Stories about people places & experiences PLUS tips for life on the road
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.
Read more: PODCAST: Would You Move To King Island? - Lee & Jarred
UPDATE: In late 2019. FreeRange became FullRange Camping - Same people - same great App & info!
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.
Read more: PODCAST: How FreeRange Camping Started - Rob Catania
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 used to own 'The McEvoy Tavern' when we did this recording... we hope to have an update from the new owners soon!
Read more: PODCAST: The Smallest Pub In VIC - Christine Hanley
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 (now called the New Age Caravans Social Club) Christmas gathering in Goulburn in the first week of December. More on that soon!
If you love life on the road or even just the occasional 'escape' that's great!... but how much do you REALLY know about being 'off-grid'. As owners of a New Age OZ Classic 20 van we are also connected on Facebook with the New Age Owners group.
It was here we heard about the 'New Age Tribe' (now called the New Age Caravans Social Club) - a specially created 'club' that holds regular social and educational events across the country and that they were going to be in Henty, a small town almost midway between Wagga and Albury.
This is just a short video overview of the weekend where we learnt plenty of new things...
An invite to a friend's 70th birthday party in Bowral NSW was a great excuse to ‘get going’ again after our first few shakedown trips to Percy's Place – as if we need any excuse!
But this time it wasn’t as close as our trial setups have been – yes it was a whole 1.5 hours away according to Google Maps.
The offer made was to park in the driveway of the home of the birthday girl as all rooms had been taken up with close family and about 7 young kids (several of whom thought they’d like to join us in the van when we did the guided tour!!)
Anyway Ezee peezy… we decided Fri/Sat/Sun would be great – the party was on Saturday at a local dinery then allowed some chat time on the Sunday and return Monday.
Batlow… Cold? nahhh bloody FREEZING!! We experienced an average of -2deg celsius overnight and around 8-10c during the day with a high of – wait for it... 12 degrees celsius!
Of course for those people who love the cooler climates Batlow is positively warm – well certainly the locals make if feel that way. So why Batlow?... a 4.5 – 5hr trip from Sydney of around 438Klms. Well Bob and Anne Cooper – our neighbours for the past 25+ years in Sydney invited us down for the annual Batlow Cider Fest held on the 3rd Saturday in May.
But apart from our longtime Sydney neighbours inviting us down, the Batlow locals and the actual event itself, possibly the very best moments were meeting and chatting with The String Family – Joel, Sarah, Ethan and Ashleigh.
11:30am We made it!!... literally an hour's drive from home we are now at our first 'dinky di' caravan park called Percy's Place located at the top of the beautiful Hawkesbury river for a trial stay of - wait for it - TWO DAYS!... or maybe even three!
Strictly speaking this is not our first caravan adventure.
An old 16ft Viscount that ferried our 4 dogs Cosmo, Kismet, Monet & Matisse was our first but that was a few years ago. No toilet. No bathroom or washing machine.
A basic kitchenette, bed and that was it!
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