The weeks before we depart have been pretty frantic, mostly related to renting out our apartment (unfurnished), getting rid of stuff we should have seen the back of a long time ago (there is nothing like a move to focus the mind and tackle the irresistible urge to hoard), packing all of our stuff, moving out, finalising things for the The Cruiser and Mobi, and most importantly meeting up with friends before we go. Definitely a few sore heads resulted from that.
The packing and moving has been relentless as we have to decide what to keep and store in “deep storage”, what we may need when we fly back East for a quick visit during the next year or so, “soft storage”, what we will pack to take with us, and what we will get rid of. Hardest of all is what to take with us – how many t-shirts to take for up to a year? Especially as the wardrobe and drawers are very very small. What from the pantry and the fridge full of food will we pack into the quite small Mobi fridge and cupboards? Like so many others before us we err to the excess and struggle to fit things in.
This week (ending 16th Feb 2018) we have moved out of the apartment and are living in Mobi at the Lakeside Caravan Park in Narrabeen, the last major such park in Sydney we are told. We have moved out our furniture and had the apartment cleaned, and the tenants move in from this weekend.
We had Mobi stored on land in Ingleside for a couple of months with little opportunity to take it out. So it was with some trepidation that we went in there and hitched it all up. It was only a short drive to Narrabeen and into the park, where we surprised ourselves by a pretty good reverse park into our site. We are beginning to wonder if we will need the very expensive motorised jockey wheel – but we do know that one successful reverse park does not a journey make.
At Narrabeen we have spent our time trying to pack everything – like a jigsaw puzzle, trying to find the combination of plastic boxes and trays that will fit together in the overhead storage bins to maximise the storage and ensure that things will not move around too much when we are driving. Where, and in what, is best for the food, the wine, the Champers, the clothes, the computers, the hard disks, the modem, the soda stream, the rice cooker, the medicines and medical stuff, the cameras, the drone, the electronic stuff, the cups, saucers, etc, knives, forks and spoons, egg flippers, toiletries, etc. and so much other stuff.
Living in Mobi for these few days is helping determine what we really need and how to pack everything. The heaviest things we have to pack is the fridge at 45kg, now fixed on a slider in the back of The Cruiser, then the Optitec motorised jockey wheel at 22kg, which may go on the floor of The Cruiser behind the front seats.
The Cruiser holds as much heavy stuff as possible – we have to keep the weight up to it and try to minimise the weight in Mobi to get the right balance. On the roof cage of The Cruiser is all the basic suite of camping goodies – tent, stretchers, air mattress, and associated stuff. You can see we have loads of stuff!
Our time in Narrabeen has also introduced to the life of the traveller – we have met so many really interesting people who are loving the nomad life. The couple behind us, similar vintage, have been on the road for 4 years with no plans of stopping. His experience has been a great help to us especially when the fierce winds one night caused the awning to lock up as we tried to haul it in. He knew exactly what to do and had it right in no time.
The Lakeside is now owned by the NRMA and as members we get a small discount. but is is very expensive at over $60 a night for a powered site. Its uniqueness, right on the water at Narrabeen Lagoon and next to the surf beach, and being only a bus ride to the City, commands a premium. The sites here are large and we are quite close to the lake, but there are quite a few areas of exposed dirt, no grass. The drought and a busy summer have taken their toll. The facilities are good, but we see blocked toilets not quickly fixed. There are 2 or 3 dump points and a good children’s water playground. The camp kitchen is very small – when we went in there one night one couple had commandeered the whole area. But there is a much larger BBQ area nearby, although not with any view. A pizza bar opens from Thursday night through the weekend – the pizzas are only adequate ($18 for small size).
We had an impromptu dinner to see us off – really great party.
So it has been a good start so far. We leave Sydney on Saturday to go to Mannering Park on the Central Coast. On Monday we will get Mobi serviced at Hinterland Caravans in Morriset, then head north. It would be nice to get to Tamworth on the first night but we may only get to Muswellbrook. C’est la vie.