If you want to see the best of what Australia has to offer get off the beaten track and for the non off-roaders I don’t necessarily mean hitting the dirt, just take the lesser roads. The B and C category roads that will take you through farmlands and tiny towns that need the support of visitors. You’ll have a much easier drive as the scenery is more interesting and you won’t have to contend with traffic and large trucks. Explore the valleys too. Take a wander into the Ovens Valley, the Kiewa, the Upper Goulburn, the Murray, the Mitta Mitta … Continue reading Get orf the road

I stumbled upon an old journal yesterday from Trip 2, Broken Hill, Nov 2012: Lessons learned Face Cleanser Wipes are invaluable both in the car and in the van. We’ve finally learnt how to use the awning properly. We need a new Anderson plug and the lead needs lengthening. Look out for not only kangaroos but suicidal emus, wild goats and lazy lizards. Continue reading Lessons Learned

Woody checked his tow hitch this week and decided that it was looking a little chipped and the tow ball somewhat rusty. He wandered down to our local Autobarn, picked up an aerosol can of black paint and the lad on the checkout asked to see his proof of age. Woody came home fuming “I’m 72!” he said “Does he think I’m going to be tagging trains!” If it was me, I would have thanked him for the compliment. Continue reading #Rusty

Weight is one of the most contentious issues of all. Husbands blame wives for carrying too many clothes and cooking utensils, wives blame husbands for carrying chainsaws, fridges and beer. We know one bloke who lights campfires with a lawn blower. On one trip we carried a seven kilo fold up fireplace half way around Australia and never used it once. The first leg of the trip was during fire ban season which lasts until March 31st in WA. The rest of the trip as we were heading north it was far too hot to even consider a fire. Would … Continue reading Who’s overweight?

There are some gadgets that make life so much easier when caravanning. Many years ago we bought a Trail a Mate jack to replace our dolly wheel. The Trail a Mate uses a hydraulic method so a gentle pumping action easily raises the whole van and the turn of a knob lowers it again with a satisfying whoosh, no more winding and groaning. It can also be used to jack the van up when in a predicament (more about that on another day). Our mate El Prado has looked longingly at his mates Trail a Mate jacks and recently declared … Continue reading It’s a Trail a Mate!

This may seem a little obvious but there are subtle differences when making toast on a caravan and if these rules aren’t adhered to, well one may as well eat rice cakes. When breakfasting on a powered site the first thing the cook must do is remove the smoke alarm and bury it under the doona. No matter how large your caravan is it is still a small box and if a smoke alarm can’t differentiate between a piece of toast and a raging house fire it certainly can’t tell on a caravan. Woody fails this test every morning and … Continue reading How to make toast