Looking back on a few of those priceless moments from 2023 Grenfell, NSW: Woody walks over to Spannerman coffee shop and returns with a cappuccino instead of a long black. He’s blowing steam out his ears when a car zooms … Continue reading It’s the Journey that’s Priceless
January 2022 Have you noticed the number of houses that have a caravan in the yard? They’re not so noticeable in the cities where people often store their vans at specialised storage yards, but out in the countryside where nearly … Continue reading Caravans in Backyards
I’ve often mentioned in these pages that on our very first freedom camp foray, the first person that we met turned out to be a member of the caravan club that we obliviously later joined. We had travelled many thousands of kilometres with our mate Veewee before realising through Facebook that she was a friend of Woody’s cousin, then discovered that she and Woody were distantly related by marriage and have since found another genealogical link. I’m constantly amazed at how many people we meet on the road who have in some way crossed our paths in life before. There … Continue reading Serendipitous moments and six degrees of separation
On every trip there comes a time when I get the sudden feeling in the pit of my stomach ‘that’s it we’ve reached the turning point’. That knowledge that from here on everything is ‘on the way home’. Continue reading The Turning Point
One of the strangest things about caravanning is that each place feels different. Even when you’ve closed the blinds and locked the door at night, something in your sub-conscience knows that you’re in a different place from last night. Is it the smell or sounds barely audible? Is it the level of the van that almost always varies? Is it different insects making tiny sounds or something slightly climatic? Whatever combination it is, those changes do become pleasantly welcoming and addictive. Continue reading Something in the air
To survive, most country towns need just one point of difference. One often seemingly crazy idea can save a community. It may be a different crop like drying kelp from the ocean and exporting it to the other side of … Continue reading Every town needs an angle
I’m surprised at the amount of wool cleaning we’ve come across in our travels. In Mudgee, NSW the museum guide showed me a box that the poor old sheep would be put into. Only his head would be poking out of the wooden box while he was rigorously scrubbed of dirt and burrs. In Blackall, Qld we toured the Wool Scour a building where fleeces were washed and cleaned by machine. Thankfully without the sheep in them. In Robe, SA we camped beside Lake Fellmongery, a place where wool was scoured and where wool was removed from sheep skins. Not … Continue reading Washing Woollies
It sounds simple doesn’t it, but now we realise that we’ve gone 3½ times around the equator. In these Covid times I know a lot of people are thinking about caravanning and whether it is a travel option for them … Continue reading Let’s go caravanning!
Feb 2020, Colac, Vic Continue reading A labour of love
Life on the road is as social as you want it to be. We find that during our winter trips we often catch up with friends who’ve moved north for good. We also run into mates who are on a different timetable and maybe heading south as we’re going north or vice versa. That planned catch up over a bowl of noodles in Glen Waverley becomes Korean in Canberra instead. Then there are the folks that we’ve met during our travels and who are as peripatetic as we are, if we’re lucky we can meet up in a little town … Continue reading The Social Set
itchingforhitching 