Buying a camper van

24 October 2000, Forster, New South Wales

Well since we last wrote we have purchased our travelling companion – a camper van we have christened Spot.

Spot is so called because we bought him in a place called “The Spot” in Randwick, Sydney. Spot is a 1983 Nissan Urvan Campervan with a pop-up top and we have everything we need and more – front doors, back door, side door, one double bedroom (it doubles up as a front or rear facing bedroom depending on where we actually face when we sleep in it), fully fitted kitchen with gas stove, fridge and microwave, comfortable lounge with large screen TV (well 10 inches maybe), stereo system (no tapes yet to play on it) and CB radio (we haven’t got a handle yet, so suggestions are welcome), and we have a storage box on the back. The bathroom is of course en suite and designed au naturel! Spot also has a 5 speed gearbox, well had until Shaz started driving it – more of that later!

Road Trip

We said goodbye to Wally in Sydney on Tuesday 10 October and officially started our Australian road trip.

Our first stop was Katoomba in the Blue Mountains where we camped up and got used to what Spot had to offer as well as doing a few very scenic walks through the mountains – really beautiful. We also camped at Blackheath and did some walks from there.

It was now time to head on into the Hunter Valley, we were getting thirsty and the area produces wine by the gallon. It is also an area full of stud farms. We arrived on Friday the 13th in torrential rain in a small little town called Denman in the Upper Hunter.

By the time we woke up the following morning it was drying up so we headed for the vineyards for some wine tasting. We decided not to visit the stud farms as Shaz is more than happy with her own stud! But as sure as Dave is the son of Ilan he had to buy wine from each of the three vineyards we visited, like father, like son.

Back again to the gearbox escapade. Just as we were driving out of our last vineyard, Spot decided to part company with it. We were towed back to the campsite within 15 minutes by the NRMA (the Oz equivalent of the AA), but knew that it was going to be Monday before we had a diagnosis and then a few more days to get the necessary parts and complete the repairs. The campsite owners were brilliant and gave us a cheap deal on a 6-berth caravan for the duration. We managed to enjoy the time in sleepy Denman, and everyone knew us, and our story of bad luck, by the time we left on Thursday in another downpour.

Our next stop was Lake Glenbawn, a fisherman’s paradise. We rented a boat and tried our luck – Shaz got two bites, but couldn’t reel in the huge fish on the end of the line; Dave of course caught the one that got away… At this stage we were starting to question the luck of the Irish – where was it?

We forgot to tell you that Shaz practically lost her shirt at the Randwick Races (this was the day after the Olympics closed and we went to avoid sport withdrawal symptoms setting in), and the only horse Dave made anything on was “The London Banker’; then we had Spot losing the gearbox and now no fish. Anyway we are sure our luck will change so we will keep the faith!

Seriously though we do realise how lucky we are to be doing this trip and are enjoying every minute of it. We watched a couple of the most stunning sunsets over the lake and as much as we enjoyed being there with each other, we also thought of a lot of our friends who we would have loved to have shared it with. It would also have been nice to have some of you around when we were the only people camping in the middle of the forest in Barrington Tops National Park. It was a touch spooky as we were surrounded by mist and couldn’t see more than 6ft ahead. Shaz was petrified to use the en suite facilities as on our way to the park we had to come through a dingo gate. Anyway we lived to tell the tale and it was quite funny taking on the traditional male/female roles – Dave collected wood for the fire and Shaz attempted to cook the dinner.

The cost of living

We haven’t mentioned the price of stuff yet so here goes.

As the days were a little bit harder to fill in Denman Shaz bought a magazine and realised that she had paid 20 cents more for Marie Claire than Dave had spent on two fillet steaks – the grand total of about 2 pounds 70p! Needless to say we are surviving on our budget and cooking three good meals a day.

We are now in Forster in the Great Lakes area of NSW, a town with a population of about 16,000 and tonight is 2 for 1 in the local fish and chippy – we can both eat fish and chips for $5.95 (about 2 pounds 25p).

Tomorrow we celebrate three years of marital bliss and will probably mark the occasion as a treat night and no doubt we will find a restaurant where we can have a seafood platter and maybe even drink wine out of crystal glasses (instead of our blue tumblers from IKEA).

And as we say life goes on…

A word from Dave

As most people have realised our blogs are put together by Shaz. They consist of a daily dairy that I am keeping plus a thoughts and observation diary which she is keeping.

In her first 2 posts Shaz has omitted a daily routine that I have to put up with, it’s called Shaz’s Jump For Joy. Nearly everyday something we do or see makes Shaz do a little skip accompanied by a double clap of the hands and a big smile appears on her face – it’s great.

Last night however this was surpassed, when we were sitting in the van having a drink, quietly celebrating another day. Suddenly Shaz shouts “dolphins” and off we started running down the towpath watching a couple of dolphins swim down the estuary out to sea. Of course this got a double jump and a small squeal of joy.