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While chatting to Neice L this week I suddenly remembered everything and here we are, 11 years older, probably 3 computers later and less wise than I was 11 years ago.
As my Mum would say "there's no sin getting old, it's just bloody inconvenient "
Hi all, its been a while.
The Captain and I haven't been idle, for one thing we have 5 grand kids now. Yeah, I know, lucky. Still not allowed to take them on our adventures though. I don't know what the problem is, if they lost one they have spares. Am I right? Unfortunately this argument seems to fall on deaf ears, it would figure that they like them all.
We also have been travelling here and there around Australia. Oh, and we have changed canopies a few times too. And tents. We did a trip up to the Tip and I was not keen on sleeping at ground level because, you know, crocs, snakes, lizards in a bad mood, mice, rats, ants and spiders. So we purchased a roof top tent which is an amazing invention, so easy to set up, climb the stairs and your comfy bed awaits.
There are a few problems with them though, for one thing never and I really mean never ever make camp on a beautiful cliff face over looking the Coral Sea. You may think it romantic with gentle swaying palms and balmy nights but yeah, nah, it's more like blustering wind and freezing nights. You will not sleep, you will spend the night with the tent wall slapping you in your face and the car rocking while listening to the whole setup moaning and groaning. Fun.
The second problem with a rooftop tent is packing it up, it's not hard to do really, the problem is reaching it. I can see it would be a lot easier if it was mounted on a car but on top of the canopy it just can't be reached. Martin brought a step ladder, but only one, so he had to pack up alone. Tuck in here, climb down, move the ladder 2 foot, climb up and tuck some more, around and around until everything is perfect. Aside from dirtying clothes it exhausted him and took at least an hour to pack up. There has to be a better way.
The top end was an amazing trip, we fell in love with some places and we are glad we went but we came home and sold the canopy and the roof top tent.
Next we purchased the dreaded Big Big Box. (Affectionately named by our grandkids) a more appropriate name would be The Box of Horrors.
It looked exactly like a Trayon Camper but was a cheap Chinese knock off. Nothing lined up properly, it was heavy and hard to open, it was heavier and harder to close. Electrics had to be modified, leaking joints resealed, plumbing needed replumbing and a nightmare to move around in. Only one person at a time could comfortably be in there, oh and the bed. I slept for five weeks with a metal bar that could be felt thru the mattress, running the length of the bed digging into my ribs and hip. There was just no room to lay anywhere else.
We took it up to the N.T. We stayed in a lot of Caravan Park cabins. The N.T was an amazing trip, we fell in love with it all over again and we are so happy we went but we came home and sold the Big Big Box.
So our latest and greatest is a brand new aluminium canopy with a Piggibak. Say what? It's a new thing on the market and only one place makes and sells them. It enables you to have a rooftop tent but the tent is mounted on the back of the canopy and folds down and out, so your tent is only roughly 3 ft off the ground making it easier to get into and way easier to pack up. Marvellous.
Then Mart set about designing and creating the interior. It's got everything we need and storage is the best ever. We both love it and want to keep it. You can stop smirking, it's true, we want to keep it.
Anyway that's enough talk on our equipment. Let's get to the next page because I want to tell you about our trip to the Kimberlys. Yep, yep, we went there again
