs! it's amazingly beautiful for swimming and photography, campsite only has a drop loo but plenty of shade and as we had our first night on mother's day sunday, it was all ours! Lake Argyle was a caravan park affair with a bush camp. it was fine but not to our taste. My DS who is 3 managed to meet nearly everyone in the park lol he is so chatty and friendly, I took him to the loo one morning and all these random grey nomads are saying "oh hello A.shton, where's your croc/did you sleep well/are you swimming today". so cute.
Gregory National Park is one of the most amazing landscapes i've ever seen but unfortunately the walk into the gorge was completely washed away. the rest of the water was croc infested and the camp site was very hot and dry with no breeze. 32C at 2am and gods-knows-what humidity, we moved on... and picked a spot on the map. Don't you love it how you take a risk and find a gem!
Flora River nature park turn off is 90km west of Katherine and another 50km of dirt/gravel road. it, surprisingly, has solar hot showers and toilets as well as water. there are a couple of walks to waterfalls, which were so amazing ... again, unfortunately, a few large bities live in the crystal blue waters so no swimming. but the camp sites were well spread out and there was loads of shade. again we had free reign from 2 or the 3 nights we stayed.
our stop over in katherine was at a caravan park and the cabin was not a good as our tent! lol. but we wanted to have a look athte airforce base that is 20km south of the town and probably our home for a few years from 2014. we totally fell in lvoe with the place and hope we do get posted there!
we are loving being able to get out with our kids and discover more of the northern territory, especially now they are older and able to walk into spots etc
Incidentally, we ended up buying a 3 room tent from bcf at the end of the dry last year when the sales started. it's very quick and easy to put up, we can both stand up (which my back thanked me for!) and was very comfortable... but large!
Amazing trips girls! We are going away for the long weekend no idea where yet but looking forward to it! We are still hoping to swap the camper for a van soon.
Grub, your trip sounds fantastic too!
BR - Are you looking for a second hand van? We found our biggest issue was finding one that had enough bedding to sleep the four of us. So many are just two now. We found one with bunks and just went with it.
We have found the same PRMG, with three kids its hard to find enough beds so we think we are going to buy new the Jayco expanda has two bunks and two queen beds so we all fit. But we have to sell our camper and 4wd to do it!
Where did you end up BR? We had a nice time away. I actually thought of you - there were eleven expandas just in our row!
We are one step closer to getting our camper, so excited!! now to just decide between a Jayco Flamingo or Swan and then find one 2nd hand within our budget :)
We have our caravan!! Got the Jayco epanda but skipped the pop top and went for a full van as they were clearing them off the lot it worked out cheaper than adding in all the options to a new one. It's amazing, ds asked when were going to really go camping when we went out. We are planning on renting it out to cover some of the costs and dh is trading in his mid life crisis convertible and selling his 4wd to get a car that can tow it cheaper as his car is expensive to run. We still have the camper but expecting it to sell soon as it warms up. We are going to Ballarat this weekend and going bush in the school holidays. We also have two trips planned for next year already.
Yay, we have an expanda too, not a pop top. It's a lot to tow, but its sooo easy to set up (ours is about 18/19 ft). We have just two bunks and one queen. It's great that the kids each have a corner just for themselves and because they are so small still, we have room on their beds for all their books and a small box of toys each.
Our expanda canvas leaked the first few times we went out in it. It had to go back and get fixed. Nothing worse that a wet mattress and sheets and blanket etc. hopefully they have ironed that problem out!
Congrats, how exciting!! A tad envious over here. We got our camper a few weeks ago - 2006 outback swan, it didn't have "all" the bits & pieces but we got it at such a good price that adding what we want to suit us will still be a lot cheaper :) After doing a few things like replacing the mattresses which we found were all mouldy (lucky to get through work & cost me a couple of bottles of red wine), getting bedflys & giving it a good clean we are planning our maiden voyage. Depending on the weather hopefully in the next few weeks. So so excited!! Just gotta pick where to go :)
How exciting Phoenix hopefully it warms up soon. Lenny we have a cover over the bed canvas as dh joined a forum which warns about leaking. We have three bunks and the kids loved it like there own little cubby each.
What's everyone up to?
We went to Kilcunda over the weekend, left the van at home and stayed in a beachside cabin. Sensational spot with astounding views. Loved it. DD1 walked around saying she never wanted to leave. Tomorrow my parents leave in their two year trip around Oz with their caravan, can't wait to hear about their adventures. We're going to meet up with them hopefully in the west in six months time and then hopefully again six months after that when they think they'll be in Broome. Have always wanted to go to Broome.
Sounds gorgeous - off to google where that is :) A two year trip, that is something I'd love to do......one day :)
Dependent on weather we are taking the camper out on her maiden trip this weekend, about 2.5hrs away down the coast on Yorke Peninsula. Just a tad excited lol
Hope you have been out in the camper now Phoenix!
We have finally sold ours and also our petrol land cruiser. So dh got a diesel bt50 and it's so much cheaper to run, we are heading out in our caravan to Mildura for 10 days tomorrow can't wait!
That's exciting BR. DH had a BT50 as his work car for a while. I loved it. It was so cheap to run and drove beautifully but was such a bugger to park.
Dh found that out tinks he backed into a car his second day in it luckily it was just the number plate! He is getting parking assist now he found a kit on eBay.
Hello fellow campers!! DH, me and our two LO's are gearing up for a fun camping adventure!! We are actually going to be moving - but taking an interim holiday between houses and camping as we travel up the coast!! Its going from planning stages to actually taking action stages this month!! Sorting out all the little details etc!! We have storage for all of our things that will be going to the new house, we have a new tent on lay buy- porta fridge, we have camping beds, pantry, still need to find a cooker type thing and some kind of sink and a few other little tid bits i saw on the must have lists!!
Our biggest issues at the moment are the animals. Our doggie is all up to date with her needles etc but she is still young and hasn't been camping before, so we will be learning as we go with her and what she is able to do (and what we are able to do with her there too) and a question.. has anyone ever taken a cat camping LOL?? Although i am serious... we don't know what to do with her while we travel lol! I don't want to have to get rid of her, the kids love her, but where we are moving to is about 12 hours from where we are so its a bit silly to have her in a cattery either at the old place or the new town for like two months. My thought is to maybe get family to look after her, but that will still mean that we have to go straight to where the family is and not have our travel adventure on the way. Do caravan parks etc allow cats if they have their correct paperwork????? Somehow I think not!! lol
Other than kitty though, everything is slowly falling into place!! I am stoked to have found this thread and you lovely experienced ladies i can pick your brains about!! We haven't done camping with the kids yet (3 and 5yo) so it will be interesting!!!! With our set up we are hoping to occasionally have a powered site at a caravan park to make use of the amenities and washing machines and then some off road bush camping were we rough it power free.
What are some good lights to have with kids around.. so not the old fashioned gas lanterns.. is there a battery version????? Something that you can maybe charge to light up in the tent when we arn't connected to power??
We just did a weekend 60 kms from Esperance WA, Quagi beach.
If you ever get the chance to do WA, DO IT! It is absolutely amazing & there are camping area's everywhere! You might pay $5 a night in some places depending on amenities. But all the camping area's are just bays on the beach. Sometimes you'll get a lean too, and often there are composting toilets. This one though actually had flushing toilets! And we were right at the top of the dunes. Right on the beach, away from other campers. Just can't get over the unspoilt beauty of these places.
There aren't really these sort of camp grounds on the eastern side. Not along the coast anyway. Its all caravan parks, or inland. I just want to do more & more of this amazing state! There's no comparison.
Starbright, you can get rechargeable lanterns and they work really well. They're a bit slow to get to full light capacity but once they are there, they work a treat. Not sure about your cat although I'm sure there will be plenty of understanding people along the way, especially if she's in an enclosure. We camp often with our dogs - it's somewhat restrictive if you want to be looking around the area because you can't usually leave the dogs on site but otherwise it's fun.
Clover - All I want to say is ohhhhhhhhhhh.....! We're going to WA next April and we're really looking forward to exploring!
Starbright, we got a wind up lantern for $15 from Kmart. There are heaps of little round battery lights you can get with magnetic backs & hooks on them, so you can hang them.
I use a butane gas stove, they're only about $15 from bunnings. I want to get a bigger, better one eventually though. I have a little wire toaster I got at a camping shop, that I put over the stove for toast, or toasties.
PacRakMG - the beaches here are amazing. And the salt lakes are a pretty cool sight too. Where are you planning to see? I'm down south, so have only done the Southern area's. And only a few, there are so many. I'll do the northern end when the kids are a bit older I think. Maybe next Christmas holidays or something. Trying to decide where to go for Christmas this year at the moment. Somewhere that won't be packed out...
Clover - We're probably flying into Perth, hoping to explore the city and then go to places like Margaret River and Fremantle. I'd love to get to Esperence but it will be time permitting. We have two weeks. We were originally going to spend one of these weeks crossing the Nullabor and driving back to Melb but we've decided against it and would rather use that week to explore WA further. We'll be traveling with my parents, brother, aunt and and uncle and none of us have been there before so there will be lots of opinions on what we see, I'm sure!
I'm right in the middle of Perth & Esperance. And I reckon you could easily take a week to get between the two :lol: My parents are between me & Esperance & that's why I've been that way more. I usually go with them, or friends. Hopetoun is so pretty, but I love the whole area between Hopetoun & Esperance. A lot of area's are 4wd only, but there are still plenty of area's that aren't.
I've done the Nullarbor 3 times now & its so worth it. The first time we did motels, the second time we returned my pop's caravan, & were with my parents. The third time we tented it. Just myself & the kids. If you can't do it this time, make sure you do it some time. We pulled off to a little place called Fowlers Bay in SA. The whole place runs on natural energy. And the sand dunes that are taking over a pretty cool :lol: Then there's the Great Australian Bight, the Murray River, the Nullarbor itself... I'd never really travelled til I drove over here. Or camped. Now I can't get enough. I'd drive home over flying any day (I have 5 of us to fly though, lol, petrol works out cheaper ;))
Sounds beautiful!
We do want to drive the Nullabor but when we only have two weeks in total for our trip, we don't want to feel rushed. But it's definitely on our to-do list. I'll have to do some googling of the places you mentioned, thanks!
I'd rather drive than fly too lol. We're lucky enough that this trip is being paid for by mum - it's a significant birthday for her and she wants us to all be together so flights are sorted. There's no way we'd pay for flights over driving there otherwise!
Anyone any opinions on camping over Christmas (will be with my mum and dad and their camper trailer) - Dad is looking at Barwon Heads or Anglesea (I like the Bellarine - but have never camped and is just I know round their better and have been to Barwon Heads a few times). Something like 20-26th December. We don't want to be too far from Melbourne, and want lots of options of things to do if weather not great.
No idea wysiwyg - maybe just start ringing around. That might make the decision for you. We tried a few places a couple of months back for this Christmas and everywhere was booked out.
We snuck off to Adelaide last weekend. Nice trip, stayed at Adelaide Shores for the third time. All good other than the wind! Hit a headwind going over, filled up three times! Night before we came home, the brakes failed on the car so DH spent six hours getting that sorted. Then wanted to drive home. So we left just before 2pm and got home at midnight. Where he clipped the gate on our driveway with the caravan, smashing the window, gouging the side (not badly) and smashing the side light. Excellent. Ended up being a pricey trip! Had to rush to get the damage sorted because we need the caravan this weekend!
Ah well. Can only laugh.
Oh no PRMG hope it's all sorted before you need it again this weekend! You really do have to laugh don't you! We couldn't find our campsite it was free with tank water and it was on the moss and we found signs but could never find the site, we had to turn the van in the bush and lost a mirror in the process and when we decided to go to a caravan park Mildura was booked out so we drove to Swan Hill which took over 2 hours but we had a ball and can't wait to go out again!
I agree with wanting spots over Christmas you need to book now, bellarine was beautiful and so is Tourqay, Anglesea etc all close to the beach for summer but very popular. We booked our summer holiday in July so we didn't miss out.