Making Shade!

Being married to a meteorologist, I have worked out that I may not be able to make the sun shine on demand, however I am able to make shade!

With us planning on chasing the summer next year, the ability to make shade anywhere will be an important part of making our trip an enjoyable experience for everyone.  As such, we had determined that an awning was going to be an essential part of our travelling equipment.

Our camper's kitchen is well equipped, however if the camper is not set up - there is no shade to be had anywhere - unless you're parked under a shady tree.  And with trees not always conveniently sited, an awning was added to the shopping list. 

And so it was off to the local 4WD shop to get a price on an awning.

After picking myself up off the floor - it was online to let my fingers do the walking.  And it wasn't long before I found a promising lead.  Ebay was the site - and after a few clicks, a large 2.5 x 3.0 metre awning - with screen room included - was on its way for less cost than the 2.0 x 2.5 metre awning was avaiable locally - without a screen room.

Well it arrived - and I must admit I was impressed not only with the speed of shipping, but the quality of the awning itself. 

It was a simple process to remove the roof rack - to fit the awning.  Due to the configuration of the roof rack on the canopy - a little work was required to fit the brackets, including buying some longer M6 bolts.

Trial fitting of the awning in the carport floor

And of course once fitted - the compulsory testing.

Free standing - and simple to set up!

We will set up the screen room soon - I promise!

And it will work with the canopy open too!!!  Very happy family.

We erred on the side of caution and bought an extra two brackets - making the awning secured to the roof rack at four points.  This will be sufficient I hope for the miles of corrugations ahead of us.

The only downside is that the height of the vehicle is now over 2.1 metres - as best I can tell on our uneven ground - so underground car-parks are out for now.  Thankfully it is an easy process to remove the rack entirely - so I have done exactly that - meaning four bolts and a helper is all that it takes to secure the rack to the canopy and be ready for our next adventure!