Camper Trailer Diaries - Winter Wonders
Coolendel
It's so good, we went back : )Fri 31st July 2009
Well we looked at the forecast and with sunny skies, we decided a spot of winter camping was in order. Zuz had uni around midday so that gave me time to go and buy a new battery for the camper trailer. A 100Ah deep cycle sucker should do the trick. Also bought some new 12V LED light so we can see what we are doing. As we had the power we also packed a little 12v fridge/cooler that we had to see how it goes. All in the name of trialling for a bigger trip of course. This camping thing is all starting to get very Taj Mahal.
As soon as Zuz came home, it was a Ferrari like pit stop change of tow bars and hooking up the trailer, working out how to close the cap on the water tank and we were away under fine skies and all be it half an hour earlier than planned : D
Our
destination was again Coolendel, after we enjoyed it so much the last time and the fact that they have a big pile of firewood and it is the middle of winter. A good trip down back along the dirt and we paid our fees and decided on a different spot from last time in the adjacent field. We dropped the trailer off and manually turned it around for the correct aspect. This was to be the first time we had set the trailer up with out the threat or rain or in drizzle. It all went easily to plan in good time. We seem to be getting the hang of it. The only issue was that we had no power in the trailer. Arrg, a new battery and NO power, what the? As it was getting dark, this was becoming an issue. In the end, I moved the battery around off the wires in the box and that seemed to fix it. Phew….now we had light. Hooked the lights up inside and over the kitchen.
Now it was time to look after the heater. The car was emptied and I took a trip down to the woodpile to get some wood. Came back with a shite load of wood. Now it was time to get out the new axe and start carving. Ohhh, very nice. Cuts like a knife though butter. It was not long before we had a nice pile of wood in the fire circle, a dash of metho, and a flick of the match, which seemed to turn that heater on with gusto.
In between getting the rest of the beds ready, cooking toasted s/w for dinner, chopping wood in the dark, warming up next to the fire and gazing at the incredible amount of stars it was a nice and relaxing evening. There was even the odd strange noise that we could put down to something flying overhead. We think it was an owl as later we were serenaded by the sounds of what we thought was a barking owl. Yep, gets its name by sounding like a dog. A very small yappy dog that did not shut up.
Sat 1st of August 2009
It was a pretty chilli night. Even employed the beanie to sleep with. Maybe only having the sleeping bags as throws over the top of us did not help either. So decided to go for a shower to try and warm up. Good in theory. But the bathroom is very well ventilated from the outside shall we say and it was fine whilst under the warm water. But after finishing the shower and getting dry, I pretty much ended up as cold as before it all started.
Back to the trailer for plan B, warm up from the inside. So I made a cuppa and was able to use our ice cold milk. On inspection of the trailer it was noticed that the 2 side covers next to our bed were rolled up. Well that’s going to help with the warmth, NOT. Then I took the opportunity to grab the camera and go see what birdies I could find. The usual suspects of wrens, robins and honeyeaters. Then some nice chirpy thornbills came around for a visit. The wattle trees were in full bloom and not much green could be seen.
The rest of the morning involved fiddling with the solar panel, testing out the inverter and watching the boys play in the open field. Throwing balls, playing golf and we even had a go at some Frisbee. So that meant I chased a lot of wayward Frisbees as every one else learnt how to improve on accuracy. There were a few close calls, but no injuries sustained. The boys and myself also went looking for some ‘cooking’ sticks that we could use to toast our marshmallows. You would think that with so much bush around it would be easy to find. Well 15 minutes later we returned with 3 sticks that would do the job fine. We had a resident wombat today. He spent all day within 10 m of the trailer. Would eat and graze for a bit. Then lie down and have a nap. Gee what a tough life. Other visitors included a kookaburra, which also bought a plethora of other cute birdies trying to chase him off. Sure beats chasing them the photograph them.
As we had used a fair bit of wood last night, it was time to go and stock up. So we all went down to the wood pile. Child labour was employed and the boys helped load up the car as I was selecting the prime cuts. It was pretty much the same when we got back to the camp. The boys dragged all the wood out of the car and then into a pile on the ground. Then all that wood had to be chopped. At least today is was still light when we chopped the wood. First I had a go and then Zuz stepped up to the mark to continue the onslaught. In the end we had 3 piles of different size wood with enough kindling and small stuff already for tomorrows fire as well.
We stacked the wood and paper in the fire ring. Not that it needed it a helpful dose of metho was applied. Add match and up she went. We were away really quick on this one. Then out came the marshmallows as an entrée. The boys sat there putting their marshmallows on the stick and cooking them in the fire. They were delicious. Then we set about cooking the main course. After getting some foil from the kiosk, we wrapped several spuds and I threw them around the fire.
Then Zuz decided the spuds would be better buried in the coals whilst the fire kept ticking along. After some discussion on the method to cook the spuds, the Irish heritaged one lost out and Zuz got her way. To cut a longer story short, we got the blackened bricks/potatoes out of the fire and were able to scoop a few teaspoons of edible material out of the middle of each spud. Very nice, but not the best of yields. There could have even been an I told you so thrown in for good measure. So more toasted sangers to fill up the tummy. We enjoyed a nice chilled bottle of wine to go with it. We also had to evict a little marsupial from the kitchen, who we suspect spent last night and the day in the confines of the trailer.
The boys went to bed and the warmth of the fire was enjoyed. The stars were amazing. Had a go at photographing some star trials. But this failed due to poor technique. At least I know for next time.
Tonight the plan was to zip ourselves into the sleeping bags to retain some warmth. This seemed to work a treat and a toasty sleep was had.
Sun 2nd of August 2009
We actually had to wake to the alarm this morning as we had places to be. We had to duck back up home for a Christening. So this morning the shower was for cleaning and re-humanising purposes. I learnt not to turn the hot water off until I had dried myself from my previous experience. Worked a treat. Once back at the camp, it was time to make some cuppas and get some pancakes going as Zuz then went for her shower. But, we were not the only ones who felt like pancakes. It seemed that the fact we were having pancakes had got around to the whole peacock population. We had 17 peacocks crash the party and harass us for their share. Much to their annoyance, they only got to watch. The funny thing was as we were leaving, we had 1 pancake left and threw it out the window. Nothing like seeing 16 peacock chasing one. A very funny sight.
So up through the windy dirt road we went to church. The christening was as christenings go. Then a quick run home to pick up some medicine, Ryan’s giraffe and the bird book I had forgotten. Also need more spuds and got some Kranskys too for the fire tonight. We had the christening lunch at a Spanish café. Wow, the food was sensational and very plentiful. We left very satisfied and equally chokers. That’s all we needed, another “have to go to” restaurant.
After a good feed and a good arvo, it was time to head back bush. The rush was on to get back before we lost the light to get the fire going. It was like I was possessed by a Finnish rally driver. A few slides around the dirt corners and the boys thought it was a ball as Zuz was hanging on to the Jesus handles for grim life. In the end we made it back in a sensational time and I have to say it was the best fun I have had in the Outback.
We got all the stuff out of the car and zuz and the boys went for a quick run to the woodpile to get a bit of extra wood. Meanwhile, I got the fire started. Three out of three. It’s all too easy when you have dry wood and the right gear. Even though we were stuffed from lunch, we were doing the potatoes my way tonight. Would take a bit longer, but would be able to eat the whole lot and not play cricket with em. Meanwhile a couple of the Kranskys were cooked on the fire as well. It was a bit breezy so the fire was going off as we kept chucking the wood on. After the prescribed time the spuds were lifted out of the fire and were well worth the wait. All 24 hours of it.
On the animal front, tonight we saw a baby wombat that was a fair bit less brave than the adults and a numbat cruising around the campsite.
Mon 3rd of August 2009
This morning was not as cold as previous 2 nights. But it had become a little overcast. Well the peacocks must not have liked watching us eat pancakes yesterday morning as they were nowhere to be see today. Pity that as we put 2 bottles of pancake mix through the stove. One normal, one chocolate whilst enjoying our cup of Swiss coffee.
Birdies were real quite and not many around this morning. The boys ran around like knuckleheads, throwing balls and Frisbees while Zuz and I very slowly and leisurely packed up. The plan was to leave by 12:30 at the latest, in the end we pulled out at high noon for a relaxing trip home and back to work on night shift.