The Rig

The Rig - is caravan speak for the car (tow vehicle) and the caravan. We first started looking for our RIG about 4 years ago. We contemplated getting a permanent on site caravan in a caravan park. Although Pete would be happy to go back to the same place all the time, I like to discover new places. So we decided on a touring caravan. We considered and then discounted the following for different reasons: motorhomes , full size caravans, camper trailers. This is when we discovered the Windsor Rapid it has a pop top roof and pull out bed ends, for a caravan it is quiet roomy. As onboard toilet/showers are quiet pokey we decided to forego this feature for extra storage. This is where we got lucky and the stars where in alignment for us. While talking to chap in a Caravan salesyard about our options we told him up front that we could not afford a brand new caravan. We asked if he could keep our details and if a second hand van came in that would suit us could he contact us. Well two days later he called and then emailed us pictures of our Willow. Willow had been bought by an older couple a year earlier, they had used her once and decided she was not for them. We contacted the couple , who offered to tow "Willow" to a park of our choice so we could test her out for the weekend. We loved her! She was a beautiful van and in great condition. Pete I are not great at spending big amounts of money,so, for a week we discussed back and forth was it the right thing to do, could we afford it, would we use it, would we better of spending the money on something else. It would mean not only spending money buying the van, but re- registering in Canberra, insuring the caravan, putting in a access gate in our back fence and the biggy, selling our sedan and upgrading to a 4WD. So we then started looking at 4wd and apparently deisels are the best for long term towing and fuel consumption, it would have to be a auto as I am not co-ordinated enough to drive a manuel. So we did get Willow and we did get a Toyota Prado diesel 4WD who we have named Brindi, after the mountain ranges that surround Canberra. On our first week end away as we sat and ate our fish and chips on a water front site watching the kids roll down the grassy bank onto the beach with the moon rising over the ocean, we looked at each other clinked our wineglasses and said "Yep, we did the right thing." And we did.

Our Winter Escape up North

I dont think i am giving anything away in saying that saturday nights in our house is date night! In the name of adventure we gave up our date night and replaced it with a itinerary planning night. There are so many great places to go in Australia where do we start? The question we asked ourselves, do we go south and then cross the Nullabor to the West Coast or do we head North for the Winter. Hmm easy.. North for the winter won out. We will save the west for another time. So spread over our lounge room floor where numerous travel brochures from coastal northern NSW and Queensland and camping and map books. We looked to see what would interest us and scenic places to stay. We aimed to keep our daily travel to 300km or less. Towing a caravan we have found that you cant rush and a distance that may take 3 hours in a regular car may take us over 4 hours. So this is our itinerary as it it stands, it will be flexible as we might find other places that we like better. First stop will be visiting our very good friends in Port Stephens then Port Macquarie,Coffs Harbour, Byron Bay,Noosa,Fraser Island, Bundaberg, seventeen Seventy,Sarina,Emerald,Rockhampton,Midge Point,Bowen,Townsville, Cairns/Port Douglas, Daintree, Cooktown. This week on our to do list we ticked of Car and caravan being wired and fitted with auxillery battery. I have spoken to Graces teacher, and we have worked out a plan to keep her up to date with her school work. Today the kids got a new camp chair each. tick tick tick. And as a bonus I found a Andy Griffiths book at a garage sale for .50c for Grace to read while travelling. AS you can see I have also worked out how to put a photo on this blog using my phone. I felt very clever. Have you travelled the coastal route up the eastern coast of Australia? Do you have any hot tips or favourite places to visit? We will return via the inland route. We have not planned this yet and are not sure what exact route we will take. Maybe one of you, my readers, will have a suggestion on this for us?

Why Travel Australia in a Caravan

Why travel Australia in a caravan? WHY NOT! I say. As all good things it starts with a dream. We talked about how when we retire we will get ourselves a caravan and go travelling. Sounds great! But at the time our children where very little 4 and 6 and we had just turned 40. Retirement is a long way of and we could not wait,so lets do it now together as a family. Initially we where waiting for our daughter Grace to progress in school and James to grow his legs so he would last the distance on bushwalks. And yes, we did need to save some money to finance our trip. For some time it seemed that it would just be a pipe dream and never happen. Two years ago I experience a heart stopping moment and was brought back to life. Having a second chance at life i wanted to do something special. I could not think of anything to change the way we live, I was happy with our life. But, I became more determined to realise our dream of traveling Australia in our Caravan. What a great experience we are going to have seeing with our own eyes some of Australia's natural wonders, the Great Barrier Reef, Rainforests, Beaches, the Outback and seeing where the produce we eat is grown. We will bond as a family living a simple life on the road. Giving my children an appreciation of this fine country they live in and the gift of wanderlust. Ticked of on our to do list this week Itinerary from Canberra to Cooktown more on this next week no photos this week computer not co operating

So Much To Do

So much to do my head is spinning. We are on our count down to our dreamed about big caravan adventure. We are heading to Far North Queensland in 8 weeks. Although this is very exciting I am starting to realise there is more to this than just hopping in the car with the caravan in tow and heading North. This is our list to do Purchase new mobile Fridge /Freezer Tick, Get Battery to run New fridge, Wire car for new fridge and Battery, Wire Caravan to enable us to bush/free camp, Service car Tick,Install cargo barrier in car, Service Caravan, Talk to childrens teachers re school work while we are away, Put together a travelling school kit, Make a passport for the kids, Work out what to do with our house rent v's homesitter, Set a rental fee, find a renter/homesitter, Clean out or pack up house for renter/homesitter, Plan a itinerary, Stop mortgage while we are travelling, Pack our clothes/ gear to take, Farewell family and friends, Purchase a new camera, Become familair in this blogging caper. Have I forgotten anything? All this has to be done while we carry on a normal busy family life, work and study. Oh yes thats right... Go and enjoy ourselves! PS I did try to do the list as a single column list, but I am still learning and could not work that out. In case you find any spelling errors I have not yet found the spell check button either

Who Are the Red Elephants

We are an Australian family of 4 who live in Australia's National Capital Canberra. I am Mum ( Belinda )Red Elephant and will be the writer of this blog, In a normal week I work at our school canteen , study,so one day I can work in pre schools, try to fit in a bit of craft and gardening, enjoy my friends company, catch up with my parents and also do all the normal mum type stuff. There is Dad Red Elephant otherwise known as Pete who teaches hospitality. This suits him to a "T" as he likes to talk and is definitly a people person. Dad is full of energy and is loud and boistrous as a result he is great with kids and seems to attract them like a magnet where ever we go.

We have Grace Red Elephant who is 10 she is very leggy and tall for a elephant in fact within the family she is known as our giraffe. Grace likes to be outside hanging out of trees or riding her scooter or bike. She is a golfer in the making and likes to eat fruit, all kinds. Grace Red Elephant is a very nice girl even if I do say so myself.

This bring as to the last of the Red Elephants James who is 7. He is a very happy chappy and always has been since birth. It would seem James permanently has some type of ball attached to the end of his foot. When there is no ball he is on his bike or his sisters scooter. James likes pies or anything that is not good for him. Luckily for him he is a feather weight and runs, kicks and rides of all the extra sugars and fats he eats.

We love being together especially travelling on the road and being in our caravan "Willow." Why are we the Red Elephants? When we got married Pete and I decided to keep both our surnames and all our family would have the same last name. We joined our names. When James was learning to talk he couldn't say our name and it came out as "Red Elephant."