Sunday 23 September 2012

Camper Trailer Maintenance - Pre-Season

With spring returning to the southern highlands, and school holidays fast approaching, the camping season is upon us.  With that means we will soon be hauling the camper trailer down the coast for a long overdue break.  I thought before we leap into the camper, it would be prudent to do a couple of simple checks before we head off... and I'm glad I did.

Time to haul the camper out of the shed...
The camper has been sitting for a few months now, and one of my jobs this week is to drag it out and get it ready for our next adventure.  After telling the family that this was one of the jobs for the day, The Little Fisherman was quick to inform me that he had seen a black snake sitting just next to the camper this very morning before breakfast when he was emptying the scrap bucket.  Righto - must be a another job for Daddy then hey!

A service for our Subaru turned into a much longer evolution than desired (why they changed their fuel filter location to inside the fuel tank is beyond me... and then there was the split front drive shaft boot that has spread grease everywhere... argh!).  Needless to say it was well into the afternoon that I finally got around to pulling the camper out, and Mrs Black was nowhere to be seen.  Hopefully she hasn't moved in to the camper!

But today was a day of maintenance on the vehicles various, and I thought I would share the few simple things that we will be checking on the camper prior to heading off on our next camping trip.

Friday 14 September 2012

The Return of Spring!

At last, the days a getting longer, and more importantly warmer, and thoughts turn again to getting back on the road and camping.  The camper has been sitting in the shed for the past couple of months, and is getting itchy feet - or is that itchy wheels... Either way, we are keen to get back under canvas soon.

I hope to give an update in the next couple of weeks of our pre-season maintenance schedule for the camper, but that can wait until I haul it out of the shed and take some photos.  We have kept the solar panel hooked up to the batteries, so they're fully charged and sitting at 14volts which is great.  The camper is looking a little dusty, and I am in the process of changing the generator box for a new one to house the Coleman Hot Water system...  All good fun!

In the meantime it has been a hectic few months in this household.  The usual whirlwind of school and all its associated additional commitments, with a few other projects on the go, including unpacking and setting up our new home was compounded with a bit of surgery and a few weeks laid up.  Ah if only there was more hours in each day!

With impeccable timing,  the day I go in for surgery, the Little Helper revealed that he had perhaps got a small piece of Lego stuck up his nose.   Jo ended up spending all day at hospital with him, whilst various nurses and doctors all had a go at removing the Lego.    Eventually a team of three burly nurses wrapped him in a sheet and held him still whilst a doctor extracted the Lego.  It was a painful way to learn that the only thing you should stick in your nose, is your elbow!

Internal Combustion Engine Model - for little mechanics (and not so little ones!)


The Little Fisherman has been showing more interest in the mechanical workings of engines of late, so when I found this model of an internal combustion engine by Haynes, I knew I had the perfect birthday present.  We spent the best part of a rainy day putting it together, and were thrilled with the result.


Of course we then had to try out our skills on a real car.