We will be heading off on our first caravan trip in a few months so got a lot of good tips from reading this. But one thing I'm positive I won't be taking is an iron, whether a hair straightener one or a regular one.

This trip will be in my husbands brother and his wifes van which they are extremely kindly lending to us for a 6 week trip to Cairns so we can try out caravaning and get an idea of what we like before we commit to buying our own. I'm sure we will love it and probably will buy our own early next year. So we will be mainly travelling with their stuff, but will of course add a bit of our own idea of essentials.

LOLOL Azhure, I didn't say I'd actually be using it as an iron - just that the hair straightener's inclusion was now justified.

Ladies great comments, when we go to Mckay/Sarina to see my daughter and grandkids i allways take 3 or 4 cartons of kola beer cos you cant buy it in queensland. I have also looked in supermarkets around aus and cant find it. she says she contacted Guest or i think its Kirks now and they said its only a W.A product. Do you know? She gives one carton out as presents to the girls in her mums club and the kids kindy teacher. Have you travellers found you cant get you favorite product? Let us know. I have also heard you cant buy spearmint flavored milk, not that i buy it but my son has been known to up end a carton or two.........susan

Good idea - in trying to reduce the 'fat' intake, I go through a lot of cottage cheese, in sandwiches and in cooking quiches. This is not an item readily available in a lot of small towns. Also not an item able to kept in storage and/or frozen for long periods.

I try to purchase iced tea sachets for our travels, usually found in the large supermarkets in the 'tea/coffee' aisle. This is also another item which has to be searched for and not usually found. I find it easier to carry the sachets than the bottle of iced tea cordial from Bickford. Can't remember the brand name but they come in peach, lemon/lime and lime/green tea. Nice and refreshing.

cheers - Ngaire

Havent tried the ice tea sachets but thanks to you i will now. we love seafood all types and we fish ourselves and buy it. But oysters are are treat.. we love them deep fried in batter or crumbed. In Fremantle we go to Ciccerrallos at the fishing harbour, not often but for a treat. We get their Chowder and some deep fried Oysters....Yummo.......the point being, when we hit Ceduna and its been a few times we allways get oysters and the man in the fish and chip shop remembers us cos he says, thats right you like them deep fried.. as if we must be the only ones who order them. Also have asked around aus and they go no we dont do them. Why.....if you can try them they are great...do yourself. but in fish and chip shop they taste some how better.....susan

Hi Ladies

The Iced Tea brand we buy is from Woolworths (WA) Nerada.

I love parking & reversing the van (& I'm really good at it). For the whole year, whenever we pulled up to a camp for the night, I'd jump into the driver's seat & take over.

BUT, my oh my. Some of the antics from the men around were u n b e l i e v a b l e!

I've had them: reaching in through the open window grabbing the steering wheel, yelling out instructions from the other side of the van park, yelling out to other guys, "She this, she that!", & even so much as one standing right in front of my car with his hands on his hips blocking my turning path, etc, etc.

But gee, I tell you; they certainly crawled back into their van real quick with their tails between their legs after I nailed it in seconds! ROFL

It was fun though.

Cheers,
Bev

Hey Susan.
Have you tried Oyster Patties?
collect or buy as many oysters as you like..cut them up into little pieces, saving the juice then mix them up with a pancake type mix.. e.g. self raising flower, an egg, salt and pepper the oyster juice and water......mix well and in a hot fry-pan with plenty oil, fry em up in pikelet size cakes.
Absolutely fantastic with lemon squeezed over them. (my mouth's watering just thinking about it)
Jock

Hi Jock, no have not had the oyster patties but my brother in law has made us white bait fritters he bought home from N.Z. They were yummo. I just need an Abolone receipe. Have tried a few times and the best so far is like a stir fry, i have googled and looked around but dont like any so far. My brother in law said make fritters with them like they do in N.Z. I think they mince them, and they call them Power or powa, not sure. But at the price a kilo they dont do it for me.

Hi all,

First the shoes: I was actually sitting down and making a list of the stuff I want to take with us next time (for a long trip) and my shoe list went something like this:

• 1 pair thongs
• 1 pair flat white sandals
• 1 pair flat black sandals
• 1 pair walking sandals (like Tevas)
• 1 pair Crocs
• 1 pair old joggers (for muddy tracks)
• 1 pair good joggers (to wear out with jeans, walking on dry tracks)
• 1 pair dress shoes
• and of course... Ugg boots. Couldn't travel without 'em.

Seems like a lot, but I know from experience I'll want to use them all at some stage.

As for towing/backing: I agree with everyone that it's best for both parties to be able to tow/back just in case of illness or injury... but also because it takes the pressure of driving off one person. And for some time we'd thought it might work better for Rob to give directions while I sat behind the wheel and did the backing. (What does he mean, he doesn't understand my hand signals???!! They're perfectly clear to me.) Won't know until we try... but it's worth a go. Bev, I think I'll have to get some tips from you! (I'm sure backing a 2.5 tonne van is going to be just a LITTLE bit different from my Suzuki Swift.)

Cheers
Marg