The Camping Thread

[slowsnake]

Living life indoors is no ones business, when you live your life in the public domain then it's everyone's business

Especially when they leave their big green bin at home, and turn wherever they camp into their "big green bin"

[prydey]

Originally Posted by slowsnake

Especially when they leave their big green bin at home, and turn wherever they camp into their "big green bin"

That isn't unique to those who camp extravagantly. In fact it's not even unique to camping. That's a human issue.

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by slowsnake

Why is camping so damn complex nowadays, it used to be so simple and cheap!
And that was the whole point, getting away from all the new gadgets at home and simplicity was the key, not any more, when I stopped for a few hrs sleep driving Sydney to Perth on the Nullabor I pulled in at midnight on the edge of the Great Australian Bight, there were 2 camper's there, one had a satellite dish about a metre dia on the ground, held down with sandbags, the other a small dish on top, I got going early, to keep the sun at my back, the sun was rising in the East and I was looking South across this massive ocean, got some good sunrise pics, but the folk in their vans were watching TV? I wondered why they dident stay home and watch TV, stop clogging the roads up, I know there will be opposition to that viewpoint, but you go away to get away from the luxuries of home, isn't that the point of camping

There is a huge difference to people who go short term camping and those who choose to live their lives on the road. (Not just grey nomads) Hence why some are happy to slide a matress/swag in the back with an esky and others want to drag everything around with them.
Same goes for the liveaboard boat people and the weekend /day sailor.

[slowsnake]

Originally Posted by prydey

That isn't unique to those who camp extravagantly. In fact it's not even unique to camping. That's a human issue.

Yours was a "human" question!.....answered humanely,

You asked why folk are so interested in what other folk do with their time?
Because others have to clean up, fix them when they breakdown ( often)
Wonder why they travel around when they don't want to "feel" what's going on around them, the heat, the flies, that's a big question you have asked, it's impossible to answer!

[slowsnake]

Let's give it a miss eh, this is a good thread and very tolerant of everyone's idea of what camping is, 👍

Cheers Billy.

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by slowsnake

Let's give it a miss eh, this is a good thread and very tolerant of everyone's idea of what camping is, 👍

Cheers Billy.

As the Yanks would ask in their campgrounds "you want full hook up or partial."

[FoxtrotGolfXray 5.0]

Well, here's my contribution to this thread. I could post more but I'm posting this from my phone, which I hate.

Bought myself a Skamper Kamper Ranger. It's not exactly what I want but at $5k it will do as I sample the camping lifestyle before investing bigger in something I may not like. This camper has no power on board, so I'm running 240v.

First trip way with it is to Marlo. Catching up with a mate from NSW who I've been trying to see for 4 years.

This is the camper at Marlo behind the tow rig. My mountain bike is in the tray.

Sat on about 95km/h except for hills. Reset the trip meter on the sale side of bairnsdale. Trip computer is reading around the 18l/100km consumption, which I'm pretty happy with given I run about 16 to 17 normally.



Took us a bit of time to get set up yesterday, but that was expected. Came together pretty well really.



So far, everything is working out pretty well. Although it's only early days, I think I'm going to enjoy the camping lifestyle, so it won't be much longer before the camper will be gone and replaced with a new hybrid.

I'll post up some more pics later, if anyone is interested.

[.:4:.]

When i was a kid, when it came to camping. So once or twice a year. My dad had a tent that was the reason why the roof racks were put on the magna safari wagon, and the ef futura wagon. That tent, no joke, was canvas, took 6 to 8 hours to put up and was like a makeshift army barracks. It was big for a tent. 3 rooms, annex all that jazz. But holidays were kind of cut short. A day to put the tent up, a day to put it down.
So two 4 man pop up tents replaced the giant canvas one. Way quicker.
Then dad got jack of camping.
So bought a holiday house on the beach down south, and another in Jindabyne for ski season.
Both have been sold, my dads a little too dead these days.

[FoxtrotGolfXray 5.0]

I forgot to add yesterday a copy of the floor plan of my camper.



My camper has the optional kids room, but I'm not using it this time as its just me and I really didn't need that much space. Nor am I using the walls on the annex, although I did bring them with me just in case.

It's a lot of space, really, for such a compact rig. But, as I said before, and as .:4:. rightly points out, setup and pull down times are pretty heavy. I reckon it took me about 2 hours to get set up.

It's certainly not the rig that you'd head out for a night with.

[b0son]

Originally Posted by prydey

Hopefully in a years time, international borders will open up and the market will ease and I'll find a nice pop top for the 3 of us left.

I predict an absolute glut of camping/caravan gear on the market over the next 2-3 years. People only want to travel here because they cant travel OS, once that changes, a big box collecting dust and tied up dollars becomes unappealing.

One of the things I also a lot see at the moment is every other trailer/4wd has some sort of sticker pointing me to their youtube/instagram. Every man and his dog is trying to get on the content creator bandwagon. While we are stuck at home and want to travel at home, there are a lot of viewers. But there will almost certainly be some rationalisation in that sphere. I'm already seeing a few of the youtube channels I've followed winding down/winding up as they realise it isnt the path to easy money when you max out at 10-20k subs.

With a bit of luck, some of those quiet out of the way places nobody goes to, will once again become that. Right now, even they're packed on anything approaching a holiday.

[slowsnake]

All I can add to this is to make sure on the back of your caravan, mobile home or trailer is to prominently display your CB channel so those behind can talk to you, either to get outta the way, or more importantly something is falling off ya vehicle, could be underneath, and you never know unless others tell you, case in point, I was behind a caravan whose indicators were wired opposite to what he selected, I ended up along side him to warn him, he flipped me the bird, he had a CB aerial but wouldn't answer me, I often wonder how long and how far he went before he killed himself and wife or other road users

[Peuty]

Didn't realise this thread was a thing until just now - which is timely, because I went camping at Double Island point with my brother in his new DMax over the weekend. it was windy, slightly wet, but we still had a great time.

The Izuzu performed admirably. Our setup was nothing fancy at all. A couple of swags, a gas Weber and a 65L Waeco hooked directly to the battery of the DMax.

Untitled by Daniel Peut, on Flickr

Untitled by Daniel Peut, on Flickr

Untitled by Daniel Peut, on Flickr

[Tonz]

nothing romantic about that.

[PG2]

Sorry Guys and Gals for having to post something in this thread.

The first 41 pages of this thread have been about supporting each other and offering each other ideas without judgment.

The thread goes that well and with my very low interest in camping, I have never really had the need to come into this thread.

That is until now...

Everyone will know who I am referring to. Stop offering your BS opinions on topics that you know very little or nothing about. Particularly in threads like this where everyone is so supportive of each other, unless you have something positive to say, don't say anything at all.

For that person who I am referring to, that goes for other threads as well.

[nstg8a]

We go full time on the road in two weeks… can’t wait. Been setting up the coaster and trailer for the last month or so.
Fridge died in the coaster the other day which we were kinda expecting, it’s been pretty unreliable. But we were waiting on a certain 240v fridge to come into stock, but just found out it’s at least another 12/13 weeks away.
So plan d, we went for a 12v upright. Of course most of the ones we wanted were also out of stock. Eventually settled on a brass monkey 90l, it’s not big but it fits well.

We can’t wait to hit the camps, we are set up to be as off grid as possible, with solar on both the bus and the trailer.

Hoping that everyone starts buggering off overseas shortly so things aren’t too crazy lol.

[slowsnake]

Am surprised you don't have a roo bar, anything is better than nothing on a cabover?.....nice van though!

[FTE217]

Originally Posted by Peuty

Didn't realise this thread was a thing until just now - which is timely, because I went camping at Double Island point with my brother in his new DMax over the weekend. it was windy, slightly wet, but we still had a great time.

The Izuzu performed admirably. Our setup was nothing fancy at all. A couple of swags, a gas Weber and a 65L Waeco hooked directly to the battery of the DMax.

imageUntitled by Daniel Peut, on Flickr

imageUntitled by Daniel Peut, on Flickr

imageUntitled by Daniel Peut, on Flickr

haha love it, the must haves, webber/gas, tom sauce, mozzie coils and bottle of scotch ? + dunny rolls !
Those DMax's look ok, how does he rate it ?

[FTE217]

Originally Posted by nstg8a

We go full time on the road in two weeks… can’t wait. Been setting up the coaster and trailer for the last month or so.
Fridge died in the coaster the other day which we were kinda expecting, it’s been pretty unreliable. But we were waiting on a certain 240v fridge to come into stock, but just found out it’s at least another 12/13 weeks away.
So plan d, we went for a 12v upright. Of course most of the ones we wanted were also out of stock. Eventually settled on a brass monkey 90l, it’s not big but it fits well.

We can’t wait to hit the camps, we are set up to be as off grid as possible, with solar on both the bus and the trailer.

Hoping that everyone starts buggering off overseas shortly so things aren’t too crazy lol. image

Enjoy matey, post up updates ok.
Be a while longer before we see many get back to OS trips.

[Peuty]

Originally Posted by FTE217

haha love it, the must haves, webber/gas, tom sauce, mozzie coils and bottle of scotch ? + dunny rolls !
Those DMax's look ok, how does he rate it ?

Yep, nothing fancy when we head out camping, but we still have a great time! As long as we can keep the beers cold that's all that matters

He loves the DMax. It's a mighty upgrade over his old 2004 Courier, so I suppose he would love anything. I've driven it a few times and think it's a nicer car than the Ranger, definitely nicer than the tractor's they call a Hilux. He's put a throttle controller in it to eliminate the dead throttle pedal that cars seem to have these days which made it even nicer to drive.

Had no trouble whatsoever in the sand. We have taken it to the Glasshouse Mountain mud tracks a few times too and for a stock 4x4 it performed very well. It has a factory diff locker too.

[FTE217]

I'm with you, a less is more kind of a approach, saves time unpacking/packing and cleaning.
Oh from Courier to current gens 4x4's chalk n cheese he'd be loving it.
My tractor is the Hilux lol.....previous gen.
One thing is for sure imo if your hols are outdoors be it bush/beach can't beat having a 4x4.
I love hitting the beachs and dunes - such fun and the cool ocean breeze.

[FoxtrotGolfXray 5.0]

Not so much camping per se, but more so what you do whilst camping, I went for a kayak this morning on the Snowy River.

Was a foggy morning, so still and quiet. Ended up going on to the Corringle Slips first for a bit of a bo peep as a mate had stayed at the camp grounds there a few months ago.

Then headed up to the mouth of the river and got out at the west bank, which there wouldn't be too many people that could say they've been to.

Covered just over 8km all up. Had a great time.

[dreew]

I am into preparing for my trip too

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by FoxtrotGolfXray 5.0

Not so much camping per se, but more so what you do whilst camping, I went for a kayak this morning on the Snowy River.

Was a foggy morning, so still and quiet. Ended up going on to the Corringle Slips first for a bit of a bo peep as a mate had stayed at the camp grounds there a few months ago.

Then headed up to the mouth of the river and got out at the west bank, which there wouldn't be too many people that could say they've been to.

Covered just over 8km all up. Had a great time.

image

image

image

I've only ever seen the Snowy at Dalgety.... it's a bit bigger down your end

[FoxtrotGolfXray 5.0]

Originally Posted by GasoLane

I've only ever seen the Snowy at Dalgety.... it's a bit bigger down your end

When did you see 'my end'???

Yes, it's quiet broad, but I was surprised at how shallow it was. Towards the mouth, I was roughly half way between the banks, and if would have been lucky to have been 2ft deep.

[dreew]

I have plan to make new camping trip and have already found all needed gear for myself browsed many camping shops like everest I bought tent with footptint. Because some tents come with a footprint to protect the tent floor from the ground, keeping the interior nice and dry. If your tent doesn’t have one, use a tarp.

[FoxtrotGolfXray 5.0]

My time at Marlo has nearly come to an end, as I'm heading home tomorrow. I've had a great time and would love to come back again.

My friends departed this morning, so I had the day to myself. As I'm here alone, I don't like heading out on the kayak in case something goes awry and no one knows coz no one is expecting me back. So, I decided to go for a ride on the mountain bike to Cape Conran and back, a distance of about 50km given the bit of sightseeing I did along the way.



A couple of things I'd forgotten about these sorts of rides: head winds suck, tail winds are great on the outward leg but are not so good when you have to make the return leg, and no matter if you're wearing padded pants, that long in the saddle hurts.

Oh, and I need to lube the bike chain, too.

My poor Falcon ute is the odd one out around here, with it being the only non-suv/4wd vehicle I've seen here all week. And there's a LOT of grey nomads that have invested in their mcmansion on wheels.



This guy was next to me. Ex farmer who sold up, bought his rig and now spends part of the year in Queensland during cane harvest season and the rest of the year wherever his heart desires. All on his own. His next stop was Mallacoota for a week, and then no other commitments/plans until late March in Bernagui. Some serious coin invested there. Both purchased brand new.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by FoxtrotGolfXray 5.0

My time at Marlo has nearly come to an end, as I'm heading home tomorrow. I've had a great time and would love to come back again.

My friends departed this morning, so I had the day to myself. As I'm here alone, I don't like heading out on the kayak in case something goes awry and no one knows coz no one is expecting me back. So, I decided to go for a ride on the mountain bike to Cape Conran and back, a distance of about 50km given the bit of sightseeing I did along the way.

image

A couple of things I'd forgotten about these sorts of rides: head winds suck, tail winds are great on the outward leg but are not so good when you have to make the return leg, and no matter if you're wearing padded pants, that long in the saddle hurts.

Oh, and I need to lube the bike chain, too.

My poor Falcon ute is the odd one out around here, with it being the only non-suv/4wd vehicle I've seen here all week. And there's a LOT of grey nomads that have invested in their mcmansion on wheels.

image

This guy was next to me. Ex farmer who sold up, bought his rig and now spends part of the year in Queensland during cane harvest season and the rest of the year wherever his heart desires. All on his own. His next stop was Mallacoota for a week, and then no other commitments/plans until late March in Bernagui. Some serious coin invested there. Both purchased brand new.

image

Padding in bike pants isn't all created equal. My bibs are up around $200 ea and good for 6hrs in the saddle. Having said that, if you haven't ridden for a while it does take a while to get your 'bike butt' back

I like looking around campgrounds at all the different set ups. Certainly some flash combo's out there. The beauty is, resale on vans is very good. So once you have finished your travelling around and ready to settle down, you can sell the van pretty easily and get a big chunk of your money back.

[Tonz]

will resale on caravans be still good in 2 years?
I predict omce overseas travel opens up easily sales of 'vans will crash big time

[prydey]

Originally Posted by Tonz

will resale on caravans be still good in 2 years?
I predict omce overseas travel opens up easily sales of 'vans will crash big time

Sure, they'll drop a bit, but resale has always been good on vans, even before the pandemic.

[b0son]

Originally Posted by prydey

Sure, they'll drop a bit, but resale has always been good on vans, even before the pandemic.

There was never a mass exodus of people from caravanning. It remains to be seen whether that happens post-covid.