Camper Trailer Diaries - The Maiden Voyage
Huskison
Thur 30th April 2009
The day of the maiden voyage. It was a quick trip to the RTA to transfer the rego (thieving ****S) and pick up some last minute stuff from the camping store.
Inside the trailer was all ready packed after our trial backyard sleep over, so all that was left to do was put the clothes / toys and food in. You think with so much room this would be easy. Yes and no. There are way too many permutations of how to pack what you’ve got. Even threw in an empty esky to see what we could get and to also fill up the space. Sure it will take a few packs to get this right.
Then, time to hook up and back it out from the back yard. All way too easy considering there must only be 30cm of clearance when going past the house. Bailed the boys into the car and backed her onto the road. We were off. Well, sort of. Got to Dapto and realised we forgot to fill the water tank, so a quick return home to grab a hose and give the trailer a drink. Now we were off.
The trip down was drama free, fuel consumption was understandably through the roof and the car managed rather well. Made it to Huski in good time and paid our fees for 3 nights before having open slather at whichever site we wanted. Picked our site (No 7 for future reference) Moved the trailer into a rough position and then tried to manhandle it into the final position (some 6 foot away). After getting the jockey wheel bogged in some sand, we decided next time we would take the extra time with the car to get it into the right position. 
We were going to set the video up for the unfolding, but slight drizzle put a stake through that plan. Down went the mats and out popped the tent from the trailer. The whole process was pretty smooth and stress / disagreement free. Not as polished as I am sure we will get. But, quick and easy none the less. The bunks were set up for the boys and as you would expect, both wanted the top bunk. A diplomatic solution of taking turns was reached and ratified by the boys.
Dinner was too easy with the kitchen set up. Not having to rumble through bags to get crockery and cutlery. Plenty of working room for food prep. The water pump is a godsend. For the record toasted sangers were on the menu.
Not long after that, as it was dark the boys wanted to go to bed in the bunk, so off they went. If we could only harness and bottle that keenness to go to bed we would be millionaires. Then it was relaxing for us and marveling at the new acquisition and the stars before a relatively early night.
Fri 1st of May 2009
Although the night was pretty chilly, a good sleep was had by all. Getting up and throwing the kettle on for the obligatory cuppu was too easy as the sun was peeking over the horizon. Not long after that, and a few photos in the early morning light the boys wanted their pancakes. In the good old days a bottle of pancake mix would feed us all. Not so any more. Just enough for the boys.
Before we knew it, it was time for Zuz to commute back to uni and pick up a few things from home, namely a bigger blanket for us and take back a broken chair and swap it for a new one.
So it was just the boys for most of the day. We started off riding our bikes around. But then became an exercise bike session as the boys would find a place where the training wheels would sit and cause the back wheel to spin. This amused the boys for quite some time.
But the novelty eventually wore off and the playground request came up. Why Ben finds it so amusing to stand at the bottom of the slippery dip as Ryan heads down at a great rate of knots at him has got me buggered. But they had a ball so who can begrudge them?
After a drink and a little rest we decided to go fishing. A quick walk up to the office and the boys chose worms as the bait of choice. I grabbed the chairs and rods and off to the jetty we went. We caught lots of seaweed fish and lost a few hooks in the process. As I was sick of re-rigging, I made the call the move to the bank and cast into sandy areas. The fish were not hungry at all, and after an hour or so of no bites the boys decided enough was enough.
So after some more bike riding on the spot, we decided we would go feed the seagulls. This also gave me a chance to practice some action photography.
By this time Zuz had returned, but minus a chair. So it was off to Bunning’s in Nowra with the boys to get a chair. So more time for me to relax before zuz returned with chair and some firewood.
After collecting some more smaller firewood around the campsite, we tried to start the fire. Finally got the fire going, but the firewood was pretty wet. Took lots of effort to keep it going and in the end she petered out. Hmmm, no paper left, no metho, wet wood. Did not look good. But as the French dude two sites up had a fire, I could not give up. So I raided a few dead she-oak branches split up some more kindling. Finally got the sucker going, primal urge satisfied, but it was hard work keeping it going. I reckon I was hotter through fanning the fire than from the fire itself. After enjoying the fire with some wine and a visit from the friendly possums it was time for bed.
Sat 2nd of May 2009
Yet another early start with a nice sunrise and a nice cup of Swiss coffee. Boys ordered pancakes again. It was a slow morning trying to teach the boys how to throw a Frisbee. I think Ryan must have got the hang of it as he collected Ben squarely in the ear. Another trip to the playground and more feasts for the ducks and seagulls.
A trip up to the office for papers, ice creams and a chat to the Corella nearly turned painful for Ben. As he was heading up the road full tilt on his bike trying to get away from Dad, he was looking at Dad and failed to notice the boom gate directly in front of him right at head height. Much screaming at him later and he turned in time, saw it and tried to stop, duck and dismount the bike at the same time. Now that would have been a funniest home video : )
We decided to go for a bit of a trip and only managed to decide to go into Huskison. We could not resist the bakery. Zuz had a spicy lentil pie. Hmmm, Danger. Boys had cupcakes and only took a couple of bites. What the? Then the boys played at the playground and watched the whale watching boat go out. Benny took spill of the year off the climbing equipment, but soon enough got back on the horse.
Then on a tip from the campground we went to the Lady Denham museum to feed the fish. They have an enclosed dry dock that ain’t dry no more with heaps of huge fish swimming around that you can feed. Another option is to try and take the fish out for a fine of $22 000. Ouch. That would buy a lot at the fish market. But some of these fish were huge! Then we walked out onto a boardwalk through the mangrove where the boys were mesmerised by the crabs. Then it was back to the campground. The boys decided to splash around in the sand at low tide in their gumboots after tying to explain the concept of tides to Ryan.
Cooked up a feast of pumpkin soup for dinner, Ben screamed down the campground as we took him for a shower. Then we let them watch a DVD as they went to sleep.
Sun 3rd of May 2009
Boys were up very early and raided our bed and as the mist was on the water for sunrise, I was off with the camera. Took some nice shots and came back to the boys having noodles for breaky ( run out of pancake mixes). As we had a birthday party to attend at 3:00pm we had to slowly pack up and head for home. The boys headed for the playground and also managed to amuse themselves as we were packing.
Seemed very easy to pack up, not rushed and far less work than packing up a tent and throwing everything in a trailer. More combinations tried for the back section of the trailer. Will eventually find the best way. Seemed to take longer than I would have thought, but put that down to some trial and error.
We left the campground at around 12ish, had a good run home where the car seemed to perform even better than on the way down.