Our first little adventure in our New Life. Where we go free camping.

Free camping is a big thing to caravanners - or not.

As tent campers we have free camped or cheaply camped for years - national parks, state forests, sides of roads sometimes so it is no biggie for us.
However it is for some people - they are worried (about what?) they are scared (of whom?).
And some people just feel safer and securer in a caravan park, or they like the facilities, of they like the location.
Everyone to their own I say.

We have got all the info - Free Camps Australia book, wiki camps app, the several very helpful, very sharing facebook groups....

So we set off on our first real proper caravan adventure armed with all the gen.

We have been advised not to try and travel too far in a day, so gone are the long 12 hours driving, setting up camp by the headlights of the car....we have become grey nomads - true!
"200 kms max?" What?
"4 hours driving at the most?" Say what??

"Get to camp no later than 3pm"
"Some popular sites fill up quickly" Oh! What??

It's true you cannot travel as fast lugging a couple of tonnes of stuff behind you as you can zipping along with a tent in your boot, so we allowed plenty of time to get from A to B.
In the good old days we would have travelled to northern Victoria in one fell swoop, but now we are learning to be cautious, take our time, stop at places in between that we wouldn't normally stop at.

It's all about the journey now - not just the destination.

Our first night out we headed for Jugiong a little village off the Hume Highway - it had a good rap as a suitable overnighter.

A large open area between the Murrumbidgee River and the Jugiong showgound.
There are toilets there (nicely looked after by the local community), tap water and a dump point for chemical toilet waste (this is a very important resource).
There is a donation box so that you can help the local community to maintain this great spot.

It was a pretty cold spot, a chilly 4 degrees in the morning and a foggy start to the day.
But we were off again towards the Victorian high country, but planning on camping lower down near Bright at a little place called Smoko.

I heard about this free camping spot on one of the facebook groups for camping and caravanning.

This is a really basic camping spot.
There are some old pit toilets (which I didn't even go to inspect) and it appears that some new ones are being built.
It's next to the Ovens River - OK if boiled we reckoned.

The campsite is a little hard to find - as you leave the settlement of Smoko there is a sign that says "campground" but no arrow or any other indication.
You have to turn at the next dirt track, it looks like you are going into a farm or a property.
It's a bit of a bumpy road but if you follow it you get to the little camping area.

Most of the time we had it to ourselves - a couple of nights there were a couple of other campers there.
We stayed for 9 nights as we explored the area, but then I felt like I wanted to move on to a different place.

We tossed around various options - somewhere near Wagga Wagga, taking longer to get home, going a different way home....
So we went to Rutherglen and we camped near the Murray River at Police Paddock camping area.
There are many camping spots along the Murray River.
This one has no facilities and is for fully self-contained campers/caravans.

There were half a dozen other caravanners there.
It is obviously a very popular spot and despite all the lovely big old redgums there is very little wood.
If you want to have a fire, best to BYO wood.

It would have been nice to spend a couple of days there but we decided to come home, back up the Hume Highway and broke our journey at Yass.

This free camping area is next to a sporting oval and beside the Yass River.
The access to the lower part is a bit of a rutted track and I can imagine that it would get very muddy and boggy after rain.
There is also a nice flat grassed area under the trees above the lower flats.
Not surprisingly we were the only campers there that night.

Then we came home!

R Day

Last Friday was the big R-Day!
The day we have been waiting for.

G elected to have an afternoon tea at work.
Very civilised.

There were gifts - a spooned plaque from the staff club.
Phil and G were partners in crime for several years over at the staff club.
Good times!

Probably about 100 people came to make sure he actually went!

There were gifts from Parkes, Narrabri and Epping people.

I got flowers.

 

Then we adjourned to a friend's house who lives nearby and ate more and drank some and reminisced!

Thanks to everyone who helped to make R-day a memorable day.

Julie, Sally, Mick, Kim, the canteen people, and everyone who came.

Two days to R-day.

It only seems like yesterday, not 5 years ago that we hatched this plan for G to retire this year and for us to have a change of lifestyle.

5 years ago

now

But here we are! Or nearly....2 days to go.....and then.....and then.....

In not necessarily this order we want to -

- go on a short (2 weeks) trip, perhaps to northern Victoria. In the caravan.

- get the house ready to sell.

- pack up the house.*

(*In that one small sentence are these actions, sort out 20years of accumulated crap, get rid of the stuff we don't/can't keep - some of this has happened already - sort out what we need to take in the van and what will go into storage)

- build a new house (more to follow on this)

- get up to Darwin, Kakadu and then Uluru etc before October.

- sell the house

Doesn't sound much if you say it quickly, eh?

Oh well, we'll get there and as G says "we have the rest of our lives to do it!

Stayed tuned.

We get our next (little) home.

We waited and we waited.
I thought the caravan was due for delivery at the end of January, but, no!
Eventually the first day of March, on a rainy Saturday morning we met our new home.

It took several hours to be shown all the workings and features.
I wish i had taken notes as there was so much we couldn't remember that the guy told us and isn't in any of the booklets that accompany our new home.

Here it is now comfortably (or mayne not so comfortably, as it's on a bit of a slope) in our driveway.
It has a lovely new home smell.

It's very cute.
One of the best things is the TV!
It was the thing we thought we didn't need but the van came with it anyway. We're not big TV watchers....but....
But it is awesome!
It is a media- thingy.
A digital TV, DVD player and a you can plug your USB thingy in too.....and the picture is clear and sharp.

Our new home cam with doona and cover, but I got rid of that and installed one of our own.

It's been a learning curve.....

We took our new home up to our land a week later and there were some teething problems.....

As we were only away for a week we didn't have much stuff, but where to put it?
I know that heavy stuff goes down low near the wheels, and lighter stuff up high.
Also you need to store thing IN something as you don't want your eggs rolling around the place.
Coming from a camping heritage we are used to taking big boxes and bags of gear, but it is apparent that you need small, light containers to fit in the dinky little cupboards.

I do like it, despite all the little teething issues.
I think it will be a very happy little home for us.

We go on a tour of our land

There are a lot of trees -

The undergrowth was cleared over most of the land by the previous owners - apparently this is called "park-landing".

The previous owners also installed a dam, for which we are very grateful.

Our neighbour loves to mow and slash and kept this side of the boundary clear for us. It's not his boundary....but....

This is our little camping spot -

Our house will be built here -  

in the bit leveled by the previous owners. (Again thanks).

The view from our (to be) bedroom -

The view from my (to be) workroom -

Things I learned about Venice - travel tips

1. If you arrive in Venice via Marco Polo airport (I believe this is the main international airport) you can get to Venice by boat. Buy your ticket at the airport. There are 3 routes that go to different parts of Venice. Then you walk to the jetty - takes about 10 mins.
It took us about 1 and a quarter hours to get from the airport to Arsenale stop.
There are also water taxis which are quicker, but are a lot more expensive.

2. If you hire a car when you leave Venice the easiest spot to pick up from is probably the airport. That way you can get a return ticket on the airport boat.

3. You can also pick up a hire car actually in Venice where the causeway from the mainland terminates - Piazza Roma. This is the only part of Venice that actually has vehicles.
Or you can pick up your car in Mestre which is the nearest place on the mainland (which is what we did)

4. You can also leave Venice by train from the station at the end of the causeway near Piazza Roma.

5. When you get on the train to Mestre do not believe the woman who said that Mestre is the first stop - it may or may not be! Then you are stranded in a weed-blown station with the next stopping train an hour and a half later!

6. For getting around in Venice buy a multi-use ticket on the vaporettos (passenger ferries). You can get them for 12/24/36/48/72 hours or for 1 week.
72 hours cost 35 euros.
Also get the extra Vaporetto d'art ticket which costs 10 euros. It is well worth it to hop on and off, especially in the middle of the day when the regular boats going along the Grand Canal are packed to the gunnels.
There is a commentary on board the vaporetto d'art as well as wi-fi and nice helpful tourist guides.

7. Buy a Venice Card for free entry to 11 museums and discount to other museums and special tours, plus entry to 16 churches. It cost us 40 euro.

8. Venice is busy!
To avoid queues to get in to the Basilica San Marco go early (before 9.45) or later in the day about 4ish.
The day trippers and tour groups start arriving about 10am.
The Basilica doesn't take very long to go through unless you include some side tours - Palo d'Oro and the museum and treasury which cost extra.(all close at 4pm.
Don't bother with the treasury.

9. Another busy place is the Palazzo Ducal (The Doge's Palace).
Get there when it opens at 8.30 am.
It takes a couple of hours to get through - but is very worthwhile.

10. Fit in as many churches as you can - they all have masterpieces on the walls and ceilings.

11. Our museum of choice - Ca'Rezzonica.
But we didn't go to Galleria dell'Accademia of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection both of which come well-recommended.

12. The best toilets can be found in the museums!
Palazzo Ducale has a particularly lovely one on the ground floor - expect to queue later in the day.

13. Your multi boat ticket includes Murano and Burano which is a great day trip. Get off at Murano first and then go to Burano (or the other way round). There boat goes from one to the other (it wasn't obvious from the map)

14. It is easy to walk around Venice.
Wear comfy shoes.
Get a map - we didn't get lost once! There are signs in the central part to San Marco and the Rialto bridge.

15. Hop on the Vaporetto d'Art or a regular vaporetto to Isola di San Giorgio - opposite the
Grand Canal entrance - and take the lift to the top of the belltower for great views.

16. Be aware that in most museums, the Basilica, Palazzo Ducale you will have to check your backpack. (The Basilica bag check is across the square)

17. Also be aware of clothing requirements. Bare shoulders are not allowed in the Basilica - ladies, take a scarf of shirt, guys take a shirt to cover up with. They also are not supposed to let bare knees in but I think they seemed a bit more lax with this.

18. Eat chocolate brioche for breakfast.

19. Other good stuff - cicheti - bar snacks. Can be good or can be greasy and cold!
Crostini - open sandwiches.
Panini - great fresh bread rolls.
Prosecco - lovely sparkling wine, lighter than champagne.
Spritz - refreshing prosecco cocktail.

20. If you can - stay in Venice.
Staying in Venice is not cheap but has so many advantages. A place on the Grand Canal might be nice - but cost mega-bucks and could be noisy.
More reasonably priced places can be found in the quieter neighbourhoods - Castello, Cannaregio and near the station.
A good read about why you should stay in Venice and some eating out tips by Johanna Reid of Traveleater that I found on Mallory on Travel.

Views of Venice