A camper had been on the wish-list for a long time, however we couldn't really justify the expense. All was to change on one camping trip!
We always knew one of the self-inflating mattresses had a slow leak, however I thought it was just my bad luck to get it every time. A firm mattress at bed time would slowly but surely turn into a thin mat allowing every undulation, rock and blade of grass to be felt. I loved camping, but was coming home with more aches and pains than when I left home.
The better half let slip that she had worked out which one of the self-inflating mattresses leaked, and revealed she could tell by the older style logo on the cover. Needless to say I swiftly swapped mattresses when she wasn't looking. The next morning, I awoke blissfully refreshed - but a little anxious as to what The Bride would say after her night becoming acquainted with the rocks of the Buckenbower State Forest. Instead of berating me about swapping mattresses, or even chastising me at all, she simply looked at me with bleary eyes and said the magic words “Let’s get a camper trailer.”
So along came Matilda – a pre-loved Aussie Swag Camper.
We had decided that a hard-floor camper would best suit our desire to travel around the country in a few years, however were worried about the general lack of storage space in most hard floor campers which seem more suited to couples. The Aussie Swag solved most of our immediate concerns by having a large pantry and fridge stowed on the trailer, freeing up valuable room in the car for more important things like kids colouring in books and the like.
Our first go at setting it up was at Yadboro Flat. It wasn't necessarily pretty (in terms of getting the canvas crease free) - but we found the camper extremely comfortable to base ourselves in. It is heavy – and we had a bit of fun coming home up the Clyde Mountain – but it travelled beautifully behind the Terracan.
We took it to Son of Trials Plus the other day – and whilst the Terracan found the going of the competition a little tough – we did enjoy retreating to the comfort of the camper's bed at the end of the day’s activities.
Of course one of the most important things is to make sure the camper is waterproof. I recently took the two little helpers to Jervis Bay for a couple of nights. Just after getting everything set up, the heavens opened and we received somewhere in the vicinity of 115mm of rain in the next few hours.
The little helpers thought this was great fun, having a road turn into a river, and all dirt turn to a most spectacular sticky mud. Thankfully hot showers were but a few metres away, and after getting them washed, dry and in their pyjamas, we retreated to a dry bed for the evening.
Some of the features we love about the camper:
- 80 Litre fridge – ample storage for a family, including all important ‘paddle pops’
- Comfortable queen size bed
- 2x 105 AH deep cycle batteries – keeps the electrics running nicely
- 120 Watt solar panel – almost keeps up with the fridge and other electrical requirements
- Pantry – huge pantry drawer above the kitchen
- Loads of storage - in front box, under the bed and in the body
- Waterproof canvas
- Enough room on bed to store kids mattresses and bedding
Source: Matilda
