The Camper Life

I also have a Lifestyle Campers Reconn R2 Hypercamper, an off-road pop top camper. It can pretty much go anywhere, and with it being a pop top, the center of gravity is lower so helps when driving off-road. It sleeps four, has an external kitchen and external shower, two fridges, hot water and 270 liters of water storage. It also has 200 amp-hour lithium batteries and solar on the roof. In addition to this, we also have a small Honda generator from which we can run the air conditioning.

Our first trailer was a Kimberly and we loved it. The smell from the canvas when camping brought back memories and made me feel instantly like I was on holiday (and young again). It was a good trailer, which has been reinforced as we did the 12,500 km (7,770 miles) Cape York trip in it. We felt we needed an upgrade at some point mainly due to the time it took us to set up when we reached our destination, it was approximately 45 minutes to an hour every time we stopped and camped. 

While this doesn’t seem much, it adds up on an extended road trip and I am sure you can understand it can be very tedious after a long drive. Funny enough, we were not in a rush or seriously looking at replacing the Kimberly camper, nor really in the market for one at the time, but this Reconn one came up. After researching it and speaking to a few friends, we felt it was perfect for what we wanted and pretty much would go anywhere we wanted to. It is probably getting a little small for us now as the kids are getting a little older and bigger, so you never know we might be on the lookout for an upgrade soon.

The primary item I installed was the Airconditioning unit, I took the roof apart, installed a new Aluminium H-Frame to take the air conditioning unit, and then putting the roof back together. It does get pretty hot in Australia so it’s nice to have it there if needed. But the main reason for installing it was when I took the family to Renmark, my wife was 36 weeks pregnant and it was a little on the warm side at 46 degrees Celsius (115 degrees Fahrenheit). I have also upgraded the batteries to Lithium, increased the solar panels, uprated the fridge cabling, and added a shower tent.

The camper works pretty well, the only thing I might add would be an awning on the rear for additional sleeping space. However, this addition will take longer to set up so gives me the same issue as my original camper trailer. The Reconn in its current format is so quick and easy to set up I wouldn’t really want to change it. I have thought about installing a Stone Stomper, but haven’t gone around to it yet, that will probably be the following item to add.

I just love the fact that you can pretty much go anywhere we want to go and camp, one of my favorite experiences would be camping on top of the hill at Horseshoe Range within the Flinders Ranges, this was amazing, views to die for, no-one around for miles, just nature for company.

Making Memories

The longest I’ve ever camped off the grid was three weeks straight in the Victoria High Country around Craig’s Hut, a structure used in the movie “The Man from Snowy River.” We thoroughly enjoyed being off-grid and away from everything. Power was from our solar and the generator, and water was sourced from the stream and filtered, I think it tasted better than the water back home. Our 7-week trip to Cape York would have had more than three weeks of off-grid camping, but these would have been interspersed with the odd night in a campsite.

I have other favorite locations to visit, too. Number 1 would be Robe, this is a block of land that our family owns, I feel so relaxed when I am down there (probably class this as my happy place). Number 2 would be Point Turton in the Yorke Peninsula beause I have very fond memories of this place as I used to camp here as a child. It is a beautiful part of South Australia. Lastly would be the Flinders Ranges, the scenery is magnificent, the hiking is unbelievable, and the mountain biking isn’t bad either. It is just an amazing place to explore creeks, and gorges or just look at the fantastic mountains from a vantage point, miles from anyone.

But my favorite place in Australia is Victorian High Country National Park, and probably camping in Eaglevale. We set up camp and space for a bit of Footie (Aussie Rules). It rained overnight, so I took full advantage and white water rafted in the creek on blow-up mattresses. It was a fantastic experience, added to the fact there wasn’t a soul within 100km of us. I still have so much to see of Australia, however, putting a little thought into it, I would say possibly Northern Canada, maybe parts of Africa, Central America and the Middle East would be pretty interesting as well.