Storm King and Storm Queen

A couple of months ago (literally the day after our caravan disaster – it was a roller coaster of a time!), we received a lovely and unexpected email from someone working with Mountain Designs. They’d seen our blog and social media accounts, liked our content, and decided to get in touch.

They wondered if we’d be interested in trying a couple of Mountain Designs products and sharing our opinions. Since we know and like the brand and already have some of their gear in our arsenal, we pretty much couldn’t say ‘yes’ fast enough. (more…)

re-registering a written-off caravan

Re-registering a written-off caravan

Between our accident and getting back on the road (if you haven’t read about the accident you can do so here) we were contacted by a few people wondering how we planned to go about about re-registering a written-off caravan, since usually it’s not legally possible to do this. Subsequently, we did a lot of research to make sure that all our actions were above board. Based on information found online and given to us by the relevant authorities we learned that

  • Claude was not added to the written-off vehicles register
  • his registration did not get cancelled
  • we could re-insure him (and we have!)

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Resurrecting Claude

Claude was written off, not because he was damaged beyond repair, but because the amount of labour that was involved in resurrecting him required more funds than what he was insured for. So, the deal with Shayne at Donegan’s Services has been that we do whatever grunt work we can (under his supervision!) to keep costs down, while his team does the specialised labour.

Although we’ve had a few setbacks, slowly but surely, Claude is beginning to resemble his former glorious self. You can have a look at the progress we’ve made below. (more…)

The kindness of strangers

We recently experienced what can be classified as a “trip setback”. One of Claude’s wheels came off while we were driving which resulted in our lovely caravan being declared an insurance write off (if you want to read the full story check out this blog post we wrote for Australian Caravan+RV).

In the space of 30 seconds we went from a very high high to an extremely low low. No longer were we at the start of the highly anticipated northern WA leg of our trip. Instead, we were stranded, caravan-less, in a town where we knew no one, finding it difficult to get a roof over our heads (not many places take dogs. Thanks Ned). (more…)

One year on: what we’ve learnt

Today marks one year since we set off on our Champion the Wonder-ing. The months have gone so fast yet it feels so long ago that we drove out of Sydney, getting stuck in horrendous peak hour traffic on the way. Over the past 365 days we’ve learnt a lot (and not just about caravanning). Below we’ve summarised a few of the most important things we now know about travel and about life. (more…)

travelling with a toilet

Travelling with a toilet (or not): the lowdown

Before embarking on our trip we spent a lot of time (much more than we care to admit) discussing matters of a toileting nature. We ummed and we ahhed and we ummed some more. Eventually, as mentioned in our Touring Gear for Travelling Australia post, we decided that the day we needed a toilet and didn’t have one would be a very bad day. So we went out and bought a reputable Thetford port-a-potti. Though it’s a quality product, in hindsight – and had we done more research – we may have made a different choice. Here’s an overview of things to consider before you make your own travelling toilet arrangements.
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national parks and travelling with a dog

National parks and travelling with a dog

Trying to figure out if you can combine visiting national parks and travelling with a dog? Read on!

Since starting this blog we’ve been contacted by a number of people who are making preparations for their own similar trips and want to know how we’ve found the experience when it comes to national parks and other dog-unfriendly zones.

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Dream Big, Live Small

Even though we know they’re out there, we’ve not met too many other young Aussies during our Champion the Wonder-ing. So we were excited when a young couple pulled up next to us in their converted bus. Heidi and Craig recently sold their house and are living out their dream life on the road, planning to work and play their way around Australia for many years to come. (more…)

Savings 101: knowing your expenses

Whether you’re planning a Champion-the-Wonder-type adventure or not, you’re unlikely to regret putting time and effort into a savings plan. For us, savings made this trip – when we started considering it – an actual possibility instead of a pipe dream.

If you’ve read our How much does it cost to travel Australia? Three months in post you will know that these days we use a mobile app to track our spending. This is a relatively new discovery for us and one we’d highly recommend for anyone wanting a comprehensive overview of their finances. (more…)

A lesson in thinking before speaking

Finding the location of a caravan repairs shop proved more difficult than expected. On the phone to the shop foreman, Laura was trying to describe our location so we could be given directions when she spotted a bright green shopfront and cited its name as a reference point. There followed a long silence before the foreman indicated, with plenty of throat clearing, that he was not familiar with this particular business. (more…)