Cruiser Camping.

A few days ago we had our first camping trip using the Cruiser as our camper.  We loaded up the back with all the stuff we thought we would need and headed up to Kokerbin Rock.
There are toilets and cold water taps at the first camping area there but we drove around a bit and found a nice spot under some trees.  A few fire rings were here but no toilet or taps but that was OK as we had plenty of water and had taken the PortaLoo.

 It was getting close to 5pm by the time we arrived and being the middle of July it would soon be dark so we, Hubby, unloaded the table, esky and other things from the back and I started getting tea ready.  We put a tarp over the car but had taken the wrong one and next time we will take the bigger one.  Eventually we will buy a *proper* tarp, one that is big enough to cover the car and outdoor area, one that is not blue.  It did end up being a lovely night though and the tarp wasn't needed.


Some things from this trip.

Food.
I had kind of menu planned for this trip so knew what we would be eating and so the meal prep was done with no worries.  We used the small camping stoves that use the butane cylinders and we took 2 of these.  They worked really well and I didn't have to wait very long for the water to boil for our morning coffee.  A big plus there.
We had these and all the cooking stuff in a big metal box so everything was easy to get too.  I had taken frozen meals as I thought they would be easier for me.

Bedding.
We have slept in the swag lots of times but this was the first time using it on the tray of the cruiser.  It was not as comfortable and we will need to do something about this.  Maybe a bed platform or a mattress instead of the swag.  The quilt that goes with this swag is for one person and I had forgotten that so it was lucky that Hubby told me to grab another one just before we left home.  It was definatly needed.



Keeping Food Cold..
I had frozen all the meals that I had planned and put them in an esky with frozen sheet things and everything stayed frozen.  Son has been collecting these icepacks from his work.  they come down in boxes of meat and are then thrown away.   We have 9 of them now, he has a few himself, and he will collect more.  I think it's bad that they are just binned at his work.  These things cost $5+ depending on size.
We took the small fridge that we had been given and that was plugged into the cigerette lighter and kept Hubbys drinks cold enough so that is a keeper and I will plan to use that in future trips.

Toilet and Shower.
We took a 12volt shower and a gas ring to heat water for this but as we were only away one night it didn't get used.  With his new water tanks under the car though we will be able to have a hot shower whenever we want without worrying about water running low.  The shower and gas ring will fit into a metal bucket so it is all together.
We took our Porta Loo but had it in the back of the Cruiser.  It was mainly for emergencies and so I didn't have to pee on the side of the road with trafic passing or if there were other campers in our area.   It was only used by me to pee in and it worked fine.  We will set up a shelter if we set up camp for a longer time.
I used Woolworths no name Nappy wash as the chemical in the loo and that worked fine though it still needs to be tested on solids.
A FUD would have been handy though.

Campfires.
There were a few fire rings in the area we camped, just rocks forming a circle where people had lit fires but the area around them was all cleared and they would have been safe to use.  We had thought of using a campfire while away but remembered that Son had our hotplate so the small cookers were our next choice.
I thought that I had newspapers for starting a fire in the bottom of our boxes as well but found out that I didn't.
Friday morning as I was making coffees Hubby did get a fire going though, using a scrap of paper from his pocket and leaves.  I wouldn't be able to do that, I would need heaps of paper and small sticks, then bigger stuff...Anyway, we sat near the fire and had our coffee before setting off to explore.   There was plenty of wood in this area but I think we should take small wood with us as not all places allow you to use wood from the area.

What do you do at night when it is cold and dark?  We could have lit the fire and sat around that for an hour or so...what else? 
My idea was to go to bed when it was dark and get up with the sun.  So we went to bed when it was dark and we woke up a while later only to find out it was ONLY 8pm!!!  Recovered from that and finally went back to sleep.  I was awake soon after and ready to get up but I asked him the time and he said it was midnight.  What the...He was teasing though as it was nealy 6am so up we got for our coffee.

A bed platform with drawers underneath would be great as then all our stuff would be handy and organised.
Hubby has put lights and power to the back of his car as well so a flick of a switch was all it took to find anything so it wasn't too bad but a platform would be handy.
It has been thought about, talked about and is now a *wait 'til he makes it* thing.

I need to iron out a few minor things but everything will get better as we get away more often and get better organised.  As our first go at camping like this I thought I did pretty good.  

One thing I didn't do...that was to make some cake or a batch of bickies or something so he could have something to snack on while driving.  He doesn't usually eat stuff like that and hadn't mentioned it in the talk of going camping but it is something that I will do next time.  Trouble is though, if he doesn't eat the stuff then I would and I so don't need to.  I might make some stuff up though and put it out in the shed freezer so it can be grabbed when we decide to just up and go.

I did scare myself a few times with stupid thoughts though and will need to learn how to stop that if I want to go by myself.