Caravan Life

Living in a caravan is very interesting. The caravan is 8' x 20' and is towed by a 4.2 Landcruiser. On the roof of the car is our dinghy which we use for fishing in the estuaries, rivers, creeks and sea on the north coast of Western Australia.

From Perth it takes 4 days and 3 nights by road to travel up north. There are overnight rest areas along the trunk road which comprise of a wide open space where vehicles can stop over and pit toilets with no water. Water for use in the caravan is collected at specific locations ( usually in town ) along the journey for consumption and general use. This water is supplied free by the local authorities for travelers on the road however in order to access this water you need to bring along your own water hose and container.

The caravan has a cooking area, dining/living area and a partitioned bedroom. The living area can be converted into an extra bed at night. A pop-up changing shelter acts as our toilet cum shower which comprises of a porta potty and a shower head which is connected to the caravan. The porta potty is emptied at specific sullage points which are usually situated on camp sites.

Camp sites do not come with any amenities except for dustbins and sullage points. Some sites are free while others are charged a nominal fee of around AUD7.00 a day and the longer the stay, the cheaper it is to a maximum of AUD135.00 a month. The fees vary from area to area.

Presently we are living on the coast and our caravan is parked close to the sea. We go into town which is about 28 – 40 km once a week to collect water and groceries from the supermarket.

Our past time is mainly fishing and catching live bait such as small fish and octopus which can be found along the reef during low tide. For entertainment we have satellite television, board games and watch dvds and read books borrowed from the local library. Sometimes we collect oysters from the rocks on the reef during low tide. We also go crabbing for mud crabs and Flower (blue manna) crabs and use crab nets in order to do this of which bait used is usually the heads and frames of fish that we have caught.

We have caught a variety of fish such as mackerel, bream, snapper and cod. Most fish that we catch has minimum size limits. Undersize fish has to be thrown back into the sea. As for crabs, female crabs with their eggs outside has to be returned to the sea. This is to ensure that the species can continue to grow to maturity. Severe penalties are imposed for those breaking the fishing law.

In order to go fishing, we have to always look at the weather and tide charts. Strong winds always indicate rough sea and thus fishing is not feasible. It requires a resonably calm sea, high tide and best in the morning.

There are a lot of bities on the coast such as sandflies, mosquitoes and midgies (as tiny as dust mite) and thus we always have to apply insect repellent when we are outside. These bities usually come out on windless hot days and sandflies are abundantly found near mangroves. Once bitten, you can itch for days. The first time I was bitten it took me almost a month to completely recover from the bites.

It is almost 3 months that I have been back in Australia and we took 3 days to travel 1,500 km to the coast in the Land Cruiser that towed our caravan. We put up 2 nights in a caravan park where there was power supply and amenities such as shower and a common kitchen. Here I came across some resident kangaroos.

There are 24 hrs park areas along the trunk road where the public can stop for the night. All they have there are drop pit toilets. Along the journey, we sometimes come across dead kangaroos and wallabies that have been hit by traffic during the night.

Minilya Rest area

When we arrived at the coast we took at least 3 days to set up our 'home'. This includes the caravan, annexes, boat and trailer, generator, tv satellite, water (that we get from town), wind generator and pop-up shower/toilet..

Toilet / shower tent and satellite dish

Our power comes from three sources: A wind generator, solar panels and a 2Kva petrol generator

We also have an outside kitchen and a gas hot water heater

The weather here in the north west is either warm and dry (winter) or hot and wet (summer) unlike Perth which experiences the 4 seasons. Therefore temperatures up here range from 13 – 28 deg. C; cool at night and warm in the day during the dry season but they get much higher during the wet season (October - April). The sun here is very hot and one can get sun burnt easily thus we have to regularly apply sun tan lotion and moisturisers.

The vegetation here is mainly porcupine grass, succulent plants and some wild flowers. There are salt plains, sand dunes and small hills. There are sea gulls, magpies and pelicans. In the sea I have seen dolphins, turtles and hump back whales in the distance when we went reef fishing. That is about all we do here...fishing, fishing and more fishing. We also go crabbing for mud crabs at the mangroves and blue manna crabs in the sea  using crab nets.

I've done very well as a first time 'fisher woman'. I've managed to catch some big fish measuring from 35cm to 55 cm. I've caught cod measuring 55 cm and I've even caught eel and a cat shark which we throw back into the sea.

For fishing we use fresh bait which we catch ourselves such as small fish (caught with a throw net or fishing line) and octopus (that we catch on the reefs when the tide is low). Rosabelle and I have even gone oyster gathering and we use a chisel and hammer to knock them off the rocks.

There are many bities here especially sandflies and midgies (that are as small as a particle of dust) that can be found during warm still days. I had bites on my arms and legs and they lasted almost a month and itched like hell! I therefore prefer the windy days and cool nights.

When the fish are caught they mostly get filleted but I have taught Rosabelle to eat fish with the skin on and she likes my Asian style of deep frying them in oil topped with garlic, ginger and shao xing wine (Yow Cham). We hot smoke mackerel (tinggiri) and I have even pickled some threadfin (Ma Yau Yee) using chilli powder, turmeric, garlic, ginger, shallot, red chilli and vinegar.

Marc and Rosabelle actually don't like to eat threadfin but after trying my special pickled fish, they are now asking me to do it another time if we get to catch a similar fish.

My food dishes are usually Asian but Rosabelle does European/Italian style cooking. Since we catch our own fish, we usually buy meat and prawns from the supermarkets. As Australia is a dairy producing country, our diet consists of meat and milk products such as cheese, yogurt, thickened cream, bread, butter and fruit.

Occasionally when the vegetables are reasonably cheap, we get cabbage, celery, broccoli, zuccini and some leafy greens such as choy sum and siew pak choy. Garlic, ginger and chilli are relatively expensive and cost around AUD12 – 15 per kilo so we use them sparingly. Thus with all this delicious and fattening food, you can see how big I have grown in my recent pictures and I am like chubby chubs...hehehe.

Once it gets too hot here we will be packing up and moving on to a cooler place about 700 km away but still at the coast. It is likely that we will be travelling a while before we settle down.

New campsite at Bush Bay

After a night of strong wind and rain we had to revise our campsite and set the annex up properly.

A trip to Rocky Pool

(Rocky Pool is a billabong in the Gascoyne River about 55km east of Carnarvon)