Ups n Downs!

We booked in for two nights at Ups n Downs Farmstay, just outside Roma - a very good choice!

It was around 6:00pm when we rolled in on Sunday night, a bit over seven hours since leaving home.  We'd had a few breaks along the way but the going had been slow due to lots of  road works.

Everyone was very pleased to get out of the cars and set up camp.  I used the camp kitchen to chef our dinner - and we sat around the big fire chatting with our camp host for quite a while before heading to bed.

We woke the next morning, to scolding apostle birds and wandering geese (with goslings)!

After breakfast, we explored a bit and walked down to the dam to see the small cows, donkeys and horses.  Vaughan's new friend really liked nibbling leg hair, which was funny!  (Later in the afternoon, sheep and lambs in the adjoining paddock were fed and it was fun watching their antics diving into the food trough)!

Beyond the backyard!

Nick had a few days off during the school holidays, so we did a quick trip out to Roma - which had been on our wish-list for a little while.

It was good to test our most recent modifications on the road - and beyond the backyard!

We were up early to finish packing.  As usual Bandit tucked himself into Elmer several hours before departure, so we wouldn't leave him at home! 

In the days when we camped in tents, with various gear stowed in our trailer, we had a number of boxes and pretty much knew where each one went.  We are still working on a plan for the camper trailer but saw progress this trip.

Our new packing method streamlined our roadside lunch stop at Dalby, which was great.  Chairs and a table were easy to access and Nick's shelf proved very handy. We all appreciated a break from the cars (Erin drove hers as a practice for solo camping) and a stroll along the river.  There were many water dragons basking in the sunshine and some that dropped into the water for a swim!

Lots of bright ideas!

It's a bit over a year since we bought our camper trailer and exactly a year since our last proper trip in it (out to Yowah) - though we have enjoyed quite a few backyard sleep outs since then. 

Nick and I really like how easy it is to set up the camper.  We tried a few mattress options and think we'll stick with the current one of a low profile innerspring sofa-bed mattress on top of our 4WD mats, with a foam overlay on top.  (The layers stay in place when the trailer is folded up for travel).

The storage box has great capacity but lacks organisation. 

At the time of buying the trailer, we had grand plans of perhaps setting up a kitchen inside the box area.  We've gone off that idea but would like more structure to our packing/storage.

Top collage pic shows the storage box in use for our first overnight stay.  You can see the previous owner fitted a shelf to the driver's side of the box only.

Nick fixed two shelves to the passenger side of the box today.  The larger of these also has a hinged section for additional bench area.  It may be a good road-stop food prep area.  We'll have to test it!

The main mission of the day was to buy and install a solar panel.  We've talked about getting one for ages but the budget always had more pressing demands. 

Nick's done a lot of research the past few days.  He found a local supplier offering great prices - so today's panel, cable and charging regulator were purchased for just under $200.00.  Fingers crossed our new acquisition works as well as we expect it to!  There is space on the roof of the box for a second solar panel, if we decide to buy another one. 

Nick's final task was to bolt the wooden box to the jerry can holders and fix the spare wheel to the front of the box.  (The gas rings were removed early this year).

Everything's looking good for a camping trip - beyond the back yard!

Doggy bag?!

I've done some more sewing this week - prepping a backpack picnic set for Di.  I'm very chuffed with how it's turned out.

The basic backpack was a Gumtree find.  It hadn't been used and held a 4-place setting - cutlery, plates, plastic wine glasses and a small cutting board.

As experienced picnickers, we added extra essentials - a large tablecloth (with tablecloth clips), sharp knife (complete with custom sheath), purple napkins and storage containers, various co-ordinated bags/pouches as well as teaspoons and thermal mugs.

The mugs were a wonderful bargain, bought nearly 10 years ago at a liquidation ware-house for $1.00 each. As they retailed for more than $10.00 usually, we bought 20! After lots of careful consideration, I've decided to gift Di four of my stash. Generous, eh?!

The starry bag is a new idea. It's the same style as my kettle bags and loo kits but lined with leftover plastic tablecloth material. The size is generous to stow dirty plates, cups etc for washing when home again. (Now that I've made a prototype, I'll do one for me, too)!

Sharp thinking!

We do a lot of picnics, so our picnic kit is well equipped.  We usually carry two sharp knives - one for bread and the other for anything else!

A while back I made a denim sheath for our bread knife and it's non-serrated companion.

That effort (shown in the bottom collage pic) wasn't an ideal solution, so I've been thinking of a better storage method.

The denim cover will still be used, when carrying dirty knives home for washing. 

During the week we visited Reverse Garbage and bought some thin leather pieces, which were priced at $17/kg.  I only paid a few dollars for my choices.

Nick helped cut two shaped pieces, one for each knife.  They fold along the top edge of the blades.  Both pieces were wet and then folded in place around the knives, secured by paper clips.

About 24 hours later, those large paper clips were removed.  I then used my sewing machine to sew along the curved edge of each sheath.  I worked very slowly and carefully, using a longer stitch.  I sewed two rows of stitching, one directly over the other, for extra strength and security.

After checking both knives fit into their new covers, I trimmed away some excess leather.

I'm quite pleased with the result - cos I wasn't sure my machine would sew through two layers of leather.  Hooray!

Sew civilised!

I used my apple print loo bag for the first time the other day.  It worked very well (!), which then prompted me to make two more - for using when out and about in Elmer.

I'd already bought the "red dust" face cloths and had lizard print fabric in the stash.  I think it was originally intended for Vaughan but he's a bit old for it now.

The bright frogs were a more recent purchase. I bought the last available fat quarter, which meant a contrast strip was needed to create the loo bag.

My new frog and lizard kits had their first trip yesterday, though the frogs were the day's pick.

I'd also crafted a new picnic table cloth with the remaining lizard print and a bargain remnant of spotty lime green fabric.  It was super cheery for our al fresco dining and toned nicely with our picnic set.

The feather print bag in the top collage is for Di's new camping kettle.  It's a spouted billy design, so a little different to ours  - and I made this bag bigger to easily accommodate the larger spout.

Di bought a small feather dream-catcher for her new truck. As I had feather fabric in the stash, it was used for a loo bag and also featured on another bag, which holds a soft feather motif blanket. (The kettle bag uses a different feather print, which Erin cleverly spotted in a remnant bin).

Di refers to her hand-wash kit as a dunny bag which has caught on here, though we tend to use the friendlier term - DB!

Bags the loo!

Last September I made a bag for our picnic kettle.  I really liked how it turned out and have used the same method to make various other bags since - one for a pair of billies, one for shoe-cleaning equipment and now several dubbed "new car kits".

What's a new car kit? When I wanted to give gifts to all the new car owners in our family, I chose to make something practical.

I've kept a hand-towel, small soap and loo paper in Elmer for quite a few years. When we were still in Victoria, I trialed a different storage method for those items.  It worked for a while but I'm sure my new system is better.

The minion and apple drawstring bags each hold a roll of toilet paper, small hand towel (well, technically it's a large face washer) and soap. Erin's minion set has a small pack of tissues but she may choose to stash them elsewhere. I'll probably include a little bottle of hand sanitiser in the bags as well. We've visited a lot of public toilets over the years. They vary greatly in terms of quality, so we carry our own supplies. Generally soap and hand towel are enough but sometimes we do need to take loo paper. (If we are particularly well stocked, we are happy to leave a roll in the cubicle - cos we're a generous bunch)!

From time to time there isn't water available at the public conveniences, so we wash hands back at the car - cos we carry water with us, even on day-trips.  If all else fails, we use hand sanitiser!