MySwag.org The Off-road Camper Trailer Forum
General => Introductions => Topic started by: Chongololo on March 22, 2012, 08:56:38 PM
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Hi everyone!
The wife and I are so very excited. After spending a good number of hours on this very forum reading all about camper trailers and getting the low down on the different brands/makes, checking out what was on offer at the Caravan and Camping Show, and getting some great advice from friends, we have finally order our Tambo Cooper XT!!
Now the looooooong wait begins before we can pick it up and take it out into the bush.
Here's the question:
Where would/did you go with your camper when you first got it? We live about 1/2 an hour west of Melbourne and are looking to find somewhere suitable for a test run. Anywhere within about an hours' drive.
I'll be starting up a blog soon too, so keep eye out!
- C
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Welcome C, look forward to seeing the pics
Greg
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Welcome to MySwag C, great choice of camper. How long is the wait, I have 6 weeks till the Omeo is ready hopefully. First outing is a difficult one, not too sure. Do you need amenities or can you bush it
GG
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G'day C
(http://www.hairfysh.com/images/Icons/Smileys/welcome.gif)
To MySwag,
Well done on the purchase of your camper.
I do remember our first uses of our campers.
Our first Camper trailers (http://www.hairfysh.com/index.php/our-travels/our-camper/41-home-page/80-old-camper-07-09.html) maiden trip was to Evans Head for our annual fortnight trip. Although it stood for a week in the yard as I weathered the canvas.
Our second camper (http://www.hairfysh.com/index.php/our-travels/our-camper.html), the one we have now, we spent two nights at Brooms head in the middle of winter for it's maiden trip. we were surprised how warm it was.
There is plenty here to help you with your mods and for future trips. Check out the trips section, there might be a meet on, or start one yourself.
Happy & Safe travels.
:cheers:
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G'day C and welcome to the forum.
Congrats on the new camper mate.Happy days are ahead. :cup:
Enjoy your travels and the waits worth it. ;D
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welcome to myswag
:cheers: sheeds
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Another Tambo. ;D
Congrates on the soon to be addition to the family.
We love our Omeo and there are so many spots to camp that aren't to much of a drive and quite at the same time :cup:
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Welcome to myswag....
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G'day C and welcome to Myswag. :cheers:
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Hi C,
Your best bet is to buy yourself the most excellent book, "Camps 6", especially the version with campsite pics. It will show you most of the camp sites in Australia. It just so happens that I too live on the western side of Melbourne and I'm waiting for our new camper to be built, and also I have the camps 6 book right next to me. I will be doing exactly the same thing as you in late April. For a near by bush camping experience, you could try the campsite at the Brisbane Ranges National Park at Boar Gully, O'Briens Crossing at Lerdederg State Park, Firth Campground in the Wombat State Forest, Mt Franklin Reserve Campground in the Hepburn Regional Park or Hunts Bridge Camping Area in the Lal Lal State Forest. They are all close enough to inspect on a short weekend drive to see which one you like best.
Good luck with your brand new camper, and who knows, we might find ourselves camping next to each other on our maiden camper voyages.
Cheers
Chris.
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Hi Chongololo and welcome to My Swag
:cheers: bubba
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Wow. Thanks for the warm welcome! You lot certainly are a friendly bunch ;)
Chris, I've heard of Camps 6, and believe that a couple of our friends have a copy, so we may need to borrow it. Thanks for the campsite run down, will have to check each of those out I reckon. What camper are you taking delivery of in 6 weeks then?
GG congrats on the Omeo, that is one sweet camper. 6 weeks isnt too bad, ours is about 6 - 7 weeks out, so maybe ill see you on pick up day. We were oggling the Omeo in the showroom, its huge! We went pretty big on options. I am not as handy as I'd like to be and with 2 kids under 4 time is definitely not something I have enough of, which is why we just decided to get it all done up front. We will likely only do an overnight trip on first outing so not too fussed on having amenities to hand. We can 'rough it' for one night... ;) just looking for a nice spot to park up, get the tent up and have a good inspection of everything.
Thanks Hairs, love the website you've got there and some nice info on the two campers. How are finding the Jayco compared to the trailer/ tent set up? We also looked at a couple of Jayco (caulfield) swans and the eagles (regular and outback versions). They are really nice, but I'm a stickler for not wanting to feel too removed from the bush. Perhaps in time I'll change my mind, will have to see;)
Thanks again for the warm welcome everyone!
- C
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Hi C,
My wife and I are waiting for our new Kimberly Kamper Ltd Edition. We don't have kids and we plan to do some long touring trips so a hard floor suits us fine. I look forward to seeing some pics of your new camper, it's always fun to share other peoples excitement.
Cheers
Chris.
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hi Chongololo.... very exciting ... good luck with it all .......
your post made me think of our first roadie we pulled ....this was in the BC era (before children) ...so this must be about 21 years ago we toured NT and QLD in the back of an old Holden panel van :cup: for a couple of weeks, but we have the fondest memories still of that first trip and the new places we saw ....next year we will have been together 25 years ... maybe should plan a rerun of the trip as an anniversary celebration.
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Hi Chris,
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Bah, fat fingers me didn't finish the last post!
Hi Chris, nice one on the Kimberly, I bet you're keen to get that delivered! I'll definitely put up some pictures as soon as I have some.
Happy camping!
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Hi Phatassphairy (now that's a pseudonym ;) ),
Congrats on 25 yrs! We will be all of 10 this June, and I think we need to be planning a good trip to celebrate. Nothing like getting back to nature eh...
- C
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G'day & Welcome Chongololo.
As I just typed to another Victorian newcomer to this forum, if you don't already have some great friends to camp with, it won't be long now. Many active members from your area too.
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Hi Chongololo,
Our first trip was to Knockwood Reserve between Woods Point and Jamieson. We had the place to ourselves and a lovely spot...we love it around that area, though, so maybe a little bias ;)
Lil :)
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About to make a Cooper XT sized space in the garage. :D
(http://img.tapatalk.com/31c6f618-654f-1de7.jpg)
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Thanks Hairs, love the website you've got there and some nice info on the two campers. How are finding the Jayco compared to the trailer/ tent set up? We also looked at a couple of Jayco (caulfield) swans and the eagles (regular and outback versions). They are really nice, but I'm a stickler for not wanting to feel too removed from the bush. Perhaps in time I'll change my mind, will have to see;)
Hi - C,
:cheers: I try to record and share as much as we can, if it helps somebody somewhere, well that's great.
Thanks,
The trailer tent camper was great for long stays, 7 days or more, heaps of room, but a lot of work(nearly two & half hours worth, if not more), 3 kids + 2 Adults. Great for summer campers.
It was great when it was wet, heaps of room. A light setup to tow around.
The Swan, heaps quicker to get set up, it helps that the kids are getting older and are able to help, they each have a job to do, EG, put out the steel pegs, the ropes, the spreader bars & poles and the bed end fly's & Ocky Straps.
Setting up quicker means more time to relax.
If it's wet, can be a little cramped(but warm in winter), might be better if the annex walls were the right length(The Swan has had about 12 inch lift), So the annex can't be used to enclose a room. Heavy on fuel, it weights 1380kg bone dry empty.
They both have their good points and bad.
The kids are getting older, so they will want a tent soon, we hang on to the Swan a little longer.
:cheers:
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Garage transformation complete. Ready for pick up on Saturday! Whoop whoop! (http://img.tapatalk.com/76d1a4b9-7452-99b6.jpg)
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That's great news C! I know how you feel, I pick up mine tomorrow. I'm looking forward to some pics of your new camper!
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Congratulations on the impending arrival (and the shed cleanup ;D).
Like the name, are you originally from SA?
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Welcome to the forum. May you have long days and pleasant nights in your camper!
Damo
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That's great news C! I know how you feel, I pick up mine tomorrow. I'm looking forward to some pics of your new camper!
Nice. What are you getting? Ours is actually ready tomorrow too, but can't get off work to go get it! Enjoy it. I'll put picks up as soon as I have them. :)
-C
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Thanks Fridge Magnet (that's quite a name ;)),
Not SA but close enough. I grew up in Zim. So getting the camper is a step towards getting back out into the bush. Happy days!
-C
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Garage transformation complete. Ready for pick up on Saturday! Whoop whoop!
Just make sure you get the right one, the Omeo almost ready would be mine ;D
GG
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Nice. What are you getting? Ours is actually ready tomorrow too, but can't get off work to go get it! Enjoy it. I'll put picks up as soon as I have them. :)
-C
Kimberly Kamper.
Cheers.
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Ha ha, GG now that you've mentioned it I'll keep a lookout. Will have to get the wife and kids to distract Amanda while I hook it up ;)
When is your pick up date? Must be soon?
C
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Ha ha, GG now that you've mentioned it I'll keep a lookout. Will have to get the wife and kids to distract Amanda while I hook it up ;)
When is your pick up date? Must be soon?
C
Not too long now
GG
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Drifta all packed up and ready for an install in the XT tomorrow.
:D happy days!
(http://img.tapatalk.com/76d1a4b9-b40f-e289.jpg)(http://img.tapatalk.com/76d1a4b9-b41f-dc44.jpg)
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Is it here yet!!!!!!!!
Drifta looks great remember you will need to put skids or something in the XT to slide it above the lip seal, love our Drifta and we have not even used it yet (we got the same one just with the lighter colour laminate on top)
Happy days ahead
Graham
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It's here!
Finally managed to get the kids wrangled this morning and take the drive from west to east to pick up the Cooper XT. When we pulled into the Tambo Camper yard, there she was sitting waiting. Along with a couple of Omeos (I'm guessing one's GGs) and another Cooper in the workshop. Am glad we booked in early as we just managed to do the walk through with Keith before it began to rain.
Wow, that is indeed a lot of canvas. And we didn't even set up the awning, or the extra bedroom. :)
The camper is home now and safely tucked up in the garage. Will be installing the Drifta just as soon as the littlest member of the clan wakes up from her nap.
Pics coming very soon
C
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Photos!
(http://img.tapatalk.com/76d1a4b9-bdfa-b1dc.jpg)
Cooper XT and Nissan XTrail T30
(http://img.tapatalk.com/76d1a4b9-be10-c6ee.jpg)
Some very happy campers. ;)
(http://img.tapatalk.com/76d1a4b9-be1f-f43c.jpg)
C
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Looks Great
Greg
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Is it here yet!!!!!!!!
Drifta looks great remember you will need to put skids or something in the XT to slide it above the lip seal, love our Drifta and we have not even used it yet (we got the same one just with the lighter colour laminate on top)
Happy days ahead
Graham
Hey Graham,
Yeah, we read about the Cooper 'lip' so asked for the skids/rails from Luke at Drifta. Will be installing them shortly.
C
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It's a big one alright....
(http://img.tapatalk.com/76d1a4b9-bf05-4d14.jpg)
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Congratulations and welcome to the clan. You look pleased as punch, a bit like I did when we picked ours up 6 months back. Great choice in camper (i'm biased) and I know you'll have lots of fun.
Keep the pics coming.
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Looks great mate, :cup:
Keep the pics coming
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Drifta all installed. First mod (if you can call it a mod) done!
(http://img.tapatalk.com/76d1a4b9-e230-dc2b.jpg)
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1st, 2nd & 3rd camping trips sorted. All before July. :)
1 Brisbane Ranges
2 Murray river
3 Marysville
Sooooo looking forward it.
:D
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3 camping trips planned before July.
1 Brisbane ranges
2 Murray river
3 Marysville
Soooooooo excited. :D
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Looks great, the XT is a lot of canvas, keep us updated on the mods and the trips
GG
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That was quick work, do you have the side lift on the cooper and did you have to modify the brackets as I did to be able to have the kitchen hard over to the left looks great, I see you have it packed ready to go already :cheers:
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Thanks GG.
Will definitely keep you updated. And I'll be looking for some advice too ;)
C
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Got to love a Tambo :cup:
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That was quick work, do you have the side lift on the cooper and did you have to modify the brackets as I did to be able to have the kitchen hard over to the left looks great, I see you have it packed ready to go already :cheers:
I didn't have to modify the brackets, but I did have to leave space on the left side to compensate for a water pipe that Keith fed through the floor of the camper. It's a bit awkward. I'll see how we go and if it nots working out then I'll take it back; Keith has already said that he'll change it if need be.
So the Drifta is about 4" from the side of the trailer, which happens to fit all the poles and fishing rods quite nicely as it turns out.
We do have the side lift. Which is a good thing. The tent, and all it's canvas, weigh a fair whack.
I'll get some more pics up tomorrow that show the gap down the side.
Next mod will be lighting.
C
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Hi C,
Nice camper! That huge tent will be great for the kids on rainy days. Great kitchen too.
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Hey Chris,
Thats exactly the reason we got the XT. We don't want to have to bother with weather reports. If it's raining/miserable we have plenty of space to live in and entertain ourselves.
C
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Congratulations on the Tambo,great to see you have the plans in place to get it out and about.
It didn't take us long either to take our Omeo out and every time you do,the easier it is to manage the take up/down process.
We don't have the extra side bedroom like you as there are only 3 of us and find the room inside is more than enough,add to that the large awning and we are happy little campers.
Hope you had it out to season the canvas with all this rain we have had.
GGPatrol mentioned some time back about a Tambo get together,there are more than enough of us to make it a small community. Maybe a Mid to late Spring gathering in and around the Alpine State/National Forest. ;D
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GGPatrol mentioned some time back about a Tambo get together,there are more than enough of us to make it a small community. Maybe a Mid to late Spring gathering in and around the Alpine State/National Forest. ;D
I will put something up soon with some notice so all can attend, just getting life back to normal and I will work it out, will I bring the Cooper or the Omeo ;D
GG
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We' re definitely up for a Tambo meetup. Will keep an eye out for any updates.
In other news, it's the Cooper's maiden outing tomorrow! Whole family is super excited. Weather looks like crap but we are adamant that we will not let it ruin the weekend.
Keep an eye out for some photos.
C
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great job on new camper i am still looking for mine, a nice place to go is murrindindi nice camp groundss just be rebuilt after the fires.