General Notes, Helpful Information & Commercial Links

Contents

*   Publish Your Own Internet Site for Family & Friends

*   Roadside Assistance for Your Caravan

*   Mobile Phone & Internet

*   Caravan Park Groups - May be worth Joining

*   Helpful Hints for Caravanners

*   Fly Home for Re-Invigoration

*   Spare

 

Publish your own Internet (web) site for Family & Friends

 

*  Internet Sites – Before we left on our first trip Mary & I decided that the easiest way for our family and friends to keep in touch with what we were doing was to run our own internet site. This was very successful and did make life more comfortable for our children and parents particularly when we were not contactable by phone. Surprisingly our site grew in popularity past all of our expectations as other people and eventually media companies started to contact us. View a  Newspaper Article

Initially when setting up our site we used some cyberspace provided free by our home internet provider to locate it at. This was OK at first but became problematic when we changed providers and our web address changed.  After some considerable hunting around we found 3iX, which, is a company that registered our .com address and hosts our site very cheaply. Surprisingly a “.com.au” is quite pricey when compared to a “.com” so naturally we went for the “.com”. The total cost to us for hosting and registration was around A$50.00 for two years so we are providing a link for you to use to find them as once you have your own address you will not suddenly disappear at the whim of a provider. – 3ix Web Hosting  

 

 

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Roadside Assistance for Your Caravan

 

*  Roadside Assistance – You may have it for your car but it probably doesn’t include coverage for your caravan. The free roadside assistance that came with our car purchase had run out during the first Australia trip and we, not wanting to be without an assistance package took out a new cover that did include coverage for our caravan. It was just as well because shortly after leaving Merredin in Western Australia we needed it. It turned out that David and Merrilyn had always had RAC coverage that would have covered them but most “roadside assistance” programs do not provide cover for caravans so you might say we ducked a bullet. Check this out and take it out if you are not covered – See details of our mishap in the “W.A’s Goldfields & Home” section of our first trip where we travel through Merredin and although there was nothing wrong with our caravan we ran out of spare tyres and couldn’t get a replacement until the next day.  Page Link - See "Coolgardie, Southern Cross & Merredin".

 

 

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Mobile Phone & Internet Coverage

 

*  Mobile Phones – Telstra with the nextG coverage should be considered a must if you are leaving the metropolitan areas. On our Central Australian trip we had this and were delighted with the cover we had. See the following where we tried to make do with another telco - 2007 We originally all had Optus phones, which were mostly useless coming up the Western Australian coast. Our old CDMA phone from Telstra had coverage nearly everywhere so it is probably best to have a Telstra phone for continuity of coverage. Once we entered Northern Territory the Optus was OK but still Telstra clients had a better or stronger coverage than us. The situation continued down the east coast where we enjoyed coverage but at much inferior signal strengths than the Telstra clients. We very much overcame this problem by purchasing a Big Pond wireless internet coverage and using “Skype” (voice over internet protocol) when we didn’t have Optus cover.        Note: Coverage with all carriers is mostly restricted to populated areas so if you want continuous cover you will need a satellite phone.

*  Internet Coverage – Do not use caravan park wireless internet services if you want high speed, reliable or continuous connection. In nearly all cases we found the service offered was intermittent or poor (there was an exception in Exmouth where the service was excellent). Purchasing a “Big Pond” wireless service has given us coverage nearly everywhere we stopped and it is fast and efficient. Buying an “hourly” coverage where you pay for time will allow you to access the internet and use VOIP for phone calls at the same time.

 

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Membership of Caravan Park Groups

 

*  Join them all ? – No, not all but if you are going on a major trip we suggest that you consider joining the majors after ascertaining their suitability to your circumstances. This can be done on an as you get to one to use it basis or they can be joined in advance. If you join in advance you will be supplied with a card and a list of caravan parks etc. Some of the membership advantages include automatic discounts on stays, free forward bookings, discounts on other services etc. The cost varies but may be earned back, sometimes on your first few stays. Should you want to join in advance below are some links that are also invaluable sources of information on the caravan parks represented by the groups. If you are only doing short trips it may be more economical to do your site research from the links below and before you book a park join online to get your discount when booking. For reference we will not be renewing our memberships when they expire until we look like needing them.

 

*  Big 4 Holiday Parks – This is the one we used & use most but we have noted a fall in standard appears to be the case on our Central Australia trip. The notable exception to this is parks owned and operated by the Aspen group where they give you a 10% off voucher each time you visit them – We will not be renewing this one as we use our Aspen vouchers now  http://www.big4.com.au/

*  Top Tourist Parks of Australia Ltd – Our next most used – http://www.toptourist.com.au

*  Family Parks – Our least used as they generally take pets but if you have a pet probably the only one that will give you any value – An exception to our usage is the Shelley Beach Caravan Park in Ceduna which is an excellent and we think the only choice in the area – http://www.familyparks.com.au/

 

Notes:

 

*   Not all caravan parks are in a group so some extra research will be needed to be sure you have checked out all of your options at any location.

*   If you book a caravan park that does belong to a group you do have somewhere to lodge a complaint or suggestion if you have a poor experience.

*   Caravan parks in groups are generally required to meet standards and expectations in order to retain their membership although on our Central Australia tip it became apparent that these standards are dropping.

 

We have only commented on caravan parks with extended information if we found them to be exceptionally good or bad. Then our comments have been kept to the relevant problem or joy. It is not our intention to recommend one caravan park over another but we are not shy of recommending a caravan park if we really enjoyed it or found it to have a particular advantage in location or facilities. We have never recommended or otherwise a caravan park that we have not stayed at other than to suggest that it may be a better option than the location we used. All of these comments are distributed through the trips in an as it happened basis and there is no general list of caravan parks on this site.

 

*  A link to the site we use to check out reviews on caravan parks can be found on our front page which can be selected from the index at left see “Grey Nomad – The Idea” in the “Useful Links” section.

 

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Helpful Hints for Caravanners

 

*  Shoes and Dirt – Mary has come up with a neat way to arrange shoelaces to make the normal shoe a slip on so you do not traipse too much dirt into the caravan. It also allows a check for bugs or bities that may have moved into them. If there are Dingos in the area leave shoes on the roof of the van or bring them inside, as they are quite keen on them. We have also learned to arrange the step and mat in a configuration to allow one to sit on the step and put them on and off without getting the mat etc dirty.

 

*  Travel Times – Caravanners should try to travel in cities and heavily built up areas between 10:00AM & 3:00PM. This will help to avoid traffic and gives plenty of time to set up on arrival at any destination. In country or low traffic volume areas an early departure can work well but a late arrival should still be avoided.

*  Hiking Shoes – Do buy a pair of proper hiking shoes. We have seen so many people that have purchased their hiking boots after “doing an ankle” and as many of the trips have a lot of walking in them buy a pair of hiking boots. Joggers are NOT hiking boots – Do you see joggers jogging in hiking boots? NO!

*  Hiking Stick – The adjustable hiking sticks are invaluable. These sticks are not for “old people” but make hiking over rough terrain safer. They can be purchased for around $25.00 and will probably save you from a fall or twisted ankle within the first few uses.

*  The Wave – Nearly all caravanners either wave or lift a finger from the steering wheel as a greeting to their fellow caravanners that are travelling in the opposite direction. This wave seems to include motor home owners after you leave populated areas. It is a nice touch and can in the outback lift itself to a very enthusiastic wave from all occupants of the respective vehicles.

*  Freebie Camping Spots – There are numerous free camping spots provided by state governments on roadsides, which cost nothing to stay at overnight. These might at first seem to be unsecured and although you can not usually leave your caravan whilst travelling around the area they are some of the nicest spots to spend a day and or night at. Be assured that even if they are empty when you arrive they will usually fill up before the sun goes down. Some of our fondest memories are from these freebie spots. The 24-48 hour camp and rest sites are most prolific in the less populous areas. There are also sites made available by or in national parks that are very cheap and are some of the nicer spots where you can stay for prolonged periods.

*  Extra Water – When in the outback we are carrying two or three extra 15 litre water bottles that are easily purchased from any supermarket. The addition of a water drip fitting (that will seal) to the top of the bottle allows the air to enter when it is opened and not when it is closed. This means that there is no spillage when the valve is closed and allows the bottle to be re-used. When not required we empty one of these containers and store it for when it is.

*  Scuffs or Thongs – It is a good idea to have a pair of scuffs or thongs to use in the caravan park showers to help protect from picking up any nasty infections that may be lurking on  floors.

 

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Fly Home for Re-Invigoration

 

*  Fly Home – We have discovered that to fly home every 4 months or thereabouts reinvigorates and refreshes us in readiness for us to continue our trip. Originally we looked at these diversions as a bit of a nuisance (although they were always most enjoyable) but in fact they have been beneficial with our enthusiasm for our trip being renewed each time we took one.

 

 

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Spare

 

*  Spare – Spare.

 

 

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Last revised: Date Sunday, November 22, 2009