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