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Travel - Experienced stories from travellers

Stories about people places & experiences PLUS tips for life on the road

The Truck Friendly Program has officially been underway for almost 12 weeks since its official launch at the 2019 Queensland Caravan, Camping & Touring Supershow.

And while we've already had a couple of chats with the brains behind this great initiative Ken Wilson, we decided to pay him a personal visit in his hometown of Bundaberg QLD to find out how things are going.

We'll have more soon!

Love his music?... so do we and we were honoured to have Aussie country music legend Lee Kernaghan support the Truck Friendly program.

Check out Lee's website for tour dates: https://www.leekernaghan.com/

As a caravanner, saying you're travelling on the road full-time is one thing... But the reality is that all those trucks behind you or in front etc are in fact the real full-time travellers - They do it for a living to feed families and put roofs over their heads.

And while some of us might not like it, trucks are here to stay!... But an initiative of Bundaberg resident Ken Wilson is set to change how caravanners and motorists in general – understand how best to co-exist with trucks while on the road, making it safer and less stressful for all of us.

We managed to get this exclusive chat with the founder of the Truck Friendly Program prior to its launch at the 2019 Queensland Caravan, Camping & Touring Supershow.

Have you ever heard of the Shitbox Rally?... it's a very Aussie name right? but it's also a very genuine rally with a great goal - to raise much needed funds for cancer research... In fact the rally from Perth to Sydney is in its 10th year and this year the rally is over a 10 day period with a fund-raising goal of $2million this year alone!

We managed to catch up with one of our new roving reporters Graeme Morris who just happened to see the rally drivers in the middle of Australia while he and his wife Sue were on their way to Coober Pedy!

Ever heard of the New Age Tribe? - It's a 'social club' for lovers of all New Age brand caravans - new or old!

They hold regular events around the country that help create both a great social environment as well as an educational one - with members sharing experiences not only with their vans but also their recent travels.

We managed to catch up with Bryan & Lyndel Crow - brains & beauty behind the New Age Tribe 'club' to get an update on the recent Busselton 2019 event plus their fundraising efforts and events planned for later in the year!

The New Age Tribe is a 'social club' for lovers of all New Age brand caravans - new or old!

They hold regular events around the country that help create both a great social environment as well as an educational one - with members sharing experiences not only with their vans but also their recent travels.

We managed to catch up with Bryan & Lyndel Crow - brains & beauty behind the New Age Tribe 'club' to get an update on the recent Busselton 2019 event plus their fundraising efforts and events planned for later in the year!

UPDATE: In late 2019. FreeRange became FullRange Camping - Same people - same great App & info!

There's a few 'APPS' around for people travelling this great country of ours, but none quite like the FullRange Camping APP.

But what does it do (apart from list literally thousands of campsites, caravan parks, fuel & dump points and more!?

Co-creator of FullRangeCamping Rob Catania explains more about the APP itself, what it does and the difference between the FREE and PAID versions... (and yes we have the full version we bought ourselves - and love it!!

Check out the FRC APP here: https://www.fullrangecamping.com.au/- or listen below...

As we’ve started to do a lot more trips getting ourselves ready for ‘the big one’ we’ve also purposely started to check out some of the more interesting places to stay. Sometimes it’s a showground or Free Camp somewhere and at other times a caravan park.

Of course as most 'seasoned' travellers probably know there are caravan parks and then there are caravan parks. Personally we like the smaller, more ‘personal’ parks off the beaten track.

Like the one at Glenrowan – the Glenrowan Tourist park – just 2 Km’s off the Hume highway about 2 hours from Melbourne – But what’s special about this park is where it’s located… Glenrowan. Famous for being the place of infamous bushranger Ned Kelly’s last stand! – Brian managed to sit down with the park manager Kylie Cleal to find out more...

Is this the 'ULTIMATE' sea/tree change?

While many of us have already started the 'big journey' around Australia whether for 6 weeks, 6 months or 6 years & more... some people have already made the move to downsize not only as far as house sizes (& mortgages) are concerned but as a way of making a complete lifestyle change.

And you don't have to be 60+ to do it either according to our longtime friends Lee & Jarred.

Both of them had successful careers in Sydney, a house full of pets which have moved with them to a rather unique and some might say 'remote' location here in Australia...

Lee & Jarred have in fact been quite pro-active in their new 'local community' as you will soon discover.

There's plenty of online resources for people travelling this great country of ours and one of the best we've found is the FreeRange Camping APP.

It's got literally thousands of destinations such as camping spots, showgrounds, caravan parks and much more including discounts around the country in selected retail outlets.

But what was the original reason for its creation?
Rob Catania - co-creator of FreeRange Camping explains in this short podcast.

Not far from Wangarratta VIC is a tiny town called ‘Eldorado’...

Not only does the town have an amazing history of gold and mineral mining but it's also host to the smallest pub in Victoria - and possibly Australia!

We chatted to a lovely lady - Christine Hanley - who owns 'The McEvoy Tavern' .