Category: Caravanning Hints

Caravanning Hints12 Comments

Bad habits?

Itching for Hitching

I copped a good hearted ribbing from Peter over at Peter’s Pondering the other day for not untying my shoelaces in my Wet Boots post. I could almost hear my Mum turning in her grave…”I suppose you’ll be putting on shirts without undoing the buttons next!” Guilty, especially those shirts that gape and need to be restrained with a few stitches here and there. After all no one wants to see an old duck’s bra. But I digress. The bane of caravanners is the need for shoes that can be slipped on quickly when leaping out the door backwards. Shoes … Continue reading Bad habits?

Caravanning Hints5 Comments

Wet boots!

Itching for Hitching

The best reason to pull out your awning is to provide shelter. Shelter from the blazing sun and to keep your boots dry when it rains. Anticipating an early morning start we retracted our awning and retired for the night. An hour or so later a theatrical summer thunderstorm came through. It was warm and muggy and the rain thumped heavily while the clouds boomed, a welcome relief from hot dry bushfire weather. Next morning we were reminded that we’d forgotten to bring our boots in for the night. I guess we’d become used to those hot dry conditions. Continue reading Wet boots!

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Load Levellers, why we need them

Itching for Hitching

Load levellers are expensive. Load levellers are often heavy and awkward to handle. The caravan dealer said they weren’t required. My rig is level. My caravan is lighter than my car’s tow capacity. So why do we use Load Levellers? (aka Sway Bars). Well whether your car is fitted with towing airbags to level the load or not, your load levellers have another function and that is to stop your van from swaying by giving it two extra anchor points to your vehicle. At some time you will experience severe winds and you will often be passed by large trucks. … Continue reading Load Levellers, why we need them

Caravanning Hints11 Comments

Improve your ‘on the road’ reading with Kindle and BookBub

Itching for Hitching

When you’re conscious of space and weight books can be a problem. Not so with a Kindle. You can have hundreds if not thousands of books loaded on your Kindle and ready to entertain you. And reading books on your Kindle is much cheaper than buying printed books. Though I must admit you can’t really exchange Kindles in park laundries. Conserving power is a consideration when freedom camping but if you have a Kindle that isn’t backlit (ie. The screen doesn’t light up) then you can happily read for weeks without needing to recharge the device. A small battery powered … Continue reading Improve your ‘on the road’ reading with Kindle and BookBub

Caravanning Hints, When Things Just Go Wrong12 Comments

Oh, oh, oh

Itching for Hitching

Nov 2018 We service our van annually and after the last service we arrived home particularly tired and gave up trying to reverse park the van straight in the back yard. This morning we paid the price for being lackadaisical (now there’s a word I’ll bet you haven’t heard in a while). We forgot to lift one back leg that was close to the fence. As we drove away, the by then dragging leg jammed tight on the steepest part of the driveway. Bearing in mind that the van was on quite a slope Woody jacked the van up with … Continue reading Oh, oh, oh

Caravan Clubs, Caravanning HintsLeave a comment

An open mind for the open road

Itching for Hitching

We recently celebrated a caravanning mate’s birthday and the conversation turned to the importance of caravan clubs. Even if you’ve camped before there is so much to learn about caravanning and club members are experienced teachers. For anyone who has sailed there is a similarity to yachting. A steep learning curve, a high regard for safety, always keeping an eye out for the weather and a simple life in a very small space, so don’t be afraid to ask for help. Coffs Harbour, NSW. As in yachting, there’s a lot to learn about caravanning. Don’t be afraid to ask for … Continue reading An open mind for the open road