Just about there!

[red61]

Only found this forum last weekend. Congrats to those who set it up! Spent most of my spare time reading since.

Planning on going up to the cape for four weeks for the last two weeks of July and first two of August. This will be my first trip up. Travelling in a HJ61 cruiser and with a mate in a Disco.

I'm towing a trailer with camper top. Just about finished building the trailer - going to the galvanisers in the next couple of weeks. Camper top arrives this week (just an ebay special which I'll spend a bit of time beefing up the frame if it looks like it needs it).

Question for those that have travelled with trailers is this: I'm after ideas for the best storage of stuff in trailers for the rough roads. Was looking at plastic boxes/drawers but was wondering about their ability to handle the roads. What do people do to stop things bouncing themselves to bits?

[campdog]

Only found this forum last weekend. Congrats to those who set it up! Spent most of my spare time reading since.

Planning on going up to the cape for four weeks for the last two weeks of July and first two of August. This will be my first trip up. Travelling in a HJ61 cruiser and with a mate in a Disco.

I'm towing a trailer with camper top. Just about finished building the trailer - going to the galvanisers in the next couple of weeks. Camper top arrives this week (just an ebay special which I'll spend a bit of time beefing up the frame if it looks like it needs it).

Question for those that have travelled with trailers is this: I'm after ideas for the best storage of stuff in trailers for the rough roads. Was looking at plastic boxes/drawers but was wondering about their ability to handle the roads. What do people do to stop things bouncing themselves to bits?

We only ever use the black boxes from supercheap for food boxes etc.pack everything in tight and dont use glass containers if you can help it.

[Emujim]

If you carry glass jars the best thing for them is to put them in stubbie holders.

[Nedly]

Some use the opaque palstic boxes so they can see what's inside, trouble is they are very brittle.

We use heavy plastic crates we got from a storage solutions mob in Sydney, you can't see what's inside but solve that problem by sticking a list of contents on the lid. This also helps with preparing shopping lists.

We avoid glass jars as much as possible. We transfer glass jar contents to screw top plastic containers whenever possible. Most of what we carry is in plastic containers or packets. Stuff like flower, rice & spaghetti we transfer to the screw top jobbies, they are air and water tight. You can get them from Woolies or Coles etc.
If you have to carry glass, as Emujim says, use a stubbie holder.

[campdog]

use a texta to write on the top of canned food.labels have a tendancy to wear off.Nothing better than having desert and opening a can of peas,

[Scorcher]

Also, for those cans that are pretty flimsy (soft drinks & beer), it is worthwhile repacking them by wrapping each can up in a piece of newspaper.

Those corrugations are deadly on cartons, with the cans continually rubbing against each other. A few 'blow-outs" in the rear of the car can add to the aroma during a trip though.

Happy Travelling.

Scorcher

[red61]

wrt can labels, my wife made a welcome home mat out of the can labels in her sister's cupboard whilst she was away on her honeymoon. Lots of pot luck meals for a while. It would be just retribution if it happened to her on this trip :)

Is stuff getting wet an issue on water crossings if there are reasonable seals on the trailer (if you don't get stuck - I've seen campdog's photos) Do the containers need to be watertight?

Thanks for your comments. Stubbie holders sound like a good idea for glass. I heard a guy talking on the radio who was the cook for one of the Simpson crossing tours. He stored glass jars in vertical pieces of pvc tube in plastic containers with padding in the bottom of the tubes.

[Scorcher]

Hey Red,

If your not going up until the end of July, you shouldn't have too many drama's with water crossings. Most of the creeks are usually down to a trickle by then, unless you get an unseasonal downpour.

PVC tube sounds like a good idea, but there's not a lot of things nowadays that you need to buy in glass jars. For the few that you do need to take, I have found that wrapping them up individually in a few sheets of newspaper, and packing them so that they aren't wedged in with cans usually does the trick.

The biggest drama we have had while up in The Cape, is trying to keep fruit & veg's from going off (due to the humidity). Still working on a foolproof solution for that one.

Any idea's out there?

Scorcher

[xina]

Hi Scorcher,
Sorry I don't have the answer to your problem. Never just did a trip, but lived there, so our needs were different. What we couldn't grow, we bought de-hydrated. For Salad greens, I used Gotu Kola, which grows wild up there. Grew some fruit, and got the rest dried, or tinned. The Orchard was still there in '94. Tropical fruit, and Red Bananas as well as Lady fingers. Breadfruit too. Hog-plums, 5 Corners, Custard Apples, Soursops, Star-apples,
Ice-cream bean, and others I can't remember off hand. So anyone going to our old home-site at the right time, might have a feast. Cheers,
xina.
P.S. Don't think the bananas would still be there now. The D.P.I. used to come in every year to check them for disease, so when we left, they probably got rid of them. There was a Black Sigatoga problem further North around that time if I remember correctly.

[ant]

Hey Red,
The biggest drama we have had while up in The Cape, is trying to keep fruit & veg's from going off (due to the humidity). Still working on a foolproof solution for that one.

Any idea's out there?

Scorcher


Put em' in an Engel!

[Scorcher]

Put em' in an Engel!

Hey Ant,

Still waiting for that Engel to be delivered so that I can 'test drive" it in the Cape. Only 2 weeks before I leave !! :D

The biggest problem with the fruit & veg's is that we will be set up in the one place for about 12 day's, and the amount of fruit & veg's we will need to take for my crew of 3 would fill it up.

I've heard that wrapping each item up in a piece of newspaper, and keeping it in the coolest possible place is one way of extending their life expectancy. Bread and Eggs suffer from a similar short lifespan, but the eggs will be refridgerated, and knocking up a damper or 2 in the camp oven will hit the spot.

Scorcher

[campdog]

Hey Red,

If your not going up until the end of July, you shouldn't have too many drama's with water crossings. Most of the creeks are usually down to a trickle by then, unless you get an unseasonal downpour.

PVC tube sounds like a good idea, but there's not a lot of things nowadays that you need to buy in glass jars. For the few that you do need to take, I have found that wrapping them up individually in a few sheets of newspaper, and packing them so that they aren't wedged in with cans usually does the trick.

The biggest drama we have had while up in The Cape, is trying to keep fruit & veg's from going off (due to the humidity). Still working on a foolproof solution for that one.

Any idea's out there?

ScorcherScorcher you have already answered your own question. Wrapping fruit and veges individually in newspaper is the best way to keep them fresh.We have taken fruit for three to four weeks out of Cairns and havent lost any.keep them out of eskies where they wont get warm ans sweat.

[xina]

I just remembered guys. Have any of you tried those GREEN bags you can buy in the supermarket to keep fruit and veges. fresh longer on a Cape York Trip? I know they work down here, but they didn't exist when I was up there.
See what you're wives think.
xina.