Getting Organised to head off - advice welcome.

maanpa · Member

Getting Organised to head off - advice welcome.

hako · Guru

We're also going early in the new year, maybe March. My feelings about it is to first cover every angle regarding the reliability of the towing vehicle and the caravan - make sure as far as possible that neither will give trouble. Then I'll start to think about all the little handy bits and pieces that possibly you can you can pick up on the way as you need them. Every time we go away for a short holiday, when we return we throw out more unused "must have" items. So our thoughts are really based on the KISS principle.
I'll be interested to see how this thread pans out.
Regards
Denis

pambaz · Senior Member

As Denis said keep it simple. It depends how long you will be on the road. For our first trip we took far too many clothes. After a few trips I now have it down to a fine art,clothes for 2 seasons (if needed) and just minimal stuff as you can wash it.

Go on a shake down trip for a week or so and you will soon work out what you do and don't need in the van.

Have a good tool box , camps bible, couple torches, first aid kit, rain coats, umbrellas,sewing kit and be prepared to make some good friends and have a wonderful time.

Pam

Rip and Rosie · Guru

We have ditched the tv, and use ipads for everything, including foxtel. We use Telstra mobile broadband, prepaid, and Telstra mobile phone, which give the best coverage Australia wide.

We have also ditched paper maps and guide books, using Wikicamps and a few other useful aps. In addition, e-readers instead of books and magazines.

My best advice is NEVER travel without adequate insurance and NRMA top cover ..... And a credit card! All the rest is extra.

maanpa · Member

Thanks Denis for the info. We have only a small golf Tourer & space may be a problem. Like the KISS principal myself

regards

Joy

maanpa · Member

Hiya Pam

Your advice is great. Was thinking about clothes etc. What is the camp bible?

We plan to be away for about 12 months. Don't know what to do with my car though. Sell or not!

Thanks

Joy

maanpa · Member

Thanks Rosie

You have given me something to think about with the phones - under contract with Vodaphone at the moment mmmmmm!

Insurance & Credit Card (my best friend) all good. May have to get a bit more tech savvy I think.

Thanks Joy

pambaz · Senior Member

maanpa wrote:

Hiya Pam
Your advice is great. Was thinking about clothes etc. What is the camp bible?
We plan to be away for about 12 months. Don't know what to do with my car though. Sell or not!
Thanks
Joy

Camps 6 or 7 but if you are set up with an IPad or smart phone Wikicamps is good as recommended by RipandRosie.

Pam

oldbobsbus · Guru

Without a doubt a trip to anywhere for a couple of weeks would be a good way to test your preparation..
We have made more changes than you can point a stick at since we first thought we were all set up and ready for anything..
We don't worry too much about camping alone, we usually make 4.00pm our cut off time for driving and try to find somewhere to pull up then, we prefer to use roadside rest areas but if there isn't one around we pull up in roadside gravel dumps and often we aren't there long before someone else comes along, mind you we travel in a converted bus and only have to jump into the drivers seat and drive off if needed..
and yes one of the Camps books is a must we have Camps 6 and it is now our bible once we learned to read it..lol..

We have also changed rigs 4 times and we are now back using the bus we converted 3 back as I have always liked it. blankstare

-- Edited by oldbobsbus on Thursday 7th of November 2013 01:35:57 PM

maanpa · Member

What is camp 6?

That's the trouble with a camper trailer - you can't just jump in the back.

oldbobsbus · Guru

maanpa wrote:
What is camp 6?
That's the trouble with a camper trailer - you can't just jump in the back.

Here is a link to the publishers site but they are available just about everywhere and Camps 6 can be picked up for less than $30 if you keep your eyes out

http://www.wanderingoz.com.au/shop/category/books

As Camps 7 is now out lots of places like bookstores and newsagents and tourist Info centers are selling off their Camps 6 at giveaway prices..

pambaz · Senior Member

Try NRMA or your equivalent, camping stores, internet such as EBay anywhere usually where they sell books. It gives you free camps, national parks and dump points all around Australia. Best thing for travellers. We have Wikicamps too on the IPad .

Pam

oldbobsbus · Guru

pambaz wrote:
We have Wikicamps too on the IPad .

Pam

You must be younger than us Pam..lol..

we like to be able to flick through a book to find what we are looking for all these new fangled things are to much for us .. smile

jules47 · The Happy Helper

For the unitiated - it is a book called "Camps Australia Wide" - 7 - (the lastest issue) - available from RAC stores, bookstores, some camping stores etc - or online - just google Camps Australia Wide, and you will find it. Excellent publication - well worth the money - maps, with campsites listed in state, with a short description of camp, what is available - ie. water, toilets, etc.

Just do it!!!! You will love it!

retiree · Veteran Member

hi jules when we were near Caloundra and rang camps people and were able to buy camp 7 for 50.00 direct from them suppose be a second but we cannot find anything wrong with it also they printed latest update from when camp 7 came out to when we purchased in sept for free highly recommend cherylle

jules47 · The Happy Helper

It is indeed a good publication - and well worth the cost when you see the price of caravan parks.

Cherylle - are you heading to Victoria - coming to Greens??

maanpa · Member

OK thanks everyone. IT IS A BOOK!!!

We bought Boiling Billy's camping guide to Australia which seems pretty good

grae and deb · Senior Member

hi maanpa we bought the billy series on tassie , great guide , camps 6 is good too ,do some digging of old c and m dvd ,s someone here may remember the issue or no. they did a few minutes on one dvd on what to take with you , a roll of tie wire , duct tape a few i remmeber , above all things take your time , remember there is no rush , and above all else kiss principle is absolute
enjoy your travels

deverall11 · Guru

Maanpa, we have been on the road for a little over two years and a day doesn't go by without missing some essential tools that we did not pack. Depending on how long you are planning to be away for, a good toolkit may be of help at times.

Larry

Allan Marais · Member

Hi there , we are planning to head off in January, with our stopover at Hathead. We have been planning for some and now only travel will be the test.. We have tried to use a bit of advice that was given sometime ago, ... Make everything has a dual purpose otherwise ditch it.. I tried suggesting to my navigator that she only take clothes that she can carry I.e. Holiday overseas idea.. See you on the road..

Dougwe · Chief one feather

I have only been back at base camp for a few weeks after being out in the playground most of the year, I did manage to call into base camp a couple of times for a couple of days at a time for various reasons so decided to go through everything that travelled with me, anything I didn't use in the last 12 months has now come out of the Avan and boy there was a lot, cloths, I never carry a lot anyway, 3 of everything, 2 get used then washed while using the 3rd.

Welcome Allan Marais, enjoy here and out in the playground but please,

mongrel · Guru

Welcome Allan from another Alan.Hope you enjoy our forum and all it has to offer..Best wishes for a safe New Year..

native pepper · Senior Member

maanpa wrote:
Thanks Rosie
You have given me something to think about with the phones - under contract with Vodaphone at the moment mmmmmm!
Insurance & Credit Card (my best friend) all good. May have to get a bit more tech savvy I think.
Thanks Joy

It may be wise to check around before switching your phone to telstra, we have smart phones which use amysim (optus network) and carried a telstra phone for when out of range. Over the last 2 years we've noticed out optus phones have coverage just about everywhere telstra is and in places we can't get telstra. So this year we ditched telstra and now only have amysim, saved us a fortune over this year, compared to the rip of telstra is. We use vast for tv or an antenna for local tv

Hendo · Guru

As far as clothes go, our moto is, one on, one off, one in the wash

native pepper · Senior Member

Hendo wrote:
As far as clothes go, our moto is, one on, one off, one in the wash

I start off with 2 sets of clothes, but by the time we get home, need a trailer to carry them, after the girls have op shopped for a few months.

Don't know if anyone has mentioned it, but make sure you carry fan belts and cooling system hoses and gel pipe tape, it's brilliant if in a fix with a broken hose. Also carry a tube of radiator and fuel tank repair, you can use it on just about anything for sealing. We have a bus and the only thing I don't carry, is a welder and am looking at a TIG for on the road.

oldbobsbus · Guru

native pepper wrote:
Hendo wrote:
As far as clothes go, our moto is, one on, one off, one in the wash

I start off with 2 sets of clothes, but by the time we get home, need a trailer to carry them, after the girls have op shopped for a few months.

Don't know if anyone has mentioned it, but make sure you carry fan belts and cooling system hoses and gel pipe tape, it's brilliant if in a fix with a broken hose. Also carry a tube of radiator and fuel tank repair, you can use it on just about anything for sealing. We have a bus and the only thing I don't carry, is a welder and am looking at a TIG for on the road.

Thats good advice fan belts and radiator hoses aren't always to find for YOUR motor..

As for a welder I would think that a TIG (Tungsten Inert Gas) wouldn't be very practical as you would also need to carry a heap of consumables and also a couple of bottles of inert gas.. Even a MIG (Metal Inert Gas) wouldn't be the best choice as it also requires a bottle of gas to make a decent weld..

When I go on long trips and I take the car behind the bus I throw in the 150amp Inverter Power source which has got me out of trouble a couple of time..

I just take a small pack of assorted rods, it is only light and also small but it has lots of grunt..

native pepper · Senior Member

oldbobsbus wrote:
native pepper wrote:
Hendo wrote:
As far as clothes go, our moto is, one on, one off, one in the wash

I start off with 2 sets of clothes, but by the time we get home, need a trailer to carry them, after the girls have op shopped for a few months.

Don't know if anyone has mentioned it, but make sure you carry fan belts and cooling system hoses and gel pipe tape, it's brilliant if in a fix with a broken hose. Also carry a tube of radiator and fuel tank repair, you can use it on just about anything for sealing. We have a bus and the only thing I don't carry, is a welder and am looking at a TIG for on the road.

Thats good advice fan belts and radiator hoses aren't always to find for YOUR motor..

As for a welder I would think that a TIG (Tungsten Inert Gas) wouldn't be very practical as you would also need to carry a heap of consumables and also a couple of bottles of inert gas.. Even a MIG (Metal Inert Gas) wouldn't be the best choice as it also requires a bottle of gas to make a decent weld..
When I go on long trips and I take the car behind the bus I throw in the 150amp Inverter Power source which has got me out of trouble a couple of time..
I just take a small pack of assorted rods, it is only light and also small but it has lots of grunt..

I use gasless MIG wire for most things and TIG does a nice job with stick welding, a mate carries one with him as he is full time on the road and has a very small gas bottle he owns and carries. Could take our MIG, but only time it would have been useful was when we came across a van which had broken their chassis on a pretty rough road.

oldbobsbus · Guru

native pepper wrote:

I use gasless MIG wire for most things and TIG does a nice job with stick welding, a mate carries one with him as he is full time on the road and has a very small gas bottle he owns and carries. Could take our MIG, but only time it would have been useful was when we came across a van which had broken their chassis on a pretty rough road.

I think you are getting your welders mixed up..

I know there are some really good little Inverter Power Sources about that are multi function ie-:- MIG< TIG< MMA< PLASMA and I am guessing you would then use the MMA Manual Metal Arc) function of it to do your stick welding..

TIG is a highly specalised welding process that requires Argon gas and or an Argon Co2 mix gas to weld using Tungsten rod working in an artificial atmosphere to heat the metal and the filler rod to weld and would always be carried our in an area that isn't subject to air movement (wind).. and is mostly used to weld Stainless and Aluminum, very few use it to weld steel as the MIG or MMA are far quicker and easier..