Thursday 29 February 2024

Spacevan interior (completed) ...

Our second two drawer units arrived and Nick fitted them during his most recent time off.  

After discussion, it was decided to use a sheet of plywood to make two tops for the units, to give a bit more stability to them when being used as benches.

We bought the ply as a sheet, which Nick cut to size.  He rounded the front corners and decided to use an all-in-one stain and varnish product for sealing the sanded plywood.

I thought it might be cool to do a photo collage on each top but am still thinking about that - and we might well have many more photos to include after this year's big trip!

There was enough stain finish for a full coat on both sides and then a second coat on the top, visible side.  Brass bolts were used to attach the tops to the bases - and it all looks quite schmick!

I'd already chosen the red dirt coloured cord for Bandit's bed without much thought to the final benchtop colour - and we didn't consider it when choosing the stain - but all co-ordinates very well together.

While at Bunnings we picked up two packs of their interlocking foam mats, which are a bit smaller than other versions.  Nick used them to cover the usable floor on the upper, bed level of the camper trailer.

We've found the mats great for trapping dirt when camping and think this extra set will be even better for keeping dust etc out of our bed! 

The final tally for the drawer unit project was $788.20, which we are very chuffed about.  (The full cost was another $70.00 but we used Nick's work Christmas voucher to discount the price of the first drawer unit).  

For comparison, we have access to Cub's September 2022 pricelist and their 8-drawer tallboy unit was then priced at $1,523.00.

Wednesday 21 February 2024

Light and bright!

When we bought our initial camping equipment in January 2009, we didn't want to use gas so chose a dual-fuel lantern and three UFO camping lights. At that stage the UFO lights were almost $17.00 each and the RRP of the lantern was $150.00 (without case).

The lantern reminded me of the pressurised kerosene lamps that had featured during my childhood - along with primus stoves and a quick-boil kettle. 

Our dual-fuel lantern was well-used on many trips and did great work till around 2016, when we upgraded to a newer model.

This post from late 2014 mentions our lighting set up.  There's another reference here from that same trip.  We acquired more 12-volt LED lights in 2016, during our 18-month stint of caravan living, while in transit between Victoria and Queensland. 

Those LED lights are still doing well and are being used in our current Spacevan.  We called into the 4WD Supacentre very recently, hoping to get an extension - but the current versions aren't magnetic and won't pair with our existing set.

On our February trip to Stanthorpe we used some cheap Kmart "bulb tent lights" inside our new Hub screenhouse.  (Those bulb lights usually stay in our shower bags, cos some cubicles are only dimly lit).

After returning home, we took advantage of Anaconda's summer sale to buy two Ultra Slim, battery operated lanterns for use inside the Hub.  We can hang them or they'll sit on the table.  They have three settings and emit nice light.  

Years ago I made basic covers for the UFO lights but I crafted much better protection for this pair, using a lightly quilted silk scarf for the outside and some dark fleece inside.

Tuesday 20 February 2024

Let sleeping dogs ...

I've sewn all sorts of things over the years - including many curtains and some bedding but I have limited experience of making other furnishings.  

Many years back, I made cushion covers for Erin's bedroom space in a small "bubble" van.  Those covers were quite simple and were finished with hand-stitching, to avoid the need for zippers.

Fast forward to now, when I've had a lot more experience of zippers, albeit on small-scale zip pouch projects.  

After a fair bit of YouTube research, I felt reasonably confident of creating a zip cover for Bandit's custom dog bed. 

Given my level of confidence, I decided to make two covers - a waterproof under layer and a soft corduroy top cover.  Yep, call me keen!

Nick cut the foam cushion to size, from the mattress that came with the Spacevan (which we chose to upgrade).  

Another piece of foam had been used to fill the gap between the Mahindra's two rear seats, to give Mr Dog more room to stretch while we are travelling.  

No purchases were necessary to create the dog bed.  The under layer was made from an upcycled waterproof sheet and the outer cover used fabric from my infamous stash (a bargain opshop purchase from quite a few years ago).  The shorter zips were also opshop buys, sourced from the stash.  The longer zips are upcycled from rooftop cargo bags that deteriorated.  Had I bought the four zips from Spotlight even with a coupon, they would have been $25.00.

Some of the cover construction was new to me, so there was a lot of muttering as I battled through the first one, with constant reference to the YouTube tutorial - while eating jelly snakes! I did better on my second cover (and now know a lot more about altering zippers) but even so, I needed to finesse/fudge a little. I'm pretty chuffed to have finished though - and really like how the two covers work together.

Most importantly, Mr Dog seems happy with the new arrangement and we're hoping he likes sleeping there a lot more than crowding in with us!

Sunday 18 February 2024

Getting our money's worth!

At some stage in late 2013, we took advantage of a Ray's Outdoors sale to buy four grey camping chairs.  They had already done a fair bit of travel before our stint of caravan transit life, when they were in daily use for 18 months.

They've had some more camping trips since we relocated to Queensland but Nick and I found them less comfortable on our very recent Stanthorpe break.

We're planning a two-month touring adventure later this year and decided a chair upgrade would be good preparation for that - and as luck would have it, Anaconda was having a great sale!

Of course, if there hadn't been a sale - we would have waited for one, cos we do love getting an excellent bargain!

We had mis-remembered where the grey chairs came from, so happily bragged to an Anaconda fellow of how well they'd lasted, thinking they'd been an earlier purchase from one of "his" stores!  Hah!

Thursday 15 February 2024

Spacevan interior (continued) ...

Our second drawer unit arrived at Bunnings while we were in Stanthorpe.  We collected it on Tuesday, soon after getting home.  

Nick installed both drawer units into the Spacevan later that afternoon.  They look great!

His next mission was to cut down the former bed frame.  The shorter format fits beside the drawers, to enclose the diesel heater.  It will be used as a base for Bandit's dog bed.  We have foam to cut for a custom-sized cushion.  Once the foam is cut, I'll sew a zip cover for the cushion. 

A second set of two drawers will be installed on the other side of the Spacevan.  I'll order those soon.  There is talk of fitting some kind of bench top to both drawer stacks but we're still thinking about that!

Stanthorpe exploring ...

We'd previously visited Stanthorpe in June 2017, not long after relocating to Queensland.  On that occassion the four of us, with Bandit, stayed in a pet-friendly cabin on Storm King Dam. 

We stayed at the same caravan park this trip, on a powered site just a short walk from the water.

Our November anniversary trip had been planned for bushwalking in the Girraween National Park, without Mr Dog.  It wasn't an option to leave him behind for the rescheduled booking - but fortunately there were lots of dog-friendly options around the area.

We had a lot of fun exploring around Serendipity Rocks nature reserve - and revisiting Donnelly's Castle.  There was a short walk around Mt Marlay also.  Mr Dog had such a great day, he slept super-soundly that night!

Cafe dining isn't something we usually do with Bandit but there were a number of dog-friendly wineries, so we chose one of those to visit on our last day.  

We ordered a wood-fired pizza and Mr Dog was very happy to be given a morsel!

The tourist information centre has a multi-page list of the wineries and their various dog-friendly conditions.  We were given a brochure about dog-friendly walks in the area also (and I had researched at home as well).

Stanthorpe setup ...

We bought our first gazebo in January 2010 and have had others since.  They were used a lot in our earlier days and one stayed up almost permanently during our transition period in Victoria.  

Ballan was often windy and we regularly kept the gazebo in it's lowered position to increase wind resistance.  There are some pics, here.  (We also used loops to prevent water pooling in the rain).

When I saw a Drifta clip of the Wild Land Hub Screenhouse, I was very interested and immediately showed Nick.  I am allergic to sandfly and some other insect bites, so particularly liked the thought of being in a protected zone!

Drifta had an Australia Day sale and we bought one Hub, with two walls for only a few dollars more than the usual retail price.  We opted to collect from our closest store, rather than pay freight - which meant we could view other equipment in person, and visit a nearby 4WD Supacentre as well.

Each of our three hardfloor campers came with an awning (and walls) but generally we set-up in the basic configuration, cos that's easier - which is what we did on our first night in Stanthorpe.

After exploring on Saturday, we set up our new Wild Land Hub Screenhouse.  It went up quickly and we enjoyed sitting under cover.  The prediction was for lots of wind overnight, so Nick packed away the Hub before we went to bed.

He set it up again on Sunday and it then stayed up for the remainder of our break.  We were very impressed with how well it held up against the wind and rain - as were our camping neighbours.  Even with just two walls, we were surprised at the difference the screened area made to wind/warmth.  (We are thinking of buying a few more walls but might wait for another sale).  

The Hub is lighter than our gazebos, sets up and packs down quicker and really is quite nifty.  Call us fans!