I think I can, I think I can

With the new set of wheels not arriving until the 11th hour, and a camping trip on the agenda not more than five minutes after it arrives, I was really looking forward to hooking up the camper and getting the new car nice and dusty on its first trip.  You know - Lee Kernaghan - "Baptise The Ute" style.

But then again - such a new toy needs the engine to be run in properly, so perhaps hooking up a camper that weighs the best part of a tonne or more probably wasn't the best idea. Well not on the first day at any rate.

We contemplated returning to our original camping set up.  The mighty Subaru Outback packed to the hilt, with the Oztent RV5 on the roof.  We enjoyed our first camping trip as a family with this set up, however I distinctly remembered everything becoming one big mess - and that wasn't just in the esky either.

About four nanoseconds later we realised the folly of that idea, and started thinking of alternatives.

I had a perfectly operational electric brake controller that I had removed from Terry in preparation of the trade...  hmmm, and the camper was looking particularly lonely in the shed.

Decision made:  We would take the mighty Subaru Outback AND Matilda!  

New Car for Project 2014

Over the past few months we have been starting to think about what things we are going to take with us camping.  Whilst we have survived well enough camping for a a week or two, when travelling for 12 full months, there is going to be a few additional things that will be necessary to make the trip enjoyable.

And it was beginning to dawn on us that our ever faithful and dependable Terracan was probably not going to be able to fit us all in.

So we started thinking about what capability did we really want in a vehicle.  The list of course continued to grow, and ended up looking something like this:

• Dual Cab Ute (cab chassis)
• Steel Tray
• Towbar
• Water and Dust proof canopy with jack off legs
• Steel Bullbar (winch compatible in case I get lucky and find a free winch somewhere!)
• Snorkel
• Comfortable for ALL of us touring
• Under warranty for our trip - meaning a 2012 model vehicle

And so the hunt was on.  There are many dual cab utes on the market that were worth considering, including the new Toyota Double Cab 70 series - all the way down to the offerings by Great Wall.  The decision wasn't going to be easy - and indeed it wasn't.

Summer 2012/13

It seems an age ago that we pulled into Charleyong for our last camp of 2012.   In an unusual turn for us, we didn't go camping over the summer school holidays, but it didn't mean we were any less busy than usual.

The boys continued to grow like weeds over the summer holidays, enjoying all the fun and excitement of visiting family, Christmas, visits to the coast and a few weeks without school.  They missed their friends, but we did manage to host a New Years Day Recovery gathering at home, for friends in the neighbourhood to drop in during the day.

Ready for a run to the coast!

We spent a fair bit of time tidying the up around the house before the fire season started. A couple of old stringy barks had died so needed to come out. I could have hooked up Terry and the trailer, but our "Wheelbarrow" - the mighty Mitsubishi Mirage and box trailer were already hooked up and ready to go - so we used them instead. The boys thought it was hilarious as we piled the timber higher and higher in the trailer.

The boys also laughed when the combination of dry grass, bald tyres and slight slope nearly caused an end to the entire enterprise.  However with gentle driving and a bit of momentum we made it to the wood heap and added to next winter's firewood pile.

The wheelbarrow is loaded to the hilt during dead tree removal

The hot dry weather brought with it bushfires in our region.  A grassfire just to the north of our property brought home the need for a fire plan... and fast.  It also highlighted the importance of being able to assess whether the smoke you can smell is from a fire nearby - or from hundreds of kilometres away.  The Rural Fire Service have released a great app in NSW called Fires Near Me, and I cannot recommend enough how good this app is.  It works on any smartphone and allows you to see how close the fires are to your actual location.  If you don't have a smartphone, you can follow the link here: http://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/dsp_content.cfm?cat_id=683

I was extremely thankful to have completed the Rural Fire Drivers course late in 2012, as one callout was very hilly country near the Abercrombie River.  Some sections of the track we were driving were extremely steep, and careful wheel placement was required to keep the tankers upright.  It was almost a blessing that most of the driving we did was in the dark!

One of the many fires burning across the state

The holidays were a great opportunity for us to unwind.  I read my first novel in years, and even the pooch took some time out - after chasing the kids on their bikes so much that she wore her pads out! 

The pooch - milking the sore foot for all it is worth!

Don't fear people, we haven't forgotten about camping, we just took a pause, because this time next year we will be on the road.  We figured we will be right into it all soon enough.

At last the planning will start in earnest, vehicle and campers will be prepared and made ready, and we will get stuck in...  I cannot wait!

Stewarts Crossing Camp - Charleyong

With Christmas fast approaching, and having made the decision that we would be staying put over the silly season, we realised that time was running out to squeeze on more camp in before the Christmas Holidays would be upon us.

So we picked a weekend, and for a bit of variety put out an open invitation to the school community to come and join us for a weekend away.

The beaut thing about the camp was it is under an hour and a half from home, on a bend in the Shoalhaven River with a sandy beach and good swimming hole.  It is also accessed via a dirt road, keeping the majority of punters away - and access after a lot of rain can be 'interesting' as we found in March this year.

The bad (for the majority of punters) is that there are no facilities - not even a pit toilet.  So we got around that by packing the ensuite tent, a shovel and a treat for us - a loo seat from Ray's Outdoors.

The forecast was for 36 degrees on the day of our departure - which reduced our numbers a bit due to a few people balking at the heat.  It was a bit of a shame really, as we had a ball.

The Camp... But wait til you see the river...

Lake Macquarie and Beyond

Last weekend we had the pleasure of attending a family Christening in Newcastle.  Newcastle is a good five hour drive north from home, and we had a choice to make.  Would we drive up in our Subaru, staying in a motel, or would we take the camper and stay in a caravan park.

We elected to take the camper.  We headed north on the freeway, making the most of the M7 motorway.  Pennant Hills Road is never much fun at the best of times, but we were through soon enough and heading up the F3.

We arrived at the caravan park I had booked, and my heart sank.  The park's name held the promise of enjoying a holiday - walking to the water to wet a line... Well if you took a cut lunch that is.  It became very apparent to me that my choice in park was not popular in the left front seat.

Now if we had both had few good night's sleep under our belts, the conversation in the front seats might have been a little more diplomatic... but we were both a little grumpy.  A few terse words were exchanged.  Thankfully Jo was a little quicker than me to work on a solution to our problem and my salvation came in the form of an iPhone and Google.

Between the iPhone and Google, Jo was able to find and book an unpowered site at  Belmont Pines Lakeside Holiday Park.

The park was well maintained, with a new kids playground and a pool to keep the tykes amused.  It also had a magnificent view overlooking Lake Macquarie.  It was perfect.... and I was saved.

The unpowerd sites had a great view