We are on camp site number four of our trip, which means we have now did-assembled and re-assembled our caravan set up three times since leaving Narrabeen. I am not really sure if you ‘pack up’ or ‘pack down’ but either way, we are getting better! Everything is slowly finding a home and we Are naturally falling into a a pattern of finding jobs which we can all do.

We have had the van for just over three months now but as we were not able to fit it on the drive at home in Elanora, it has been parked up in a storage paddock for most of the time (or back at the caravan shop whilst they fixed the fridge!). As a result, we really haven’t spent much time in it at all before setting off on our trip. The good thing about not really using it before we left is that we really had no idea what to expect. I am thankful for the cruisy start to our travels as the holiday season has forced us to have some longer stays in caravan parks which has given us time to just work stuff out. We have also been pretty close to decent towns like Nowra or Batemans Bay so easy drive to a Bunnings or camping store to find random things as we go.

My best pre-camping purchases so far have been the collapsible items. I managed to find collapsible pans, strainer, Tupperware and even a pop up kettle! They are awesome for space saving and generally just cool!

Finlay has claimed the outdoor ground sheet set up as his domain and he takes great pleasure in sweeping it down before we leave somewhere and packing it away, only to unroll it at the next place so we can trample more sand across it. He is also good at generally just being an extra pair of hands for the random things like putting the awning out (definitely a two person job!) and double checking we have everything connected or disconnected from the car to the van.

I am sure we will gather lots of handy hints as we go but for now, we are feeling ok with life in the van and looking forward to the week ahead with the Taylor family for company and to welcome in the new year!