Would the Toyota have been a better buy? I'll never never know because this is a one-off purchase and I'll never have enough cash to get another new ute.
Either way, the people around me were very relieved that I'd taken some action and bought the thing.
Then I started pondering whether to get a camper, caravan or something in between. With built-in bathroom, without bathroom, with solar, without solar, on-road, off-road, new, used, wood construction, aluminium construction, plastic construction, and so on and so on and so on. Family and friends cringed at the onslaught of more uncertainty, more discussion, more weighing up of options.
On and on, until I narrowed it down to a small used aluminium framed "off road" Coromal model pop top caravan that seemed to tick most of the boxes and compromises. Small enough and light enough for inexperienced me to tow without (hopefully) getting into trouble. Robust enough to drive on moderate dirt roads. The "off road" in quotes because apparently very few campers and caravans are real OFF ROAD in the sense that they go OFF ROAD. Alan and Diana have a "real one" - a T-Van and it is a wonderful thing, but the kitchen is outside and it doesn't have an inside table. I need those things inside. Hence the little Coromal.
And then the seemingly endless search for one that suited my needs. More research ... on CaravanCampingSales, TradeRVs, Trading Post, EBay, Gumtree ... is that The One? ... what are the compromises? ... is it the right price? ... what could go wrong?
And again I procrastinated so hard it nearly made my nose bleed so I was dispatched with instruction ... Go forth and buy!
There were two for sale in northern NSW, so I drove north, escaping the Victorian springtime warmth ... 20º inside ... 6º outside.
Stopped at an old forgotten motel at the end of the track in Gundagai. Very clean, very good condition. The decor and fittings must have been top shelf in its hey day (1970s / 80s) and everything seemed almost new - special raised-pattern bathroom tiles and all. It even had that very Ocker, very 60s feature - the meal cubby - a little lockable cupboard accessible from both outside and inside, where meals could be deposited by service staff and collected by guests, without requiring the guests to leave the room, open the door or even interact with any living person. Very mod.
Room service was off. Restaurant was off for the duration. So I wandered across the road and bought some Naughty Food. Most satisfying.
No photos because I arrived after dark and didn't think to take shots of the classic luxe accommodation. Ah well. Next time ...
Drove on to Toukley on NSW Central Coast, overlooking the saltwater Budgewoi Lake. Rather nice view. Bought some salad and cold (cooked) chicken wings from a Coleworths supermarket. Salad to make up for the naughty food. Chicken wings because I like the sauce. Ok ... more naughty food ...
Wonderful!
So another half-day drive got me to Port Macquarie to visit Rex & Janice. Did the usual "big eat" at the Eastern Tiger Restaurant buffet in the Port City Bowling Club. Yumm-o.
Called the respective people selling the two caravans. One had been sold, so arranged to see the other one a couple of days later in Mullumbimby, near Brunswick Heads - an area I hadn't visited since the epic 5,000-miles-in-six-weeks adventure in '72. I don't recall the area, so must have blinked during that bit.
An "interesting" drive from the Port to Ballina. The road is being upgraded from two lane to divided four lane highway, so it is full of slow stretches of road works and some jolly fine surprises. Like the old narrow bridge at Macksville. This image from the Coffs Coast Advocate is self explanatory. The bridge is being replaced and apparently the new bridge will be completed this year. Link to the original article in the Coffs Coast Advocate.
Stayed at a run down place in Ballina. Perched on the side of a hill with a view of an estuary, standing on tip toes. Over priced, under finished. This time I did eat the right stuff - a bag of salad with some cold smoked salmon.
The estuary was very nice, with an excellent dog walking area across some sand bars. Jolly good doggie fun for lots of pooches. Most of the dogs seemed to be border collies, with a sprinkling of small poodles and terriers.
Enough rest and rec.
Off I went in the morning to Mullumbimby. Arrived early so had a very nice cuppa at Scarecrows Kitchen. Jolly nice. Relaxed.
Mullumbimby gives the impression of being a staging post for the serious hinterlanders - lots of barefooted peeps - some old and bewildered, some young and not yet bewildered. Plethoras of whole earth green eco vege ethically-sourced up-cycle shops. And people. And lots of conventional shops and government departments. Overall however, I suspect the town remains more of a farming centre than a staging post to the clouds. Very nice.
So I moseyed down to the farm where the people were selling the caravan. Had a good look over the van and figured that apart from a solar panel to recharge the battery, and an inverter to top up the laptop, it was exactly what I had been looking for. So I agreed to buy, and arranged to pick it up the following day.
Off to Byron Bay to overnight in a caravan park cabin. There was a little supermarket at the end of the access road, so I was able to buy more salad, cold meats, cheeses, and some water. All stocked up, it was off to Byron Bay main beach for a look. Temperature in the mid 20s. It's a hard life but someone's gotta do it.
Back to the farm the following day, bank cheque in hot little hand. The owners were very helpful, showed me how everything worked, and even changed the towball for a Treg hitch bracket. Very helpful. Had a long chat about country ag shows - it turned out they are very active in the local ag show and had helped rescue it from obscurity as a dog and pony show. Very interesting experiences.
So I hitched up and off I went towards Lennox Head. Stopped after a couple of km to adjust the electric brakes and put on the mirror extensions. I arrived a bit early so drove on to Sharpes Beach to pass some time. Early in the season so it was almost empty.
Therapy sounds ...
Then onwards to the caravan park. Very adventurous first towing experience - a whole 50km. That first great drive completed uneventfully but I did impose a rather tight grip on the steering wheel. Imprints remain after nearly two months. Knuckles are still white.
The caravan park people were very helpful and understanding "Only had it a couple of hours? You'll want a drive-through site, then?" So I drove through the site, unhitched, fetched some food, and went for an evening stroll to the beach ...
... then back past freshwater Lake Ainsworth, just 50 metres from my front door.
Could get used to this!
Spent a very relaxing four nights at the caravan park in Lennox Head, getting used to living in the van and finding out how stuff works. Ended up I made a daily commute to Ballina (13km, 15 min) for provisions and various bits for the ute and van - tools, tarps, lamps, jockey wheel ...
A day trip to BrisVegas to help Ann and Kevin with some computer stuff, then back to the caravan same night (300km & 4hrs round trip) - by now the caravan was starting to feel like home.
SO after a jolly pleasant four days at Lennox Head it was time to head off. I debated whether to stop overnight, halfway to Port Macquarie - there are some lovely looking beach spots along the way. That would give me a couple of 3 or 4 hour driving stints to get some experience towing. But irrationality prevailed and so I set off at 7am. Made it to the Pacific Highway and had a truck flashing lights at me. When I pulled over (safely, of course! in a truck emergency bay!) I found that I had not clipped down the pop up roof securely, so the whole roof had been floating up and down like an accordion. No doubt very entertaining for other traffic. Not great for the roof. Didn't see any damage at the time and haven't seen any since, so I'm hoping that this time I got away with a bit of negligence.
Fairly straightforward drive through to Port Macquarie - around 7 hours. Apart from that bridge at Macksville ... I'd been dreading the return journey since crossing the bridge on the way north, wondering whether my caravan and I would be sandwiched between the bridge and a big truck coming the other way - like the precision driving in the photo (above). So I was stressing all the way south and trying to find a viable detour. None available (obviously, otherwise all the traffic would go that way ...). But when I arrived at the bridge, driving south, there was a gap in the northbound traffic. So the whole drama turned into a bit of an anticlimax and across I went without any real trouble. A pleasure that will be denied to future generations after the broad-gauge replacement opens later this year. (Link to the original article in the Guardian News)
The driving required a fair bit of concentration - being unfamiliar with towing and all. 90kph seems a good speed - it seems to be a comfortable balance of stability and economy with a good margin of control. Of course it means that on narrow two lane roads I have become one of those dreadful traffic hogs. But after a while I found that I could pull over to the hard shoulder every five minutes or so to let traffic past, without impeding my journey too much, but relieving my angst at becoming an old road hog.
Another excellent day with Rex and Janice. Another hit feed at the bowling club. Got some washing done. Helped out with some computer stuff. Then off again at 7am.
This time the driving was very straightforward - four lane divided road, so no need to pull over to let traffic pass. Bushfires off to the right (west) much of the way from Port Macquarie to Newcastle.
Then a right turn up the Hunter Valley. Divided road again, until I turned left on to the Golden Highway. A very pleasant two lane road winding through rolling foothills. Only thing was, seemed to have been the site of a terrible battle, with hundreds of kangaroos on the losing side. I lost count, but there seemed to be an average of one dead animal every hundred or so yards (now there's my age showing!!). This lasted for around 50km. Who needs organised culls? Just invite them to the Golden Highway. Come, share in the rich golden bounty. Make your way to marsupial paradise.
By the time I reached Dunedoo (yup) I was hungry and the ute was thirsty. Ute drank. I ate. Naughty food again. This time a couple of very nice pies.
Dunedoo - a dinkie di Ocker town that requires drivers to park on an angle with the rear of the vehicle at the kerb. Like this.
(image is from this excellent travel blog - Solo Steve on the Road)
I wasn't sure what to do given that I had the van on the back. Reversing tail-in didn't seem very practical, so I drove a few metres past the shopping strip, parked outside a house, and walked back to the pie shop.
I drove on. Through Dubbo and heading south on the Newell Highway. By this time I was getting tired and it was dark and raining, so I made a management decision (sudden and arbitrary - aren't they the best decisions?) to stop at the North Parkes Motel overnight. No need to eat in the motel's restaurant (which looked rather nice) because by now those pies were just sitting there doing nowt except bloating. Very comfortable motel, reasonably priced, and very welcoming late in the day (without a booking). Recommended.
On the road again at 8am and continued down the Newell. This is a two lane road with moderate traffic, so I pulled over every ten minutes or so to let vehicles past. The truckies understood what I was doing and tooted or flashed. Cars didn't.
A fairly uneventful day's drive. Stopped in West Wyalong for more naughty food. Spotted a nice looking caravan park by the lake in Finley. $20/night for a powered site (bargain! and excellent comments on Wikicamps). So I will head back there at some point. Probably soon.
However I didn't stop - perhaps I could have, but at that point I was only four hours from Kilmore so I kept going. A couple of toot breaks later (throughout the round trip I was drinking about 500ml water each hour, so had plenty of enforced breaks to get rid of it and refresh the brain cell) and I found myself on the Hume Freeway near Seymour, then less than an hour later home at Kilmore, just in time for a cuppa.
And that was the end of the first expedition. 3000-ish km round trip. 8.6 litres/100km without caravan. 12.5 litres/100km towing.
So then it was time to think about a lockable canopy for the ute. What budget? Smooth, stippled or checkerplate? Unpainted, powder coated or paint? Lift-off, fixed to tray, or fixed to chassis? Spare wheel mount, fuel/water mount, or both? Under-tray lockers? And what about solar? Anderson plug? Inverter? Second jack? My muses were not amused ...
