After the weekend away....van still remains unnamed.....thinking of "George".......nothing wrong with a few royal connections.
The Van (hereafter known as "George") is a '96 Goldstrem Goldwing...
He towed beautifully. We might have had an easier set-up at the campsite though if we'd remembered to bring the written instructions. We found levelling to be the trickiest part....align top of door with frame just stonkered us....and when we were just about up in the tree tops, we decided to drop all the "legs" and start again. Lowering the jockey wheel did the trick.
A few of the nylon zippers were missing some teeth and therefore couldn't work....don't know what we can do about that.....but still enough working to get a good breeze. Awning was fiddley, but bed flies were OK. Solar powered him up and put on fridge the night before we left....but obviously too early??? as no power left in the morning. Maybe take esky till we get to camp......Solar worked beautifully once at campsite....however solar butterflies went into hibernation. The CD set up in the van is magnificent...better than at home.
The Camp- Smoky Cape Campground, Hat Head National Park, South West Rocks area. (Will truncate sentences cause I know this info's in the wrong spot but sort of goes with George's first outing with our family.)
Lush coastal rainforest next to surf beach...beautiful. (For swimming, I'd probably go to South West Rocks' beach.)
Clean drop toilets with plenty of toilet paper...I was impressed!
Kindling there, (but take a bag of wood with you)
$5 each adult and $7 vehicle (daily) Ranger looks like Santa Claus (Has to be worth a few points)
We saw whales' blowholes and a huge pod of porpoise surfing the waves
A possum joined us after dinner and kangaroos hop nonchalantly around.
Above our table, a family of tawny frogmouths snuggled all day
People
I made the lovely lone camper near us possibly the worst meal he's ever had in his life
Two NZ campers might come to have a home cooked meal in the next couple of days...(Little do they know!)
So life is pleasant down there ......it's not too bad at home either. The photos are very ordinary....but will give a rough idea of George and family at Smoky Cape.
Well done Helen.
Hope you and "George" continue to be happy together.
I thought "Camilla" might be a good name for our old girl, been round the block a few times, multiple owners, been tarted up in recent years, looks good (if you don't look to close) and not everyone loves her but she does the job and we're happy with her.
Hi Badgerhei and All it's that awning that hang off the side of van that bring me undone 18 months into owning the van still can't get my head around it.
So now I don't even blink, I sing out in a not to loud a voice I have left the instruction at home now we are really in trouble, there is always some one comes and helps. After 45 years of tarping trucks and camping is not a problem, can get a tent up quickly even if I have never seen it before.
No Vic...it's the one thing that doesn't work on the fridge....but Tom said we should have run it on gas for a few hours before we left, then turned it to 12 V as we left and our battery would have lasted til we got to a campsite. Thanks for the advice Vic, it's good to have people with knowledge so willing to share.
Cheers
Helen
Radar...the only problem with the awning was that due to forgetting the instructions......we wound "George" up too far, and then it made sliding the rope through rather difficult. I'm sure we'll get better at it. Tom with his male pride seemingly hanging by a thread, wouldn't even lower "George" down, let alone call out for help....tee hee
Are you able to run 240V to the van from home a day or two before you leave with the fridge on? 
