Very first trip away!
Our first trip away in the camper has been accomplished!Â
I came home early from work on a Friday and decided to spontaneously pack the camper down (it was set up in the backyard) thinking we could go away immediately.Â
It didnât go quite to plan however :( It took a lot longer then I expected to put down! I had a little âmental breakdownâ as I couldnât get the lid to clip shut! After getting frustrated and mucking around, I got my husband to have a look, we wondered if the bed mattresses could be the problem (I have put an extra padded foam under-layer on both beds) so we took those off and it finally closed! By this time however, it was dark so we decided that we would have to head off on Saturday morning instead.Â
Lesson learned: If you want to take off from home in a timely fashion for the weekend, pack down camper a day before the trip :)Â
The camper has been packed over the weeks with pretty much everything we will need while away. I really wanted to make it so efficient that all we would need to pack would be clothes before jumping in the car and leaving home. I have even included first aid, a set of toiletries, bedding, tools, games, essential food items (such as tea bags, flour, oil, cans of spaggeti e.t.c) crockery, cutlery and much more. Basically a set of everything you would need - including an aldi coffee pod machine! For some reason, as soon as you add a coffee machine to your camper essentials, it becomes âGlamping!â If you donât have a coffee machine itâs just your average camping experience haha
So after a Saturday morning of cleaning the house, packing clothes, going to supermarket for some more snack food and perishables, we were on our way! I thnk it was approx. 10.30am when we left home with camper attached. We knew we were heading somewhere local so we didnât feel the need to rush.
We live on the south coast of Australia in Wollongong. Itâs about 1.5 hrs drive south of Sydney. There is an escarpment of mountains in the west behind Wollongong and the sea on the east. The illawarra region spreads along between the mountains and the sea. If you head south of Wollongong into the Shoalhaven region, the roads follow the coast and weave through countryside along the coast. There is a freeway inland if you want to skip the coast road and head to Canberra and beyond. For us however, we took the coast road south, not quite knowing where we wanted to stay particularly.Â
We were thinking somewhere around Kiama, Gerrongong.Â
My husband suggested Werry beach caravan park in Gerringong so we headed there. When we pulled up to the reception however, we didnât really like what we seen. There was one small pool in view of the street and not much more to see. There is a lovely beach across the road from the park, but besdies that, up the road, there is a bowling club (we have previously eaten there) and a walking path to a playground. It just didn't scream âexciting spontaneous first tripâ to me. So I suggested we travel back to Kiama to a big 4 resort. My hubby googled its location and we headed back 10 mins drive to Kiama Easts beach caravan park.
As soon as we arrived, we knew we had made the right decision, the atmosphere was fun and exciting. There was large swimming pools with waterfalls and a jumping pillow/playground for Keira. We got a great site in a corner with not too many people around. I was also able to drive into the spot, rather than backing in the camper which is still a bot of a challenge to us new campers. we set up without too much drama and soaked up the atmosphere.
My hubby unhitched the car and drove into the supermarket and bottle shop to grab a few beers and wine :) Then we kicked back and relaxed. We cooked a bbq in the bbq area close to our site. It was quiet in the evenings and we could hear the waves of the beach (just a few meters from out site) crashing.Â
The next day, Sunday morning, we went about entertaining Keira with the playgorund, walks to the beach and the pool. My Brother Kym and his Wife Kylie, rang to say they were coming to visit us. They came with Jason (Kylieâs brother) and bought some hot chooks for lunch. we all went to the beach and had turns on Kylieâs stand up paddle board. Then after they left, we went for a jump on the jumping pillow and took it easy.Â
I get Mondayâs off work so we packed up around 9ish till about 11ish. Again we just took our time and were in no rush. We went well getting home and had a wonderful weekend in conclusion.Â
We are planning our next trip to Newcastle and Lennox head around the Christmas break. Family live there. Canât wait and counting down the days!
We also have some big dreams for some huge (few months at a time) adventures around the corner! We have opened up a whole new world of travel and fun memories. Thinking Tasmania and Ayers Rock!!