Warburton Bridge

A little non-descript bridge in north western Victoria.  Not on the road to anywhere in particular – well, nowhere too riveting anyway.  This is a lovely little free campsite on the backroad between Malmsbury and Castlemaine.

Last weekend was a big deal for us – the first time the “Alpha” off road camper trailer (fondly known as Alphred) had left the garage.  We bought it earlier this year, only to find out the Patrol needed a new engine.  Bummer.  $11k and 6,000kms of running in time and we were back on the open road.  Warburton bridge was the perfect choice for its maiden run.  Only an hour from home, flat and with a toilet.

Jamie had a few days off so he headed up on the Thursday while the kids and I stayed at work / school.  His trusty(?) mate Tim came along to help him with the first erection setup.  According to Jamie it only took a few minutes to set up the main room of the trailer as it concertinas straight off of the trailer.  The 12ft annex room on the side though was a different story – taking at least an hour to assemble the poles and velcro all the pieces of canvas together with the roof and floor.  Jamie didn’t take any progress photos of the erection setup as it happened so you will have to wait for the pack down pics.  According to Jamie, what happens on camp stays on camp and he didn’t want any photographic evidence.  Ohhhhh Kayyyyy….

It was nice to arrive at the campsite Friday night to find everything already set up and ready to move in.  2 big rooms, queen size bed, kitchen, dining area and 4 stretchers for the kids.  Home away from home.  PLUS a big pile of wood to burn and keep us warm over the weekend.

The first night we had quite a bit of rain – not to worry – we had indoor cinema on the laptop, powered by our heavy duty battery system and 240v inverter.  Note to self – we need a projector screen and surround sound for future trips.

A chill out day was in store for the Saturday, and we just hung around the campsite relaxing, as well as going for a bit of a bushwalk.  The site was well set up by this time with Jamie’s awning on the car providing additional shelter on the side.

Here is a photo of the camp taken from the other side of the river.

And of our little mate Oscar doing his best teddy bear impersonation.

Another goal for the weekend was to help Adam build a bush shelter for his Cub Scout Bushcraft level 2 badge.

Back to the camper…….  Very roomy inside. LOVE having a kitchen, complete with sink.  For future trips we will tweak the setup a bit.  Unless we are staying somewhere for 3+ nights we will most likely only use the one room, and use the awning and side wall on the Patrol to provide a kitchen.  The big test is only a few weeks away when we hit the road for a trip up to the Blue Mountains.

Here are a few random pics in and around the camper, including some of the pack down.