City and Outback Australia

Im in the planning phase of a short trip to Orange in New South Wales Australia. I have to drop my daughter off near there so we were going to spend some time there. Firstly we are changing the brakes from hydraulic to electric. This is going to cost around $1100 and an additional $300 for the controller. We will be fitting 10 inch Electric brakes. When I bought the camper I was not sure of the condition of the brakes and bearings. We shopped around and due to the age of the van we are better of retrofitting electric brakes. The trip is around 5 hours from where I live in Lake Macquarie ( Near Newcastle ). We plan on staying at a caravan park and taking our two smallest children as we have 5. We will be travelling through the Blue Mountains so getting the brakes done was a must. We have a 14 ft Jayco Wind up camper. It was made in 1978 so we have some work to do on it though it is water tight.

Newcastle caravan and camping show I would have to say I’m pretty disappointed. Some great things to see but really could have just driven to Heatherbrae and seen all that was on offer without having to pay entry. The vans were inflated in price the the “show discount” brought them back to the normal price in my opinion. What a waste of a day and parking was a nightmare. Save your money and don’t go. You really see more going to the dealers site and I believe you will get a better deal.  The show lacked variety of manufacturers and really it just had high end caravans. The camping gear is better at 4WD Supacentre.  I’m not sure if this is the same as the Rose Hill show in Sydney so I won’t be bothering anyway.

Camper Progress (LED Lighting)  Today Iinstalled the cheap LED Light strip I bought off Ebay. I only had enough to do half the camper so I purchased another 5 meter strip. I have bought a great 5 meter strip at a 4X4 store that I will use on the outside of the camper, Inside the awning tent. We also installed more Sail Track so we can use a tarpaulin off the side in bad weather. This was great until we realised we left the Caulking gun on the roof and had some pretty fancy stretching to get it rather than lowering the camper again. What was great was my 15 year old daughter did most of the work. It was a great boding moment.  We head to Canberra on the 15th April for a few nights so check us out if you can. Greg

The Three Sisters Rock Formation  The three sisters rock formation is about a 1-hour drive from Sydney to Katoomba in New South Wales, Australia. We travelled from Newcastle so it was approximately a 3 hour trip for us. Parking at the site is difficult and has parking meters which add to the unfriendliness of the place.  It’s a great rock formation and very famous so it is worth going to see. You do not have to hike as there are viewing platforms though getting to a spot you can take a photo at is annoying. It is full of tourists and the tour buses just drop them directly at the viewing ramp and it really is very congested. Expect extreme temperatures. In Winter it’s bitterly cold with strong winds that freeze you to the core. In summer it’s so hot and fires often rage in the Blue Mountains.  It’s definitely worth the trip but you will need patience. Shops are limited but locals obviously live there getting al they need from the area but I would search goog...

Goulburn NSW Australia On the way to Canberra today, we stopped in at Goulburn. Goulburn was Australia’s first inland settlement.  The town nowadays looks a little run down and I more than likely will drive past it in future. It still has the Big Marino though it’s been moved 800 meters from its original location.  Goulburn is the home to the NSW police academy. It’s sort of fitting that there is a large jail here also.

Redhead Beach - Newcastle - Australia  Redhead beach is a great beach in the Newcastle - Lake Macquarie area. Its never too busy and this is a patrolled beach by surf lifesavers.  They have a great place to get food and drink and it also has great parking though a caravan will not be able to access this beach. It has a shark tower from the early 1900′s that still stands and looks great. This beach is great for sunbathing and it is a great beach for surf activities. Its a definite must visit if your in the area. Check patrol times and surf club times online. I have a few photos.