Setting up Pearl...

Last weekend we got Pearl out and set her up, ready for a little trip away this weekend. 

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I lined all the drawers with non-slip rubber matting so things don't slide around too much.

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This is the view as you walk up the steps through the door...

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*We have a table that can swivel around or be pulled out totally.

*Electric fridge (runs on 240v or 12v)

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The bed is huge and very comfy. We will use a doona instead of our swag bags...

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There are lots of drawers which I have filled with cutlery, utensils, crockery (Corelle tough), kitchen supplies and pots and pans.

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That end cupboard on the left houses our PortaPotty, dustpan/broom etc...

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There is a stereo system which can play radio or bluetooth our music from our phones and a Redarc set up so Gus csn manage our power supply with our batteries.

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Two burner gas cooktop on the left and sink with gas hot water on the right.

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The nosecone holds all sorts of stuff. Our BabyQ Weber, two stackers with 'stuff' in them, power cords etc.

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I cannot wait to be sitting by the river in a lovely bush setting, wine in hand, warming my toes by the fire. Not sure if we'll have a camp fire or use the Oz Pig.

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Cheers - Joolz xx

Picking up Pearl Pt 2

It is a big day agai today!  We travelled down past Eden, Kiah, Narrabarba, Genoa and through to Orbost where we grabbed a quick bite to eat at 1pm.  That was a slow 210 kms because of the hilly, windy roads and a lot of it we were only doing 80-90kph...
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From Orbost we tracked along to Bruthen then through Bairnsdale.  We made a quick trip to Bunnings for a power cord then we left there at 3pm having done 300kms by that stage...
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Again, Google Maps was a big help but the 6 hour 32 minute timing had us worried that we'd be setting up in the dark again...
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Down more roads...
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At 5pm we tried looking at nearer caravan sites (on my iPad) but a lot were booked out for school holidays.  So we kept on going...
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We finally pulled into the Frankston Holiday Park at 6.10pm.  We had phoned ahead and told them we'd be late so the key to the ensuite and directions were in a safe, which we had the code for.  We found our site and set up Pearl on the concrete slab.  Fortunately, we didn't have to unhitch.  She flipped out and we were set up in 30 minutes.  Great that it wasn't raining but hell, it's freezing here!
We got the electric heater going and warmed up with a wine, ordered a pizza to be delivered to the front gate - this arrived at 8.45pm! 
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Pizza on a serviette!
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Yummy dessert pizza with custard and berries and crumble...all that was missing was a bit scoop of icecream!
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We did 556 kms today - it felt like 856!  Gus says Pearl is a dream to tow and Ruby is doing a great job.  :)  The ensuite is a godsend.  We had another cosy night.
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Cheers - Joolz

Road trip to pick up Pearl ...

We headed for Melbourne today, leaving at 1.30pm but only got about 15kms out the road when Gus looked in the side mirror and noticed the left hand side canopy door on Ruby was open!  On inspection, we'd lost a big plastic bag containing a new skillet, saucepan, two nice melamine bowls and a large plastic tray to drain dishes on.

We back tracked nearly all the way into back into town then saw the bag and contents strewn diwn the roadside! Haha!

The tray had a corner knocked off it, both bowls were broken, the saucepan was bent out of shape and the skillet had gravel rash! Oops!

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We stopped for lunch in Penola so that delayed us a bit.  I drove Ruby from Coleraine to Ararat so Gus could make some calls.  We continued on and got to Ballarat without incident. With about an hour to go it was time for a G&T for me!

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We arrived at our hotel at 8.40pm and it was 10.9C and raining heavily.  Somehow, I don't think we'll be sitting outside our new camper sunning ourselves on Friday and Saturday.

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Room service dinner, a glass of red and nighty nights!  We have a big day tomorrow, heading up the Hume Highway to Bateman's Bay.
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Cheers - Joolz xx
 

 
 
 

Excited!

In a few days we'll pick up our new camper trailer and I hope to blog about our adventures so stay tuned! :)