Food-Wine-Pets-Travel+ - Travel | Food-Wine-Pets-Travel+

Travel - Experienced stories from travellers

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

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' .

Ever wanted to travel this great country by car/caravan but you don't have a 'partner' or close friend to do it with? Especially as a solo female?

Would YOU do it? We met up with the most amazing lady at the free camp at Jugiong NSW - Sandra who has been on the road for about 18 months now all alone - well actually she's not alone!

She travels with a small dog for company PLUS is a great communicator so manages to make many friends along the way....

Goulburn in NSW was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city by Queen Victoria in 1863 and became THE place to live or to visit, but these days it is often passed-by with many travellers racing down the motorway.

We loved our recent visit and spent several days there.

Brian caught up with a born and bred local Jacki Waugh - to find out why she thinks the town's so special.

This is a 'Podcast with pictures' - or you can listen to the Podcast version or read the edited transcription!

Click here for the audio only version - Or click here to read an edited transcript!

For Christmas this year, instead of 'the kids' visiting us in Sydney, we thought we'd make the trip to Melbourne to be with our 6 and a half yr old yr old grandson, daughter and partner to spend a week or so in Warburton VIC for Christmas.

Lookout Brisbane & Darwin - we haven't forgotten you guys either!

But before that, we had another Christmas 'event' to attend. The New Age Tribe Christmas gathering in Goulburn in the first week of December. More on that soon!