I first started tenting, and staying in caravan parks
With young children at the time, I picked the caravan parks with amusements for the kids
2 tents, one for us, and one for the kiddies
3 am one morning, I could hear "bounce, bounce, and kiddies laughter", it was my kiddies on the trampoline
I then progressed to caravans, and set them out the best I could, to be off grid
Towing the caravan, the cat had to be restrained on the rear seat of the car
We progressed to what I have in my Avatar, as my wife wanted something, so that the cat could move around, as we travelled
It's so true and thanks for your reply .. all of us have seen change in our lives and all stamped with our own choices.
Once you get the 'nomadic' bug in the system however, it seems to stay with you ..
In my case, my wife passed away in 2003. At that time, I hadn't even considered life as a Grey Nomad. We were both still active and hadn't really planned the retirement phase we assumed lay ahead.
By 2011 however, I had the Motorhome with a Bike trailer in tow. Life was once again taking on a different shape .. The change to towing a caravan came once I chose to be able to simply park the Caravan and venture about in a DMax Ute.
About 6 years ago, I managed to purchase a small block of land in a small Northern NSW town. I established a home-base so that I had somewhere to return to after small nomadic ventures.
Then .. health issues caused me to slow right down. I purchased the Teardrop which at least gives me a chance now to get away if I so choose.
This is all certainly true. My first camping was under an old tarpaulin with a few mates.
After I got married my wife and I decided to borrow a tent from her aunt and used that for a while. This was great but I was posted in the Air Force and no longer could borrow the tent so we purchased a Wurly camper trailer which was basically a 6X4 that had an annex extension. This worked well but after a while I decided to purchase an early pop top van. This gave us space for our two children to sleep in single beds. All went great as I towed that van for some time with my early Subaru 4WD. Then I was posted again to Wagga from Adelaide.
In Wagga I had to get the van and wagon registered in NSW. At the check I was told that it was illegal in NSW to tow the van with the Subaru as the van was slightly over the weight limit. I fixed the problem by upgrading to a Nissan Patrol. After a year or two we decided to upgrade to a larger van without the pop top. This proved great but there is always a spanner in the works. Our children and of course us were involved in Guides and Scouts. This led to a lot of tent camping. Our children preferred tents and so the van didn't get used much at all. We parted with it and tented for many years.
In 1998 my wife and I decided to go back to caravanning and started looking at second hand vans. My mate who owned Volksparts in Canberra suggested that maybe I might be interested in a Kombi camper and offered one that his dad owned but was not using. This led me down that path. We purchased the 1982 camper and did a lot of travel in it all over Australia with a 6X4 tradie's trailer in tow where we kept an extra fridge, solar panels, toilet etc. It worked a treat until the kombi just needed a major overhaul.
By luck in 2013 my son located a 1989 VW Synchro Caravelle which I decided to purchase and I converted the inside rear to a bed. I used this to tow the trailer and our camping continued with it until 2016 when it also decided it had enough and the engine needed a rebuild. My thoughts turned to getting a van, just a small one, that I could tow behind my Subaru Outback so we went to the Queanbeyan RV show. Low and behold Trakka were at the show and that is where we saw the Jabiru model which we decided would answer most of what we were after. After some consideration we decided it was the way to go and picked our current vehicle in July 2016. We think it was a great choice.
Good Morning Ian .. and also a Safe & Happy Christmas to all readers !
Regardless of what each of our paths has been, if you're reading this now then we've ended up at the same place .. ha !
Ian, there are still quite a few members on here that I recognise from earlier days. Some I've met .. others I've spoken with and Cindy has been brilliant at the helm for the duration.
I first started tenting, and staying in caravan parks With young children at the time, I picked the caravan parks with amusements for the kids 2 tents, one for us, and one for the kiddies 3 am one morning, I could hear "bounce, bounce, and kiddies laughter", it was my kiddies on the trampoline
I then progressed to caravans, and set them out the best I could, to be off grid Towing the caravan, the cat had to be restrained on the rear seat of the car
We progressed to what I have in my Avatar, as my wife wanted something, so that the cat could move around, as we travelled
It is indeed pleasant to hear that as your travelling methods progressed through life you were focussed on looking after the pussy.
Well done Tony.
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Welcome to Biggs Country many may know it as Australia
My dad converted a Kombi van when I was about 10. I recall touring from the south of England up to Scotland in it first, & when I was 12 we went 'abroad', travelling to what was then Yugoslavia under the rule of Tito. 4 of us in the Kombi must have been a squeeze, but I only remember the adventure.
At 15 I began travelling alone, a little cotton tent, no flysheet, & ties at the doorway, no zip, & separate groundsheet I hitch hiked around most of Britain & much of Europe for months at a time over the next few years. The tent was never waterproof - each large drop of rain became a wet mist inside. It was high in the Pyrenees, in Andorra, where I finally decided I needed something waterproof after waking to find dozens & dozens of slugs crawling up the inside of the tent & across my damp sleeping bag.
Money was short & I bought what I could afford. A bright orange plastic survival bag. Just a large plastic 'swag'. Stupid purchase - no rain got in, but I'd still wake up wet! Being bright orange attracted attention too. In Zaragoza in Spain I was roughly woken by armed men pulling be out of the bag by my hair & finding myself surrounded by the barrels of half a dozen sub machine guns pointed at me & unintelligible shouting & screaming from my spanish assailants, General Franco's militia. Made do with just an old dark green groundsheet after that.
Went up in the world when I discovered motorcycles. Had a better tent, with an A frame entrance, & a flysheet. Lightweight hiking tent & the comfort of a ¾ length thermarest self inflating mattress.
Bikes were part of my life for many years together with tents, & swags. Best holiday ever - a tour of the UK's Peak District on a 1952 Ariel 500cc Red Hunter with all our camping gear in a box on a sidecar frame & wife on the pillion. But somewhere in the mix was an 1800cc Kombi, a Wesfalia Conversion. Going to Classic motorcycle racing at Cadwell Park in the UK & camping for weekends in the Kombi hoods some great memories, races between Morgan 3 wheelers & Sidecar outfits especially.
The arrival of our son exposed the shortcomings of the Kombi. We had to carry so much 'baby stuff' & there was never enough room. Don't know how my parents ever managed with us.
Then came Australia, son was 18 months old by then - We went back to a tent - for several years we discovered the outback in a Holden HQ station wagon, 253 +trimatic. It had a limited slip diff & would go almost anywhere, Tent was a Southern Cross single pole item, & as our son grew we towed a trailer with trail-bikes & took our Rhodesian Ridgeback everywhere with us.
Then came more motorcycles & the small tents/swags again as the Motorcycle rally lifestyle once again became part of my life after falling in with a loose knit bunch of British bike riders. It felt like 'Coming back home'.
It's been a few years now since I last rode regularly, always thought I'd grow old riding, but after a period of what I thought was 'losing my nerve' & having moments every time I went out on a bike, I stopped & fitting out a 7 metre Nissan Civilian bus to travel Australia became my passion. Still have a couple of Triumphs at home. When the bus was finished & we were ready to set off around Australia the explanation for my 'lost nerve' on the bikes became apparent. I had terrible cataracts - no wonder my cornering judgement had deteriorated! Still by now motorhoming was my thing - absolutely loved the lifestyle - once my eyes were fixed up. We had a new 'family' all around Australia established via internet forums. The 18 month trip around the country was wonderful & left is wanting more, primarily a way to experience the timelessness of the travels of my youth. This remained our dream for many years during which the bus never stopped feeling like home & served to take us many shorter trips whilst we worked to make our new dream come true.
That dream was born of watching dusty 4wd's coming into Bourketown on the Gulf from the west off the Savannah Way where we lacked the ground clearance to take the bus. And so back in 2011 we bought our ex Telstra 2006 Nissan Patrol & fitted it out as a remote area camper, whilst taking a number of other measures over a 7 year period to enable us to travel Australia without time limit. The vehicle with a rooftop tent we learned on a few short trips did not suit, so we ditched the RTT & bought the 'swag on wheels' which we have now called home for the past 5 years around this great country. The Tvan. I never wanted to tow anything so this was a major compromise. I still wouldn't want to tow anything larger. Our motorhome 'travelling style' has never left us. We love to wake up in wonderful places, rather than day visiting them - a style of travel loved by many, but it's not for us.
We are not getting any younger & the comforts of indoor cooking & dining, & a lack of canvas & zips have been looking attractive for a while, but the major 'fly in the ointment' is that we really don't want to compromise on where we can go. The ideal would be 'anywhere our Patrol & Tvan could take us', & for similar extended periods of time between the need to top up supplies. This perhaps doesn't sound like it's asking for much - but it is! A very capable 4wd motorhome, no more than 6 metres long but with sufficient storage to allow the extended periods of travel off grid that we are used to. Add a preference for an automatic transmission & there is a very very limited availability of anything which would suit, And so we keep coming back to staying with our trusty Patrol & Tvan. We know what we want & we know they exist, & we hope we find the right one among the handful which exist before we are too old & decrepit to use it. If we were younger & fitter there is no doubt we would be building our own, but sadly I think those days are behind us. One is for sure, we want to continue doing what we are doing for as long as we are able, but the older we get the less certainty of how long that might me looms large.
-- Edited by Cuppa on Tuesday 27th of December 2022 06:48:27 PM
I have viewed parts of your 'A Nomadic Life' and found it most interesting.
You sound like a Sagittarian who simply loves travelling and you've really shown your devotion for, and from being a nomad. It does get under the skin, eh !
I too enjoyed motorbikes in earlier years .. rebuilt 2 x Arial Square 4's .. and appreciated many other makes .. Velocette 500 single road racers etc .. but did give bikes away however about 8 years ago after falling over (while standing still) at a set of lights .. It was a lucky warning for me.
Enjoy life and all you share it with mate .. there's no going back and all the best for this approaching New Year !
I started off tenting in NZ at school age. After I left home to work, my parents bought a caravan with a large, full annex. Pure delight, going to visit Mum & Dad with my family and going camping with/without them in their van.
We fell in love with vanning. Moved with family overseas (Fiji then PNG) and camping opportunities there were rare. Trips back to NZ and borrowing parents' van for camping trips which were just marvelous.
Moved without children (now adults) to Oman and then Dubai where wife and I often camped in a tent in the mountains, deserts or beaches. Wonderful!
Retired to OZ and bought a pop-top caravan and 4wd. We just loved touring OZ, mainly QLD & NSW.
Wife passed away 11 years ago and a while after that, I bought another, more off-road capable, pop-top van and enjoyed several years travelling with friends.
Met my partner, V. a couple of years ago and bought a full height bells and whistles van as V wasn't that keen on "roughing it" in my non-AC, pop-top van.
As V and I age and become ever-more decrepit, we have decided, a motorhome is the future for us and to that end, a new Avan Ovation has been ordered. I know this will probably end our off-road adventures but if we miss that too much a tiny 4wd behind motorhome might be the future.
In my case, my travelling began really after my wife had passed .. now 20 years ago. My first big purchase also happened to be an Ovation with a motorbike trailer in tow.
Circumstances over the years took me to where I am now .. never did have another partner but it wasn't something I particularly searched to find.
Then as poor health reared its head, I'm thankful that I'm not feeling responsible for anothers welfare these days.
Yes .. enjoy life as you can .. one can't go back !!
