Saturday, July 7, 2012

The camping experience....

... as mentioned in the last blog-post I never really in my life was a big camping person and except the one or two summer-camps when I was a child I never really camped.

Well this now is not really a 100% camping either as I am not putting up a tent everytime I stop, but it comes quite close to it. I am basically touring Australia in a camper which in the back can be made to a bed. Has a ultra small "kitchen" (gascooker, a prep area and a cooler-box) as well as an even smaller "bathoom" (sink which can be part of the kitchen as well) and thats avout it... A 5  sqm studio so to say.
While I needed the first couple of days to adjust to my new living "situation", which was accompanied by many walks back and forth between camper-vans and campsite- bathrooms and -kitchens (as I had forgotten something about every time I made the trip) it now has grown on me and I am enjoying it. You stop where you fancy. You enjoy views and the weather from the warm inside the camper while outside it is fresh... you are much more flexible in what you are doing.

Helping with camping in general is, that Australia certainly caters to camping people with all their national park camp grounds, rest areas, designated beach areas, etc. I would even go so far to say, Australia is THE "Camping Nation". Even though before I always thought the dutch can't be beaten counting the thousands of camping-trailers on German Autobahns while dutch holidays are on. Well when you pay attention to the camping-vans, camping trailers and offroaders with tents attached on the road here, the dutch are easily outnumbered :-).

As I am going on with camping here are some facts which makes me wonder...
- Why do always gas-station operators know where the best food in town is (they really do, compared to any other establishments like shops, bakeries, police-officers, etc.)
- Why are in every country you travel only the news- and the classic-music stations the ones you can receive everywhere, even in the wildest outback :-) 
- Who the heck invented driving on the left side of the road and why are countries still sticking to it :-)

Enclosed a couple of more snapshots from the diversity of this continent/country. I made my way from Byron Bay, over the "Hinterland", up to Hervey Bay and Fraser Island, then Emerald in the Outback to now arrive in the Whitsundays, which are supposingly stunning white sand beaches... well I have been unlucky with the weather, it is raining today but hopefully clears up tomorrow...

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