Explore Australia All-the-better with Barebones
Taking out the 4WD with a tent or hitching the caravan onto the back of the car and heading off to a new part of the country has to be just about the best part of living in Australia.
Looping around the coastline has been dreamt about by most Aussies at one time or another. Planned as a “once in a lifetime” experience, but it doesn’t take long on the road for the thrill of exploring new places to become a life-long lifestyle.
Whether you’re mission is to complete “the big lap” or to set off on a short trip to discover a new part of an old place that you’ve been visiting for years, the more you see, the more you’ll want to see with a forever growing desire to go further, hunger to see more and thirst for experience.
Waterfalls and wetlands to forests and flood-plains, the countless number of places around Australia are waiting for your arrival and ready to showcase their beauty. On our recent trip around Australia, we found that when visiting all of these world-class places, bringing along the right gear enhanced the experience and complimented the occasion.
Our itinerary to explore Australia comprised of little more than a plan to keep the ocean to our left and keep on driving until we made it back to where we had started from.
After a long lead up to our departure, we had packed and re-packed, contemplating what to bring. The biggest decision was whether to take older equipment, things like tableware, pots and pans, furniture - stuff that’s surely going to end up worse-for-wear after bouncing on the road for 30,000+ kms. It came down to doing a test run of the caravan at our much loved and nearby Great Ocean Road, that ultimately ended up making the decision for us.
Once camp was set up and we had the chance to take things slow with a glass of wine and a coastal view, it became obvious - while we’re experiencing the “trip of a lifetime”, we want to have all of our much loves gear right by our side, from our comfy camping chairs to my favourite enamel mug.
After a few quick adjustments, including replacing Mum’s old melamine plates with some Barebones speckled enamel dinnerware, we connected the caravan to the car, called ourselves WAY&FARER, and headed west.
Eager to get further than we had ventured before, we skipped a lot of the places that we had already explored and headed inland to see the dry red plains for the first time and get a taste of the outback.
At a dusty old campground half-way between Adelaide and the Flinders Ranges, as the sun slowly disappeared, we started a campfire and got the cast-iron cookware out for it’s first use.
We love campfires and we knew that we were going to have plenty of them on this trip, so made sure to upgrade our collection to include a cast-iron dutch oven, skillet & hot plate, but we probably could have got away with this all-in-one pan/pot if we had to.
Our first night camping without another soul in sight was a good confirmation to us both that we had made the correct decision by bringing along the right gear on our trip. There’s a special satisfaction to being completely alone at a bush campground and getting out some cookware and dinnerware that you take pride in using, when you’ve got nothing else to do but to cook up a meal on the fire and enjoy the view.
Although it’s a big country, having the campground to yourself is a more rare occasion than we had expected, especially when touring along the popular areas like the east coast. Whether you’re the only ones camping by the beach or you’re nestled-in among the mayhem at caravan park, both situations have their pro’s and con’s, and we love them both.
On the west-coast, we could go days without speaking to anyone else and made the most of the opportunity to connect with nature. In the east, often we’d struggle to easily find a campsite, but when we finally did, we enjoyed meeting new 24-hour neighbours and joining other groups for card games between caravans. When we did find ourselves entertaining guests, either planned or usually spontaneously, it was a pleasure every time that we got to show off our stunning tableware, furniture and other items inside and out of the van, with the most commented-on being the impressive Railroad LED Lantern from their lighting collection.
The Barebones Living dinner plates never failed to impress. The sturdy steel core has an enamel coating with a deep edge, perfect for eating on the lap when the picnic table is full. The plates having matching bowls and mugs, all of which have a polished steel rim. We brought along the slate-grey and speckled eggshell white dinnerware, it was a treat to be able to put together a home-style dining experience when we were thousands of kilometres away.
With the exception of a few dents and scratches, eight-and-a-half months later, we finished our big trip. All our gear’s back in the shed and just as ready as it’s ever been for another adventure.
To a lifetime of memories made all-the-better with Barebones Living!
About the author
Hey guys, I’m Guy Roberts, a passionate camping & hiking enthusiast that loves getting outdoors.
I typically head out camping in a tent, but wanting to make things a bit easier and more comfortable, my wife and I bought a little caravan and recently toured around Australia with a bunch of gear that you can find on this website. Reach out to the team at Barebones Living if you have any questions for me or want to get in touch. Cheers, Guy
