Life as a Rubber Tramp
This brief “review”,
inspired by the writing of Andy de Klerk – world renowned mountaineer and base
jumper - aims to address some of the challenges that confront us rubber tramps on
a daily basis. It is not intended to be a comprehensive list or guide to living
“grey-nomad style”, but rather a series of notes drawn from our own
experience. For really good advice, albeit
published 25 years ago, there is no better guide to bush-camping than Brian
Sheedy’s manual Outback on a Budget. In
our view, it is a classic.
.JPG)
.JPG)
A is for Ablutions
.jpg)
It’s a different story in winter of course when the water required for a “bucket bath” needs to be heated by gas or is simply too cold to touch! While travelling the high country in the Great Dividing Range where temperatures regularly drop to below zero, water supplies freeze solid and the fittings (hose connectors) are inclined to crack! In truth, when it comes to travelling in the southern states of Australia in the autumn or winter we abandon the idea of bush camping. Tempted by the thought of nice hot showers and 240v power to run the heater and/or electric blanket – we choose to move or hop from one caravan-park to another instead.
B is for Blogging
Lea writes a
blog to serve as an on-line journal and post on the internet once a month. Overlooking
the fierce arguments that arise at times
over the wording thereof, as a way of keeping family and friends informed of
our constantly changing whereabouts we know of no better way of keeping in
touch. We find that writing keeps ourselves busy, in fact totally engrossed at
times; ensures we go out of our way to take more than a casual interest in the
areas we pass through by purposely delving into their history as thoroughly as
possible and, apart from anything else, consider that a written record of our
travels, as time consuming a task as it may be, will serve as an valuable memoir
to look back on one day when seated in wheel chairs during our declining years!
It is the old story of Adventure before
Dementia – so they say.
C is for Corrugations
Corrugations are
probably the greatest destroyer of caravans in Australia. Even though towing an
off-road van on unsealed roads is said to be what travelling “off-road” is all
about, it still comes at cost both in monetary terms and as a test of one’s endurance. Try doing the 150 km Meerenie Loop for
example, endlessly pounding from one corrugation to the next, with cupboard
doors coming off their hinges, the fridge falling out of its housing, glass
shelves shattering, food stocks (eggs included) rolling all over the floor and
the blinds falling down!
D is for Disharmony
A six metre long
caravan is not exactly the largest space to share with anyone - no matter how
well you know or love them! Fuses grow short and tempers become easily frayed
especially when it is hot, when there are hordes of bush flies around, when one
is feeling tired and dirty or something may have gone wrong.
To avoid too
much dissension or too many disputes one has to learn to “mellow”; to accept
each other’s idiosyncrasies; respect the need for personal space; the need for
short periods to be on one’s own - and be prepared to lend a hand with whatever
dirty work requires to be done. We each have a favourite corner in the van – mine
where I can rest my left shoulder on the counter and have a good view through
the door. Lea’s spot is in a corner where she can stretch out her legs and
read, propped up by cushions!
It is also a
good idea to pursue hobbies like painting, wood carving or writing – as all provide
great forms of relaxation.
E is for Extras
One of our
favourite sayings is that “any fool can
make himself uncomfortable” by roughing it using only the bare necessities.
However, with everything from television to microwave ovens built into caravans
these days most of us grey nomads live a life of comparative luxury.
With good reason
Brian Sheedy warns against the temptation to carry what he calls might-come-in-handies. Consequently I shudder
to think what he’d say if he could see the stuff us old timers see fit to haul
around the countryside! By this I mean everything from little silver frogs as
table cloth weights (in case it becomes windy!), to recipe books, wood carving
chisels and computers. Brian - we hang our heads in shame!
F is for Fires
.jpg)
We generally think
twice before lighting a fire; carry firewood collected from areas of plenty; confine
the fire between two bricks and then smother the coals with soil or water soon after
we have finished cooking.
G is for Generators
Brian Sheedy is
particularly disparaging about travellers that use generators claiming, as he
does, “the most hated travellers are the
generator types”. It is for good reason because of the noise associated
with them. We dislike the sound of generators as much as anyone else but even with
three 80 watt solar panels on top of the van our deep cycle batteries still need
a boost now and again. Two or three days of cloud cover and rain is all it
takes to necessitate running a generator at some stage or other. Generally
speaking we will not do so if there are other campers around and ask if we may
take the liberty of doing so. To date, we have never had any objections
raised.
H is for Hitching (and unhitching)
Not unexpectedly
it takes a while to master the art of hitching and unhitching – especially if
one has what is known as a “Tregg coupling” as we do, as opposed to a ball
hitch. A Tregg coupling requires a great deal more precision and careful manoeuvring
before the pin that secures the van to the tow vehicle can be dropped into
place. It is one of the many reasons we prefer bush camping to caravan parks as
once we are off-road there is generally no need to unhitch for days on end. For
the same reason we prefer drive-through sites in a caravan park where, with all
sorts of well-meaning folk arriving to provide advice on which way to turn,
bellowing … left hand down, full lock, right hand down, STOP … it is a sure
fire way of infuriating the driver!
Mind you, with our
rig’s old driver suffering from impaired hearing it is equally frustrating at
times trying to understand the hand signals of the Director of Operations (Lea)
while being given instructions through the back door – but, to be fair, she
does a stalwart job!
I is for Internet
Our reliance on internet
cafes, motels and public libraries was horribly time consuming when we
first began travelling. In each town we’d waste hours searching for someone who
may be prepared to allow us to use their facilities; then find they did not know who their service provider
was or, for fear of a virus being transmitted to their system, want our
computer to be checked first! Having once found a willing provider we would then
have to alter the settings on our computer to correspond with theirs … only to
discover, weeks later, that the mail we thought had been “sent” had never been
received! Much to her distress Lea’s carefully composed Xmas letters regularly suffered
from exactly such a fate.
Consequently the
best thing we have ever bought is one of Telstra’s tiny wireless broadband modems.
Nowadays, no matter where we are, providing we have signal on our phone we are able
to send and receive mail completely independent on anyone else.
J is for Job sharing
Although a routine
performed almost without thinking by now, we find the pre-departure “flight
check” we developed in the early days is still useful. In fact, after leaving
the rig in storage for a while, once back in harness we were surprised to find just
how much we’d forgotten whilst we’d been away. It is under these circumstances when
a quick refresher course in the form of a “flight check” comes in particularly handy:
Jobs inside caravan
- Gas off; Water pump off; Cupboards locked; Window catches shut; Drawers locked; TV antenna down; Roof vents closed; TV stowed; Loose items on bench-tops stowed; Fridge doors secured …
Jobs outside caravan
- Handbrake released; awning locked; stabilisers wound up & secured; hoses stowed; gas cylinders closed; jockey wheel removed & stowed; battery compartment locked; doormat / step stowed; clothes rack stowed; water tanks filled; tyre pressures checked; power lead disconnected; Andersen plug connected; safety chains crossed and connected; breakaway cable connected; hitch connected & pin secured; brake lights / indicators working; entrance door locked …
K is for Kilometre-age
We keep a record
of the distance we travel each day. These data show that generally speaking we seldom
travel more than 200 km a day – often far less. In fact sometimes only go as far
as 20 km! The reason is because one of
the joys of being a nomad is never to ‘plan’ to go anywhere! Nor do we book
ahead. Time is NOT of an essence. Our
plans for each day are only made once we have had a look at the weather; spoken
about what sights in the area we may not have yet seen, and what things of
interest may be lying around the next corner. That, in brief, is what nomad
style planning is all about!
L is for Lump it or Leave it
We cannot pretend
that there aren’t occasions when we land up at some really god-forsaken looking
spot where no-one in their right mind would ever think of staying. These are the
occasions when we have to “lump it or leave it”. However, I am the first to
admit that sometimes our first impressions can be wrong! Having been put off by
the hundreds of nomads packed into the St Lawrence Recreational Reserve (in Queensland)
for example it was with very long teeth that we eventually decided to camp
there. However, we came away very pleased we did, even staying longer than we
had intended. The ghastly appearance of the little caravan park in Calingiri
(WA) was another case in point – yet it proved to be faultless and for $11 per
night (washing machine included) was the best value for money stop-over we have
yet found!
M is for Maps
There is no
shortage of good maps of Australia. However, in spite of their strong appeal one
simply hasn’t room to carry all the maps one may need of different places, especially
as access to maps of an appropriate scale is often a problem. The Information Centres
one regularly encounters en route are normally a mine of information, most of
which is free, but there again, in the interest of weight considerations, do
not be tempted to stockpile all the brochures and pamphlets one picks up. Apart
from becoming out-dated it is just as easy to pick up a fresh supply the next
time one may be passing through the area.
We do carry a
GPS as a means of finding our through, or around, big cities – but find they
are not all that helpful, especially if road works are being undertaken! It is
a costly business downloading updated maps from the suppliers and to be honest
at the end of the day it takes a lot to beat the good old fashioned way of map-reading
in the manner we were taught at school!
N is for Noo-noos
Of all the
noo-noos that plague us nomads whilst travelling Australia, ANTS are the worst. When things get so wet outside ants see good reason
to nest in our nice warm / dry caravan! There they have been known to nest in
the cupboards, in the external shower, in the rolled up awning, in the hot
water system … and find their way into every form of foodstuff we possess, the more
sugary the better!
.jpg)
.jpg)
Ants minimize competition in the van by what
is called “resource partitioning”, an ecological term for
animals that forage at different times. First are the rubbish bin specialists. They keep a
close watch on the scraps of food that land up in the packet we use as a waste
bin, arriving in large numbers at any time of the day to carry food back to
their nest. Next is a nocturnal species. It is the largest of the ant species in
our van and emerge at night to search for food and water while the other
species are asleep. They regularly fall into Lea’s glass of water by her bedside
and annoy her intensely. The smallest of the ant species present is the tiny
little black jobs that bite us for no good reason while seated in the “lounge”
area. There, they busy themselves searching the cushions we sit on for scraps
of food and nip us if they can’t find any!
Locusts are
additional members of the noo-noo clan that affect grey nomads during the
course of their travels particularly after good rains when their numbers assume
plague proportions. Once squashed against the windscreen, radiator grill and
front of the van, the mess they create has to be seen to be believed. And with the
lady of the van being arachno-phobic we have also had some moments of high
drama when spiders find their way into the truck, onto her bed or into the
privy tent. However, in each case she has been fortunate enough to be saved from
a fate worse than death by the dear old butler coming to her rescue using his
trusty hanky as an aid!
O is for Organisation
Even though something
inevitably goes wrong at some stage or other on the road, as a means of
minimising the likelihood thereof there is nothing to beat adopting the “seven
Ps” as a motto - Poor preparation and planning precedes a piss poor performance … or so our
daughter Justy is inclined to say. Others think the best planned trips are done
on the back of an envelope or paper serviette – but remember, once you are “on
the road Jack” there is no turning back. Self-sufficiency is paramount as is a good
practical knowledge of the inner (and outer) workings of your rig. Neatness is
also a prerequisite for life on the road because there are few things more
frustrating than not knowing where everything is.
P is
for Punctures
removing the high lift jack and changing the tyre.
.jpg)
Given the weight
of truck tyres and the sound of cars and trucks whizzing past, seemingly
missing the rig by only a few inches, changing wheels is not one of the
author’s favourite jobs.
Q is for Quarantine restrictions
Fruit fly zones exist
across the whole of Australia which means one cannot take fruit, vegetables or
plant material across state borders. At each borders checkpoint someone will assuredly
poke their head into the van, check what is in the fridge and invariably make
sure we haven’t honey aboard! The answer to such highway robbery is to eat
anything like apples or pears shortly beforehand or have a big “cook up” the
night before to convert fresh produce into an cooked form (i.e. convert strawberries
into jam; raw onions into cooked onions; or smother garlic with oil etc.).
What constitutes
plant materials is sometimes a cause for dissension. Particularly when it comes
to having to throw out my cherished stock of firewood, or discard a nice piece
of driftwood cunningly concealed on the roof rack! If one has the misfortune of
travelling with a law abiding wife, as I do, it is just one of those things us
menfolk have to learn to accept as part of the mellowing process mentioned
earlier!
R is for Road-trains
.JPG)
Taking photos of
approaching and / or passing road trains, as well as the dust plumes they
create on distant horizons is one our favourite occupations. These monster
trucks seem to be as much part of the Australian outback as the landscape itself.
S is for Stones
After repainting
the underside of the entire caravan chassis we eventually made what is called a
“rock tamer” from conveyor belting and had it suspended behind Skiv’s back
tyres in an attempt to intercept as much of the stone shrapnel as possible.
T is for Toilets
Although the
subject of toilets does lack a certain glamour, for those of us who don’t fancy
the idea of a whole lot of sewage sloshing about in the back of the van; searching
for dump points; having a “porta-potty” under the bed or trundling a cassette
toilet through caravan parks … how to cope without an on-board toilet is an
important matter.
Outback
travellers will have read about the necessity “to dig a hole 25cm deep, 100m
away from any watercourse” to bury faeces; and will have come to realise there
is a whole range of expensive camping tools (even seats) that have been
specifically designed to facilitate the job. Elsewhere one may have read of the
necessity “to dig bush toilets at least 100m downwind from the camp and at
least half a metre deep … and of the need “to use biodegradable toilet
paper”. However, in practice a code of
conduct of this nature is a lot easier to prescribe than it is to implement.
Proponents of the code have obviously never tried camping in the Hamersley
Ranges for example where one would need nothing less than a portable jack-hammer
to comply with their advice, and nor would many travellers even recognise what
a water course looks like in much of Australia’s hinterland where the landscape
is so flat water only moves through it by sheet flow.
The strategy we
advocate relies essentially on making maximal use of public toilets.
Fortunately, considering toilets are available in towns, caravan parks, service
stations, shopping centres, visitor centres and the occasional rest area -
there is normally no shortage of public toilets along the multitude of roads we
travel. As a result it is seldom that we are inconvenienced or “caught short”. Furthermore,
we have found there is NOTHING quite as convenient (or cheap) as a two litre
ice cream container to serve as a night-bucket! Done discreetly, disposal of
the contents behind the nearest bush is also a cinch.
U is for Ups and downs
Another
unavoidable matter for us nomads is that of ascending and descending hills. Inclines
can be hard work for an old Troopy like Skiv as well as play havoc with our
fuel consumption - so when signs reading “Unsuitable for caravans” are
encountered … we generally think twice before continuing! Gradients of 15%,
such as those encountered on the slopes of Mt Glorious (in the Brisbane region),
having to be tackled in low range 4WD, are certainly near the limits of our
capability.
Steep descents
are even worse as it means arguing with three tons of caravan behind you “trying
to obey the laws of gravity” and forcibly push the rig downhill. Hairpin bends
don’t help either as they have to be taken wide. Nevertheless, the answer is to
use the engine as a slowing device as well as the hand operated electric brake
controller that sends power to the brakes on the van. If the revs are still too
high, it is sometimes necessary to engage 4WD and crawl to the bottom of the
hill. Either way it is scary stuff.
Before we learnt
such tricks, while descending the Great Dividing Range in NSW we once had the
brakes overheat and fail just as we reached a campsite at the bottom … and it is
something we do not wish to experience again! And if the roads turn icy during
the occasional blizzard the best thing to do is to either stop in a rest area
or pull off into the nearest caravan park.
V is for Visitors
On more than one
occasion we have had friends and / or relatives travel with us for parts of our
journeys and have greatly enjoyed their company. Nevertheless it always means making
a great number of alterations / modifications to what is essentially a “two
man” rig.
In some cases we
move out of the caravan altogether and sleep in the back of Skiv. Either way everything
has to be re-arranged, extra space created by tying things on the roof rack and
seating re-arranged to enable passengers to sit in the back. Sometimes even tents
have had to be employed and an air mattress inflated each evening! Needless to
say the usage of water and gas supplies increases; congestion in the van arises
and the old butler becomes stressed – so the reality is that we are unable to
cope with more than two visitors at time.
W is for Wombling
.JPG)
As distasteful
as it may be we have nevertheless tried to emulate the Wombles by picking up litter
where we find it, bagging it and dropping it off in the next available waste
bin. The only problem is that it does not make us feel any better for having
done so, only more disheartened. When one looks at the amount of litter, commonly
in the form of beer cans and bottles thrown out of car windows by people
travelling the country’s roads – one cannot help feeling a sense of
despondency, if not hopelessness. The
litter problem in Australia, Clean Up
Australia Day or not, looks as if it is here to stay!
X is
for being Xtra Careful
The need to be
careful obviously applies in places such as the Top End when there may be a few
“salties” around! However, regardless of who or what may be lurking around in
the bush, always rely on one’s intuition when deciding where to camp.
To date we have
never had any confrontation with hoons or their counterparts yet there have
been occasions when I would gladly have murdered a few! We have looked on is
dismay as youngsters, never without a beer in hand and radios blaring, push
over barriers in the camping grounds, bring dogs into national parks (in spite
of signs at the entrance saying they are not allowed) and do their best to ruin
the ambience of the place.
I used to carry
a very realistic looking plastic .38 pistol in the van with which to threaten
any would be intruders. However, it has been replaced with a sawn-off baseball
bat and just in case things really get rough, a six inch hunting knife.
Ever since Lea
discovered the word peripatetic in the dictionary, meaning “going from place to
place”, it has become part of our vocabulary. It succinctly describes exactly
what us nomads do – poking our noses into one place after another; crossing one
state border after another; relishing songs like “We’ve been everywhere man …” ; stopping for a night here and a
night there, and going back to the places we enjoyed the previous time round. Put simply, even though Australia is one of those places
which can plunge you into a foul mood one minute, then make your spirits soar
the next - “rubber tramping” is a new found way of life
and we cannot get enough of it.
.jpg)
.jpg)
Together, we have witnessed some of the
country’s finest landscapes; met some fascinating characters; been freezing
cold where we least expected it and burnt brown by the sun; irritated by flies
and mosquitoes; scorched by oppressive heat and soaked by rain; we have
negotiated some of the country’s foulest / dustiest roads; tried fishing in
some of its most idyllic rivers and regularly silenced by the immensity of the
heavens under star-filled skies. We have climbed mountains; seen and even
handled some of Australia’s extraordinary forms of wildlife; watched
awe-inspiring sunsets; swum in the clearest of springs and frolicked in the
gentlest of waves on white isolated beaches.
Z is for
Zonking Out
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment