Roger and Jeannette use solar power while bush camping
Roger, 68, and Jeannette, 66, love to travel in a caravan convoy with friends … and they are fully equipped for long stays
What rig do you have?
2010 ECU chipped Toyota Prado VX 150 D4D 3000 towing a 17’6” independent single axle NOVA Revivor pop top. We use PurpleLine Ego 2000 movers fitted on the van to move it into the tight parking space we have at home. Pop tops have the advantage of lower wind resistance when towing and great ventilation in the tropics. We have a combo shower/toilet. We maintain our rig to a very high standard and have onboard telemetry of all tyre pressures and temperatures, both van and tow vehicle.
How long do your trips last?
We have done six or seven longer trips ranging from four weeks to 13 weeks in the last eight years. We want to travel more extensively through Queensland, and the back roads of New South Wales. We are not interested so much in travelling the eastern Australian coastal roads. We will probably break travel down to 6-7 week blocks in future.
Where do you like to camp?
Most of our travels have been with a group of friends from our local fishing club and that usually means there are between three and eight caravans travelling. We like to camp off road/bush/or free camps when simply travelling and covering a distance, but use caravan parks in towns when we want to stay a few days to explore the area. It is often a problem getting all the vans in close proximity in the sometimes smaller areas set out in some national parks.
What about power in the bush?
For the last three years or so, we have travelled with solar panels on our pop tops (around 400 watts) and have 2 x 100Ah caravan batteries on board. This has been sufficient to supply all our power needs for computers, TVs, iPads, phone chargers and a 60-litre Waeco fridge/freezer.
Likes of the lifestyle?
We enjoy sitting and cooking around a campfire or our ‘chuffers’ out in the bush, until sometimes quite late into the night. We have a very busy home life with children and grandchildren living nearby so enjoy the complete freedom of choice we have on the road. It’s nice to also have more time for reading, solving puzzles, and watching a bit of TV. We always enjoy chatting and swapping stories, information and ideas with the people we meet on the road. Every day we can have new neighbours.
Favourite place to camp?
We have camped out several times at the Barradale rest area in Northern WA, have enjoyed camping under the Peppermint trees at Parry Beach near Walpole, and Ellendale Pool Camp area (large Billabong in the river) east of Geraldton WA,. All these areas are very tranquil, are large enough to accommodate many vans, and are very picturesque in their own way.
