Parks pass, credit card & insurance

As we still have so much to organize and purchase, we thought we'd start knocking some things of the list.

Firstly, we got ourselves an emergency credit card. Neither of us like using credit, but if we have a major issue that can't wait until funds transfer from savings, we'll be glad we have it. We went with a Coles 15 month interest free card. As long as we make at least minimum payments (if for any reason we need to use the card), we won't pay interest. One thing to note with 'interest free' offers like this, if you just make minimum payments you won't pay off your balance before the interest free period. You are then hit with a pretty high interest rate on your balance.

Secondly, we purchased a South Australia holiday parks pass. This covers our entry to most national parks in South Australia, as well as up to 5 nights camping per visit. One 5 night stay would be the cost of the pass, and we plan on staying in a few, so will more than pay for itself. The holiday pass lasts for 2 months from the start date we put on the pass, so will cover our whole time in South Australia. We also purchased a 12 month Western Australia parks pass. This will cover our entry to most W.A national parks.

Thirdly, we organised camper trailer insurance with CIL Insurance. We definitely need this, as would hate to get stuck in the middle of nowhere with nowhere to sleep! It is around the $200 mark, and will be worth it for the piece of mind. We already have RACV total care, and comprehensive car insurance sorted.

We still have a few more things to sort out, but still have a few weeks up our sleeves.

Now, to finish my now cold coffee....

Finishing up work & in the final weeks

David has officially finished up work until we get back from our trip. It's only a few weeks until we start our trip, beginning with Mount Gambier.

There's still so much to do - mount the DVD player in the patrol, finish up customising the trailer ( thanks to David's dad Wayne for this!), purchase the rest of the items on our must have list and find a way to fit everything we need in the trailer!

We've booked in to do a first aid course in a couple of weeks. I figured this was an important task, especially traveling with two young kids. I've done first aid a few times, but it is David's first time so hopefully we will get a bit out of it. After this we also need to make sure the multiple first aid kits we have are stocked up!

Somewhere in between all of this we still need to do Christmas shopping, try to get the kayaks out a few times and come back into Melbourne for David's work Christmas party.

It's going to be a busy month, but come Boxing Day it will all be worth it!

New camping supplies - ice box, kayak and more!!

Thanks to Easter sales recently,  almost everywhere has had some pretty good sales on. We went through all of out catalogues and made up quite a list of things to purchase. All up our wish list came to around a grand, but we would be saving around $500. We fine tuned it to only include things that probably wouldn't get much cheaper before we leave.

Items on our list were:

• Two burner stove with grill
• A second kayak
• A kayak seat, paddle and anchor
• Soft roof racks
• A quick set-up tent
• 12V kettle
• Portable toilet

The kayak is the same as the one we already have, but in camo. We ended up getting everything except the tent and kettle, as we weren't keen on them when we saw them in store.

We also got an ice box for drinks, so we can keep our perishables in our fridge. Boys seemed to be happy with it!

The kayaks got a bit of a workout when we took the away for Easter, and it gave us a chance to put the camper trailer up again.

Our next trip away will be late May, but I'm sure we will have more new toys and upgrades to share before then!

Until next time

Camille

Our new kayak

Before we set out for our Lake Fyans trip, we decided to purchase a kayak. We had already used Davids fathers kayak, and we were planning on taking it with us on our trip. We wanted a second one though, so we could go out on the water at the same time.

This started weeks of research and window shopping. We didn't want to spend too much (ideally under $500), but we wanted to have a high weight capacity (so we could take the boys on it too) and for it to be easy to handle. We looked online at Rays Outdoors and BCF, as well as Ebay and other online retailers.

After heading into Rays about 3 times, we finally purchased one! A Glide Explore fishing kayak. BCF had it on special for $399, but as Rays is close we got them to price match and bought it at Rays. We also got a basic paddle, a seat and PFDs at Anaconda, as they had a bigger range.

David testing out the new gear

After taking it out on our Grampians trip, we were very happy with our purchase. Although slower than a longer kayak, it was very stable and I managed to not fall out once - a big plus given my clumsy nature! The boys also loved it, we sat one in each kayak between our legs.

We are heading to Loch Sport for Easter, and will be taking the kayaks for a trip to a nearby island.

Until next time,

Camille

Lake Fyans Trip

So we've decided as part of our preparations for our big lap that we will go away more regularly. This is so we get the boys used to the great outdoors more, and also to improve our camper trailer set-up/pack up times. At the moment David and I are not the best at communicating what goes where, how to hold things etc. He hasn't lost patience with me yet though (fingers crossed!)

Our camper setup with the awning

Our first trip this year was a long weekend at Lake Fyans in The Grampians region. We had an unpowered site, as we wanted to test out our new solar panel set-up. The only issue we had was the voltage measured was too high, but other than that it worked well.

We also tested out our recently purchased kayak with great success. The views from the water were spectacular, trees and mountains galore!

A great time was had by all, and has made us even keener to get started on our trip. Only nine and a bit more months to go!

Until next time,

Camille

 

Lunch at Brambuk Aboriginal Cultural Centre

The pool, with views of the mountains

It's decided! Planning part one

After talking about it for months, we are now 100% decided. We are doing the big lap around Australia! There are just a couple (hundred!) things we need to do first.

I suppose introductions are in order, before I go any further.

We are the Gibbons'. Our family consists of me (Camille), my partner David and our 2 year old twins, Oscar and Oliver. We currently live in South East Melbourne and have recently decided that around this time next year we will sell up and begin travels around Australia for around 12 months. This page will be a chronicle of our planning, and, when we are on the road, our travels. At first, updates will be once or twice a month, but will increase closer to leaving and when we actually travel.

So far what we have organised is the following:

• The car - a 2002 GU Patrol. Currently has a winch, bull bar, roof racks, compressor and a snorkel. This list will be dramatically increasing to prepare us for our journey
• The camper trailer - a GIC Extreme Off-Road. A basic trailer that cost us around $7000, but has a sink/bench, Jerry can and LPG bottle holders and a 12 foot tent that should (hopefully) suit our small families needs. There are a few minor differences between our model purchased last year, and the newer model. More information can be found here GIC Extreme Off-Road

There is so much to plan and do before we leave, but hopefully you will enjoy reading about it as much as we enjoy planning it.

Until next time

Camille