Lessons Learned from 8 Months on the Road

[edz]

Thanks everyone! I would never have guessed the awning and the portaloo comments would have elicited the most response.

One update on the walls. We are considering having the walls altered to add large mesh windows with clear plastic that can be zipped up on the inside. One of the reasons we don't use them is it feels a bit claustrophobic when they're up so we were thinking the windows may help. That said, we don't use them so we are hesitant to invest more money in them...

Instead of having your walls altered maybe just use 50 or 75% shadecloth panels hemmed and clipped on to the awning .. can be had cheaply [bunnings etc ] lets light in and some breeze not a lot of water, bit of privacy during the day  [ beware at night it reverses with lights on its easy to see into  from the out side ]..

[tracker]

Great read Brooklyn,

                              Hope you enjoy the rest of your time in Aussie.
                                                         Cheers Tracker.

[Rumpig]

One update on the walls. We are considering having the walls altered to add large mesh windows with clear plastic that can be zipped up on the inside. One of the reasons we don't use them is it feels a bit claustrophobic when they're up so we were thinking the windows may help. That said, we don't use them so we are hesitant to invest more money in them... Probably not something we will do right away regardless.

what you're thinking of doing to your walls we have as standard on ours, we still don't use them. If we were away somewhere and the forecast was going to be rain for a few days I might consider putting the one up in the kitchen to make cooking a dry affair, but haven't had to as such yet.....just wait and heavy showers usually pass over pretty quickly we find.

[DaveCQ]

Brooklyn,

Great read. thanks.
In relation to the Landcruiser awning....I have been one of the few not to accessorise my 4wd with one. A lot of my mates and family members have......always ribbed me for not having one......but I didn't see the sense. After researching I believed there was more value in a portable compact pop up shade gazebo that can be moved around depending on the position of the sun, or closer to a creek etc than you can get a car. Also gets more use at home....weekend sports events. The compact ones fit in the boot of a car...back of Prado etc.
After buying one and having others see it in use, they are now purchasing one themselves and not using their awnings....

The other point I thought interesting was camper restrictions around water. When I was looking for a camper on the secondhand market before buying new, it amazed me how many campers had less than adequate water carrying capability. These were not cheap campers,,,,very capable to go to out of the way places,,,,but I wouldn't look at them as they were not a camper you could stay isolated in due to the water situation.

Cheers, Dave.

[speewa158]

The walls from my Cub are always at hand ,,,,,,as long as  in the back of my shed on the top shelf . l did unpack them to have a look at them  .   What you have said is spot on . We should be traveling to enjoy the countryside not to deploy kit  .                         

[Dion]

Heh.  Annex walls.  We've owned our camper since late 2009 and used the walls for the first time over Easter as it rained for days and we wanted the extra shelter.  Even then, I only used 2 of the 4 walls (the ones at either end).

Your blog is a great read 

[wilson79]

Great Post mate..

[vicandug]

Great idea for a thread Brooklyn & we agree with all of your observations. We have been following your blog & love it. Makes us remember our trip as well & helps us get through the "dark days" now we are back & started back at work today! Thanks for sharing.

Great read. Thanks

[NewieCamper]

We only use the end wall over the kitchen, prevents dew getting over the kitchen. The previous owners of the camper had never used the walls either. The awning goes out in a few minutes without the spreaders so I put that out each time without the spreaders, some spreaders are used with the kitchen wall.

I did put the screen walls and floor up once for our littlest to be able to crawl around in but that was a mistake as we got some rain and made a swimming pool at the front door and didn't use the area anyway. The screen walls live in the shed now.